New Canadian Cruise Requirements - Alaska Cruise Season in Jeopardy Again?

[JT1962]

12 minutes ago, J0Y0US said:

 

I think people are reading too much in to it from the other poster. 

 

3-5 hours, extra testing, in evening not during day

 

It's not like it's a full stop for 6-8 hours that people want cancelled. 

 

Additonally have to account for basically losing dinner if you get off the ship. 

 

I don't think anyone means Canada as a whole they are talking about a Canada stop on a Alaska specific trip. 

 

Exactly. Canada is a wonderful place to visit. We loved Vancouver, the Yukon, Toronto, Banff, etc. But to have to test everyone on board for a stop from 8:00 pm to Midnight (as on my May cruise) just to meet the foreign port requirement and the Canadian Covid requirements seems over the top. If we had a full day in Victoria it would be different, but most people will not get off the ship for a late night 4 hour stop.

Edited March 9, 2022 by JT1962

[J0Y0US]

I want to add back in September our trip had day Ketchikan, sea day, then Seattle. 

 

This coming trip its sea day, sea/Victoria night, then Seattle. 

 

They could switch out Victoria for Ketchikan on our cruise.

 

So there is an ability to give extra port stops in Alaska and Victoria/Vancouver can be on a seperate flyin/drive in trip for people. 

[sailor05]

Since the test has to be done within 24 hours I'd assume they would start at 8:00 am the day before we arrive at 8:00 am. So if they were to test for 12 hours straight they'd have to test 333 per hour which seems would be a very difficult task. Canada should've allowed it be with 48 hours to make it more feasible to do on-board. When we took a cruise out of Bahama's last year we had to be tested within 2 days and there was long lines with only around 950 on-board.

[Discus16]

On 3/8/2022 at 3:40 PM, Woody14 said:

Ouch! (coming from a proud Canadian, who lives on the west coast).   I hope you will give us a chance at somepoint to prove you wrong.      I do get that the 4 hr stop in Victoria would not give you a true sample of what we have to offer. 

We sailed out of Vancouver our last Alaskan Cruisetour and loved Vancouver. We booked a day early morning flight to be able to enjoy Vancouver for a day. We fly in May 24th and board the ship May 25th. Can't wait ✈🚢⚓

[kstetser]

Is anyone concerned about getting stuck in Canada for 2 weeks if they test positive before debarking in Canada (for a cruise that ends there)?   I called my travel advisor and she said it is very murky right now and to sit tight for a bit.  The Canadian requirement says that cruise lines would be responsible for handling the 14-day quarantine of passengers if they test positive.  So does that mean Celebrity would have to put my family up in a hotel for 2 weeks until we were allowed to fly home to the US?  It seems there are a few exceptions to the 14-day rule, but it's really not clear to me

 

Thoughts?

Edited March 10, 2022 by kstetser
clarification

[jhskick]

23 hours ago, J0Y0US said:

 

For them there is no issue. Their either test on board, skip CA, or bump people if they can't meet the testing requirements on board for full capacity. 

 

I never thought AK would be cancelled it's about the updated policies that will come. 

Celebrity must still be doing Alaska I just got email saying my final payment is due next week. 

[erlyvon]

3 hours ago, kstetser said:

Is anyone concerned about getting stuck in Canada for 2 weeks if they test positive before debarking in Canada (for a cruise that ends there)?   I called my travel advisor and she said it is very murky right now and to sit tight for a bit.  The Canadian requirement says that cruise lines would be responsible for handling the 14-day quarantine of passengers if they test positive.  So does that mean Celebrity would have to put my family up in a hotel for 2 weeks until we were allowed to fly home to the US?  It seems there are a few exceptions to the 14-day rule, but it's really not clear to me

 

Thoughts?

I've wondered the same thing and e-mailed Celebrity for a response but no reply yet.  Hope to hear something soon.

[Ferry_Watcher]

23 hours ago, J0Y0US said:

I want to add back in September our trip had day Ketchikan, sea day, then Seattle. 

 

This coming trip its sea day, sea/Victoria night, then Seattle. 

 

They could switch out Victoria for Ketchikan on our cruise.

 

So there is an ability to give extra port stops in Alaska and Victoria/Vancouver can be on a seperate flyin/drive in trip for people. 

It's just not that easy to change around a cruise ship itinerary.  There are limited number of piers/berths that these ships can use.  Even tenders need a place to offload passengers.  In addition, the ports need to have shoreside staff for security and safety concerns, not to mention the need for the longshore workers.  It would be nice if it was a simple fix, but unfortunately it's not.

[JayFank]

Best case scenario is by April or May Canada revises their testing requirements as positive tests are going down.  I am on Radiance of the Seas on May 20-27 from Vancouver to Seward.

[J0Y0US]

5 hours ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

It's just not that easy to change around a cruise ship itinerary.  There are limited number of piers/berths that these ships can use.  Even tenders need a place to offload passengers.  In addition, the ports need to have shoreside staff for security and safety concerns, not to mention the need for the longshore workers.  It would be nice if it was a simple fix, but unfortunately it's not.

 

And this specific port added a whole other dock outside of the city to add capacity with 2 additional docking stalls.

 

Just saying there are options if they wanted them at least for 1-2 extra ships depending on the day. 

 

There are just a couple of days where all 4 docks downtown and the 2 at Ward Cove are used all at the same time. 

[taraemm]

Really hoping my RT from Vancouver isn’t changed or cancelled because of this!

[Italy52]

We have a 14-day Vancouver to Vancouver and two 7-day Seattle to Seattle Alaskan cruises.  I don't think they will be cancelled but we might have to make some adjustments if we want to cruise.  We love Alaska and will do whatever we have to in order to sail --- I have already made some adjustments to our plans.  Like everyone else, we are anxious to hear the final cruising plans from the cruise lines.

[Heidi13]

On 3/10/2022 at 8:44 PM, J0Y0US said:

 

And this specific port added a whole other dock outside of the city to add capacity with 2 additional docking stalls.

 

 

Wow, they now use "Stalls", in my 40 yrs at sea we used berths.

 

The poster you quoted also lives in the area, so is well aware of the infrastructure and also is very well versed in the local cruise ship operations.

[Northern Aurora]

On 3/9/2022 at 1:32 PM, J0Y0US said:

I want to add back in September our trip had day Ketchikan, sea day, then Seattle. 

 

This coming trip its sea day, sea/Victoria night, then Seattle. 

 

They could switch out Victoria for Ketchikan on our cruise.

 

So there is an ability to give extra port stops in Alaska and Victoria/Vancouver can be on a seperate flyin/drive in trip for people. 

 

The Alaska Tourism Recovery Act allowed for a temporary by pass of the PVSA for RT Alaska itineraries out of Seattle.  It was only applicable for the 2021 limited season.

[J0Y0US]

2 hours ago, Northern Aurora said:

 

The Alaska Tourism Recovery Act allowed for a temporary by pass of the PVSA for RT Alaska itineraries out of Seattle.  It was only applicable for the 2021 limited season.

 

If you read the threads I have posted that an amendment has been proposed to extend it for the 2022.

[Northern Aurora]

51 minutes ago, J0Y0US said:

 

If you read the threads I have posted that an amendment has been proposed to extend it for the 2022.

And if you read my posts, as someone who actually lives in Alaska, it hasn't passed.

[J0Y0US]

22 hours ago, Northern Aurora said:

And if you read my posts, as someone who actually lives in Alaska, it hasn't passed.

 

Correct but its been proposed. The comments were regarding IF they did skip Vancouver. Not it was already passed and they were 100% skipping Vancouver.

 

Someone was calling out there was not an ability to add an extra port stop if Vancouver was dropped where as I was outlining in our itinerary as an example it may be possible.

 

[Ferry_Watcher]

My Joyous Friend, they (cruise lines, Canadian Gov't,) are not going to drop/cancel Canada as a Homeport, or as a Port-of-Call this 2022 season.

 

The Canadian Covid testing policies may be seen as some as inconvenient, or annoying, especially to foreign (nee US) passengers, but we need to respect their decision.  The pandemic continues to be a fluid situation.  It is quite possible that if the number of infections, hospitalizations and deaths continue to decline, that the Canadians will relax their testing requirements.  

 

It's a numbers game - and right now we are heading in a very favorable direction.

[jean87510]

On 3/10/2022 at 5:45 AM, sailor05 said:

Since the test has to be done within 24 hours I'd assume they would start at 8:00 am the day before we arrive at 8:00 am. So if they were to test for 12 hours straight they'd have to test 333 per hour which seems would be a very difficult task. Canada should've allowed it be with 48 hours to make it more feasible to do on-board. When we took a cruise out of Bahama's last year we had to be tested within 2 days and there was long lines with only around 950 on-board.

It isn't that big of a deal.  They did it on ships in the fall and on mine in December in Barbados to fly back to the US.  You get a printed copy and one on the app.  Plus at the time we sailed it was the height of Omicron and we had quite a few positives.

[JT1962]

Promising news that hopefully eliminates any issues: 

 

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/federal-government-end-pre-arrival-154237739.html?guccounter=1

 

I’m guessing the cruise lines were aware this was likely and why they had not provided any update on testing requirements / policies for Alaska / Canada cruises.

Edited March 16, 2022 by JT1962

[Ferry_Watcher]

Once the Canadians do that, hopefully Amtrak will start running between Seattle and Vancouver, BC again.

[Urban trekker]

"hopefully Amtrak will start running between Seattle and Vancouver, BC again."

Yes I hope that is the case as I have a bunch of Amtrak award points that will expire if not used by June.

Might do a day trip to Seattle or a quick weekend visit to Portland as I think I have enough points for that.

 

 

[Ashland]

Thanks for the update...Now if the ship changes their testing policy before we sail from Vancouver in Sept that will be great.

 

We were actually more concerned about getting off the ship and having to take a test just to get to YVR.

[strickerj]

4 minutes ago, Urban trekker said:

"hopefully Amtrak will start running between Seattle and Vancouver, BC again."

Yes I hope that is the case as I have a bunch of Amtrak award points that will expire if not used by June.

Might do a day trip to Seattle or a quick weekend visit to Portland as I think I have enough points for that.

 

 

If you absolutely have to save them, the no-annual-fee Bank of America Amtrak Visa credit card prevents points expiration.

Edited March 16, 2022 by strickerj

[magicsoccer]

I wonder if the US will soon follow  and not require testing to arrive back in the US.