No cruises to Canada until after July 1

[justhappy]

6 minutes ago, julig22 said:

Can they just dock and not disembark in order to fulfill the requirements of the Jones act? 

Good question, since it’s a short stop and late at night anyway, it’s reasonable, Question is will Canada allow the ships to even dock  since the harbour pilot would have to board the ship.

Edited March 13, 2020 by justhappy

[Gershep]

I think this is just the beginning. There are going to be a lot more port closures in the coming days.

[JC5240]

Maybe it depends on the situation regarding Jones' Act? When we were on the Pearl a couple of weeks ago for Key West and Great Stirrup Cay, we couldn't tender because of weather so we just had a sea day and went back to Miami - no foreign port stop. Maybe they got an exemption for that? 

[Named-Tawny]

43 minutes ago, DuckTollerFans said:

I mean, yeah, a foreign port - they could send us to Bermuda or Bahamas instead of Halifax, etc.....but I doubt that would happen.

IF they were still doing New England, a day out to St Pierre et Miquelon could work?

[DuckTollerFans]

When your cruise set out, they expected to stop at those other places - it was the weather that prevented it.  But with our 2 stops in Canada, we KNOW we can't go there, so that is a different story.

 

Ah well, we planned it less than 90 days from sailing, unlike our other cruises where we waited for many months.

[JAFA13]

My TransAtlantic on the Star is due to stop in Halifax, Nova Scotia April 11th. Maybe Iceland will let us in instead. 

[sr71_1]

.... not to be picky but I believe it is the PVSA Act and not the Jones Act that is important here.    For foreign flagged ships (NCL)...Alaskan (USA) passenger 1 way trips must include a foreign port.  Assuming the news reported earlier in this thread is accurate, I'm thinking NCL will have no choice but to cancel their Alaskan cruises through July.    We are on one in June ... I'd rather have my money back that a credit (crossing fingers on this news)  

Edited March 13, 2020 by sr71_1

[IrieBajan54]

The Port of Baltimore is closed to cruise ship activity. Wonder how long before Florida may have to do the same?

[mking8288]

Standby for a WH news conference by the POTUS ... surely will be watched not nationally but around the globe ... "speculation" is that a federal / national emergency will be declared.  Border states and those with home ports in the US are already under a SOE (State of Emergency) declared by their governors.  

 

Cruise ships already running into challenges docking in the Caribbeans ... Bermuda is monitoring closely as their early Spring season is almost under way (next month ... NCL got a # of short 4 & 5 days out of NYC).  Oh, Bahamas - there are only that much berth and room to anchor & tender ... their medical facilities are fine for urgent care but not for any large scale, infectious ones.  I just cannot visualize all these mega-ships doing cruise-to-nowhere even if waivers are granted when flights are being cut and scaled back dramatically, and flying itself is deemed just as risky ... and the hurricane season not far in the distance.  A perfect storm is brewing, simmering for months now.  

 

Sadly, I am sure some of the crews are scheduled & due for rotation and home leave, in-between contracts - might be stranded in limbo and facing extended furlough with zero pay checks.  

Edited March 13, 2020 by mking8288

[Jldevlin]

We have a comped casino cruise in April from Los Angeles to Vancouver on the Joy ....I was so hoping it was going to be a go ....damn ...

[DuckTollerFans]

For all of us who are disappointed in our cancellations, etc, the impact on the crew - and their families - can be devastating, even if only a short term hiatus.  

 

Even our modest trip has a trickle down impact - the AirBnB we were staying in the night before departure, our dog sitter, ....

[Jason82]

I had been holding out hope this would all clear up in Time for our May Alaska cruise out of Seattle. At this point, I suspect that won't happen. It's only a matter of time. It would be a bummer for sure.

 

As others have noted, the impact will be even greater on the industry, including the ports and especially the crew. 

 

 

[JVD2]

1 hour ago, Ptroxx said:

They have to go to a At least 1 foreign port    And that’s Canada.   So where else would they port ?   
and I’m sure Seattle is going to do something’s soon enough. 

It's called the Jones Act,

[puppycanducruise]

Just now, JVD2 said:

It's called the Jones Act,

It's called the Passenger Vessel Services Act. 

The Jones Act is for cargo.

[All-ready2cruise]

23 minutes ago, puppycanducruise said:

It's called the Passenger Vessel Services Act. 

The Jones Act is for cargo.

Here's the comparison right from CC:  https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=3363

 

[rj42]

Alaska has its first case, although he was from a foreign cargo flight so any transmission was probably limited. 

 

https://www.ktva.com/story/41889255/dunleavy-announces-1st-case-of-coronavirus-in-alaska

 

The Norwegian ships can't even sail to Seattle, since the trip would require a foreign stop. The only real option would be to keep all the ships in LA and cruise Mexico until the Alaska season opens (possibly). Carnival already has 3 ships that cruise Mexico year-round out of Long Beach, and I would think the Mexican ports would be so happy to get all the money that it would override virus fears. 

[Love my butler]

1 hour ago, rj42 said:

Alaska has its first case, although he was from a foreign cargo flight so any transmission was probably limited. 

 

https://www.ktva.com/story/41889255/dunleavy-announces-1st-case-of-coronavirus-in-alaska

 

The Norwegian ships can't even sail to Seattle, since the trip would require a foreign stop. The only real option would be to keep all the ships in LA and cruise Mexico until the Alaska season opens (possibly). Carnival already has 3 ships that cruise Mexico year-round out of Long Beach, and I would think the Mexican ports would be so happy to get all the money that it would override virus fears. 

Yeah, sailing to hot, humid Mexico in the middle of the summer instead of Alaska really appeals to the masses....

[Ms BumbleBee]

39 minutes ago, Love my butler said:

Yeah, sailing to hot, humid Mexico in the middle of the summer instead of Alaska really appeals to the masses....

 

Yeah if I had wanted to go to Mexico then I would have booked Mexico.  Mexico is not Alaska.

[EleventyBangBang]

Well, crap.  Was going on Bliss in May.  Sounds like this might kill that? 

[Warbird]

7 hours ago, ecslady said:

 

Source please?

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/5190/?et_cid=3320064&et_rid=24396901&et_referrer=NULL

[em-sk]

7 hours ago, marktwothousand said:

aren’t they allowed just to change ports without obligating a refund? They do it all the time. Remember that cruise a couple years ago from east coast that was supposed to go to the Caribbean But instead went to Canada due to bad weather? No reason they couldn’t do the opposite here, is there? 
 

hate to say it, but... yeah...

 

also, I love my country, but why people wanna cruise here, I can never understand. 

 

The bigger issue is the west coast.  All the cruises out of Seattle stop in Seattle (or another Canadian port).  All the Vancouver cruises start in Canada and visit the US.   As a foreign flagged carrier they have to stop in a non-US port. 

 

Seattle is a hot spot.  I can see why that being a port city is going to be a problem for the next month or two. 

[bonvoyagie]

9 hours ago, sr71_1 said:

.... not to be picky but I believe it is the PVSA Act and not the Jones Act that is important here.    For foreign flagged ships (NCL)...Alaskan (USA) passenger 1 way trips must include a foreign port.  Assuming the news reported earlier in this thread is accurate, I'm thinking NCL will have no choice but to cancel their Alaskan cruises through July.    We are on one in June ... I'd rather have my money back that a credit (crossing fingers on this news)  

You are correct that the PVSA is for passenger vessels and the Jones act covers cargo vessels. On a closed jaw cruise where you embark and debark from the same US port you only have to visit a near foreign port. On an open jaw cruise where you go from one US port to another US port you must visit a far foreign port. Repo cruises from NY, Boston, Baltimore etc to Miami, NOLA etc usually visit one or more of the ABC islands which count as far foreign ports. Canada cruises out of Seattle visit Victoria BC as a near foreign port. In theory they only need to spend a few minutes there and do not have to debark passengers. 

[Topdog52]

I am booked mid May on the Pearl out of NYC. Has NCL decided what they are doing for excursions yet. They still do not have anything listed for Portland Maine or Newport RI either. I hope they let us know soon because if they can not book any new excursions I need to cancel my Hotel and flight!!

[Ptroxx]

So now that Canada won’t let ships into ports. What does that do for cruises outta Seattle to Alaska?     ??  

[YVRBassElectric]

21 hours ago, Topdog52 said:

I am booked mid May on the Pearl out of NYC. Has NCL decided what they are doing for excursions yet. They still do not have anything listed for Portland Maine or Newport RI either. I hope they let us know soon because if they can not book any new excursions I need to cancel my Hotel and flight!!

same issue as Alaska - no Canadian ports available