Still up in air on Alaska

[mafig]

Good, helpful responses.

 

What happened to the OP?

[Bill Miller]

SeaCruise has the most interesting and insightful comment about ordering stores for the ships. This makes sense. However, ship chandlers will amaze you with how fast they can grub up a ship when money is to be made.

Celebrity has cruises scheduled departing from Seattle. During these times it's very believable they could get a waiver on the Jones Act requirements for a foreign port stop. Again $$, money talks. Trump Administration has no love for the current leader of Canada.

For transparency, I have a September 4th on the Solstice out of Seattle, If it sails, great. If it doesn't, I will sail in the future with this great cruise line. 

I've had a March 28th and an April 12th cruise with Celebrity refunded in full. My original May 17th, will not sail, But we have hopes for a Fall departure with future cruise credits.

I wish all of you the best and look forward to lifting a toast to you soon on a Celebrity cruise.

Bon Voyage, Bill

 

 

[NantahalaCruiser]

22 minutes ago, Bill Miller said:

SeaCruise has the most interesting and insightful comment about ordering stores for the ships. This makes sense. However, ship chandlers will amaze you with how fast they can grub up a ship when money is to be made.

Celebrity has cruises scheduled departing from Seattle. During these times it's very believable they could get a waiver on the Jones Act requirements for a foreign port stop. Again $$, money talks. Trump Administration has no love for the current leader of Canada.

For transparency, I have a September 4th on the Solstice out of Seattle, If it sails, great. If it doesn't, I will sail in the future with this great cruise line. 

I've had a March 28th and an April 12th cruise with Celebrity refunded in full. My original May 17th, will not sail, But we have hopes for a Fall departure with future cruise credits.

I wish all of you the best and look forward to lifting a toast to you soon on a Celebrity cruise.

Bon Voyage, Bill

 

 

It is the Passenger Vessel Services Act (not the Jones Act) and don't see that happening since most cruise lines are not US companies and the onshore cruise services while meaningful is a minor part of the national economy.

[Seacruise]

2 hours ago, Bill Miller said:

SeaCruise has the most interesting and insightful comment about ordering stores for the ships. This makes sense. However, ship chandlers will amaze you with how fast they can grub up a ship when money is to be made.

 

Here is the problem, there currently is virtually NO Beef because of the slaughter houses being closed. Chicken is just starting to come back online due to plants being shut down.
With restaurants now starting to come back online  puts an extra strain of the already short supply.
Costco here last weekend had NO beef period. They had a great supply of Lamb and Farmed Atlantic Salmon (which no one from this part of the world would eat).
Milk and eggs are not a problem as there is an over supply of those.

I guess we could go the Chops for a vegan meal..... 😉

[TeeRick]

21 hours ago, wolfie11 said:

 Cruise ships are not allowed to sail within 50 miles of the Aleutian Islands due to the creation of an Area To Be Avoided (ATBA) created a few years ago.

Thank you.  I did not realize this but it makes good sense.

[cruisequeen4ever]

I live in AK, and there have been articles that local tourism businesses just can’t afford to hire their seasonal workers for just 1 or 2 months and limited incoming ships. I’m not saying the cruises for sure won’t happen, but I highly suspect they won’t. 

[bigbenboys]

On 5/15/2020 at 11:06 AM, kwokpot said:

I've done multiple trips to Hawaii both land and cruises and I think Hawaii beaches are one if the nicest in the world. 

We have a couple of regular things we do. On Kaui we love driving north to Hana lei then South to have lunch at brennekes broiler,then hang out at the grand Hyatt Kaui.

On big island we love to do the chain of craters drive all the way down to the end of the island.

On Oahu we've started to drive around to check out other areas besides Waikiki. The Japan temple was a real find. 

I find the nature and beachesand resorts  on the Hawaiian islands far superior to any of the Caribbean islands and agree on a Caribbean cruise we stay onboard. The Hawaiian islands well rent a car and just drive to enjoy the beaches,nature,and beautiful resorts.

 

It all sounds nice. We have vacationed on 3 of the island, not the big Island yet. We stay in Waikiki before cruises. I know your just gong to shake your head. I dont like sand or being part of the food chain. But mostly sand on the feet.😨 I've done snorkeling and it is not that I wont walk on a beach. If we all like the same things life would be boring. Give me a pool and a cold drink. It's one of the reasons I like cruising.

[Bill Miller]

Well dang, thanks for the updates on Alaska. I guess we'll have to stay home and enjoy Florida's beaches. The struggle is real.

[Prost Seattle]

Today’s Seattle Times had this article on how boarder closings are affecting communities:

 

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/northwest/washington-states-once-bustling-border-towns-and-islands-fall-silent-due-to-coronavirus-pandemic/

 

This quote in the article made me think there’s no way Canada should be opening the borders to us:

 

 

[Vagabond Knight]

On 5/15/2020 at 1:23 PM, bigbenboys said:

... We stayed over night in Vancouver BC and took the train to Seattle. We had never taken the train from Vancouver to Seattle it was nice.

 

Sorry, I know this is getting a bit off-topic, but was this the Amtrak Cascades route?  I was thinking of taking that next year after our cruisetour that ends in Vancouver, then doing the Coast Starlight and Pacific Surfliner down to southern California.  Can't really figure out the schedule right now for the Amtrak Cascades since they're not running it right now from what I can tell.

[Prost Seattle]

I’ve taken the Cascades several times, there’s an early morning departure and and evening departure (about 6:30 AM and 6 PM) approximate times.  It takes approximately 4 hours, and is frequently delayed as freight trains get priority on the tracks.  It’s a beautiful ride, but north of Bellingham the tracks weren’t in the best condition and there was a lot of rocking of the train.  I never get motion sick...until this train ride.  I now know to plan ahead.  The train ride takes significantly longer than driving or bus ride, but it is a very pleasant ride.  If crowds bother you spring for the business class fare, it’s not that much more, but fewer people per car.  The seats are identical, but they are xx||x in business class vs. xx||xx coach.  

[Bill Miller]

Think they've cancelled Alaska, they just forgot to mention it. It hasn't been announced yet, Friday afternoon 5/29.

I was scheduled to be on the Solstice out of Seattle September 4th. Yesterday there were plenty of cabins. 

Just tried Ghost booking on September Alaska cruises. You can't get past the screen where you choose a cabin type "No rooms found for this request."  Tried several dates/ships.

Much Respect to Cruise Critic poster Seacruise. He predicted this some time ago and offered excellent reasoning. But I concede the Alaska season is in the toilet. 

[Langley Cruisers]

Alaskan itineraries have to be cancelled because of the breaking news today about no cruise ships being allowed in Canadian waters until at least Oct. 31. I know there is another thread running which addresses this, but it obviously impacts Alaskan itineraries as they require a foreign port to satisfy the PVSA (usually Vancouver or Victoria, depending on itinerary).

 

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/cruise-ship-october-1.5589821

 

 

[Bill Miller]

Thank you Langley & Seacruise! Much respect.

 

[NantahalaCruiser]

On 5/17/2020 at 1:27 PM, Prost Seattle said:

I’ve taken the Cascades several times, there’s an early morning departure and and evening departure (about 6:30 AM and 6 PM) approximate times.  It takes approximately 4 hours, and is frequently delayed as freight trains get priority on the tracks.  It’s a beautiful ride, but north of Bellingham the tracks weren’t in the best condition and there was a lot of rocking of the train.  I never get motion sick...until this train ride.  I now know to plan ahead.  The train ride takes significantly longer than driving or bus ride, but it is a very pleasant ride.  If crowds bother you spring for the business class fare, it’s not that much more, but fewer people per car.  The seats are identical, but they are xx||x in business class vs. xx||xx coach.  

Note also that you need to be at the train station earlier than the stated departure due to customs/immigration - sorry, cannot remember if it was 60 or 90 minutes prior when we used the morning departure.

[WonderMan3]

2 hours ago, Langley Cruisers said:

Alaskan itineraries have to be cancelled because of the breaking news today about no cruise ships being allowed in Canadian waters until at least Oct. 31. I know there is another thread running which addresses this, but it obviously impacts Alaskan itineraries as they require a foreign port to satisfy the PVSA (usually Vancouver or Victoria, depending on itinerary).

 

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/cruise-ship-october-1.5589821

 

 

 

I think they could get around that by having an itinerary that spends 7 days at sea. With Canada out they can’t visit an American port or they would violate the rule. Wouldn’t be ideal but there is a lot of scenic cruising to be had in that area so some people might go for it. Doubt they’ll do that but you never know.

[d9704011]

6 minutes ago, WonderMan3 said:

 

I think they could get around that by having an itinerary that spends 7 days at sea. With Canada out they can’t visit an American port or they would violate the rule. Wouldn’t be ideal but there is a lot of scenic cruising to be had in that area so some people might go for it. Doubt they’ll do that but you never know.

Wouldn’t that scenario just convert the cruise to a ‘cruise to nowhere’ and trigger a requirement for crew members to have US work visas?

[Photo_Traveler]

On 5/29/2020 at 4:00 PM, Langley Cruisers said:

Alaskan itineraries have to be cancelled because of the breaking news today about no cruise ships being allowed in Canadian waters until at least Oct. 31. I know there is another thread running which addresses this, but it obviously impacts Alaskan itineraries as they require a foreign port to satisfy the PVSA (usually Vancouver or Victoria, depending on itinerary).

 

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/cruise-ship-october-1.5589821

 

 

Here is another link about the closure...