Question about Alaska

[barbatkins]

Why do cruise ships have to stop In Canada on their way going or returning from Alaska?

 

Do any ever leave Seattle and go straight to ALaska  ports and then come straight back to Seattle?

 

 

[Outerdog]

1) The Passenger Vessel Services Act (or PVSA) requires that foreign flagged vessels departing from and returning to the same US port visit any foreign port.

 

2) No. See #1.

Edited May 31, 2020 by Outerdog

[barbatkins]

Thanks for quick reply..... I was hoping....

[pete_coach]

10 hours ago, Outerdog said:

1) The Passenger Vessel Services Act (or PVSA) requires that foreign flagged vessels departing from and returning to the same US port visit any foreign port.

 

2) No. See #1.

So, Canada has cancelled all cruise ships with more than 100 passengers are banned until Oct  31 2020 must mean that all the cruises departing Seattle and Vancouver are all cancelled?

The Alaska cruise season is finished for this year.

[don't-use-real-name]

An awkward work around this would be to substitute Ensenada* Mexico for Victoria BC Canada

*BUT* then a 7 day cruise would not see much if any of Alaska !

 

Until Canada comes to some kind of an agreement with the cruise lines - Alaska cruises are

done until such time - including the Vancouver Seward (Anchorage) cruises.

 

* That PVSA  -  Ensenada is the only foreign port with a ghost of a chance of satisfying the requirement

within the frame of a 7 day cruise.

 

So until the PVSA is amended - this is the status quo

 

After this virus crisis - time for the USA and Canada to lighten-up on cruise regulation - both countries

share in the economics of this !

[1025cruise]

Nothing is changing about the PVSA. Unfortunately, Alaska isn't happening this year.

[deege]

Do not post if you do not truly know the answer. Alaska cruises can still occur. With Canada electing to close their ports, this changes the requirements of the PVSA. There have been times the NCL ships have not docked in Canada either due to weather or problems with the ship. There are work-arounds either in monetary compensation or by other means. In fact, a call was placed into NCL and rumor has it they are looking at options to potentially add another Alaska stop for this season since the Canadian ports will be closed.

[wolfie11]

Yes, there might be a possibility that a few ships could cruise to Alaska this summer.  They would have the place all to themselves.  Maybe in Ketchikan they could make a trip to the local Safeway or Walmart as none of the tourists shops will be open.  Then they could visit the library or the little local museum.  In Juneau, they could take the local bus out to Mendenhall Glacier.  Of course, you have to walk the last mile.  They could stroll past the boarded-up gift shops in the dock area.  The tram might be open limited hours if the weather is good.  In Skagway they could walk along the boardwalk and peer into the windows of the historic buildings.  Glacier Bay is closed to large ships, but you can still go to Tracy or Endicott Arm, so at least they'd get to see a glacier.  I'm sure the cruise line would love it, as they'd have to spend all their money on board...

[smplybcause]

As PSVA stands Alaska cruises aren't legal without a stop in Canada. The government has allowed exceptions before, but those have been more emergency-like. A storm preventing docking, an ill/injured passenger causes an unscheduled stop, a port closes, etc.

 

Who knows whether the government actually would allow an exception that stands for a few months or not. I think the cruise lines are looking into it as they are delaying cancellations. 

[njhorseman]

1 hour ago, deege said:

Do not post if you do not truly know the answer. Alaska cruises can still occur. With Canada electing to close their ports, this changes the requirements of the PVSA. There have been times the NCL ships have not docked in Canada either due to weather or problems with the ship. There are work-arounds either in monetary compensation or by other means. In fact, a call was placed into NCL and rumor has it they are looking at options to potentially add another Alaska stop for this season since the Canadian ports will be closed.

You're wrong. Nothing about Canada closing their ports changes the PVSA requirements.

 

The PVSA can only be waived for national security reasons, and a vacation cruise is most definitely not a national security issue. On the rare occasions when a required foreign port call can't be made because of  weather conditions or  mechanical issues DHS will grant one time exception to the PVSA fines because the violation was caused by an act of God or other circumstances that were out of the cruise line's control.  (By the way "act of God " is a well-defined legal term that is often used in contracts and insurance policies .) That is vastly different than a cruise line requesting an exception in advance for a situation they are already aware of. 

 

 

[njhorseman]

23 minutes ago, smplybcause said:

As PSVA stands Alaska cruises aren't legal without a stop in Canada. The government has allowed exceptions before, but those have been more emergency-like. A storm preventing docking, an ill/injured passenger causes an unscheduled stop, a port closes, etc.

 

Who knows whether the government actually would allow an exception that stands for a few months or not. I think the cruise lines are looking into it as they are delaying cancellations. 

 The two largest cruise operators in Alaska, Princess and Holland America, had already cancelled their entire Alaska cruise seasons well before the Canadian government made this announcement ...so no...they haven't delayed cancellations hoping for some magical work around.

 

In general the major cruise lines have been rolling out cancellations for all destinations, not just Alaska, only about a month at a time in order to control the outflow of refunds for cancelled cruises and to manage the workload associated with processing those cancellations.

 

Edit...I see that Royal Caribbean has now pulled all its 2020 Alaska and Canada/New England  cruises from their website...so they've also now thrown in the towel. I would expect NCL's remaining 2020 Alaska cruises to disappear shortly.

Edited May 31, 2020 by njhorseman

[Outerdog]

2 hours ago, deege said:

With Canada electing to close their ports, this changes the requirements of the PVSA.

 

No.

 

 

[roger001]

NCL will be very happy to take your money still (full payment) for Alaska cruises on the Jewel and the Joy, leaving August 1st and 3rd, both ships stopping or originating from Canada.    

[Travelling2Some]

Where are those people who would like California to secede from the union when you need them? 

[pete_coach]

On 5/31/2020 at 1:32 PM, deege said:

Do not post if you do not truly know the answer. Alaska cruises can still occur. With Canada electing to close their ports, this changes the requirements of the PVSA. There have been times the NCL ships have not docked in Canada either due to weather or problems with the ship. There are work-arounds either in monetary compensation or by other means. In fact, a call was placed into NCL and rumor has it they are looking at options to potentially add another Alaska stop for this season since the Canadian ports will be closed.

Not sure you are accusing of incorrect or false answers but you are out of line.Emergency situations dictate what can happen. You accuse of not knowing the answer yet you post a rumor.

Fact is, Canadian ports are closed and it is a 120 year old American law (Passenger Vessel Services Act of 1886) that prevents cruises from Seattle to Alaska. That is the answer.

Now, if the cruise lines would register some of their ships in the US, this would not be a problem and they could save half their annual revenues