Alaska Cruises 2021

[reallyitsmema]

32 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

It because it has to be shifted +/- 28 days (4 weeks) and the new sailing must depart no later than April 30, 2022.  Yours is past the deadline while May 10 is not. 

 

Doesn't it have to be a similar itinerary though?  We are early May too and would L&S to April 2022 but Alaska sailings do not start until May.  I tried the online form and it says my reservation number is not eligible.  I would L&S to Anthem to save our sky loft pricing.

[Ourusualbeach]

1 minute ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

Doesn't it have to be a similar itinerary though?  We are early May too and would L&S to April 2022 but Alaska sailings do not start until May.  I tried the online form and it says my reservation number is not eligible.  I would L&S to Anthem to save our sky loft pricing.

Apparently Twangster shifted his to a non similar itinerary. I found that unusual. 

[reallyitsmema]

1 minute ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Apparently Twangster shifted his to a non similar itinerary. I found that unusual. 

 

As do I, maybe because of status?

[Ourusualbeach]

2 minutes ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

As do I, maybe because of status?

Status has nothing to do with any of the L&S’s.  

[reallyitsmema]

9 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Status has nothing to do with any of the L&S’s.  

 

Yes, but if the TA had to call to get it done and it wasn't an official L&S, status absolutely could have been part of it.

[Tree_skier]

1 hour ago, TravelerThom said:

I really don’t have an accurate take on where RCI ships are currently, but I think they are all thousands of miles from Alaska. Probably closest are in the Caribbean on the other side of the Panama Canal. Chances of organizing a last minute multiweek repositioning cruise are slim to none. I’d think chances of ANY Alaska large ship Cruises in 2021 are unlikely and fading with every passing week. 

I'd think the best case scenario would be with the ships that are currently in Asia.  Quantum, Ovation, and Radiance could cross the Atlantic if they were going to get a significant portion of the Alaska season in.  

 

Serenade is sitting down off the coast of Barbados.  I think you can almost forget about that one in Alaska for this coming season.

[Iamcruzin]

5 hours ago, Tree_skier said:

Canada will probably have just recently been through an election at that point.  I think the border opening is more likely if there is a change in Government.

I know nothing of the Canadian Government. My head is spinning with the US government. Do you think there will be a change?

[Ourusualbeach]

11 minutes ago, Iamcruzin said:

I know nothing of the Canadian Government. My head is spinning with the US government. Do you think there will be a change?

Most likely not

[whitshel]

3 hours ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

Doesn't it have to be a similar itinerary though?  We are early May too and would L&S to April 2022 but Alaska sailings do not start until May.  I tried the online form and it says my reservation number is not eligible.  I would L&S to Anthem to save our sky loft pricing.

My guess is this was not a Lift and Shift, just a basic switched booking.  Again my guess, price wasn't protected, # of days were different.  Anyone can do this before final payment.  The only thing that may have been changed was if it was an NRD then they may have waived that.  You can correct me if I'm wrong or misunderstood....

Edited December 16, 2020 by whitshel

[Ourusualbeach]

6 minutes ago, whitshel said:

My guess is this was not a Lift and Shift, just a basic switched booking.  Again my guess, price wasn't protected, # of days were different.  Anyone can do this before final payment.  The only thing that may have been changed was if it was an NRD then they may have waived that.  You can correct me if I'm wrong or misunderstood....

You are correct.  Twangster did state in a subsequent post it was not a L&S but jus5 a move that is a standard part of the CWC.

[Biker19]

7 hours ago, TravelerThom said:

 Chances of organizing a last minute multiweek repositioning cruise are slim to none.

Princess seems to be hopeful - they are sending three ships across the Pacific from Asiaa to the West coast.

[tallgirl97]

So does this really mean that none of the 2021 Alaska cruises are eligible for L&S?

We had a big group Alaska cruise booked for 2020, cancelled it on our own before L&S was rolled out, moved the deposit to a date in 2021 that cost almost 50% more at the time of booking, and then worked diligently to take advantage of several price drops since then to get the price back down. Looking at the 2022 dates now, if the prices aren't protected by L&S again, we're probably looking at paying 50% more again. I feel there's a good chance there will be price drops we can take advantage of in the meantime, but this has been an awful lot of work for a single trip. I was annoyed that we weren't covered by L&S when I made the first move, and I'm even more annoyed now that I'm not being covered by L&S a second time. The group still wants to see this cruise through, but the Royal Caribbean experience (our first) has been awful thus far, and I doubt we'll be back for more in the future.

[Ourusualbeach]

28 minutes ago, tallgirl97 said:

So does this really mean that none of the 2021 Alaska cruises are eligible for L&S?

At the current time that is correct.

Edited December 16, 2020 by Ourusualbeach

[Crazy planning mom]

5 hours ago, tallgirl97 said:

So does this really mean that none of the 2021 Alaska cruises are eligible for L&S?

We had a big group Alaska cruise booked for 2020, cancelled it on our own before L&S was rolled out, moved the deposit to a date in 2021 that cost almost 50% more at the time of booking, and then worked diligently to take advantage of several price drops since then to get the price back down. Looking at the 2022 dates now, if the prices aren't protected by L&S again, we're probably looking at paying 50% more again. I feel there's a good chance there will be price drops we can take advantage of in the meantime, but this has been an awful lot of work for a single trip. I was annoyed that we weren't covered by L&S when I made the first move, and I'm even more annoyed now that I'm not being covered by L&S a second time. The group still wants to see this cruise through, but the Royal Caribbean experience (our first) has been awful thus far, and I doubt we'll be back for more in the future.

The situation really stinks but no other cruise line except Celebrity which is owned by Royal even offers Lift and Shift.

[EdandMary]

I just wish that the U.S. government would eliminate the outdated law that mandates any cruise ship not made in the USA could just cruise without having to stop in a foreign port.  Sometime ago the cruise ship used to stop at a foreign port at midnight for one hour to satisfy that law but I don't think this is allowed anymore. Why not just do a midnight stop in Canada, nobody except customs or port authorities enter or exit the ship, and then the ship sails away. Just a thought but it will never happen me thinks.

[Blizzard54]

On 12/15/2020 at 1:01 PM, TravelerThom said:

I really don’t have an accurate take on where RCI ships are currently, but I think they are all thousands of miles from Alaska. Probably closest are in the Caribbean on the other side of the Panama Canal. Chances of organizing a last minute multiweek repositioning cruise are slim to none. I’d think chances of ANY Alaska large ship Cruises in 2021 are unlikely and fading with every passing week. 

All of the Royal ships that are scheduled for Alaska are in the Southern Hemisphere.  The Ovation is scheduled to come out of drydock in Singapore 4/21. 

 

edit: one of them is in the Caribbean, the Serenade.

Edited December 18, 2020 by Blizzard54

[Blizzard54]

I have one Alaska booked for May and 2 each in August and September.  I do not have a lot of hope for the first one but I am hopeful of the other 4.

[zdcatc12]

5 hours ago, EdandMary said:

 Why not just do a midnight stop in Canada, nobody except customs or port authorities enter or exit the ship, and then the ship sails away. Just a thought but it will never happen me thinks.

I hear that is not legal anymore. CCL used to do it on their Mexican Riviera cruises, but they are not allowed to anymore. I am sure this would be the same circumstances.

[twangster]

8 hours ago, EdandMary said:

I just wish that the U.S. government would eliminate the outdated law that mandates any cruise ship not made in the USA could just cruise without having to stop in a foreign port.  Sometime ago the cruise ship used to stop at a foreign port at midnight for one hour to satisfy that law but I don't think this is allowed anymore. Why not just do a midnight stop in Canada, nobody except customs or port authorities enter or exit the ship, and then the ship sails away. Just a thought but it will never happen me thinks.

 

There is a vibrant US fleet of passenger vessels beyond cruise ships.  It's not a "cruise ship" act but a "passenger vessel" act so it applies to much more than cruise ships.

 

Plus there are US companies offering passenger services in the same areas.

 

Plus there are immigration issues with foreign crew.

 

Plus the mass market cruise lines are foreign companies paying very little US tax employing very few Americans.  They can choose to operate this way.  They know the laws,  They choose lower taxes and wages rather than attempting to comply with requirements to be exempt from these laws.  That's on the cruise lines, not the US government.

 

Here's a thought.  Why not book a cruise with the US companies with US crew on US flagged ships that offer Alaska cruises from Seattle.  They don't have to stop in Canada.  

 

I get it, people want cheap cruises.  The way mass market cruise lines offer cheap cruises is by being foreign companies paying little in US taxes, using foreign flagged ships, using foreign crew that aren't subject to US wage laws.  

 

People don't want to buy from American companies to save money.  That's a choice.  Accept the rules that apply for that choice or buy American.  Don't ask the US government to change the law to benefit foreign companies paying little US tax employing very few Americans so you can have a better vacation at a lower cost.

[SkaterJasp]

On 12/15/2020 at 3:05 PM, Tree_skier said:

I'd think the best case scenario would be with the ships that are currently in Asia.  Quantum, Ovation, and Radiance could cross the Atlantic if they were going to get a significant portion of the Alaska season in.  

 

Serenade is sitting down off the coast of Barbados.  I think you can almost forget about that one in Alaska for this coming season.

You mean the Pacific? I was book on Ovation going from Yokohama to Seattle via Russia and Quantum was scheduled to do the same but from Tokyo around the same time. I lift and shifted because I doubt that cruise would be happening. 

[SkaterJasp]

9 hours ago, Blizzard54 said:

All of the Royal ships that are scheduled for Alaska are in the Southern Hemisphere.  The Ovation is scheduled to come out of drydock in Singapore 4/21. 

 

edit: one of them is in the Caribbean, the Serenade.

Both Ovation and Quantum are in Singapore... Singapore is still in the Northern Hemisphere (1 degree north of the Equator) and both were scheduled to go from Tokyo to Seattle.

[SkaterJasp]

2 hours ago, twangster said:

Here's a thought.  Why not book a cruise with the US companies with US crew on US flagged ships that offer Alaska cruises from Seattle.  They don't have to stop in Canada.  

Because American Cruise Lines is insanely expensive, starting at almost $6,000 per person for their cheapest Alaska sailing and the ship is tiny. Than theres the Alaska State Ferry but it’s not the full cruise experience but you do have the option to get your own stateroom.  

But at the same time, many businesses in Alaska that depends on cruise traffic are hurting because theres no cruise ships visiting their port. 

Edited December 19, 2020 by SkaterJasp

[twangster]

5 hours ago, SkaterJasp said:

Because American Cruise Lines is insanely expensive, starting at almost $6,000 per person for their cheapest Alaska sailing and the ship is tiny. Than theres the Alaska State Ferry but it’s not the full cruise experience but you do have the option to get your own stateroom.  

But at the same time, many businesses in Alaska that depends on cruise traffic are hurting because theres no cruise ships visiting their port. 

 

Some businesses in only SE Alaska rely on mass cruise tourism but ironically most workers come from the South for the season and go right back home when it's over.  In terms of the entire state of Alaska it's a small component of their economy.  

 

However you raise a good point.  Think how cheap we could make things across America if we let foreign companies do business across America.  

 

We could replace US airlines with foreign companies with foreign employees who pay zero US income tax being paid wages based on wage standards in their home country while requiring these businesses to pay no US corporate tax.  Instead of $500 to fly across America we would be able to do that for $60.

 

We could allow foreign companies to open restaurants and bars requiring them to pay no city/state/federal tax while not requiring them to comply with the same regulations that domestic companies must.  Instead of taking the SO out and paying $45 for a sit down meal you could be only paying $15 for the same thing.

 

Most of us enjoy products that at one time rode in a truck somewhere along the supply chain.  We could save Americans billions by allowing cheap foreign companies to do the trucking across America.

 

How about Healthcare?  We could allow foreign companies to build healthcare facilities that aren't required to satisfy the same regulations and they could further reduce costs by using foreign workers paying no US income tax while the companies pay no corporate tax or city and state taxes.  Now that $500k heart attack will only cost insurance companies $25k.  The healthcare insurance companies will love it.

 

Your plan could save trillions of dollars across America.  Foreign public schools, foreign transit systems, foreign construction companies and so on.  Great idea.  Call your elected officials on Monday and propose your plan.  

 

[SkaterJasp]

4 hours ago, twangster said:

 

Some businesses in only SE Alaska rely on mass cruise tourism but ironically most workers come from the South for the season and go right back home when it's over.  In terms of the entire state of Alaska it's a small component of their economy.  

 

However you raise a good point.  Think how cheap we could make things across America if we let foreign companies do business across America.  

 

We could replace US airlines with foreign companies with foreign employees who pay zero US income tax being paid wages based on wage standards in their home country while requiring these businesses to pay no US corporate tax.  Instead of $500 to fly across America we would be able to do that for $60.

 

We could allow foreign companies to open restaurants and bars requiring them to pay no city/state/federal tax while not requiring them to comply with the same regulations that domestic companies must.  Instead of taking the SO out and paying $45 for a sit down meal you could be only paying $15 for the same thing.

 

Most of us enjoy products that at one time rode in a truck somewhere along the supply chain.  We could save Americans billions by allowing cheap foreign companies to do the trucking across America.

 

How about Healthcare?  We could allow foreign companies to build healthcare facilities that aren't required to satisfy the same regulations and they could further reduce costs by using foreign workers paying no US income tax while the companies pay no corporate tax or city and state taxes.  Now that $500k heart attack will only cost insurance companies $25k.  The healthcare insurance companies will love it.

 

Your plan could save trillions of dollars across America.  Foreign public schools, foreign transit systems, foreign construction companies and so on.  Great idea.  Call your elected officials on Monday and propose your plan.  

 

There are many foreign companies that own and operate restaurants, hotels, apartments, etc... in the United States and they are all require to follow both state and federal labor laws and pay their taxes to operate. Just as there are many American companies operating in other counties.
 

 Although foreign airlines don’t sell tickets point to point within the United States... there are airlines (Cathay Pacific and Norwegian) with or had US base crews and they are subject to FAA rules for qualifications and pay. 

same goes for health care, the largest being Bayers. With the way the current healthcare system is set up in the US, there’s no incentive for foreign companies to lower their prices because insurance will pretty much pay for whatever they get billed as our premiums continue to go up. 

We even have foreign companies serving planes such as Lufthansa Tech and Manzies. They all pay US taxes and follow US regulations. 

 

the bottom line is you’re making it sound like there’s no foreign own businesses in the United States when the fact is the complete opposite. 
 

Even airbus build planes in the United Stares to sell to airlines in the Western Hemisphere. 
 

Also there are a ton of competition in the US for air travel so there’s really no reason to open that up. Yet there’s virtually no competition for cruises and US based cruise lines knows that and there’s no incentive for them to create a better product or offer lower fares. 

Edited December 19, 2020 by SkaterJasp

[SkaterJasp]

5 hours ago, twangster said:

Instead of $500 to fly across America we would be able to do that for $60.

 

I mean I can fly between Florida and California for $42 and enjoy free movies, non alcoholic beverage, and a biscoff. 
 

promo code FLYWITHME (today is the last day of the sale)

Edited December 19, 2020 by SkaterJasp