Canadian government CANCELS 2021 Alaska cruise Season

[poffles]

8 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

Impossible to get everyone vaccinated by May. 

 

100% on this and who exactly would everyone be anyway.  In Canada, my province is making September the date they are 'guaranteeing' to everyone right now and even that fades with the vaccine  production/shipment limitations that have been happening recently.

 

Oh and I am the East Coast so we would be the ones still holding our breath for the vaccine by the fall unless you are health worker or older population which I am totally good with as the more vulnerable definitely supersede.

Edited February 4, 2021 by poffles

[dkjretired]

Keep in mind  this affects not only Alaska cruise but also the New England/Canada cruises. 

[bEwAbG]

Just now, kwokpot said:

Impossible to get everyone vaccinated by May. 

 

For sure.  I meant that to imply that we already know that not everyone will be vaccinated by May, so it stands to reason that there will be no time to operate cruises during the traditional season.  If the vaccination rollout were going better or if case loads weren't so high in the U.S., this might could have been a different decision.

[Fouremco]

1 hour ago, Oren said:

Time to plan for 2022!

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/24324-alaska-cruise-season-cancelled-as-canadian-government-bans-cruise-ships-for-2021.html

 

https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/government-of-canada-announces-one-year-ban-for-pleasure-craft-and-cruise-vessels-830109188.html#:~:text=Today%2C the Minister of Transport,prohibited from entering Arctic waters.

 

As an aside, I'm amazed that the Cruise Industry News would publish an article that erroneously refers to the Jones Act instead of the PVSA:

 

The ruling effectively kills the Alaska cruise season for foreign-flagged ships as well as other cruise seasons in the Great Lakes and Canada/New England for ships under foreign flag. Only a handful of smaller ships fly a U.S. flag and don't need to visit a foreign port (Canada) to satisfy the U.S. Jones Act.

 

Is it any wonder that people confuse the two pieces of legislation when an organization with the sole purpose of publishing cruise industry news can't get it right?

Edited February 4, 2021 by Fouremco

[alley24]

So if we are all supposed to use our Future Cruise Credits by May 2022.  Where does this leave us now??

[nocl]

42 minutes ago, phoenix_dream said:

If they determine that vaccinated people do not carry Covid (and I know that has not been fully determined yet) and cruise lines require vaccinations, this would not happen.

Will according to the last stats released by AZ the number of positive PCR tests in those that had received their vaccine reduced by 67%  which unfortunately means that a fairly high percentage of those vaccinated with that vaccine can still shed and infect.  

 

The other concern is limiting the spread of the new variants that can be even more troublesome, so I would not expect it to change before the epidemic is considered to be controlled in both the US and Canada.

[LGW59]

10 minutes ago, alley24 said:

So if we are all supposed to use our Future Cruise Credits by May 2022.  Where does this leave us now??

rolling the dice

[nocl]

10 minutes ago, alley24 said:

So if we are all supposed to use our Future Cruise Credits by May 2022.  Where does this leave us now??

Maybe the Caribbean or Mexico

[Cruise Junky]

In theory ships could go. They’d have to be probably minimum 2 week cruises. Leave out of LA or San Diego with Ensenada as a port stop. 

[Turtles06]

1 hour ago, poffles said:

 

Totally agree, my city of Halifax relies a lot on the cruise ship tourism and tourism in general so this is a HUGE decision and impact.  That said, I tend to applaud the guts to make such a decision long out instead of the month by month that holds people hostage to hope that is (as we've seen over and over) repeatedly being dashed little by little.

 

I wish the title of this thread was not worded to put the cancellation of Alaska cruising on the Canadian government's shoulders, is it not an American policy that is the cause and Canada is just the means to abide by that law so in theory it's the law that is the challenge.

You are correct — the title of the thread is poorly worded. It is our American law that will determine what happens to Alaska cruises. 
 

We have visited your lovely city of Halifax twice by cruise ship and enjoyed both visits very much. I realize how much your government’s decision will affect Halifax financially.  I wish you all the best, and please stay safe. 

[jelayne]

46 minutes ago, alley24 said:

So if we are all supposed to use our Future Cruise Credits by May 2022.  Where does this leave us now??

I guess we start looking at cruises for late 2021 and early 2022.

[phoenix_dream]

8 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

You are correct — the title of the thread is poorly worded. It is our American law that will determine what happens to Alaska cruises. 
 

We have visited your lovely city of Halifax twice by cruise ship and enjoyed both visits very much. I realize how much your government’s decision will affect Halifax financially.  I wish you all the best, and please stay safe. 

I would say the thread title is half right.  it certainly does cancel the many Alaska cruises that sail out of Vancouver - like mine😔

[gold1953]

1 hour ago, Ashland said:

So does this mean my RCI Oct 2021 Canada/NE cruise will be cancelled by the cruiseline?

yes..Canada is not allowing cruises until 2022  unless they can change the port

[saphir]

i have a cruise scheduled for September for Hawaii, leaving Vancouver.........it will probably be cancelled ☹️

[mom says]

24 minutes ago, Cruise Junky said:

In theory ships could go. They’d have to be probably minimum 2 week cruises. Leave out of LA or San Diego with Ensenada as a port stop. 

I thought cruises out of the US were limited to 7 days only until November.

[Cruise Junky]

1 minute ago, mom says said:

I thought cruises out of the US were limited to 7 days only until November.

Ah, I didn’t have an end date. I knew it was in effect to start up cruising again. Yeah, November won’t work for that. 

[hcat]

Wow... that is tough news!

 

We did a lift and shift  to  Jan 2022 for a US based cruise  not involving Canada but this does not bode well for any of us!

[macmax]

23 minutes ago, saphir said:

i have a cruise scheduled for September for Hawaii, leaving Vancouver.........it will probably be cancelled ☹️

For sure.

[phoenix_dream]

While this was not totally unexpected, the more I think it over the more I fear for the future of the cruise lines.  At first I was very confident they would survive.  But this is another severe blow to the already unthinkable current situation.  How much more can they absorb and still exist?!!?

[Cruise Junky]

1 hour ago, dkjretired said:

Keep in mind  this affects not only Alaska cruise but also the New England/Canada cruises. 

And Hawaii. 

[LGW59]

Just now, phoenix_dream said:

While this was not totally unexpected, the more I think it over the more I fear for the future of the cruise lines.  At first I was very confident they would survive.  But this is another severe blow to the already unthinkable current situation.  How much more can they absorb and still exist?!!?

Totally agree with this.  With fall 2021 being the apparent time "most" will have been offered to get the vaccine, I believe it wipes out the summer season and I would just guess most of the fall as well.  I sure hope not!!!!

[middlehaitch]

On the positive side, this does give both the cruise lines and passengers time to re adjust their expectations (for want of a  better word) and not stagger along month by month wondering what will happen next.

 

With the problems Canada is having acquiring their orders of vaccine it is a prudent move to restrict travel to protect residents and visitors alike.

 

Cheers, h.

[TMLAalum]

Work Around?

Our Alaska cruise r/t Seattle on NCL missed Victoria because of a damaged azipod. We anchored in Canadian water but never came ashore. If this was allowed then, could it not be permitted now? That way Alaska cruises could proceed this season provided other covid protocols were in place and the CDC gave a green light.

 

[RickT]

Not unexpected given the increased restrictions/rules regarding entry into Canada by Air (and supposedly will be applied to arrival by land). Unfortunately the second wave was worse than expected in Canada and our hope for all Canadians to be vaccinated by September is looking more and more like a fairy tale rather than a plan.

 

At this point increased measures are being implemented to reduce Covid and the cruise industry is the latest to be impacted.  I was looking forward to seeing cruise ships in Halifax this summer but guess I’ll have to wait until 2022.  Stay safe everyone.

[WonderMan3]

Good job Canada! Hopefully the U.S. government makes the same decision soon.