HAL resuming in Alaska July 24

[rhblake]

I hate to be a stick in the mud BUT the CDC has yet to approve any ship for sailing. Even if the law is passed so they do not need to stop in a foreign port, they still need CDC approval to sail. Am I missing something?

[CruiserBruce]

12 minutes ago, rhblake said:

I hate to be a stick in the mud BUT the CDC has yet to approve any ship for sailing. Even if the law is passed so they do not need to stop in a foreign port, they still need CDC approval to sail. Am I missing something?

No, you aren't missing anything. The key points in the CDC's orders are getting resolved daily. The CDC had indicated cruising could possibly resume in July.

 

Plus, the Florida lawsuit is in mediation. The likely result is going to be the CDC allowing cruises to resume. An agreement  could easily come in the next week or two.

[kelleherdl]

7 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

No, you aren't missing anything. The key points in the CDC's orders are getting resolved daily. The CDC had indicated cruising could possibly resume in July.

 

Plus, the Florida lawsuit is in mediation. The likely result is going to be the CDC allowing cruises to resume. An agreement  could easily come in the next week or two.

I think the relative silence about the lawsuit supports your conclusion.  Both sides are being disciplined.  The ruling, I bet, will be both face-saving for CDC and avoid a direct ruling on the key question of the CDC’s legal authority to impose the CSO in the first place.

 

Dennis

[zelker]

10 hours ago, AtlantaCruiser72 said:

 

Icy Strait is on the same day as Glacier Bay.  It's like a bonus port as most cruise lines only offer 3 Alaskan Ports in a 7 day sailing and HAL adding this as a 4th stop!  Since it stays light so late that far north in Summertime an evening call can still allow for some good wildlife viewing - especially if going in late August/Early September during Bear Season!

 

Ketchikan has limited hours often due to port congestion with Morning ships and afternoon ships swapping out the same berths on many days PLUS the distance from there to Seattle, especially if having to avoid Canadian waters, may just be too far to lengthen the port timing in any meaningful way.

 

Two comments (IMHO of course) ...

 

Re:  ISP/Hoonah - in late July, sunset is around 9:30 but by the end of August, sunset is 8:00 pm and by the last cruise in September it's at 6:45 pm.  The ship is only in port from 6:00 until 10:00 pm unless you're sailing on one of the earlier dates, there is going to be limited to basically no daylight to do outdoor activities.

 

Re:  Ketchikan - this summer there aren't going to be a lot of ships vying for berths there so the decision to cut the time there shorter than "normal" shouldn't be impacted by ships in port.  It was originally done to facilitate the ship getting to Victoria but since that's now a non-issue, it's possible they'll extend Ketchikan a few hours and then head south to Seattle but of course you're right, if they have to avoid the Inside Passage (which would be a shame!!), then they will likely still sail at 1:00.  Time will tell.

 

Edited May 21, 2021 by zelker

[Mosaic]

Just checked a Neptune SA, 7 day in September---$10,000 for the room---without logging in.

[zelker]

6 minutes ago, Mosaic said:

Just checked a Neptune SA, 7 day in September---$10,000 for the room---without logging in.

How?  I don't see it on the HAL site yet.

[gotta cruise again]

15 minutes ago, Mosaic said:

Just checked a Neptune SA, 7 day in September---$10,000 for the room---without logging in.

Is that per person or the total for two people? With or without the Have it All package?

[JRG]

9 hours ago, jakers said:

A sea day is much better. Icy Straight Point is a good location for whale watching. I suspect that it was added in order for HAL to make money off of tours. With the exception of the Cannery there is little to see in town.

 

We saw the Northern Lights in early Sept near Icy Straight Point at midnight.   

 

I'll bet development is ongoing at ISP since we've been there too,  I'd expect to see Diamonds International next time we visit.

 

There are some good firepits and a state of the art trinket store that you can't miss as you disembark though.

 

I'd be good to see some take-away King Crab shacks to tide you over during your stay too.   If you like a good walk,  you can walk down to Hoonah along the seaboard trail.

 

The highlight of Hoonah seems to be a lazy old watchdog that sits in front of his sea cottage next to a basket that says 'donations'.

 

 

[idiebabe]

1 hour ago, rhblake said:

I hate to be a stick in the mud BUT the CDC has yet to approve any ship for sailing. Even if the law is passed so they do not need to stop in a foreign port, they still need CDC approval to sail. Am I missing something?

The CDC just approved 8 night or  longer Itineraries are permitted before the 10/31/21 date!  Carnival made an announcement!  

[PattiPB]

So we were on the July 18 Oosterdam. The email I received yesterday moved us to the Neiuw Amsterdam on August 21, which is not possible for us (teachers). When I called, I mentioned moving the cruise to 2022, which is what we hoped to do. She told me to refer to the cancellation form, but when I try to use it, it says it's not available for my booking.

 

I'm guessing I just need to wait a few days for it to catch up to this new news, but has anyone been offered 2022 sailings instead of rebooked 2021 (that's what I was hoping for)?

[CI66774]

1 hour ago, kelleherdl said:

I think the relative silence about the lawsuit supports your conclusion.  Both sides are being disciplined.  The ruling, I bet, will be both face-saving for CDC and avoid a direct ruling on the key question of the CDC’s legal authority to impose the CSO in the first place.

 

Dennis

That’s not how it works. FL has a law in place that bans vaccine passports. Unless that issue is resolved either by the parties (FL, CDC) with something not requiring any vax verification or by a Order of the Court, FL will not allow cruising from its state ports as CDC doesn’t have jurisdiction over whether FL allows a ship to dock or not.

[IPB4IGO]

10 hours ago, jakers said:

[snip] Icy Straight Point is a good location for whale watching. I suspect that it was added in order for HAL to make money off of tours. With the exception of the Cannery there is little to see in town.

Except that it has the world's longest zip line. That was the high point of the cruise that we took that included Icy Strait Point.

[CruiserBruce]

1 hour ago, CI66774 said:

That’s not how it works. FL has a law in place that bans vaccine passports. Unless that issue is resolved either by the parties (FL, CDC) with something not requiring any vax verification or by a Order of the Court, FL will not allow cruising from its state ports as CDC doesn’t have jurisdiction over whether FL allows a ship to dock or not.

Its an EO right now. I believe the law doesn't take effect until July 1. The parties were directed to start mediation no later than June 1. Florida risks losing in court entirely. The resolution could be Florida drops the suit and modifies slightly it's vaccine passport law, and CDC allows cruising.

[Crazy For Cats]

It appears as though the cabins are going quickly.  The suites on our cruise are not available.  Glad I moved as quickly as I did.

[Brentt_M]

28 minutes ago, Crazy For Cats said:

It appears as though the cabins are going quickly.  The suites on our cruise are not available.  Glad I moved as quickly as I did.

Agreed.  Glad I was able to have my TA grab me one of the corner aft neptunes last night.  I am beyond excited that we may actually be cruising in Alaska this summer!  July 31st can't get here soon enough now.

[Crazy For Cats]

55 minutes ago, Brentt_M said:

Agreed.  Glad I was able to have my TA grab me one of the corner aft neptunes last night.  I am beyond excited that we may actually be cruising in Alaska this summer!  July 31st can't get here soon enough now.

Which deck did you get?  Our corner aft is on deck 8.  

[Brentt_M]

Deck 6 for us.

[Lady Arwen]

I sincerely wish you all the most fabulous cruise!  So happy for you.....please report back to us with all the details.  Congratulations!

[1ANGELCAT]

@LAFFNVEGAS   Lisa, has it been announced if Seattle will be offering the Port Valet service again ?

 

[LAFFNVEGAS]

28 minutes ago, 1ANGELCAT said:

@LAFFNVEGAS   Lisa, has it been announced if Seattle will be offering the Port Valet service again ?

 

Unfortunately, I have not heard anything about this. I think that considerably lower on the list of concerns at this point of everything they are trying to get worked out. I would give it a few weeks for more information that will be coming out. 

[rucrazy]

6 hours ago, Mosaic said:

Just checked a Neptune SA, 7 day in September---$10,000 for the room---without logging in.

I saw that too

[T8NCruise]

3 hours ago, Brentt_M said:

Deck 6 for us.

I spent 30 days in an aft wrap Neptune on deck 6.  Too windy. Midship deck 7 for me.

[cruisegirl]

20 hours ago, jakers said:

Icy Strait Point was added in September of last year. HAL is substituting a sea day in place of Victoria. On a previous HAL cruise we were denied entry into Victoria due to a norovirus outbreak on the ship. We spent the entire day anchored in the Victoria harbor. Everything on the ship was closed down with nothing to do. A sea day is much better. Icy Straight Point is a good location for whale watching. I suspect that it was added in order for HAL to make money off of tours. With the exception of the Cannery there is little to see in town.

Icy Strait Point was on our last Alaskan cruise several years ago. I had the feeling it hadn’t been open to cruise ships very long at that time. As I recall there weren’t many tours offered. We had friends that took a whale watching expedition and saw lots of whales, some fairly closely. We were sorry we hadn’t taken it too. But late in the day it may not be offered. 

[cruisegirl]

11 hours ago, idiebabe said:

The CDC just approved 8 night or  longer Itineraries are permitted before the 10/31/21 date!  Carnival made an announcement!  

Wow!  That is fantastic!  You made my day. 

[cruisegirl]

11 hours ago, JRG said:

 

We saw the Northern Lights in early Sept near Icy Straight Point at midnight.   

 

I'll bet development is ongoing at ISP since we've been there too,  I'd expect to see Diamonds International next time we visit.

 

There are some good firepits and a state of the art trinket store that you can't miss as you disembark though.

 

I'd be good to see some take-away King Crab shacks to tide you over during your stay too.   If you like a good walk,  you can walk down to Hoonah along the seaboard trail.

 

The highlight of Hoonah seems to be a lazy old watchdog that sits in front of his sea cottage next to a basket that says 'donations'.

 

 

Having been to Icy Strait Point about 12 years ago the idea of Diamonds International being there gave me a good chuckle. I sure hope it isn’t. It would be very out of place unless things have changed drastically.