Another nail in the coffin for an Alaska season in '21?

[jlwhitney]

No necessarily. Depending how the vaccination is progressing, we could return to an « almost normal« and some reopenings as soon as this spring.

That being said, here it is not the people nor the business who calls the shot but health departments. As I said earlier, the fines can be extremely rough on your wallet. And it still has absolutely no impact on port reopening.

When the government says the port isn’t reopening, it’s not reopening.

Not really talking about Canada but in the us, and by summer is the furthest out. But I don't expect a summer alaska season either way. I feel so bad for the small alaska towns , many of those people must really be hurting with no tourism for potentially two summers.

 

[mevelandry]

Not really talking about Canada but in the us, and by summer is the furthest out. But I don't expect a summer alaska season either way. I feel so bad for the small alaska towns , many of those people must really be hurting with no tourism for potentially two summers.

US ports don‘t receive any kind of relief?

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

Given that they're offering the random 2 night sailing out of Seattle, I think DCL is hopeful that Alaska sailings might happen, but I don't think it likely, given the new strains of the virus and the slow pace of vaccinations. If by the end of February vaccine rollout in the States has somehow miraculously matched that of Israel, I still think getting Canada to approve giant cruise ships full of Americans docking at their ports will be a hard sell. The new restrictions for international travel arrivals could also scupper these sailings. If DCL could somehow swap out Vancouver for Seattle, I might see it happening, but I'm assuming all of those slots are full. You would also have to deny anyone in Skagway from entering the Canadian Yukon territory or else have to be tested/quarantined upon reentry.

 

[Lumpy1106]

What does that have to do with Alaskan cruises?

TO be fair, the article in the OP doesn't mention cruises either (ships are Canadian flagged though - I get the connection).

The article, in a nutshell is highlighting the hardline stance of the CDN government against travel - which to me does not leave room for resuming cruises even with a vaccine passport (which I would be 100% "on-board" with), because they are taking a "misery loves company" approach. Well, good luck to them. That's backfired here in CA in a major way. Not only is it destroying businesses and wrecking kids lives, but it is also resulting in a lot of people just rebelling against the restrictions and spreading COVID even more. It's a lose-lose. Canadians are a more patient lot though and their border is a lot more secure - maybe it will work? It's not my dog in that fight, so as I said, best of luck to them.

 

[tidefan]

In theory, the US Gov't could issue specific exemptions to the PVSA, but I am not sure that they would. Another thing I could see happening is ships going with a small passenger base that may be vaccinated. Thinking of Holland America and to a lesser extent Princess and Celebrity where the age of travelers tends to skew older. It is likely that most of the "core" demographic for these lines may be vaccinated by May/June. These lines also have the advantage of departing from Seattle. Another potential "loophole" is to turn the Victoria stop into a refueling only stop where no one gets off the ship...

DCL's biggest issue may be the embarkation point of Vancouver. That is an extra hurdle they would have to climb. Also, I would imagine that DCL's passenger demographic doesn't lead it into the probability of having a preponderance of vaccinated passengers.

Lastly, the big wildcard in all this is probably the Johnson & Johnson vaccine candidate, which, if proves effective, would really speed up vaccinations...

 

[Chemist]

Trying to stay away from the political, but unavoidable.

I assume Canada has a MUCH larger social safety net than the US. That's why Canada c

US ports don‘t receive any kind of relief?

In general, the US does NOT have the social safety net that Canada has. There are various measures being enacted to protect businesses, but probably not to the extent that Canada and other countries have.

 

[mevelandry]

Trying to stay away from the political, but unavoidable.

In general, the US does NOT have the social safety net that Canada has. There are various measures being enacted to protect businesses, but probably not to the extent that Canada and other countries have.

Thank you for your explanation.

 

[otten]

Come summer, there will be a lot of fighting back by both businesses and people.

Possibly in the summer if things have turned a corner but at the moment a majority of people in BC are in favour of more restrictions, not less.

 

[AquaDame]

Please keep this thread on track or we will have to close it. The discussion here is on the Alaskan cruising season, not whether businesses in the US are going to revolt against mandates this summer. For the purposes of Alaska, ships currently would have to stop in or depart from Canada, so what we do here will not resolve the crux of the issue.

 

[Starwind]

US ports don‘t receive any kind of relief?

i don’t know about ports in particular but in Alaska there have been various relief programs available.
I read one article a while ago about either Ketchikan or Skagway or Juneau.
This one is about Anchorage: https://www.adn.com/business-econom...9-aid-heres-how-you-can-apply-for-some-of-it/

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Another potential "loophole" is to turn the Victoria stop into a refueling only stop where no one gets off the ship...

That is not a legal loophole in the PVSA. There has to be a bona fide potential for passengers to disembark. While some of the PVSA port stops are short and at weird hours, they all have disembarkation for this reason.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

It shows that citizens can influence decisions. Ultimately, if citizens decide, en masse, that we should have Alaskan cruises again, we will have Alaskan cruises again,

It shows what an economic reporter thinks should happen. Not really "citizens en masse".

Restaurants reopening doesn't equate to cruise lines restarting.

 

[otten]

It shows what an economic reporter thinks should happen. Not really "citizens en masse".

Restaurants reopening doesn't equate to cruise lines restarting.

If we’re talking about Alaska cruises and sailing out of Vancouver, restaurants are open and have been open since May or June.

As for citizens en masse I think you will find that people in BC don’t want out of province tourists of any kind at the moment, certainly not cruise ships. And I am quite certain that what non BC residents want BC to do is the last thing the government cares about at the moment.

 

[KVH]

I really appreciate the perspective from the Canadians here. You'd think in Seattle we'd catch more of the Vancouver news but I have to watch non-US channels in order to find out what's going on up there. We have B2Bs in May up there that seem to be toast now and understanding the situation from the local's viewpoint gives you a better idea where they're coming from.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

Every cruise ship that docks in Vancouver generates about $3million to the local economy.

Wow

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

In theory, the US Gov't could issue specific exemptions to the PVSA, but I am not sure that they would. Another thing I could see happening is ships going with a small passenger base that may be vaccinated. Thinking of Holland America and to a lesser extent Princess and Celebrity where the age of travelers tends to skew older. It is likely that most of the "core" demographic for these lines may be vaccinated by May/June. These lines also have the advantage of departing from Seattle. Another potential "loophole" is to turn the Victoria stop into a refueling only stop where no one gets off the ship...

DCL's biggest issue may be the embarkation point of Vancouver. That is an extra hurdle they would have to climb. Also, I would imagine that DCL's passenger demographic doesn't lead it into the probability of having a preponderance of vaccinated passengers.

Lastly, the big wildcard in all this is probably the Johnson & Johnson vaccine candidate, which, if proves effective, would really speed up vaccinations...

I like your refueling stop idea in Victoria. Is that still considered a stop to meet the regulations? If so, that sounds like the answer.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I like your refueling stop idea in Victoria. Is that still considered a stop to meet the regulations? If so, that sounds like the answer.

It is not. Passengers have to be able to disembark for it to meet regulation.

 

[DnA2010]

As for citizens en masse I think you will find that people in BC don’t want out of province tourists of any kind at the moment, certainly not cruise ships. And I am quite certain that what non BC residents want BC to do is the last thing the government cares about at the moment.

As a resident of BC, you are correct- most of the people I know do not want tourists entering- especially international ones, but even those from other provinces...Honestly, I think it be that way for quite a while- at least till everyone who wants a vaccine has received one...given vaccine supply is already being delayed, the target which the provincial gov't set of September is not looking obtainable. For the record, I do not live anywhere near Vancouver and am not in any sort of tourist industry (and my husband is a paramedic, and does not want open tourism- our system simply can't handle it)

 

[otten]

As a resident of BC, you are correct- most of the people I know do not want tourists entering- especially international ones, but even those from other provinces...Honestly, I think it be that way for quite a while- at least till everyone who wants a vaccine has received one...given vaccine supply is already being delayed, the target which the provincial gov't set of September is not looking obtainable. For the record, I do not live anywhere near Vancouver and am not in any sort of tourist industry (and my husband is a paramedic, and does not want open tourism- our system simply can't handle it)

People here are mad right now that the government can’t/won’t ban travel from outside the province so I think we are a long way off from people demanding that the government allow international tourism or cruises. We just don’t have the demands to re-open that maybe other places are experiencing.

 

[KVH]

So our B2B Baja and then repo to Vancouver was shut down today as has been noted elsewhere. Which then really puts the fall West Coast cruises all in jeopardy. If they ain't going to Vancouver on the 12th, unless they have a plan for a shortened Alaskan season, then I can't see how Wonder would be on the left coast at all this year.