Canada extends cruise ship ban until Feb 2022

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RonR said:
I do not feel the Passenger Vessel Services Act should be modified for this use. But that is just my opinion.
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It definitely should not. If Congress does, it merely rewards the corporations that fly flags of convenience.
 
Transport Canada's closure order only covers cruise ships (and Arctic operations. ) The Alaska ferries aren't covered by the closure order.
 
slowgoesit said:
Won't this run foreign flagged vessels foul of the Jones Act if they don't put ashore at least once in Canada? Not sure what the mix of foreign vs US flagged ships is . . . that is if there even ARE any US Flagged ships . . .
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You are correct on both concerns, of the cruise ships, perhaps the small under 100 passengers, or even smaller (Unsure of the bottom line passenger count,)
may operate here, mainly due their being Alaska owners.
What will be interesting will be the level of enthusiasm by Congress to address a temporary waiver from the Jones Act, due to the pandemic. One would see the logic in such a waiver, reinstated as with many issues, on the end of the official pandemic.
We shall see all things in these times.
Cheers,
Al
 
markpierce said:
Not unusual for cruise ships to take the ocean route to/from Ketchikan.

What has been the effect on US ferries serving Alaska?
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U.S.flag, US to US. They don't stop in Canada in transit
 
Al said:
You are correct on both concerns, of the cruise ships, perhaps the small under 100 passengers, or even smaller (Unsure of the bottom line passenger count,)
may operate here, mainly due their being Alaska owners.
What will be interesting will be the level of enthusiasm by Congress to address a temporary waiver from the Jones Act, due to the pandemic.
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The Canadian ban specifies 100 people, not passengers, so crew is included in that number.
It's the Passenger Vessel Services Act, not Jones.

And since I'm here, Canada is about to announce the need for a negative covid test, no more than 72 hours before crossing the border, for all non-essential travellers. Now don't get hung up on the words "land crossing."
 
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soin2la said:
The Canadian ban specifies 100 people, not passengers, so crew is included in that number.
It's the Passenger Vessel Services Act, not Jones.

And since I'm here, Canada is about to announce the need for a negative covid test, no more than 72 hours before crossing the border, for all non-essential travellers. Now don't get hung up on the words "land crossing."
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Interested to know if they will take proof of vaccination vs. the negative Covid test.
 
lwarden said:
Interested to know if they will take proof of vaccination vs. the negative Covid test.
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Nope. Not now at least.

From CBC.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/negative-test-land-1.5906962

Dr. Theresa Tam, the chief public health officer, said last week*there is no exemption yet for Canadians who already have*received a vaccine.

"The*vaccines*we have are very effective for individual protection and that's what we might expect, but you as an individual do not know whether you are completely protected or not," she said Friday.

"It is a 90 per cent*vaccine*effectiveness.*You could be in the 10 per cent of the population that may have not taken to the*vaccine.*You still have to respect those public health measures.*That is critical ...*right now, the scientific principle underpinning the application of*vaccines*for international travel cannot be made ...*because we do not know the*vaccines*reduce transmission."

But as she and Trudeau have flip-flopped their whole way through the pandemic, it could very well change.
 
Alaskaflyer said:
Well, they do sail to and from Prince Rupert, B.C.. But that is neither here nor there as to the larger subject :angel:
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They used to, but haven’t stopped there for a while now from my understanding.
 
lwarden said:
Perhaps they should pull the SS United States out of mothball and fit her for cruising again? That's the largest US built passenger ship I know of besides the Pride of America which operates out of Hawaii.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_United_States
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Only 40 percent construction of Price of America was in the US. Construction was completed in Germany. She required an exemption to skip non-US ports.
 
Al said:
You are correct on both concerns, of the cruise ships, perhaps the small under 100 passengers, or even smaller (Unsure of the bottom line passenger count,)
may operate here, mainly due their being Alaska owners.
What will be interesting will be the level of enthusiasm by Congress to address a temporary waiver from the Jones Act, due to the pandemic. One would see the logic in such a waiver, reinstated as with many issues, on the end of the official pandemic.
We shall see all things in these times.
Cheers,
Al
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"Temporary" my fuzzy ass. When it would come up for renewal, Congress would add additional exceptions, furthering the weakening of the original law.
 
One needs to read the article linked in post 75, which goes to the heart of what Northern Spy said…
Northern Spy said:
If Congress does (modify PVSA) it merely rewards the corporations that fly flags of convenience.
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In the linked piece; ”the headquarters for the three companies are all located in southern Florida, but they are incorporated and pay taxes in Panama, Liberia, and Bermuda. While they do employ many Americans in their shore staffs and are the face of the ships and companies to the public, behind the scenes their backbone is cheap foreign labor.”
And…
“when a company can pay a Filipino seafarer less than $900 a month and keep them at sea for 11 months, why would they want to employ Americans?”

Though some think this is a Canada-US issue and some on this side of the border believe it is a retaliatory move on Biden’s cancelling Keystone XL, it isn’t.

Following these articles, it is a global issue.
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/tourism-cruises/article248978645.html

https://maritime-executive.com/arti...-delay-resuming-european-and-american-cruises
 
The two Senators from AK, on March 5th, introduced legislation to allow cruise ships to enter AK from the US while bypassing Canada ports.
 
sunchaser said:
The two Senators from AK, on March 5th, introduced legislation to allow cruise ships to enter AK from the US while bypassing Canada ports.
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And bypassing US money....

Also Alaska no longer has COVID restrictions
 
My reaction, when I read that on the weekend was, where were these guys, when their people were kicked in the privates with the cancellation of the AK Prince Rupert ferry?

https://www.krbd.org/2019/09/05/prince-rupert-ferry-cancellation-shocks-community/

So, how long does it take for a typical Bill to make it through the Senate and where does it go from there?

If this should come to pass quickly, it just might make Trudeau blink.
 
Hmmm...might good in short term political thinking but bad news if/when a vaccine resistant variant, or one that reinfects people like the one from Manaus Brazil, is being carried by passengers. Small isolated coastal towns would be hit hard.
 
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By the way, vaccines don't necessarily stop transmission. I just read this news item before I came to TF and started reading the last part of this thread. Vaccines do slow it down. I won't comment further, I'll just add key parts from this news item occurring in BC.

New outbreak of COVID-19 in B.C. care home where residents and staff were already vaccinated

'The illness seems to be milder and doesn't transmit as much,' Dr. Bonnie Henry says

Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said Monday being vaccinated doesn't mean transmission will be stopped and that precautions must remain in place for seniors and care homes.

In a live news conference, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said being vaccinated doesn't mean transmission will be stopped and that precautions must remain.

"You can have transmission even when people are fully vaccinated," she said. "The illness seems to be milder and doesn't transmit as much [and we] won't see rapid explosive outbreaks."

Two staff members and 10 residents have tested positive at the Cottonwoods long-term care facility in Kelowna, which has 221 publicly funded beds. Henry said that all staff and residents at the home were offered immunizations and that there was very high uptake of the vaccine. She said some of the cases were among people who had received two doses of the vaccine.

"This serves to remind us that, while we are confident vaccine is very effective and prevents severe illness and death, it doesn't necessarily mean that all transmission will be stopped."

Henry added the province will give new guidance by the end of the month that will allow for increased visits at long-term care centres.
 
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rsn48,

What does this long unrelated post have anything to do with Alaska allowing cruise ships back into the State and the impact on Canada or boating in general?
 
Alaskan Sea-Duction said:
rsn48,

What does this long unrelated post have anything to do with Alaska allowing cruise ships back into the State and the impact on Canada or boating in general?
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I may be off base, but here is how I saw it being related.

1) Pandemic happens, Canada/US border is closed.

2) Hence, cruise ships cannot pass through Canada (and pleasure boaters from the US cannot "tourist" in Canada).

3) A vaccine is developed and administered, so thoughts turn to opening back up (timing and parameters).

4) (If) it is shown that the vaccines do not necessarily prevent transmission (or perhaps less well than first hoped for), the decisions made related to point #3 may be affected.

5) Those decisions affect the title of this thread (cruise ships bound from US lower 48 port to Alaska), and also US recreational boaters wishing to cruise in, or pass through Canada (i.e. if they can pass through with borders closed, it's a strict transit not a usual cruise).

rsn48, if I've interpreted the relationship wrongly, my apologies.
 
It’s about covid and transmission and that’s highly related IMO.

I think ASD is getting tired of hearing about covid ... so am I. But we need to know a great deal about it and it changes every day. I just learned this morning that the Pfizer vaccine works well on the Brazilian virus. Nice to know as I got the Pfizer vaccine.
 
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I also am getting tired of the Covid, but also tired of how I read most comments on this topic as arrogant and it's my right. Yes as a Canadian we are different and probably more compassionate and say sorry more than we should.

With the state of affair the f'd up world is in right now, REALLY your country's worry right now is a god damn Cruise to Alaska. Jesus did I miss something, be thankful you and your family are still alive and still have food.

I personally have American family, and we talk about this topic a lot. Honestly even though they are blood, I am ashamed to admit they don't get it either.

I am grateful we are slowly opening up locally with caution, and I still can get to my boat.

But damn I am pissed I can't go to Disney Land this year…..Lol not. SORRY thought that was funny EH!
 
Okydowky said:
I also am getting tired of the Covid, but also tired of how I read most comments on this topic as arrogant and it's my right. Yes as a Canadian we are different and probably more compassionate and say sorry more than we should.

With the state of affair the f'd up world is in right now, REALLY your country's worry right now is a god damn Cruise to Alaska. Jesus did I miss something, be thankful you and your family are still alive and still have food.

I personally have American family, and we talk about this topic a lot. Honestly even though they are blood, I am ashamed to admit they don't get it either.

I am grateful we are slowly opening up locally with caution, and I still can get to my boat.

But damn I am pissed I can't go to Disney Land this year…..Lol not. SORRY thought that was funny EH!
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Well I for one of course want cruise ships back, and yes I care!

Here is how many here think about this whole idea of "closing" businesses and entire industries...

We were told that we needed to close businesses so that the public health care system would not be overwhelmed.

My friend that risk has long passed. Here in Alaska and I think nationwide hospitalization rates are WAY down.

The original risk is gone, so we need to have our businesses open for business so they can make a living, employ people, etc... All the things that businesses do.

People can make their own choices. They can prevent catching this through PPE and sanitary protocols. Or they can choose not to do any of that, it's their choice.

They can choose to vaccinate themselves as a risk mitigation mechanism, or they can choose not to. Again, their choice, their risk.

So... our wanting to open up our businesses is not some sort of selfish greed as implied by some, it is simply acting rationaly now that the original reason for shuttering those businesses is gone.

And for the record I am vaccinated, and have followed pretty strict protocols for over a year now. My body, my choice.
 
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The fact that the US Congress is considering making an exemption to it's own protectionist act should tell you exactly who and what takes priority in their worldview. (Spoiler alert: it ain't you)

Corporations over Americans.

Nothing to do with COVID at all. Only that the Canadian loophole closed.

Unfortunately, no one has proposed a threat of a substitute product for the Alaskan cruise, such as an American cruise line willing to play within the law that has been on the books for 135 years.

As GK Chesterton would have pointed out, this is not a case of too much capitalism, but too few capitalists. Follow the money.
 
Okydowky wrote;
“With the state of affair the f'd up world is in right now, REALLY your country's worry right now is a god damn Cruise to Alaska. Jesus did I miss something, be thankful you and your family are still alive and still have food.”

I resent that a bit and think you did miss something. You’ve been watching TV and reading TF. You’re missing the millions and millions of Americans that are being responsible about the pandemic and are doing the right things. And I’m looking fwd to cruising in BC this summer.
 
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