Tag Archives: Canada

CANADA TO CONDITIONALLY ALLOW RETURN OF CRUISE SHIPS IN NOVEMBER

Posted on by
Reply

Canada will allow cruise ships back into its waters starting in November as the COVID-19 pandemic fades, but they must fully comply with public health requirements that have yet to be finalized, Ottawa said on Thursday.

Earlier this year, Canada extended a ban on cruise ships until February 2022, citing the need to protect public health. Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said in a statement that the restriction would now be lifted on Nov. 1, 2021.

“We will welcome cruise ships – an important part of our tourism sector – back in Canadian waters for the 2022 season,” he said.

The news should please major operators who complained that Canada’s ban was hurting their business on the West Coast. U.S. law obliges foreign-flagged cruise ships sailing from Washington state to Alaska to make a Canadian stop.

Canada, however, has not yet lifted a ban on non-essential travel with the United States. A Canadian government official said Alghabra’s announcement would allow both countries to work on ways of safely managing the cruise sector.

“We’re working hard through our embassy, through our officials, myself, through our department, and ensuring that we maintain business as usual,” Alghabra told reporters.

He gave no indication of when the border between the United States and Canada would reopen to tourists.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters in Montreal on Thursday that Ottawa would make an announcement on the next steps to reopening the border in the coming weeks.

A day earlier he had said it “would be catastrophic and heartbreaking to have to go back into lockdown, as some countries are now looking at with surges in the Delta variant, because we were overly eager to reopen by a few weeks.”

NCL LATEST LINE TO ANNOUNCE ALASKA RESTART PLANS

Posted on by
Reply

Norwegian Cruise Line has become the latest brand to announce plans to restart activities in Alaska this summer.

The line will resume itineraries with Norwegian Bliss offering week-long voyages from Seattle from 7 August to 16 October.

NCL joins a number of companies – Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, Princess Cruises, and Holland America Line – in announcing their intentions to return to the region.

The developments follow the US House of Representatives approving a bill temporarily waiving Canada’s Passenger Vessel Services Act, which requires ships to either start itineraries in Canada or stop in a Canadian port during them.

Alaska is currently the first destination in the US to green-light cruising since the pandemic.

All lines are still subject to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) rules, which have not yet allowed sailings to return.

Lines are anticipating the CDC allowing sailings to restart from July.

As part of its programme, NCL will offer seven to 13 hours of port time in Skagway, Juneau, Ketchikan and Icy Strait Point in Alaska – guests can also benefit from the opening of a second cruise pier in Icy Strait Point.

Meanwhile, Royal Caribbean will also offer seven-night cruises, round-trip from Seattle, on Serenade of the Seas and Ovation of the Seas, beginning 19 July and 13 August.

Celebrity will deploy Celebrity Summit in Seattle in July offering nine seven-day sailings through to mid-September.

Canada pauses cruise shipping until 2022

Posted on by
Reply

North American cruise shipping took another beating after Canada extended its cruise shipping ban until 28 February 2022

Interim orders announced by Canada’s ministry for transport (Transport Canada) mean passenger vessels carrying more than 12 people are prohibited from entering Arctic coastal waters, including Nunatsiavut, Nunavik, and the Labrador Coast. In addition, cruise vessels carrying more than 100 people are also prohibited from operating in Canadian waters.

While the order affects Canada, the extension of the ban is likely to affect Alaska and Seattle in the United States through a combination of geographical proximity and US maritime rules.

The Passenger Vessel Services Act requires that ships not flying the United States flag, and primarily America-operated, stop at a foreign port between US ports, which in this case includes Canadian ports.

Over the last two decades, Seattle’s cruise industry has grown, especially as a departure point for cruises to Alaska. The extension of Canada’s ‘no-sail’ order is another blow to Seattle’s US$7.8Bn tourism industry, of which cruise shipping rakes in US$900M.

Norwegian Bliss in the Port of Seattle

According to the Port of Seattle, which is also the US west coast’s largest cruise ship homeport, cruise shipping supports 5,000 people in the region and each homeported vessel brings in over US$4M to the regional economy, US$14.5M in statewide taxes, and generates nearly a billion dollars in business activity over the whole season.

Responding to the Canadian Government’s decision, the Port of Seattle said: “This impacts our homeported cruises which would stop at a Canadian port, per the Passenger Vessel Services Act, on their Alaska itineraries.”

Transport Canada said new prohibitions will allow public health authorities to continue focusing on “the most pressing issues, including the vaccine rollout and new Covid-19 variants.”

Canada’s Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra said “Temporary prohibitions to cruise vessels and pleasure craft are essential to continue to protect the most vulnerable among our communities and avoid overwhelming our healthcare systems. This is the right and responsible thing to do.”

“Cruise vessels in Canadian waters pose a risk to our healthcare systems. The Government of Canada will continue to evaluate the situation and make changes as necessary to ensure the health and safety of all Canadians. Should the Covid-19 pandemic sufficiently improve to allow the resumption of these activities, the Minister of Transport has the ability to rescind the Interim Orders” said Transport Canada.