gtalum

On a side note, for anyone who wants to take an Alaska trip, you don't even need these tours.  A rental car and a triangle(ish) from Anchorage - Denali - Fairbanks - Valdez - Whittier - Anchorage is a heck of a trip and can be done pretty inexpensively (I bet even more so now than normal).  Add a side trip to Seward between Whittier and Anchorage and you've seen a lot.  

The big thing you miss is the Inside Passage.

7 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

Well, actually American Cruise Line, UnCruise Adventures, and Alaska Dream Cruises are gearing up for maximum effort in Alaska this year, and are small enough to be able to cruise without meeting the CDC requirements.  But, you are correct that this option has always been available.

I should have been more clear, but your clarification is a good one.  I was aware of the small cruise lines.

I want to say, I have enjoyed this thread, with one guy who knows what he's talking about vs a guy who read some stuff on the internet.  🙂

9 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

Actually some cruise lines are gearing up for the land tour portion of Alaska cruise tours. There will be a season.

 

https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Cruise-lines-offer-land-only-tours-in-Alaska

 

Cruise lines haven't given up, nor should they.

You might note those are no cruises, nor is anyone expecting a cruise season in Alaska.  This is Carnival Corp. leveraging its land-based assets and offering the land-based half of what was traditionally a 14-day cruise and land tour.

It's also always been possible to book the lodges and land tours on their own.

21 hours ago, bucfan2 said:

That's a true statement.  I would beg to differ on Fl leading the way on relaxing the 'burdensome' rules though.  DeSantis has never been for the 'stay scared' mantra/approach.

 

Florida: No State Mandate

Although city and county-level mandates exist, Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended all fines and penalties associated with not adhering to COVID-19-related restrictions on Sept. 25, hindering local leaders from enforcing their mandates.

 

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/articles/these-are-the-states-with-mask-mandates

Some counties have figured out a workaround.  Hillsborough County, for instance, takes away restaurants' and bars' business licenses if they get too many mask infractions.

51 minutes ago, Denverdonkeys said:

Where will you move on to, a land vacation? 

Somehow you make "land vacation" sound like a week in a gulag.  😁

1 hour ago, BlerkOne said:

Oh please. The only reason it was going forward was because of an executive order.

 

The ban was set to expire today, but was extended after the pipeline was killed. Coincidence? Maybe, maybe not.

I suspect Canada loses more revenue from the cruise ship ban than it ever hoped to gain from Keystone XL.  I seriously doubt there's any connection.

2 hours ago, evandbob said:

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/24451-carnival-cruise-line-latest-restart-dates-by-ship.html

 

Is this accurate?  Supposedly from CLIA

It's a plan.  When June gets cancelled next month, they'll get rolled back again.

3 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

Yes, but it is considered just the same as the totally foreign built Aloha and Hawaii, with respect to a waiver of the PVSA.  The waiver still exists, as long as POA sails under US flag.

Then I apologize for getting that wrong.  

At any rate, I doubt any of the big cruise lines are willing to reflag their ships to the US and hire American crews to save their Alaska seasons.

Just now, chengkp75 said:

All three ships were US flag and US crewed.

POA was partially built in America.

18 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

Never say never. NCLA enjoys a monopoly in Hawaii thanks to waivers that have nothing to do with national security. And besides there is nothing to prevent Congress from starting a new precedent. It is easy to say give Alaska a handout, but the other shoe is it runs up the debt when it is not necessary.

 

https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-421/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-421.htm

That exemption is long gone.  NCL's remaining ship in Hawaii is American registered and crewed.

That exemption only exempted the requirement for the ships to be American built. They still required American registration and crew.  

The exemption was legislatively granted. IOW congress passed a law.

Congress can grant an exemption now, as well, but are unlikely to.  The president cannot grant an exemption by executive order.

I don't know about Pride, but previously both Carnival Legend and Carnival Miracle have done the same itinerary from Tampa for many years.

There are two formal nights.

As for ports closing, the only answer is nobody knows.

Greenland is a long sail from NYC or Boston.  I doubt it will be seen as a viable alternative to Canada cruises.

10 hours ago, JMAE said:

Many temporary law changes have been put in place to deal with COVID.  Their have been over 40 EO since 1/21/21, most in history.  This would allow cruises to nowhere from any post along with cruises to Alaska and Hawaii.

The Jones Act is not within the power of the president to modify by EO.

7 minutes ago, JMAE said:

Why?  Temporarily removing a barrier that can assist in helping the cruise industry restart.  People can now visit Disney, all inclusive resorts and other vacation spots, why not cruise ships?  Cruise lines can put in place the same precautions as land based resorts.  By suspending the operational stop in a non-US port requirement would help the USA economy in areas that relay on travel dollars to support their local citizens and businesses, in this case Alaska and Washington.  

It would take federal legislation to make an exemption to the Jones Act in this case.  Nobody's going to sponsor such a bill in the current environment, especially since it's unlikely any cruises will happen before Q4 anyway (after the Alaska cruise season has ended).

3 minutes ago, kaylahszoo said:

A big 'NO" for me, my family, and most of the people I am friends with.  Especially several that are in Healthcare.  If they are mandated, I will give up cruising, and have been on over 30.  Think about it- COVID is a Virus.  

I'm almost afraid to ask, but why are you skeptical of vaccinating against a virus? We do it all the time.

Yes, it would take legislation to make an exemption in this case and nobody's going to sponsor such a bill in the current climate, especially considering that the likelihood of any major cruising happening in the US before Q4 or even into Q1 2022 is so low.

5 minutes ago, Shih-tzu said:

According to this news article it's coming...   https://globalnews.ca/news/7591304/us-quarantine-rules-international-travel/

The order only implements implements the CDC recommended guidelines, which to this point call for quarantine only for travelers entering who have been in China within the past 14 days.

You're right that it could come, but so far there's no quarantine requirement upon entering the US except for that one case.

3 minutes ago, Shih-tzu said:

Currently, if we leave our own province we have to self isolate for 14 days on our return (and possibly isolate 14 days when entering the province we visit)

New rule starting very shortly - if we leave the country and are coming back home, we have to go to a COVID hotel for 3 days at our own expense of approx $2000/person.  If test that was done on re-entry comes back negative (approx 3 days) we can go home but have to still isolate until a total of 14 days is over.  If we test positive, we have to go to the government COVID facility.  I believe this also applies to anyone entering country.  There are now only 4 airports that will accept non-domestic flights)

I believe the US is putting a 10 day quarantine on travellers coming from outside US as well....so in order to cruise we would have to isolate 10 days pre-cruise, 10 days post cruise, then 14 days once home.....  so unless we have oodles of money and oodles of time, then I'd say most of us won't be cruising.  By instituting the $2000/person re-entry fees here, the government is trying to stop us from travelling right now.  We have been advised not to make any travel plans, even in our own province   

The US has no quarantine rules on entry from most countries, but we do now require a negative COVID test for anyone entering.

27 minutes ago, cruisingguy007 said:

Interesting. Will they ban Canadians from traveling to other countries to cruise and vacation as well? What about flights? If not, it seems pretty self serving and hypocritical. Also bias against the cruise industry.

They can't stop people from leaving, but Canada does have very strict quarantine measures in place for anyone entering Canada.

In the meantime, live your life, plan a land and/or air vacation, and relax.  Don't keep lending money to the cruise lines.  It will be clear when they're ready to start sailing.

I think we're going to go to Brazil this summer.  They're open.

12 minutes ago, Buckeyefrank100 said:

I think you're right but I'll go a little further.  We don't take these same precautions for the flu, common cold or norovirus and will need to learn to live with the disease, not how to get rid of it... which we likely never will.  There's numerous articles coming out that the virus is mutating to versions that likely aren't going to be affected by the vaccine.  We either need to choose to live our lives freely, ditch the masks and social distancing and take the results that come OR huddle up with our little family units in fear and let the government supply all of our basic needs and basically live in our own little jails forever.

As most viruses circulate among humans, we eventually develop resistance to them.  They still affect us, but our immune systems become more adept at fighting them off.  The reason an average seasonal flu "only" kills a more limited number of people every year is because we've seen the strains before.  A pandemic occurs when a new virus hits, one that nobody has any resistance to.  At least one of the normal flu strains that runs around today is the strain that caused the 1917/1918 pandemic.  Now it's just seasonal flu.

You're right that SARSCoV-2 and the resulting COVID-19 infection will likely remain with us, but it won't always be the raging pandemic that it is right now.  It will almost certainly eventually come under control and merge into the seasonal background like common colds (which are also coronaviruses, by the way)  or the flu.  Then we'll be able to treat it like any other seasonal virus.

I'm thinking by summer things will start rapidly returning to whatever "normal" will be.  I do think that this will be an inflection point and some things will never be the same, though.  Cruising will return, but the industry will likely look different.  This is a massive financial blow to them, no matter how it shakes out in the end.

14 hours ago, ULCajunCruiser said:

There is zero evidence that tipping $1 per drink gets you better service than the person who adds no additional tip.   There is zero evidence that tipping $5 extra per drink gets you better service than the guy who tips $1.   If you want to believe it does, be my guest.   I've always found that being courteous and respectful with the waitstaff and bartenders goes a long way in how well I am provided service.

 

Just curious, do you leave a $1 bill laying on your bed for the steward???   Do you hand them $1 every time they leave you a fresh towel??   Do you tip them for vacuuming the floor???   

My evidence is my own experience.  I tend to find a couple of bartenders on the first night and gravitate to them as much as possible for the rest of the cruise.  By the second night I can walk up to a bar and get served immediately even when others are waiting, because they know I'll tip with every drink.

I do also treat all of the staff courteously, because I respect them.  I think the better service comes from the tips, though.  People are self-motivated.

No, I don't do the same for the room steward.  I auto-tip, and if we get great service we will leave them some extra at the end of the trip.

It's best to tip $1 per drink on top of Cheers.  This will also often get you straight to the front of the line at a crowded bar if you tend to stick to a couple of bartenders throughout the cruise.  🙂

Signing papers with the finance guy at the dealer is always the worst...

I'm shocked that they don't have a system in place to waive this.  It costs far more than $0.20 for them to collect.