First Ship Into Canada - Cancelled!

[ceilidh1]

Caribbean Princess - Voyage B214N - Voyage Cancellation (responsys.net)

 

Oh dear. Not a good start to cruise season. I suspect the cancellation is more likely due to Covid cases onboard from the the Panama Canal, rather than drydock prep...

[canadianbear]

Wow. Not much notice for people. 

[Florida_gal_50]

That sucks.  Thanks for the information.

[TeaBag]

Wow, I feel sorry for all those passengers.

 

[d9704011]

4 hours ago, ceilidh1 said:

Caribbean Princess - Voyage B214N - Voyage Cancellation (responsys.net)

 

Oh dear. Not a good start to cruise season. I suspect the cancellation is more likely due to Covid cases onboard from the the Panama Canal, rather than drydock prep...

Huh.... CB was scheduled to end up in Vancouver on April 7.  Looks to me as though Princess decided to forego the leg from SF to Vancouver and simply head to Portland for a, kind of, unscheduled drydocking before the season gets into full swing.  I am unaware of any Covid issue on the ship.

[ceilidh1]

Just now, d9704011 said:

Huh.... CB was scheduled to end up in Vancouver on April 7.  Looks to me as though Princess decided to forego the leg from SF to Vancouver and simply head to Portland for a, kind of, unscheduled drydocking before the season gets into full swing.  I am unaware of any Covid issue on the ship.

There are people on the ship in quarantine. Many on the rollcall are posting about it.

[Fouremco]

Before it was cancelled altogether as part of the early pandemic shutdown, our April 2020 Hawaiian cruise was shortened by three days to provide extra time for a scheduled dry dock session. There were no COVID cases aboard at the time the cruise was shortened, but that may well be the cause of this current cancellation.

[Blackduck59]

I would be more inclined to believe the dry dock story. I knew she was due to dry dock after this cruise. I wasn't sure where that was going to be. I suspected it was supposed to  happen here (being we have the largest civilian graving dock on the west coast of the Americas) Of course the yard workers have served strike notice. With this release I guess I was wrong and the work was intended for Portland all along. There would be no way to change the refit location in 1 week.

Perhaps the Portland dock was available earlier and that fit with Princess Cruises better.

Edited April 2, 2022 by Blackduck59

[ski ww]

Watched this on the news last night & the way the story came out was because of the increase in covid cases in Canada.

[lx200gps]

 

https://www.victoriabuzz.com/2022/04/first-cruise-ship-to-return-to-victoria-waters-to-be-met-with-protesters/

[d9704011]

32 minutes ago, lx200gps said:

 

https://www.victoriabuzz.com/2022/04/first-cruise-ship-to-return-to-victoria-waters-to-be-met-with-protesters/

I guess that particular demonstration won't be taking place.

[Blackduck59]

3 hours ago, lx200gps said:

 

https://www.victoriabuzz.com/2022/04/first-cruise-ship-to-return-to-victoria-waters-to-be-met-with-protesters/

 

Interesting, I wonder where these environmentalist have been on any given Saturday here for the last couple months; when the so called "freedom" clowns were driving around and around the Legislature in their diesel trucks honking their horns and being a nuisance. Oh well I guess they won't get their silly protest. Funny thing a suspect there will be way more people there welcoming the ships after 2 years absence. I guess they could try with Koningsdam on the 9th but it would be harder because of the limited entry to that part of town because of the aforementioned "freedom" goons. Meanwhile we will be in LA on the 9th boarding Viking Orion and she will be the next ship into Victoria after Koningsdam. We arrive on the 16th.

Edited April 3, 2022 by Blackduck59
wrong their

[Fouremco]

50 minutes ago, Blackduck59 said:

 

Interesting, I wonder where these environmentalist have been on any given Saturday here for the last couple months; when the so called "freedom" clowns were driving around and around the Legislature in their diesel trucks honking their horns and being a nuisance. Oh well I guess they won't get their silly protest. Funny thing a suspect there will be way more people there welcoming the ships after 2 years absence. I guess they could try with Koningsdam on the 9th but it would be harder because of the limited entry to that part of town because of the aforementioned "freedom" goons. Meanwhile we will be in LA on the 9th boarding Viking Orion and she will be the next ship into Victoria after Koningsdam. We arrive on the 16th.

I'm waiting for the truckers to get their hands on some boats and start blocking water access to the terminal. 🙄

[Blackduck59]

1 minute ago, Fouremco said:

I'm waiting for the truckers to get their hands on some boats and start blocking water access to the terminal. 🙄

 

I guess they could try that but I think the rules are way different on the water and Coast Guard could seize and impound the boats involved indefinitely.

[Fouremco]

Just now, Blackduck59 said:

 

I guess they could try that but I think the rules are way different on the water and Coast Guard could seize and impound the boats involved indefinitely.

As those of us in Ottawa are acutely aware, there must also be the inclination to enforce. Hopefully the Coast Guard has the will to nip any such activity in the bud.

[Blackduck59]

Just now, Fouremco said:

As those of us in Ottawa are acutely aware, there must also be the inclination to enforce. Hopefully the Coast Guard has the will to nip any such activity in the bud.

 

Keep in mind the Coast Guard base in Victoria is about 200 meters away from the Cruise terminal and the cruise terminal is also at entrance to the entire Victoria Harbour. Not to mention that there is a very busy float plane airport involved as well. You can't really tight park all your boats, set the air brakes and abandon them on the water. Like I said, different rules.

That being said what happened in Ottawa was way out of hand and probably could have and should have been handled better. I was only a spectator watching from far away, it would not be appropriate to comment here in this forum as to what happened there. Suffice to say I am happy the siege is over and some of the cabal that organized it will see some consequence and others involved are finding their participation has led to financial ruin.

[Fouremco]

5 minutes ago, Blackduck59 said:

 

Keep in mind the Coast Guard base in Victoria is about 200 meters away from the Cruise terminal and the cruise terminal is also at entrance to the entire Victoria Harbour. Not to mention that there is a very busy float plane airport involved as well. You can't really tight park all your boats, set the air brakes and abandon them on the water. Like I said, different rules.

That being said what happened in Ottawa was way out of hand and probably could have and should have been handled better. I was only a spectator watching from far away, it would not be appropriate to comment here in this forum as to what happened there. Suffice to say I am happy the siege is over and some of the cabal that organized it will see some consequence and others involved are finding their participation has led to financial ruin.

I can't speak for BC, but in Nova Scotia there have been many successful boat blockades. Air brakes? No. Anchors? Yes.

[Blackduck59]

4 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

I can't speak for BC, but in Nova Scotia there have been many successful boat blockades. Air brakes? No. Anchors? Yes.

 

Anchor chains can easily be cut. Like I said the cruise ship "protest" which may get some traction with some people it would not have broad support because it would have impacts on other things in a very busy harbour.

[Mike & Zen]

https://globalnews.ca/news/8730681/vancouver-cruise-cancelled-covid-19/
 

https://www.timescolonist.com/business/arrival-of-first-cruise-ship-of-the-season-at-ogden-point-delayed-until-april-9-5226420
 

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-cruise-season-delayed-princess

 

https://vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca/start-of-b-c-cruise-ship-season-delayed-by-cancellation-of-first-vessel-1.5846148

[Fouremco]

56 minutes ago, Blackduck59 said:

 

Anchor chains can easily be cut. Like I said the cruise ship "protest" which may get some traction with some people it would not have broad support because it would have impacts on other things in a very busy harbour.

As can airbrake lines.

 

And if you were to poll Ottawa residents, they would tell you that until the convoy arrived and shut down the city centre, they would not have thought that there was much support, certainly not enough to result in a month-long occupation.

 

Is it likely that a boat blockade would ever occur in Victoria? Probably not, but the situation in Ottawa clearly showed that the unexpected can definitely happen.

[westcoaster]

On 4/2/2022 at 7:12 AM, ceilidh1 said:

Caribbean Princess - Voyage B214N - Voyage Cancellation (responsys.net)

 

Oh dear. Not a good start to cruise season. I suspect the cancellation is more likely due to Covid cases onboard from the the Panama Canal, rather than drydock prep...

According to Princess, the cancellation was the result of moving up the drydock schedule by a few days - something that is quite common.

 

There have been lots of misleading stories in the local media that try to tie this to Covid, but that seems unlikely.  Yes, there have been some Covid cases on-board, but if you look at the CDC dashboard, roughly one third of cruise ships currently operating in the U.S. are listed as orange and "under investigation" by the CDC (meaning at least 0.3% of passengers have tested positive for Covid), but none of those cruises have been cancelled.

[ceilidh1]

5 minutes ago, westcoaster said:

According to Princess, the cancellation was the result of moving up the drydock schedule by a few days - something that is quite common.

 

There have been lots of misleading stories in the local media that try to tie this to Covid, but that seems unlikely.  Yes, there have been some Covid cases on-board, but if you look at the CDC dashboard, roughly one third of cruise ships currently operating in the U.S. are listed as orange and "under investigation" by the CDC (meaning at least 0.3% of passengers have tested positive for Covid), but none of those cruises have been cancelled.

None of those cruises have been making calls to Canada...

[westcoaster]

2 minutes ago, ceilidh1 said:

None of those cruises have been making calls to Canada...

The Holland America Koningsdam is currently showing orange on the CDC dashboard.  It's scheduled to stop in Victoria on Saturday, with no indication that those plans have changed.

[ceilidh1]

8 minutes ago, westcoaster said:

The Holland America Koningsdam is currently showing orange on the CDC dashboard.  It's scheduled to stop in Victoria on Saturday, with no indication that those plans have changed.

Great - I hope it arrives without issue.

 

I am not of the mind that Canada refused entry to the Princess ship but I know 100% there are Covid cases onboard with a number of positive passengers isolated as I have clients on the ship that have been on since March 19th (if you don't want to take my word for it, just read the rollcall accounts from people in that situation).

 

In my opinion (and it is just that) Princess made the (wise) decision to cancel the SFO to VAN sailing because all eyes would have been on that ship with it being the first one into Canada. The last thing Princess needs right now is for the world to see Covid passengers being disembarked and whisked into quarantine hotels. That would not be a good look. The extended prep for drydock is a perfect cover and a plausible reason to cancel, allowing them to pass the honour of being the first ship into Canada over to HAL.

 

I guess we can all make up our own minds about what we believe and what we don't...

[Blackduck59]

Another plus as to the "photo op" that being the first ship, Koningsdam is one of the newest ships in the HAL fleet where Caribbean Princess is one of the oldest in the Princess fleet. Add to that Caribbean Princess is going for refit so I would guess she is a little shabby looking.