NCL Updates On Alaska, But What’s The Alternative?
Photo Credit: Igor Grochev / Shutterstock.com
Norwegian Cruise Line provided an update on February 16 and cancelled its sailings through May 2021. NCL also updated guests and travel agents on the
state of the cruise ban in Canada, which has severely affected the cruise industry’s plans to sail in Alaska this summer.
No Cancelations, Looking at Alternatives
In the statement released on the companies website, the cruise line states it will not be canceling any voyages to Alaska. The cruise line will stop taking any bookings for the 2021 Alaska season as it looks to ‘explore several initiatives that may allow such cruises to continue.’
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The Norwegian Joy alongside the Canada Place terminal in Vancouver in 2019. Photo Credit: Tom Stieghorst
Alaska s three-member congressional delegation responded to Canada s Feb. 4 decision to extend its cruise ban into 2022 by calling it unacceptable and saying they would explore all potential avenues, including changing existing laws, to ensure the cruise industry in Alaska resumes operations as soon as it is safe.
It was assumed that Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan and Rep. Don Young were referring to the Passenger Vessel Services Act of 1886 (PVSA), which requires foreign-flagged ships which almost all large cruise vessels are to stop in at least one foreign port when sailing between two U.S. destinations, such as Seattle and Alaska. It s why so many Alaska cruises start or stop in Vancouver or Victoria, British Columbia. If they didn t, they d be in violation of this 19th-century cabotage legislation that was passed to protect U.S. shipbuilders and
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