The United States Senate unanimously passed a bill that allows foreign-flagged cruise ships to sail to Alaska without having to stop in Canada. The act would temporarily exempt large Alaska-bound cruise ships from the Passenger Vessel Services Act, which requires those ships to either stop in Canada or start their voyages in Canada. The exemption would end in February 2022. The Alaska Tourism Recovery Act will now go to the U.S. House of Representatives for a vote and then of course President Biden would need to sign it.
If the bill moves through other branches of the U.S. government efficiently, the next step would be for the industry to gain CDC approval to operate which includes following the return-to-sail safety program mandated by the CDC.
“We remain optimistic that we can still operate some portion of our Alaska season,“ said Charlie Ball, an executive vice president for Holland America Cruises Group, the largest of the big-ship companies operating in Alaska. Princess Cruises which is part of this group has a huge presence in Alaska each year with several ships, as well as their lodges in Kenai, Denali, Fairbanks, Mt Mckinley, and Copper River. For each cruise line to resume, ships would have to be repositioned, it takes about 2 months to prepare crew and they would need to have time to market and sell the itineraries. It is likely that Alaska cruises could resume for August and September. Keep in mind also that smaller ships have resumed cruises in the U.S. including American Queen Steamboat, American Cruise Line and UnCruise Adventures.
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