Big cruise lines may sit out 2nd Alaska season due to COVID-19 pandemic

In this May 30, 2018, file photo, is the Grand Princess cruise ship in Gastineau Channel in Juneau, Alaska. The Canadian government has extended a ban on cruise ships through February 2022, which is expected to block trips from visiting Alaska this year. Transport Canada announced the extension of the ban put in place because of the COVID-19 pandemic. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer, File)

by: Los Angeles Times

Posted: Feb 18, 2021 / 09:22 AM PST

Updated: Feb 18, 2021 / 09:23 AM PST

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Hoping to sail to Alaska this summer? The popular cruise destination may miss a second season because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The cruise industry, already struggling because ships have been idled for almost a year, was dealt another blow. Canada recently banned large ships from its waters until February 2022.

Canada is a necessarystop for most passenger vessels bound for Alaska. (Almost all large cruise ships are foreign-registered and are banned by maritime law from transporting passengers between ports in the U.S. That means they must stop at a Canadian port if they’re sailing from Seattle, for instance, to Alaska.) The no-sail order is “essential to continue to protect the most vulnerable among our communities,” according to a tweet by Canada’s minister of transport, Omar Alghabra.

The large cruise lines that dominate Alaskan waters during the May-September season haven’t yet canceled this summer’s sailings, but most have stopped selling space.

The U.S. cruise industry isn’t taking the no-sail order without a fight.

Read the full story on LATimes.com.