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Alaska Cruises Requiring a Canada Port of Call...


WAYNO

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Only sharing a thought.

During the height of the pandemic, Alaska cruises were allowed to bypass the Canadian stop.  I wish that was still in effect.  When I purposely cruise to Canada, eg the Maritime provinces, I know to do so requires the Canadian protocols and I'll do whatever it takes.

An Alaskan cruise however, my focus is Alaska, and I have little interest in the required Victoria stop.  And because of this stop, it is required to jump through the Canadian hoops, which I'd just as soon not have to encumber myself.

I'd gladly trade Victoria for another Alaskan port.😉

 

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The AlCan site is having difficulties, too - we are on Ovation 9/2 and I cannot upload out vax cards for love or money... keep getting an error message even though I've resized, tried different formats, etc.  I have an email in to their Tech Support and will see what comes from it.

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57 minutes ago, Riley said:

The AlCan site is having difficulties, too - we are on Ovation 9/2 and I cannot upload out vax cards for love or money... keep getting an error message even though I've resized, tried different formats, etc.  I have an email in to their Tech Support and will see what comes from it.

I can't get past the registration for my Sept sailing because I am not within 3 days of sailing.  Perhaps yours will be able to upload info when it is within 3 days of sailing

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4 hours ago, Riley said:

The AlCan site is having difficulties, too - we are on Ovation 9/2 and I cannot upload out vax cards for love or money... keep getting an error message even though I've resized, tried different formats, etc.  I have an email in to their Tech Support and will see what comes from it.

What error are you getting? Are you going through the phone app or via the website?

Maybe try saving the images in a pdf. Most provinces we download the cert as a pdf (no actual vac card). 

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While I agree that no foreign country should be given the power to control Alaska tourism I also understand why there are laws in place that have created the current situation.

In 2021 Congress didn't change the laws that are relevant, they simply told CBP not to issue any fines or penalties when the cruise lines broke the law in 2021.  The other aspect that wasn't covered in as much detail was the fact that Congress also allowed foreign citizens to work in America without obtaining the proper work visa to do so.  Alaskan destined cruise ships in 2021 never left the US so any work on them was subject to immigration laws.  Yet foreign citizens were allowed to work on them in 2021 without having work visas (they hold crew visas only).

Both of those are dangerous precedents and the impacts go well beyond cruise ships.  The reason bills to reform these laws have always stagnated is because they are immensely complex with impacts far beyond cruising.  Ferry service in the US is one example.  In the US ferries must be US made vessels with US crew.  Once you change passenger vessel regulations in these laws it involves ferries and everything down to small water taxis and duckboats. 

Foreign flagged ships are subject to much less regulations and inspections compared to US flagged ships.   Ever wonder why we have much fewer incidents on ferries here?  It's those regulations that US flagged ships are subject to compared to other parts of the world without stringent passenger vessel regulations where we see headlines about deaths on ferries time and again.  

It involves international agreements and treaties that can't be modified by the US alone.  We can't just declare foreign cruise ships are different without impacting international treaties and long standing maritime law that define what a passenger vessel is.  Changing the law for cruise ships effectively changes the law as the rest of the world sees it through international treaties for all foreign passenger vessels sailing in America.  

It's way more complex than we can get into in this thread.  Every attempt at reform over the decades has stopped once the law makers that seek change open up pandora's box and discover just how complex and far reaching it is.  

Plus there are ways to be a tourist in Alaska without going on a cruise.  Fly in an airplane.  Book hotels in Alaska.  That puts more money into the Alaskan economy compared to giving it to foreign companies like Royal Caribbean who pays very little US tax.

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12 hours ago, tjcruisers said:

What error are you getting? Are you going through the phone app or via the website?

Maybe try saving the images in a pdf. Most provinces we download the cert as a pdf (no actual vac card). 

On the web site and yes, I have tried saving to pdf, shrinking the jpeg and re-loading... I will keep trying. To the note above, yes I will need to put in the specific details 72 hours prior to embarkation, but I should be able to upload the vax forms online ahead of time.  If it's still wonky today I will try to contact them.

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I was recently in Victoria - arriving by ferry from Vancouver, heading to Seattle.  Since I was arriving in 1 port (Swartz Bay) and needed to get to another port (James Bay) 20 miles away  and had all day to get there, I had hired Alset Tours (https://www.teslatours.ca/).  Their fleet of cars are all Tesla. We had the owner, Kevin Belanger, take us around Victoria, visiting wineries and breweries.  Kevin customized the trip to our wants.  It was fantastic.  

So, if you are stuck going to Victoria and looking for something a little bit different than the usual RC shore excursions, try looking at other tour operators and getting something custom made for your interests.  Or, just stay on board and enjoy a nearly empty ship.  There are so many options.

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