Rerouting post-covid BOS/NJ/BALT

[Larry Muster]

In the event of hurricane, the default plan to re-route caribbean cruises originating from Boston, NJ and Baltimore seems to be Bermuda or Canada.  I've seen sailings re-routed to Bermuda when the storm is in the gulf or right on the east coast of Florida.  I've seen sailings re-routed to Canada when the storm is off the coast blocking the route to the caribbean.

Now that Canada and Bermuda have entry requirements that may not be possible (or at least may not be easy) to satisfy on short notice, how will Royal Caribbean handle re-routing Boston/NJ/Baltimore cruises this season?

[tjcruisers]

If it was an emergency (getting out of the way of the storm. couldn't get back to port) I would think an exception would be allowed in this situation, maybe let the ships tie up but not disembark. Outside of that I guess Royal would cancel the cruise.

Are there many Caribbean bound cruises from those ports in the fall?

[twangster]

The typical re-route is from Bermuda to Canada/NE or for longer cruises Bermuda to Bahamas.   

Since both require pre-boarding testing the only difference is the requirement for ArriveCAN in Canada and the travel authorization for Bermuda. It's not clear if last minute travel authorizations for thousands are within Bermuda's capabilities to process since they seem to struggle at times with normal authorization loads.  ArriveCAN is potentially easier but certainly a pretty significant hindrance when looking North for an alternate port.    

It's not too often you'll see a Bahamas cruise diverted to Bermuda.  Bermuda and Canada are too far for short cruises from Florida.  There are many closer ports to use as alternates when sailing from Florida.   For 2022 I'm guessing they'll take Bermuda off the table as a candidate to be an alternate for a Caribbean or Bahamas cruise, if it ever was a viable alternate.  Canada is too far to be an alternate for most Florida based cruises.  

CBP will waive fines for violating the PVSA for unexpected weather related reasons that occur during a cruise.  It's a different story if a ship embarks passengers knowing they will violate the PVSA.  This demonstrates intent to violate the law.  When it is clear they can't remain legal before the ship departs from it's home port then CBP would expect the cruise line to cancel if they can't find a suitable alternate port to remain legal.

Given the challenges with both Bermuda and Canada we may see more cancellations in 2022 if hurricanes impact Bermuda and Canada/NE.

[Larry Muster]

9 hours ago, twangster said:

Given the challenges with both Bermuda and Canada we may see more cancellations in 2022 if hurricanes impact Bermuda and Canada/NE.

That was my worry.  I'd rather be re-routed than cancelled but I don't see lots of options to re-route to.

[twangster]

12 minutes ago, Larry Muster said:

That was my worry.  I'd rather be re-routed than cancelled but I don't see lots of options to re-route to.

Some other cruise lines are allowing unvax to Bermuda while Royal still requires all Bermuda bound guests to be vax.  Maybe this is why, so they can divert to Canada if required.