After recent Senate approval, the U.S. House unanimously passed a measure allowing large cruise ships to bypass a Canada port call and visit Alaska.
It is expected to be eventually signed off by President Joe Biden.
The bill is a workaround to Canada’s cruise ship ban which is in effect until 2022.
The bill temporarily exempts large cruise ships from the Passenger Vessel Services Act.
The Act states that a foreign-flagged ship departing the US must make a port call in a foreign country before calling at another US port.
Until the pandemic, Alaska-bound cruise liners would depart from Seattle or another west coast port and make a mandatory stop in Vancouver or Victoria, BC.
Carnival Corp brands Princess Cruises, Holland America Line and Carnival Cruise Line, plan to resume sailing to Alaska, possibly by July.
That timeline is subject to fulfilling the CDC’s conditional sail order.
Norwegian Cruise Line is being more realistic by reopening sales for August cruises to Alaska.
At best, cruise lines will only get about two months’ worth of sailing this year before the Alaska cruise season ends.
