Yesterday, the Canadian government banned all cruise ships with more than 100 passengers from docking in Canada until February 2022. This eliminates the Alaska cruises on the west coast and Canada New England cruises on the east coast. I was not surprised and I agree this is a good thing for the health of Canadians.
Many frequent cruisers are very upset cruising isn't proceeding. The Governor of Florida is pushing for the cruise ships to sail again out of southern Florida. The US CDC has not given permission for them to resume out of Florida and with the change in government, I doubt it will happen soon.
As far as Alaska cruises, I read both Princess and Holland America are opening their lodges in Denali, Fairbanks and Kenai, Alaska. I've been to three of Princess's Alaska lodges and they are wonderful! They are very rustic but comfortable. All the employees I met were university students from the lower 48! The food was amazing. We were told to order Alaska King Crab for dinner. We were on a meal plan so our food was included. It was about seven years ago and one dinner of Alaska King Crab was US $55.00. When the waiter came to the table he said "we fly it in daily from the Bering Sea"! We had it at all three lodges for dinner and it just got better.
Our side trips didn't include husky sled rides or bear sightings but we did a jet boat tour in Talkeetna, we went fly fishing for Arctic Grayling and did the all day excursion to Mt. Denali! If you go in a car, you can't go into the park. The bus tours are all done through the National Parks Service and the wildlife was amazing. The fresh air and scenery were excellent. You don't get the full Alaska experience by just sailing but taking the train inland is wonderful. From the train we saw Sarah Palin's home. Because I watched her tv show, I had no trouble identifying it from the train. There is no way she can see Alaska from her house!
I don't believe this is the year to visit Alaska from Canada. However, I would not be surprised if the cruise lines lobbied the US Government to amend the Jones Act so they could sail out of San Francisco and Seattle to Alaska without a stop at a foreign port. I guess we will just have to wait.
We are already booked our next Alaska cruise for July 2022 on the Queen Elizabeth. It's a 10 day round trip cruise from Vancouver.
