In February, Canada banned all cruise ships in it's waters for one year. This has caused havoc in the cruise industry. Of course the cruise lines immediately cancelled the Alaska cruises sailing in and out of Vancouver and the Canada/New England cruises sailing in and out of Quebec City. However, they have not cancelled cruises sailing through Canada out of Seattle, New York or Boston yet.
I know they are lobbying the US Government to amend the Jones Act and Passenger Vessel Services Act. It was enacted in 1886 and reads:
No foreign vessels shall transport passengers between ports or places in the United States, either directly or by way of a foreign port, under a penalty of $200 [now $762] for each passenger so transported and landed.
With Canada closing it's ports, cruise ships are not able to go to Alaska from the lower 48 as there is no foreign port enroute for them to dock. There was talk about one of the Alaska islands, inhabited with indigenous people, become a country. I believe that didn't get anywhere. Changing the Jones Act/PVS Act isn't as easy as one would think.
Some of the people in US Government sent this letter to our Ambassador!
