The Haines Borough Assembly has asked interim manager Alekka Fullerton to draft a resolution welcoming small cruise ships to the community in preparation for its next regular meeting on March 9.
“It’s really important that we put out something official because we have been contacted by some of the ships saying they want to come, but I can’t tell them, ‘We want you, officially.’ That would obviously be an assembly thing,” tourism director Steven Auch said at a meeting Feb. 23, adding that acting quickly is important because cruise lines are trying to solidify sailing plans.
The assembly’s interest aligns with a recommendation from the borough’s Tourism Advisory Board (TAB), which met in February to finalize a 2021 COVID-19 mitigation plan recommendation for tour operators and, at the same meeting, voted to recommend that the assembly support opportunities for cruise ships of all sizes to return to Haines.
Borough discussions about welcoming cruise ships come on the heels of Canada’s decision to extend its ban on large cruise ships for another year, an extension that effectively bans the ships from Alaska due to provisions in the U.S. Passenger Vessel Services Act of 1886 and significantly dampens local businesses’ hopes for a robust summer season.
Auch, in an interview Wednesday, said larger cruise lines including Princess Cruises and Holland America have started cancelling their 2021 Alaska cruises, although a number of the big cruise lines say they continue to hope that a portion of the season can be salvaged.
Holland America cancelled cruises originating in Canada but said it plans to keep Alaska cruises originating in the U.S. on the schedule for now. Princess cancelled a number of sailings, but said, in a press release, it hopes to be able to salvage a portion of the season.
“Princess is engaged with various United States and Canadian government officials to try to preserve a portion of the Alaska and Canada & New England 2021 cruise seasons,” the statement reads.
Other cruise lines like Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings have stopped taking new Alaska bookings but say they continue to hope that the U.S. and Canandian governments will come up with a solution to make a 2021 Alaska cruise ship season feasible. In mid-February, Royal Carribean said it had no plans to cancel its Alaska cruise ship season.
Some smaller, American-based cruise lines, not impacted by the Canadian port closure, have said they still plan to sail to Alaska this summer. The list includes UnCruise Adventures, Lindblad Expeditions, Alaskan Dream Cruises and American Cruise Lines.
Alaska’s state and federal representatives are engaged in an effort to exempt cruise ships from the provisions in the U.S. Passenger Vessel Services Act to allow larger ships to visit Alaska.
Alaska State Sen. Jesse Kiehl has introduced a resolution that urges the U.S. Congress to exempt cruise ships from provisions in the U.S. Passenger Vessel Services Act to allow larger ships to visit Alaska, despite the Canadian port closure. The resolution is currently before the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee.
In February, Alaska congressman Don Young introduced a bill that would provide a temporary workaround for cruise ships making roundtrip voyages between Washington and Alaska.