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“This is absurd”: Agents react to Canada’s ongoing cruise advisory By Cindy Sosroutomo TORONTO — Well, here’s a head scratcher: Canada officially lifted its cruise ship ban on Nov. 1, 2021, finally permitting cruise ships back into Canadian waters, and yet there’s still a federal advisory against all cruise ship travel outside of Canada. It’s a conundrum that continues to confound and frustrate both travel agents and their clients who have waited over 18 months to set foot on a cruise ship. The cruise ship ban, which first came into effect on March 19, 2020 during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, was lifted early by Transport Minister Omar Alghabra on Nov. 1, 2021, four months ahead of the originally scheduled Feb. 28, 2022 deadline date. The lifting of the cruise ship ban came as the federal government announced Canada’s vaccine passport for international travel, and the elimination of its long-standing blanket travel advisory, for fully vaccinated Canadians. The message from the Government of Canada rings loud and clear: international travel for Canadians can safely resume – so long as they’re not on a cruise ship. According to the government website travel.gc.ca, Canada is very much looking forward to welcoming cruise ships back into Canadian waters for the 2022 cruise season. However, authorities are still advising against cruising outside of the country because if an outbreak of COVID-19 were to occur on the ship, “the range of consular services available to those on cruise ships may be significantly restricted by local authorities, especially in situations of quarantine.” The website also says that it’s unlikely that government-organized repatriation flights to Canada would be available. However, with travel restrictions easing and increasing vaccination rates across Canada, not to mention the stringent health and safety protocols implemented by cruise lines since the start of the pandemic, travel industry experts and professionals say it’s also time to lift the cruise advisory. “Now that the global ‘avoid all travel 6 | TRAVELWEEK | November 11, 2021
outside Canada’ travel advisory has been lifted by the federal government, it is also time to ease the ‘avoid all cruises’ advisory,” Wendy Paradis, ACTA president, tells Travelweek.
“I have a client just waiting to book a world cruise ... I do not recommend that people pay non-refundable deposits while a cruise advisory is in place, they will not get their money back.” “ACTA and our advocacy coalition partners have intensified our advocacy efforts to the Canadian Government and this issue will be a key advocacy priority until the cruise advisory is eased. This is an important issue for travel agents and the travel industry at large,” she added. Travelweek reached out to travel agents to see whether the ongoing cruise advisory is impacting bookings.
“My cruise sales are zero right now” Lise Archambault of Algonquin Travel & Cruise Centre-TravelPlus in Ottawa says that 40%-55% of her clients are regular cruisers, sometimes sailing two or three times a year. Prior to the pandemic, revenue sales were “robust,” since her cruise clients preferred longer voyages (10 days or longer) with luxury cruise lines. But then COVID led to blanket cruise bans in both U.S. and Canadian waters early last year, causing cruise bookings to dry up overnight. “My cruise sales are zero right now,” says Archambault. “I have a client just waiting to book a world cruise but you have to understand that these deposits are non-refundable. I do not recommend that people pay non-refundable deposits while a cruise advisory is in place – they will not get their money back.” Scott Penney of The Travel Agent Next Door in Stewaiacke, NS, tells Travelweek that the cruise advisory has not had a significant impact on cruise sales in the long term (“In fact, I’ve seen an increase in my 2022 bookings and I have had lots of inquiries and some bookings for 2023,” he says), but it’s a different story for the immediate short term.
