After a two-year pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the first cruise ship has arrived in Victoria. CHEK reports Holland America’s Koningsdam ship arrived shortly after 10 a.m. local time at Ogden Point in Victoria, B.C. on Saturday with 1,200 passengers on board. It’s the first cruise ship to dock in Canadian waters in more than two years. “We know that cruise ship passengers enjoy everything our communities have to offer, helping support thousands of jobs in the maritime, tourism, hospitality, and agricultural sectors across the province,” Rob Fleming, B.C.’s minister of transportation and infrastructure, said in a release from Read more
Holland America
Holland America Line cruise ships to visit Canadian ports again this summer. Officials today said the publication of procedures for the safe resumption of cruises to Canadian ports allows the company to complete preparation for a full season of Alaska explorations and Canada/New England sailings. Holland America Line will sail itineraries as scheduled that include Canadian homeports and ports of call from late spring through fall. Canadian government officials last month said new cruise regulations will be in place in time for the start of the Canadian cruising season in May. “The completion of this guidance by Transport Canada, Read more
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is urging governments to accelerate relaxation of travel restrictions as COVID-19 continues to evolve from the pandemic to endemic stage. IATA this week called for removing all travel barriers (including quarantine and testing) for those fully vaccinated with a WHO-approved vaccine, enabling quarantine-free travel for non-vaccinated travelers with a negative pre-departure antigen test result, removing travel bans, and accelerating the easing of travel restrictions in recognition that travelers pose no greater risk for COVID-19 spread than already exists in the general population. “With the experience of the Omicron variant, there is mounting scientific evidence Read more
