Peggy's Cove, NS. It's a must do shore excursion for people sailing the New England / Coastal Canada route. I've been there several times, and always like stopping there for a photo shoot. It's more crowded now than it used to be, due to all of the ships that make it into Halifax, NS. Yet, it's worth the time it takes to get there.
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As I write this, domestic political considerations may affect cruising from the USA. We've seen reports of a Canadian held by ICE for two weeks without good reason. Visitors and "Green Card" holders are being detained or refused entry, all due to the President's crackdown on illegal immigration. There is no such thing as "Due Process" anymore, and foreign governments are now advising their citizens to avoid the US.
An Alaskan senator is now calling for eliminating the Jones Act/Passenger Vessel Services Act requirement for cruise ships to stop at foreign ports on trips to/from Alaska. There are 3 acts being proposed by a Hawaiian congressman to eliminate the burdens imposed by the Jones act on places such as Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and Puerto Rico. Assuming these challenges to the Jones act succeed, I see the possibility of the growth in East and West coast cruising, as many of the major cruise lines might be free to sail Hawaiian and Alaskan cruises on their foreign flagged ships, as well as new East Coast cruise options being provided by ships now making stops in the Caribbean, Bermuda, the Bahamas.
The big question for me is: What will happen with cruises bound for Eastern Canada? Considering how Canadian people and businesses are boycotting US goods, will we end up seeing Canada ban ships bound from the US from stopping at their ports? This will be a major problem for the cruise industry, as these are vey popular cruises.
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Even with American politics going off the deep end and our President starting an unwarranted trade war with little to gain from it so far, foreigners still love the American people for the most part. They are perplexed about why we elected someone who wants to be king. They are surprised to see the America holding a military parade in the nation's capital, only to stroke the ego of the man who holds the office of President. In short, they are against today's American government and what it "stands for", but still respect the American people for the nation we have built over the past 248 years.
Why is this important? Foreigners have no problem accepting business from the American people as individuals. They are simply responding to our President's inexplicable actions by trying to punish Trump friendly areas by using the power of the boycott. As noted earlier, Canadians are avoiding vegetables and fruits grown in America, and are now buying these products from other nations. In addition, the province of Ontario has cut off electricity supplies to New York, as the Northwestern part of the state supported our current president. Foreign nations and their citizens are simply trying to tell our government to stop this nonsense by doing as little business with us as possible - including not taking their vacations inside America, nor traveling through America for their vacations.
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I consider America's current trade and immigration policies to be insane, as does much of the world. This will likely affect the cruise industry. Even though three major cruise line's ships are all foreign flagged vessels (save one based in Hawaii), their holding corporations are all based in the USA. Will foreigners boycott sailings on these ships because of US policies? I think so. But it will take time for prices to drop. People who have paid for their cruises less than 4 months ago are stuck - they either go on their cruises, or lose the money they paid for these cruises. This likely means that we will see cruise prices drop within 4 months from now, as foreigners will be cancelling cruises already booked in advance of final payment dates, so that they can get most of their money back from the cruise lines.
My advice: Wait a few months before booking a cruise. Given the lack of consumer confidence in the American economy and the likelihood of cruise price drops, I feel that there will be bargains to be had sometime before the start of winter. Hopefully, we will all be able to pick up some great deals then.
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