The effort to save the 2021 Alaska cruise season may have been too little too late as the Alaska Tourism Recovery Act seems to be going nowhere, with no plan in place to even vote on the Act. 

The Act was introduced earlier in March by Alaska Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan.

“There is not currently a vote scheduled in the U.S. Senate for the Alaska Tourism Recovery Act,” commented Hannah Ray, press secretary for U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski 

The Act is an effort to alleviate the Passenger Vessel Services Act (PVSA) restrictions for cruise ships transporting passengers between the State of Washington and the State of Alaska.

The problem? The Act is seen a “first step” in operating cruises in Alaska and was not part of the COVID-19 relief package which many in the cruise industry thought it would be tagged onto.

The Act will thus need to be part of a larger bill, or be voted on, which could be months off.