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The first cruise ship of the season was due to dock at Canada Place on April 2.

No more. On Friday the federal government announced cruise ships with more than 500 people will not be allowed to dock in Canada before July, effectively wiping out the first three months of Vancouver’s cruise season.

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The ban affects 127 cruises, mostly in May and June. Whether cruises will start up again in July is unknown, because the COVID-19 pandemic has the industry in a state of flux.

“The word unprecedented has never been used so often as in this situation,” said Sanjay Goel, president of Canada’s largest cruise retailer, Cruise Connections. “But it is unprecedented.”

Goel said several cruise lines have announced plans to suspend operations, for varying times. One is Princess Cruises, the owner of the Princess Grand, the ship that was to sail into Vancouver on April 2.

It’s currently docked in Oakland, Calif., after several people on-board tested positive for the coronavirus. On Thursday, Princess Cruises announced it was suspending all cruises for its fleet for two months.