The feature image above is from the CBC article “‘Elbows up’ rallying cry evokes memories of Mr. Hockey” which provides the origin story for the Elbows Up catchphrase.
As mentioned on our Amazon Trip Page, we’ve cancelled our plans to cruise the Brazilian Amazon with Oceania Cruises. The primary reason for cancelling the booking was to end our support for an American company during the trade war declared by the US on Canada. Oceania Cruises is a subsidiary of NYSE listed Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NCLH), and their entire marketing department, operations office, and most of their supply chain are in Miami, Florida. As Canadians, we are not prepared to take a trip for which most of the high paying jobs, most of the suppliers, and all of the profits belong to a US company.
A secondary reason for cancellation was the current (March, 2025) US policy of randomly detaining and incarcerating foreign nationals despite their visa status. Taking a cruise that ends in Miami just seems like a really bad idea right now, especially when Oceania cheerfully admits on their Travel Restrictions web page that they’ll basically do whatever the US government tells them to do. We have no desire to take a stroll through the minefield that is today’s US foreign policy.
Our cancellation of the Oceania cruise was initiated by friends who had arranged for four couples to travel together on this voyage. Three couples have cancelled so far. In our case, we’ll lose a chunk of our deposit, but that’s a small price that we’ll happily pay to make a very necessary statement.
Our cancellation of US travel (and by extension, travel with US-based companies) is part of a growing trend by Canadians, as reported by news outlets in both Canada and the US:
- CTV: ‘Catastrophic’: Canadian bookings for U.S. travel drop sharply
- CNBC: Canadians pull back on U.S. trips, threatening to widen United States’ $50 billion travel deficit
For an independent view of the potential impact on the US economy, check out this article from The Conversation: Tourists are cancelling trips to the US – here’s how this could affect its economy
There are other ways that we can explore the Brazilian Amazon rainforest and we are working on those now!
#ElbowsUpCanada