COVID-19 Advisory: Pursuant to Governor Inslee’s Executive Order, We Are Temporarily Closed.

*Updated as of May 25th, 2020

In response to Governor Inslee’s announcement of the temporary order to shutdown restaurants,
bars, entertainment and recreational facilities statewide due to the coronavirus, we here at Waterways Cruises have made the difficult decision to put a temporary pause on our small business.

Beginning Monday, March 16th, we are temporarily closed until further notice.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. As a small, local, family-owned business, this decision was not an easy one to make. However, we agree with Governor Inslee and believe this is the right thing to do to help slow the spread of the virus within our community. The health and safety of all of our guests and staff has always been our number one priority.

For the last 26 years, Waterways Cruises’ first and foremost concern has been the health and safety of its passengers and employees. Our company has an enviable, long-term record of safe operations in an environment regulated by the U.S. Coast Guard, and other local, state, and federal regulatory agencies.

Waterways Cruises will continue to operate a healthy and safe business incorporating all recommendations and directives of the United States Department of Labor and/or the Washington State Department of Health, the U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC), the World Health Organization’s (WHO), and the Passenger Vessel Association relating to customer and employee health and safety. These policies currently include:

• • Maintaining appropriate social distancing at all times between customers and employees in a customer density environment approved by local, state, and federal agencies.
  • Making hand sanitizing supplies and equipment readily available at all times for use by customers and employees.
  • Health checking employees at the beginning of each shift.
  • Ensuring that employees staff wear face-coverings when interacting with each other and customers.
  • Regularly cleaning and sanitizing all public facilities, such as restrooms, on a regular basis during each cruise.
  • Preparing and serving all food and beverages in a controlled and sanitary environment where those employees preparing food and beverage are equipped with appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) as recommended by the King County Health Department and/or the Washington State Department of Health.

During our temporary closure, Waterways Cruises has continued to perform a variety of maintenance and refurbishment on our yachts, to ensure that we’re ready for your return. Waterways has complied with the Governor’s Executive Order in the following ways:

• • • Ceasing operation of all private yacht charters and public dining cruises.
    • Establishing and implementing social distancing and sanitation measures established by the United States Department of Labor and/or Washington State Department of Health.
    • Maintaining only minimum basic essential operations, including maintenance and refurbishment of its vessels, while establishing, implementing, and maintaining appropriate and mandated social distancing and sanitation measures to protect its employees engaged in these vital functions.
    • Continued its sales, management, and administrative functions with those members of Waterways Cruises staff operating virtually from home on a reduced schedule.

We will continue to monitor the situation and work with public health officials to determine when it will be appropriate for us to start operating our cruises again here in Seattle on Lake Union and Lake Washington. Waterways is planning and preparing to be ready for its re-opening when the current sanctions are lifted by Governor Inslee and it’s safe to resume our cruising schedule again.

For now, our small team of dedicated employees will be working reduced hours to help customers rebook their cruises as well as helping to book cruises for the upcoming summer season. We ask for your patience and understanding as we work our way through this crisis.

We understand how disappointing it may be for guests who have an event planned or have purchased tickets to cruise with us but want you to remain confident that we will do our absolute best to accommodate your rebooking. Our team has already been reaching out to those who have purchased tickets to reschedule their public cruises for a future date. If your scheduled private charter was canceled because of our temporary closure due to COVID-19, we are waiving our normal rebooking fee and more than happy to reschedule your cruise for a later date and time, depending upon availability. For those not able to rebook at this time, we will issue an online gift card that can be redeemed for a future cruise of your choice. Please note, our online gift cards never expire. Please visit our Cruise Calendar online for our most up-to-date schedule.

For any new bookings, we invite you to visit our website to book your new reservation online. Our small office staff is working limited hours during this time and we’re doing our best to communicate with every guest personally. If you’re trying to reach us during our business hours and we don’t answer right away, please be assured that we will get back to you as soon as possible. Please feel free to leave a message or send an email to [email protected].

We understand that many of you may have questions in regard to what this all means for the cruises we’ve had to cancel. To help get all of your questions answered, we’ve put together a list of Frequently Asked Questions we’ve been receiving about our temporary closure.

We know this has been an incredibly challenging time for everyone. We thank you for your patience, understanding and continued support during this difficult and unprecedented time. Now more than ever, we look forward to getting back out on the water with you again, hopefully one day soon.

In Good Health,
Ownership and Management of Waterways Cruises