Starboard Forty

18 hours ago, david,Mississauga said:

I will add that the man I spoke to in Ottawa agreed with me when I asked if Cunard continued to be difficult and said this couldn't be done we could simply get off in Halifax and not return. He did suggest it would be better if it was done officially. If not we would have to speak with an official on the pier.  Eventually there were 30 people who disembarked in Halifax. It was the easiest arrival in Canada we have ever had. We were told to gather in a small lounge and a purser's staff collected our passports and spoke with the border officials. Our luggage was then taken off the ship for us and we left at our convenience.

 

We found it amusing that a Halifax couple we met at tea on board the QM2 had been told by Cunard they had to stay on until New York and make their way home. Prior to boarding in Southampton  my travel agent had gotten permission and we received a document called "Deviation of Itinerary." Our cruise cards were marked destination "YHZ". I told this couple that what they were told was nonsense and they should go to the purser and say they were going to leave the ship in their home city. Permission was granted without further fuss.

 

In Victoria I noticed the disembarking passengers were directed to a desk in a small structure and they spoke briefly with a border official and went on their way.  Arriving in Canada by ship is so much more civilised than arriving by air.

 

Tks ever so much for this information.

7 hours ago, david,Mississauga said:

 

We did the same on a Queen Mary 2 crossing. At first, Cunard said no to our travel agent. I contacted the Canadian immigration service and was put through to a senior consultant in Ottawa. He said if we had Canadian passports no cruise line can prevent us from disembarking at any Canadian port - as long as no law is being broken. (I'm not going to look it up but on another thread I quoted a law restricting passengers from being carried between two Canadian ports on non-Canadian registered vessels.) Obviously that doesn't apply to trans-oceanic voyages.  At the same time our agent got through to someone at Cunard's head office in Southampton who said it was wrong to tell us no.

 

We have taken three Vancouver-based Alaska cruises on the Queen Elizabeth which have called in Victoria the day prior to Vancouver. On the first two (2019 and 2022) Cunard allowed - even encouraged - passengers to disembark in Victoria if they wished.  I don't know exactly how many did so, but from my observations it was perhaps one or two dozen on those two cruises.

 

But last year Cunard referred to the legislation that prevented this.  It is similar to the laws in the U.S.  It appears Cunard didn't know about this on the previous two voyages that we took. On our June 2023 cruise some passengers left the ship and didn't return.  Their names were called on the tannoy just before departure, asking them to report to the purser's office immediately. 

Thanks very much for this.  Last year Cunard quoted the Canadian regulation as you mentioned and that was applicable because the trip started in Vancouver.  This time it starts in Japan and Victoria is the first stop. Would sooner disembark in Victoria than having to return to Victoria from Vancouver.

31 minutes ago, bookbabe said:

Seriously, you just have to contact the cruise line, and then possibly talk to the Security Officer on board to confirm and make final arrangements.  It’s very easy.
 

When my mom did this, the CBSA folks at the Victoria terminal were completely nonchalant about it, I actually even had to wave one of them over to collect her customs form, which they took but didn’t even glance at.  The CBSA does all of the arrivals paperwork before the ship lets anyone off, so as long as the onboard security officer has done their correct paperwork, CBSA doesn’t care about a Canadian getting off one port early.  It’s the ship that cares the most, since they have to do that paperwork and figure out about any “missing” passengers at all aboard time.

By chance do you recall the cruise line?  I am looking for examples such as this that involve a Cunard ship.  When I have contacted Cunard via email their response is that it is not done ... on their ships.

3 minutes ago, tanyacork said:

We do that quite often with celebrity Cruises. Prior to embarking we ask for a permission in writing and have the letter confirming we can do that. There is a little fee with celebrity, I am not sure about other cruise lines.  

Thank you for this information.

1 hour ago, Fouremco said:

Exactly. Emergency disembarkations are a completely different issue. And while a cruise line might not prevent you from disembarking, immigration officials can deny entry and return you to the ship. Neither scenario is applicable in the OP's case.

I contacted CBSA, the reply said that it was up to the cruise line.

I do know of people that have disembarked in Victoria. In one case the cruise line (not Cunard), charged them a fee.  On a Cunard trip last year people from Victoria were allowed to off load their luggage in Victoria.  I would not want to be the one to test jumping ship to find out the consequence from either CBSA (entering Canada without clearing customs) or the cruise line.

I asked the question in this forum to see if other passengers had managed to "legally" disembark and how they managed the request to so such.

Their full reply:

Travelling Tokyo to Vancouver aboard Queen Elizabeth in May/Jun.  Would like to disembark in Victoria (home) rather than travel to Vancouver and return by ferry the next day.

Has anyone been able to disembark in Victoria with similar circumstances?  If so, which cruise line and what was required?

What happens when you do not have a smartphone capable of downloading this Stock Perks app?

Celebrity Solstice Cabin 7304 deck 7 Category 11 Inside 7 Jan 2023

3 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

There are two poster, that I know of, that have “violated” the PVSA.  Wish they would chime in with real world experience.

 

Passenger #1 chose to leave a Hawaii cruise mid-voyage, was fined, and paid fine.

 

Passenger #2 missed embarkation in San Pedro, was flown to Hawaii, and did not personally pay fine.  

Thank you for those examples. I have had a travel agent contact a Princess rep high up in the organization who reviewed our case and I have been assured that I will be able to board and that all is in hand.

4 hours ago, ldtr said:

I have been on cruises, including one to Hawaii last year, where passengers were allowed to board in Hawaii after missing the departure due to flight issues.  Did not hear how the fine was handled, only that Princess did approve them to board, even though it did result in a PVSA violation.  If you booked using EZair, I expect that Princess would have covered the fine.  Not sure about anyone with flight problems that did not book under EZair, but atleast in 1 case was allowed to board.

 

I believe that since it is due to something beyond the control of the cruise line and the passenger, that the fine to the cruise line will still occur, but that the cruise line will not face any additional punishment, which they might if they sold bookings that violated PVSA.

Thanks very much for the personal anecdote, it helps lift a bit of the stress this whole situation is creating.  

5 hours ago, sunviking90 said:

I have read on this forum previously that in a case such as yours Princess will take care of the fine on your behalf since you booked with EZair. I’m assuming you were delayed by our recent YVR mess?

Well, from YYJ through YVR.  In this case booking on the 20th, two days ahead did not work. Another couple from Vic booked on the 21st had the YYJ/YVR cancelled of which they were notified on the 20th giving them plenty of time to get to YVR for the 8pm flight the next day.  Lucky folk are on the cruise.

9 minutes ago, cherylandtk said:

Unfortunately, missing the ship in LA won’t result in a flight to the next port in Hawaii.  The cruise line is not allowed to intentionally violate the PVSA, and thus the first legal port they could fly you to is Ensenada.  
 

One option could be to fly to Hawaii yourself and disembark in Mexico, but it would be up to you to arrange that itinerary deviation with Princess.  They are under no obligation to do so.

 

This is one of those itineraries where missing the initial departure pretty much results in no cruise.  One way Alaska trips are another.

I have tickets to fly to that Hawaiian port.  Your comment is truly increasing my level of worry.

The ship does stop at Ensenada on the return but the issue is within the wording of the PVSA.  I have been assured by Princess that the ship knows I am coming and one of the agents specifically mentioned about a waiver or exemption but I am uncertain whether the agent made the comment in relation to the PVSA.  I have a colleague who was a ship's captain with Holland America Line years ago who said there should not be any problem.  However, in trying to find answers to my question I have found instances where my embarkation in Hawaii and being transported to LA, even with the stop in Ensenada is a violation because the authorization for the route is "return LA".  

It seems a lost cause trying to address this with Princess as the agents I have dealt with have not appeared to be very well informed about things.  Princess also would not send me an email with some sort of confirmation that I am embarking in the Hawaiian port.  The reply is trust us, "I have confirmed with the agent that set up the tickets an email has been sent to the ship and the ship has acknowledged that email".  My confidence and trust are so low that I am now recording all the phone calls.

If a passenger misses the departure in LA and Princess EZ Air arranges flights to meet the ship in the next port does the passenger need to be concerned about a violation of the PVSA when returning to LA?  

I assume that as Princess is making all the arrangements and informing the ship of the late arrival that Princess/or the ship would be asking for a waiver and as such the passenger would not have any liability for the fine.

Has anyone had this experience (specific to the particular itinerary would be most beneficial).

Thanks.

Double Tks Jcol ... I did not think to check the CC Canadian Cruisers board.  Fair winds and following seas for your cruise.

Are the Rapid Antigen Telehealth tests available in Canada accepted by Royal Caribbean?  The RC website states that only those test approved by the US CDC are accepted.  The Canadian tests are accepted for crossing the board as the US CDC policy for tests used to cross the border states that the test must be approved by the country of origin (in this case the test is Canadian, approved by the Govt of Canada.

I have a cruise booked on the Harmony for early Apr 2022 and the final payment is fast approaching.  I read about the change to the final payment date so asked my TA about changes.  The TA replied that there had been no changes.  I then pointed out that there have been news articles written about the change and discussion about the change here in CC.  She still said there was no change although she did indicate that she will again contact RCI.  

A change to the final payment will provide a bit of breathing room.  

Despite the Cruise with Confidence program I would rather cancel.  I have booked 3 cabins for ourselves, adult daughter/grand-daughter and adult son as a gift.  Under the program if I have to cancel the amount paid will become FCC ... but that FCC is not in my name (as the person who paid) but in the names of the registered passengers.  However, under the same policy if I had to cancel within 48 hrs due to one of the party contracting COVID then the full amount is refunded - and the TA told me that it is refunded to the credit card used for the payment.  If the money comes back to the person who paid for the cancellation within 48hrs, why is the FCC not credited to the person who actually paid for the cabins?

11 minutes ago, Cuedon said:

 

What were the dates involved like? On top of my cancellation refunds, I'm also waiting on a flight reimbursement for a B2B return trip cancelled on March 15 (submitted March 17 or so) that I haven't even gotten any kind of acknowledgement that they've received.

The cruise was scheduled for end March but was cancelled by Princess in mid Feb.  We were notified by email on 18 Feb and the refund for the cruise was posted to the credit card on Feb 25.  

We did not cancel the flight until Mar 7 and the refund from Air Canada was posted (minus the $200 cancellation fee for each ticket) to the credit card on Mar 17.  

The initial submission to Princess for the reimbursement of the cancellation fees was made Mar 20 by email but there was no auto acknowledgement.  I re-submitted Mar 31.

There has been limited contact.  On Apr 24 I spoke with a Princess representative who told me I had to submit information from Air Canada.  I had already submitted information from Air Canada that made it clear they held no information on tickets for bookings made through a travel agent.  The agent at Flight Centre spoke with this particular Princess rep and feedback from the Flight Centre rep was such that he believed Princess would approve the request and the Princess rep understood the business of the travel agent booking the flight versus booking it direct with the airline.  

May 23 I sent an email (to customerrelations) asking that it be forwarded to the Princess agent who had been dealing with my claim asking for an update ...there was no response.

Jun 7 I sent another email asking for an update but this time the email was sent using the contact us on the Princess website.

Yesterday I received a reply saying that my claim could not be approved without information from Air Canada.

Long story.

To clarify points made about Flight Centre - the agent has been working with me to resolve this with Princess but the bottom line I suppose is that it is between me and Princess.  I am waiting for an update from the Flight Centre agent who, once again, is going to speak with Princess.  

Having been denied - what is the process to have the the decision revisited ?  How does one re-submit and have it go for a higher level review?

Thanks for responses.

I was booked on the Majestic Princess for a 5 day return voyage from Taipei  28 Mar 2020. Princess cancelled the trip, provided a refund and a 25% future good will credit and stated that requests for refund for non-refundable expenses could be submitted IAW information on their website.

I had flights that needed cancelling.  The flights were booked through Flight Centre (not directly with the airline Air Canada).  The invoice from Flight Centre states the cancellation policy.  I submitted the Flight Centre purchase invoice, Flight Centre cancellation invoice, and credit card information showing the purchase and refund.  

Princess continues to say the Flight Centre invoices are insufficient and information about the cancellation policy from the airline, Air Canada, is required.  However, Air Canada states that all dealings with tickets and refunds booked through a travel agency must be directed to that travel agency.  All travel agencies use one of the global distribution systems so it booking is not directly with the airline.  How can the staff at Princess not understand this.

In any case - has anybody had experiences with claiming the non-refundable portion of a flight when Princess cancelled the cruise?  If it was successful maybe you could give me a tip for a successful claim.

Thanks.

Hellllooo!

 

I recently took my first ever Cunard cruise and the dress code was a massive shock (I'm used to freestyle dining)

 

To be honest I found the dress code to be a bit of a pain... I had no idea that they'd be ship wide dress codes or that the informal nights would still be more formal than I'd ever dress in my normal life!

 

Anyway I wrote a post about what to wear and included photos of what I wore. If you check it out here then I won't have to annoy everybody by typing it out again haha :)

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

The dress code is not in fine print. Why a person would not check the definition of formal and informal when it is clearly mentioned is beyond comprehension. The Cunard definition is located on the same pages of the voyage book as information about prohibited items, passports, visas, Zika virus, vaccinations.

Ah the naivety of the young.

Thanks for the feedback.

Is there a place on the internet to see what duty free spirits are offered for sale on QM2 along with the prices? I would like to compare with prices at Laguardia duty free shops. I will be disembarking in New York following the XMAS/New Year cruise.

I will be travelling on QM2 for 2 consecutive cruises: the first leg is a 7 day TA and the second leg is 12 days. They were booked separately as it was cheaper.

For the 7 day TA I have $400 of OBC plus $100 shareholder benefit and for the second 12 day leg of the trip I have $150 OBC plus $100 shareholder benefit.

I am certain I will find it difficult to use all of this during the rather short 7 day TA. Is it possible to ask the Pusser staff to transfer the unused OBC for use during the second leg of the trip?