4 Day Pacific Coastal Cruise

[MrBill64]

Looking for some advice on combining a 4 day coastal cruise from San Diego on the Westerdam to Vancouver this May with a 1 day cruise from Vancouver back to Seattle. Can this be done or is there some sort of maritime law that won't allow this?

 

There are a few choices available once I complete the 4 day coastal cruise to Vancouver. The Westerdam and the Star Princess both depart Vancouver for Seattle the same day, Friday. Since we don't have to be back to Seattle until Saturday to catch an early afternoon flight home, I was thinking of just taking a one day cruise back to Seattle then transfer to the airport.

 

Anyone have any thoughts? Thanks.

 

Bill

[dobiemom]

I KNOW you can't do both on HAL. It's against PVSA. Maybe you could go up on HAL and to Seattle on Princess? :confused: Someone with more expertise/knowledge than me will come along shortly. :)

[dobiemom]

I KNOW you can't do both on HAL. It's against PVSA. Maybe you could go up on HAL and to Seattle on Princess? :confused:Someone with more expertise/knowledge than me will come along shortly. :)

(CC has been acting up. Couldn't edit. :mad:) What I meant to say was you can't do this as a B2B on one cruiseline. Maybe stay overnight and then board the ship?

[DaveOKC]

I am almost certain you cannot do it on HAL. Even if you book it on Princess, you run the risk of getting denied boarding at the pier, so I have to ask if it is worth it? Plus the cost of those one day cruises are generally not cheap, plus it could be a hassle boarding, getting settled, and then disembarking all in less than 24 hours.

 

Have you thought about taking the train to Seattle instead? I hear that it is a very nice ride and not very expensive.

 

DaveOKC

[Northshorecruisers]

I attempted to book Seattle to Vancouver and then transfer to another HAL ship and do Vancouver to San Diego and HAL said we couldn't do it. If we were to spend the overnight in Vancouver, it would be OK...but by then the HAL ship would have left :p

 

You might be able to get onto the Princess ship....but isn't your name going to show up when you go through customs again? I wouldn't chance it.

 

Over on the "First Time Cruisers" or "Ask A Cruise Question" threads there was a post going on about it. Several people said if you just keep bugging a cruise line rep they will eventually allow you to do it.....none of the people saying this had actually done it that I recall, but, of course, they were all experts on the subject. :rolleyes:

[MrBill64]

Hmmmm, not sure now what might be the best plan of attack. From what I have been reading staying on the same ship is not an option. I wonder why I couldn't change ships?

 

As far as one day cruises being expensive, the Princess cruise I was looking at is $49 per person inside gty. The taxes are a bit of a killer ($78) but I thought that was pretty cheap considering the cost of a transfer to Seattle then a hotel room for the night. I did look at the train but the schedule isn't very accommodating.

 

Bill

[Boytjie]

You cannot start a cruise in San Diego and end it in Seattle without the ship going to a far distant port. There isn't one anywhere near where a 4-day cruise can go.

[Kesstral]

I'm surprised that the stop in Vancouver for one cruise and start foor a second doesn't count. Don't the Seattle roundtrip Alaska cruises stop in Victoria to fulfil the foreign port requirement?

[Shmoo here]

I'm surprised that the stop in Vancouver for one cruise and start foor a second doesn't count. Don't the Seattle roundtrip Alaska cruises stop in Victoria to fulfil the foreign port requirement?

 

Vancouver isn't a distant foreign port. It qualifies as a foreign port for closed loop Seattle cruises. But a cruise that begins and ends in 2 different US ports (as this B2B would be), the foreign port must be a distant one.

[Boytjie]

I'm surprised that the stop in Vancouver for one cruise and start foor a second doesn't count. Don't the Seattle roundtrip Alaska cruises stop in Victoria to fulfil the foreign port requirement?

 

Victoria is a near foreign port. A distant foreign port is outside of North America (Central America, Bermuda. the Bahamas, and all of the Caribbean except Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao, count as part of North America).

[DAllenTCY]

You must spend 24 hours in Vancouver...to make it "legal".

David

[MrBill64]

You must spend 24 hours in Vancouver...to make it "legal".

David

 

So even though I would be taking a HAL ship to Vancouver and then getting on a Princess ship to Seattle the same day I arrive in Vancouver, this is not an option unless I spend 24hrs in Canada? Of course I can take any other mode of transportation to Seattle the same day, (train, bus, car) correct?

[DAllenTCY]

Let me get this straight......San Diego to Vancouver.....bus/train to Seattle......you are good to leave from Seattle, because you are not a prisoner in Canada. The point is that you cannot change ships in Vancouver without an overnight stay.

 

David

[MrBill64]

Let me get this straight......San Diego to Vancouver.....bus/train to Seattle......you are good to leave from Seattle, because you are not a prisoner in Canada. The point is that you cannot change ships in Vancouver without an overnight stay.

 

David

 

Thanks David. I figured I wasn't a prisoner :D but I just don't see the logic in the law that won't allow me to board a different ship in Vancouver to go back to Seattle. Oh well I appreciate the clarification of a law that makes little sense to me.

[RuthC]

... but I just don't see the logic in the law that won't allow me to board a different ship in Vancouver to go back to Seattle.

Laws don't need logic. They just are.

 

Actually, at the time it was passed, the PVSA did have logic in that it was designed to protect US ships. Foreign ships can't just come into the US and transport US passengers between US ports, without some specific requirements being met. This helped support US shipping.

It has nothing to do with helping US passengers.

[catl331]

... but I just don't see the logic in the law that won't allow me to board a different ship in Vancouver to go back to Seattle.

If you leave the same day you arrive it's considered one continuous "voyage" (and therefore illegal) even if you change cruise lines. Can you get away with it? Possibly. Or you could be denied boarding by Princess, or fined $300 pp when you get off in Seattle.

[MrBill64]

Laws don't need logic. They just are.

 

Ain't that the truth :rolleyes:

 

If you leave the same day you arrive it's considered one continuous "voyage" (and therefore illegal) even if you change cruise lines. Can you get away with it? Possibly. Or you could be denied boarding by Princess, or fined $300 pp when you get off in Seattle.

 

Yea, I am probably going to just transfer back to Seattle by bus and spend the night in Seattle. Too bad as I thought it would be fun to take a cruise ship back to Seattle which would have eliminated the need for a hotel room or any meals.

 

Thanks for all the info as I really thought I would be able to transfer ships to avoid breaking the law.

[dobiemom]

Laws don't need logic. They just are.

 

Actually, at the time it was passed, the PVSA did have logic in that it was designed to protect US ships. Foreign ships can't just come into the US and transport US passengers between US ports, without some specific requirements being met. This helped support US shipping.

It has nothing to do with helping US passengers.

Ain't that the truth! :eek:

[Kesstral]

Vancouver isn't a distant foreign port. It qualifies as a foreign port for closed loop Seattle cruises. But a cruise that begins and ends in 2 different US ports (as this B2B would be), the foreign port must be a distant one.

 

Victoria is a near foreign port. A distant foreign port is outside of North America (Central America, Bermuda. the Bahamas, and all of the Caribbean except Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao, count as part of North America).

 

Thanks, wasn't quite sure how that rule was being applied on the Alaskan trips :)

[sassyredhat]

We did this awhile back, but maybe things have changed.

We embarked Ryndam in San Diego to Vancouver as the first leg of our Alaska cruise.

We had to disembark, as if the cruise was over.Then we had to go through customs in Vancouver to get back on Ryndam. It was a nightmare because HAL didn't have us on the manifest going to Alaska. We didn't know we needed new cards because we kept the same cabin.

Anyway, they wouldn't let us board. Finally, an officer came down to security and allowed us to board. We sailed the Inside Passage Vancouver to Vancouver. We spent the night and caught a thruway bus to Seattle.

Not sure if this was just a weird thing, or what. :confused:

Pat

[igraf]

You have discovered the Achilles's Heel of the "low cost" Pacific Coastal cruise for US passengers: the expensive flight home from Vancouver. We did a Pacific Coastal cruise once, but we are not motivated to do it again because we can do the 7-day Mexican Riviera for the same total cost (OK, we live in San Diego). Even a 7-day Alaska cruise out of Seattle is only a little bit more total cost than the coastal cruise because flights to Seattle are so much less expensive.

 

igraf

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ain't that the truth :rolleyes:

 

 

 

Yea, I am probably going to just transfer back to Seattle by bus and spend the night in Seattle. Too bad as I thought it would be fun to take a cruise ship back to Seattle which would have eliminated the need for a hotel room or any meals.

 

Thanks for all the info as I really thought I would be able to transfer ships to avoid breaking the law.

[dobiemom]

We did this awhile back, but maybe things have changed.

 

We embarked Ryndam in San Diego to Vancouver as the first leg of our Alaska cruise.

 

We had to disembark, as if the cruise was over.Then we had to go through customs in Vancouver to get back on Ryndam. It was a nightmare because HAL didn't have us on the manifest going to Alaska. We didn't know we needed new cards because we kept the same cabin.

 

Anyway, they wouldn't let us board. Finally, an officer came down to security and allowed us to board. We sailed the Inside Passage Vancouver to Vancouver. We spent the night and caught a thruway bus to Seattle.

 

Not sure if this was just a weird thing, or what. :confused:

 

Pat

That's OK. I'm doing this in May on the Zuiderdam: 4-day coastal from San Diego to Vancouver, then staying on the ship for RT Vancouver Inside Passage. The OP wants to go from San Diego to Vancouver, then Vancouver to Seattle. Which is a no-no unless you spend the night on land in-between cruises it seems.

[DaveOKC]

We did this awhile back, but maybe things have changed.

We embarked Ryndam in San Diego to Vancouver as the first leg of our Alaska cruise.

We had to disembark, as if the cruise was over.Then we had to go through customs in Vancouver to get back on Ryndam. It was a nightmare because HAL didn't have us on the manifest going to Alaska. We didn't know we needed new cards because we kept the same cabin.

Anyway, they wouldn't let us board. Finally, an officer came down to security and allowed us to board. We sailed the Inside Passage Vancouver to Vancouver. We spent the night and caught a thruway bus to Seattle.

Not sure if this was just a weird thing, or what. :confused:

Pat

 

You situation is different than what the OP wants to do. You end up in Vancouver (on your cruises), which is not a US city.

 

DaveOKC

[scopewest]

I tried to book Seattle to Vancouver (one day) to San Diego ( six days) this September. HAL said no. So we booked Vancouver to San Diego (six days) and decided to spend fly in early to do some sightseeing in Vancouver before the cruise.

[sassyredhat]

You situation is different than what the OP wants to do. You end up in Vancouver (on your cruises), which is not a US city.

DaveOKC

 

Got it.. Thanks. :)

Pat