Canada to Fort Lauderdale,2015

[seamwoman]

SCREAM! Just talked to our travel agent and Princess. The new atlas shows the cruise 11/14 days to FLL or Houston BUT to disembark in Ft Lauderdale we have to pay for the whole cruise to Houston and have special papers to get off in FLL. It doesn't make sense??? This would be our first elite cruise. We are anxious to take more cruises that leave or arrive in Lauderdale to avoid one flight. Very disappointed with the "wish book" and Princess answers. Karen

[ggprincess2004]

It's a repo cruise and that ship will be based in Houston for the winter season. For us, it means we fly home from Houston instead of FLL. We haven't decided whether we are going to extend our stay in Houston or not - we would have in FLL.

[NavyVeteran]

SCREAM! Just talked to our travel agent and Princess. The new atlas shows the cruise 11/14 days to FLL or Houston BUT to disembark in Ft Lauderdale we have to pay for the whole cruise to Houston and have special papers to get off in FLL. It doesn't make sense??? This would be our first elite cruise. We are anxious to take more cruises that leave or arrive in Lauderdale to avoid one flight. Very disappointed with the "wish book" and Princess answers. Karen

 

Why doesn't it make sense? This is just like any other cruise where you want to leave before the end of the cruise. Princess has to reserve the cabin for the entire cruise and leave it empty after you get off.

 

Princess cannot sell the cabin from Fort Lauderdale to Houston. Because of the Passenger Vessel Services Act of 1886, Princess cannot allow anyone to sell between two domestic ports (Fort Lauderdale and Houston) unless the ship stops at a distant foreign port (not Canada, Mexico, or the Caribbean).

 

As a resident of Texas, I am happy that Princess has some sailings out of Houston - even though there are not many. I envy those of you who live close to Fort Lauderdale, because you have lots of options - even if this specific cruise isn't one of them. The rest of us have to fly for almost all of our cruises.

[PugsRuleATL]

I wonder if they'll market it as separate cruises later.

 

As an example, we're on the Emerald (in only 39 days!) from Southampton to Fort Lauderdale. The cruise continues to Houston. It was sold as two different cruises - a 14-day and a 17-day.

 

 

 

 

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[ggprincess2004]

I wonder if they'll market it as separate cruises later.

 

As an example, we're on the Emerald (in only 39 days!) from Southampton to Fort Lauderdale. The cruise continues to Houston. It was sold as two different cruises - a 14-day and a 17-day.

 

 

 

 

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They cannot market the FLL to Houston segment separately, it violates the PVSA.

Your cruise from FLL to Houston must go to Aruba to be legal, as it is the closest "distant foreign port" available. The repo from Quebec to Houston has no stops between FLL and Houston.

[PugsRuleATL]

And they didn't market the FLL to HOU separately. As I said, they sold it as a 14-day and a 17-day. And that could happen with the cruise the OP is talking about - though perhaps it would be fewer total days. The Emerald is not going to Aruba when we disembark in FLL, it sails directly to Houston. I've attached both itineraries.

 

 

 

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Edited September 16, 2014 by PugsRuleATL

[2pbears]

SCREAM! Just talked to our travel agent and Princess. The new atlas shows the cruise 11/14 days to FLL or Houston BUT to disembark in Ft Lauderdale we have to pay for the whole cruise to Houston and have special papers to get off in FLL. It doesn't make sense??? This would be our first elite cruise. We are anxious to take more cruises that leave or arrive in Lauderdale to avoid one flight. Very disappointed with the "wish book" and Princess answers. Karen

 

I'm confused. Are you saying that the cruise atlas shows it as an 11 day cruise to FLL or a 14 day cruise to Houston? If that's the case, then you should be able to book it as an 11 day cruise to Fort Lauderdale, right? I would call Princess directly to clarify.

[msmoger]

I'm confused. Are you saying that the cruise atlas shows it as an 11 day cruise to FLL or a 14 day cruise to Houston? If that's the case, then you should be able to book it as an 11 day cruise to Fort Lauderdale, right? I would call Princess directly to clarify.

 

I agree. The cruise atlas lists it as an 11 or 14 day cruise. If you're disembarking in FLL you are not violating any maritime laws. Under those circumstances why should an 11 day cruiser be charged for 14 or have to request permission to get off in FLL?

 

Am I missing something?

[pablo222]

Why doesn't it make sense?

 

Well, for instance, Emerald sails from Southampton to

Ft. Lauderdale and onward to Houston this fall.

 

There is one price to Ft. Lauderdale, and a second price to Houston.

[AKman2495]

SCREAM! Just talked to our travel agent and Princess. The new atlas shows the cruise 11/14 days to FLL or Houston BUT to disembark in Ft Lauderdale we have to pay for the whole cruise to Houston and have special papers to get off in FLL. It doesn't make sense??? This would be our first elite cruise. We are anxious to take more cruises that leave or arrive in Lauderdale to avoid one flight. Very disappointed with the "wish book" and Princess answers. Karen

 

I looked at the itinerary for the only cruise in 2015 I could find from Quebec to FLL/Houston and this is the itinerary:

 

Ships: Caribbean Princess

Ports: Quebec City, Quebec | Quebec City, Quebec | Halifax, Nova Scotia | Bar Harbor, Maine | Boston, Massachusetts | Newport, Rhode Island | New York City (Manhattan or Brooklyn), New York | Charleston, South Carolina | Ft. Lauderdale, Florida | Houston, Texas

 

The problem is if FLL became a destination disembarkation port, instead of just another port, then as others have said, nobody could go between FLL and Houston. I seriously doubt Princess would sail an empty ship to HOU from FLl.

 

the problem is all those stops in the USA before FLL. If the cruise were Quebec, Canadian stops and straight to FLL then you could do it just like the TA from England. It goes from the Azores to FLL and then to Hou. That works.

Edited September 16, 2014 by AKman2495

[Thrak]

You are just one more victim of an outdated and archaic law. I despise the PVSA restrictions. They need to do away with this for cruise ships.

[pablo222]

You are just one more victim of an outdated and archaic law. I despise the PVSA restrictions. They need to do away with this for cruise ships.

 

The cruise starts in Canada, so the PVSA doesn't apply.

 

It would see that princess thinks they can get a good enough

price with people going all the way to houston, that they don't

have to market it as two cruises.

[ggprincess2004]

The cruise starts in Canada, so the PVSA doesn't apply.

 

It would see that princess thinks they can get a good enough

price with people going all the way to houston, that they don't

have to market it as two cruises.

 

It's a bit more complex than that, as Princess cannot market the FLL to Houston segment separately due to the PSVA. It would originate in the US and end in a different US city with no distant foreign port in the itinerary. Hence, they would price the Quebec to FLL the same as the Quebec to Houston, since they cannot resell that cabin for a FLL to Houston segment.

Edited September 16, 2014 by ggprincess2004

[pablo222]

It's a bit more complex than that, as Princess cannot market the FLL to Houston segment separately due to the PSVA. It would originate in the US and end in a different US city with no distant foreign port in the itinerary. Hence, they would price the Quebec to FLL the same as the Quebec to Houston, since they cannot resell that cabin for a FLL to Houston segment.

 

You are correct, they cannot sell the Florida to Texas segment.

 

This is exactly the case with the Emerald this year.

 

You can buy Southampton to Houston

or, you can buy Southampton to Ft. Lauderdale

These segments are priced differently. One is like 13 days,

and one is 17 days (or something like that)

 

There is no reason to assume that a Quebec to Houston cruise would not be priced

differently than a Quebec to Ft. Lauderdale cruise.

 

I think it is purely a marketing decision whether to sell two

cruises, or not. And, in this case princess thinks it can sell

enough berths quebec to Houston that they don't need to

offer a shorter segment.

Edited September 17, 2014 by pablo222

[seamwoman]

Clarification: the cruise is listed as 11/14 days in the atlas??? I did call Princess and spent a half hour talking to a representative. I "get" that the three day leg cannot be sold and it is a repo cruise but we were misled by the info in the atlas. If it had been listed as a 14 day cruise from Ontario to Houston we would have let it go but the 11 day option appealed to us. Karen

[cruisingallover]

You are just one more victim of an outdated and archaic law. I despise the PVSA restrictions. They need to do away with this for cruise ships.

 

I totally agree. It is a silly law.

[msmoger]

Clarification: the cruise is listed as 11/14 days in the atlas??? I did call Princess and spent a half hour talking to a representative. I "get" that the three day leg cannot be sold and it is a repo cruise but we were misled by the info in the atlas. If it had been listed as a 14 day cruise from Ontario to Houston we would have let it go but the 11 day option appealed to us. Karen

 

I agree with you, the cruise atlas is misleading.

[JudithLynne]

Folks….some of you are getting off topic. The issue for the OP is not the PSVA act. The issue is that the 2015-2016 Cruise Atlas clearly states that the cruise that she is interested in is either 11 or 14 days depending on the choice of the passenger.

We are on the Emerald TA next month that is mentioned in this thread. Some of us will disembark in FLL and then the ship will sail at reduced capacity to Houston. Those cruises are priced differently. The cruise to FLL has been “capacity controlled” since booking opened for this cruise.

Karen…Princess did a bait and switch maneuver with you, no better than a car dealership.

The core of this is that Houston is not a popular port and is fraught with problems including the long distance to the airport. Princess wants to base ships there during the Caribbean season so is manipulating passengers to go all the way to Houston on their repositioning cruises. I doubt that this will work in the long run. The port at Houston is now adding a tax to alcohol and tobacco brought off board. I think Princess did not expect the large number of passengers that would choose to get off at FLL and avoid Houston.

 

I do not know about the rest of you but I would choose another similar cruise rather than to add the three extra sea days to end up at the port of Houston.

 

Karen…I understand your anger and frustration and I sure hope that this works out for you….

 

Judith

[Dietemann]

Check HAL. They have the Eurodam and Maasdam do repositioning cruises from Canada to FLL in October 2015.