Jump to content

Notice in Daily Newspaper Wouldn't Let Us Back on Ship in Future Ports ???


knittinggirl
 Share

Recommended Posts

Greetings

 

That is correct. And none of Canada is a foreign distant port according to the definition in the law. If there are recurring violations the cruise line may no longer be allowed to operate in US waters. So if anyone insists on missing the ship please take a Caribbean cruise instead.

 

Good Sailing

Tom

 

Victoria is used as distant foreign port on Alaska cruises.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Victoria is actually used as a "nearby" foreign port…not a "distant" foreign port for Alaska cruises. There are no distant foreign ports in North America.

 

 

 

BBL

 

 

Correct. Closed loop cruises. Ie San Francisco return only have to stop at any foreign port. One ways between two different US ports have to stop at a foreign Distant port

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I doubt that really happened. I would think that in an emergency the fine would be waived. After all, it wasn't their fault they had to get off because of an emergency. The fines are in place as a deterrent so people won't get off in whatever port they prefer, in essence using the cruise ship as a ferry service. But an emergency is different.

 

 

Who do you think is going to pay it, the cruise line ? Highly doubtful

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

BTW the Caribbean is wonderful for cruising

 

Also costly if you miss the ship in many other ports...luckily for a friend of ours , the people he was partying with flew him back to the mainland.,, he didn't get to cruise much but has a very interesting story to tell...no wonder we see "jumpers" and "runners" in some ports!

Edited by hcat
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Victoria is a foreign port, but not a distant foreign port

 

Greetings

 

There are no "distant foreign ports" in Canada, Mexico, Central America, Bahamas, Bermuda, or the Caribbean. Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao ARE distant foreign ports per the law. This is why canal cruises between 2 US ports stop at an ABC island or Cartegena.

 

Closed loop cruises need not stop in any foreign ports. They are not transporting passengers between ports. The problem occurs when you board in one US port and then exit in another US port. This action violates the act and subjects the carrier to a $300/person fine.

 

This is a very old outdated law (1886) but it still exists and it is still enforced.

 

Good Sailing

Tom

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In a nutshell --

 

"cruise to nowhere", closed loop, need not involve any foreign port

 

closed loop, must visit ANY foreign port, need not be distant

 

US city A to US city B must visit a DISTANT foreign port

 

If a passenger gets on in a US city, they cannot get off in a different US city without visiting a distant foreign port

 

Examples:

 

a cruise to nowhere, leaves FLL, returns to FLL, never visits any port

 

A cruise begins and ends in FLL, must visit any foreign port

 

A cruise begins in FLL and ends in LAX must visit a distant foreign port

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Interesting thread for those not famliar with the law. However I wonder what the tome of this thread would have been if the OP was late, missed the ship and claimed that they weren't warned? Somehow the word "compensation" comes to mind. Now they and others who read this thread know the rules.

Edited by Orator
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Who do you think is going to pay it, the cruise line ? Highly doubtful

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I really don't have the pessimistic attitude you and others may have, and would hope that in the case of an emergency the fee would be waived. In case you don't know what that means, it means "refrain from applying or enforcing (a rule, restriction, or fee)" :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I really don't have the pessimistic attitude you and others may have, and would hope that in the case of an emergency the fee would be waived. In case you don't know what that means, it means "refrain from applying or enforcing (a rule, restriction, or fee)" :D

 

Doesn't work that way. The US fines the cruise line and they of course aren't going to eat it because you had an emergency. They pass it on to the passenger

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In another post, someone had to leave the ship early due to a family emergency, and they had $600 fine. They were out other funds in addition to this, but I don't remember the details. For them, it was a complete hassle piled on top of the family emergency.

 

That's not necessarily the case. My mom fell and broke her hip on Millennium, and we were evac'd off the ship early, and no fine was incurred.

 

As for leaving a port early due to unforeseen circumstances, again the fine is waived, as are the passport requirements to return to the US. This happened to a couple of ships that had to leave early due to the approach of a tropical storm a few years ago. More than 500 passengers were stranded on the island.

 

CruiseJunky, unless you have personal experience with this issue, you don't know what happens in every case. Like I said, we did not have any kind of charge or fine put onto our cruise bill, and we hadn't yet visited a foreign port before mom fell and had to be evacuated.

Edited by kitty9
Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's not necessarily the case. My mom fell and broke her hip on Millennium, and we were evac'd off the ship early, and no fine was incurred.

 

As for leaving a port early due to unforeseen circumstances, again the fine is waived, as are the passport requirements to return to the US. This happened to a couple of ships that had to leave early due to the approach of a tropical storm a few years ago. More than 500 passengers were stranded on the island.

 

CruiseJunky, unless you have personal experience with this issue, you don't know what happens in every case. Like I said, we did not have any kind of charge or fine put onto our cruise bill, and we hadn't yet visited a foreign port before mom fell and had to be evacuated.

 

Of course I don't know what happens in every case. I don't know how often the coast guard actually catches them and passes it on to the cruise line. I don't think the cruise lines just arbitrarily charge the passengers. And when there's weather involved such as Hurricanes, they usually are able to get it waived for the entire ship.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's not necessarily the case. My mom fell and broke her hip on Millennium, and we were evac'd off the ship early, and no fine was incurred.

 

As for leaving a port early due to unforeseen circumstances, again the fine is waived, as are the passport requirements to return to the US. This happened to a couple of ships that had to leave early due to the approach of a tropical storm a few years ago. More than 500 passengers were stranded on the island.

 

CruiseJunky, unless you have personal experience with this issue, you don't know what happens in every case. Like I said, we did not have any kind of charge or fine put onto our cruise bill, and we hadn't yet visited a foreign port before mom fell and had to be evacuated.

 

Thank you Kitty9. Looks like CruiseJunky's opinion is just that - an opinion. I much prefer facts over someone's opinion. :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Obviously! Looks like it's another money grab to get us to purchase shore excursions through them.
As long as you don't miss the ship, it really doesn't matter who you purchase the shore excursions from. If you missed the ship and Celebrity allowed you to get on at one of the other ports, they would be breaking the law and a fine would be incurred. Edited by NLH Arizona
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I doubt that really happened. I would think that in an emergency the fine would be waived. After all, it wasn't their fault they had to get off because of an emergency. The fines are in place as a deterrent so people won't get off in whatever port they prefer, in essence using the cruise ship as a ferry service. But an emergency is different.

 

 

I see the post above citing an example of where the fine was not accessed in an emergency. But I'll also point out that the CBP publication on the PVSA in the link in post #$36 above had the following example on page 14:

We note here, that the penalty of $300 is assessed against the vessel operator or carrier that has provided the unlawful transportation. Thus, for example, a passenger who embarked on a non-coastwise-qualified vessel at Baltimore, Maryland for a Caribbean cruise scheduled to return and disembark at Baltimore, Maryland could not disembark in Miami, Florida for medical or emergency reasons without there being a violation of the PVSA. The penalty for this unlawful transportation would be assessed against the vessel/carrier.

 

 

Hard to know in the above examples if there was a fine accessed against the cruise line that they absorbed and did not pass on or if the fine itself was waived.

 

Someone else asked about enforcement in another post. I'd guess that the cruise lines either report the information needed to enforce the act and they might even be required to self-report violations.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Interesting thread for those not famliar with the law. However I wonder what the tome of this thread would have been if the OP was late, missed the ship and claimed that they weren't warned? Somehow the word "compensation" comes to mind. Now they and others who read this thread know the rules.
Seems like Celebrity is darned if they do and darned if they don't.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's not necessarily the case. My mom fell and broke her hip on Millennium, and we were evac'd off the ship early, and no fine was incurred.

 

Where was the ship when she was evac'd?

 

As for leaving a port early due to unforeseen circumstances, again the fine is waived, as are the passport requirements to return to the US. This happened to a couple of ships that had to leave early due to the approach of a tropical storm a few years ago. More than 500 passengers were stranded on the island.

 

What island was this?

 

If there are "passport requirements", then it probably wasn't at a U.S. port (all passengers leaving a ship in a U.S. port have either already been cleared by U.S. Immigrations, or must clear immigration at the terminal).

 

CruiseJunky, unless you have personal experience with this issue, you don't know what happens in every case. Like I said, we did not have any kind of charge or fine put onto our cruise bill, and we hadn't yet visited a foreign port before mom fell and had to be evacuated.

 

A violation of the PVSA is levied against the line. Your cruise contract allows them to charge you in the case that your action causes them to be in violation (independent on the action being intentional or in an emergency). Could be that they choose not to charge you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd guess that the cruise lines either report the information needed to enforce the act and they might even be required to self-report violations.

 

The line doesn't have to self-report; the CPB knows who embarks the ship at the beginning of the cruise, and who disembarks at the end of the cruise. All discrepancies need to be resolved (and the line will be prepared to present this information when the passenger list is provided to the CBP at disembarkation).

Edited by 3dog
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The 'exception' in Hawaii is for the NCL Pride of America ship, which visits only US (Hawaiian) ports without going to any foreign port. This is allowed because the ship is registered in the US, unlike almost all other cruise ships.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • Hurricane Zone 2024
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...

If you are already a Cruise Critic member, please log in with your existing account information or your email address and password.