lcumpire Posted January 28, 2015 #1 Share Posted January 28, 2015 We have a family situation where we might need to attend a funeral on the day the cruise leaves San Juan this Sunday. We were thinking we could catch up with the cruise in St. Thomas on Monday. Would appreciate any advice on dealing with this situation with Carnival. Thanx Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winddawn Posted January 28, 2015 #2 Share Posted January 28, 2015 We have a family situation where we might need to attend a funeral on the day the cruise leaves San Juan this Sunday. We were thinking we could catch up with the cruise in St. Thomas on Monday. Would appreciate any advice on dealing with this situation with Carnival. Thanx Sent from my iPad using Forums It is unlikely, but you would need to call Carnival directly and ask. There are crazy cabotage laws involved that state that Carnival must pay fees to allow this, and that isn't likely to happen. And typically they want plenty of advance notice if it is even possible. https://www.goccl.com/~/media/Files/Irman/bookccl/booking_procedure/TheJonesAct_ThePassengerServicesAct.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Love Cruising With My Hon Posted January 29, 2015 #3 Share Posted January 29, 2015 From the first paragraph mentioned under the Jones Act: "The Jones Act (also known as the Passenger Services Act) prohibits ships of Non-U.S registry from embarking and debarking guests at two different U.S ports. Such travel would constitute point-to-point transportation between two U.S ports, which is prohibited on foreign flagged ships. Note: Puerto Rico and the U.S Virgin Islands (St. Thomas; St. Croix; St. John) are not in the category of U.S ports under this act. Don't know much about this subject, but from the reading above it sounds like you would be all set. Call carnival so they can confirm and that you folks would not be in SJ on embarkation. Hope all goes good for your party and enjoy your cruise. Great cruise to take. We loved it last Feb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welldone60 Posted January 29, 2015 #4 Share Posted January 29, 2015 Call Carnival. This cruise also has a embark/disembark at Barbados Iten. You might be able to change to that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZJ13820 Posted January 29, 2015 #5 Share Posted January 29, 2015 (edited) This is one of those occasions I would call Carnival and ask (and document) versus going with what information you are going to get here. It's going to be like the passport questions where everyone thinks they are the expert on the topic and there are 30 posters with 30 different responses. Edited January 29, 2015 by ZJ13820 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
getupgo Posted January 29, 2015 #6 Share Posted January 29, 2015 We did it about 10 years ago. We missed our flight to San Juan and we caught the ship at its first port in St Croix. U don't remember there being any problem with it. Just ask. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lcumpire Posted January 29, 2015 Author #7 Share Posted January 29, 2015 Thanx to all who responded - will call Carnival Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shmoo here Posted January 29, 2015 #8 Share Posted January 29, 2015 Thanx to all who responded - will call Carnival Sent from my iPad using Forums Please let us know what they say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chengkp75 Posted January 29, 2015 #9 Share Posted January 29, 2015 While missing the ship and rejoining in St. Thomas would not violate the PVSA, there are other reasons that this is not likely to be allowed. In the past, this was fairly common, but with Homeland Security's involvement, there are a whole new set of rules. The WHTI (Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative) allows US citizens to travel on cruise ships that only call at Western Hemisphere ports to travel without a passport. To accomplish this, CBP uses the passenger manifest created at embarkation to screen and clear the passengers during the cruise, so that at disembarkation, the CBP screening is merely pro forma. Whenever someone leaves, or misses the ship during a cruise, or joins after the original embarkation, this requires a completely new passenger manifest to be prepared and submitted to CBP, and this can then trigger more stringent screening of passengers when disembarking (think of US citizens getting off a cruise from Europe). All of this causes extra cost to the cruise line (as well as possibly frustrating passengers who have close air connections at disembarkation, bad PR for the line), so nearly all of the major lines have decided to blanket disallow late embarkation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shmoo here Posted January 29, 2015 #10 Share Posted January 29, 2015 While missing the ship and rejoining in St. Thomas would not violate the PVSA, there are other reasons that this is not likely to be allowed. In the past, this was fairly common, but with Homeland Security's involvement, there are a whole new set of rules. The WHTI (Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative) allows US citizens to travel on cruise ships that only call at Western Hemisphere ports to travel without a passport. To accomplish this, CBP uses the passenger manifest created at embarkation to screen and clear the passengers during the cruise, so that at disembarkation, the CBP screening is merely pro forma. Whenever someone leaves, or misses the ship during a cruise, or joins after the original embarkation, this requires a completely new passenger manifest to be prepared and submitted to CBP, and this can then trigger more stringent screening of passengers when disembarking (think of US citizens getting off a cruise from Europe). All of this causes extra cost to the cruise line (as well as possibly frustrating passengers who have close air connections at disembarkation, bad PR for the line), so nearly all of the major lines have decided to blanket disallow late embarkation. Thank you. I couldn't remember how it worked, to explain it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuthlessBoss Posted January 29, 2015 #11 Share Posted January 29, 2015 When and how were you getting to SJ? Don't the ships leave at 10 pm there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abcsteward Posted January 29, 2015 #12 Share Posted January 29, 2015 My deepest condolences... I would for sure call Carnival... See what they suggest... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thinfool Posted January 29, 2015 #13 Share Posted January 29, 2015 It is likely that, if this is allowed, passports will be necessary for all rather than the BC/ID that many use in the Caribbean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lcumpire Posted January 29, 2015 Author #14 Share Posted January 29, 2015 Contacted Carnival and they said Federal regulations will not allow me to do what I want to do Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elaine5715 Posted January 29, 2015 #15 Share Posted January 29, 2015 While missing the ship and rejoining in St. Thomas would not violate the PVSA, there are other reasons that this is not likely to be allowed. In the past, this was fairly common, but with Homeland Security's involvement, there are a whole new set of rules. The WHTI (Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative) allows US citizens to travel on cruise ships that only call at Western Hemisphere ports to travel without a passport. To accomplish this, CBP uses the passenger manifest created at embarkation to screen and clear the passengers during the cruise, so that at disembarkation, the CBP screening is merely pro forma. Whenever someone leaves, or misses the ship during a cruise, or joins after the original embarkation, this requires a completely new passenger manifest to be prepared and submitted to CBP, and this can then trigger more stringent screening of passengers when disembarking (think of US citizens getting off a cruise from Europe). All of this causes extra cost to the cruise line (as well as possibly frustrating passengers who have close air connections at disembarkation, bad PR for the line), so nearly all of the major lines have decided to blanket disallow late embarkation. This is why debarkation is also delayed at times due to passengers missing the ship home Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chengkp75 Posted January 29, 2015 #16 Share Posted January 29, 2015 Contacted Carnival and they said Federal regulations will not allow me to do what I want to do Sent from my iPad using Forums Yeah, unfortunately, you get this a lot, where they will give a "half truth" and blame someone else, when it all comes down to not just not wanting to deal with the headache themselves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamon Posted January 29, 2015 #17 Share Posted January 29, 2015 lcumpire: You stated that you contacted Carnival and they won't let you do what you wanted to do and catch up with it in St Thomas. What did they say you can do, like catch it at another port or are you just out. Just looking for the end result of their conversation. thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ata1976 Posted January 29, 2015 #18 Share Posted January 29, 2015 Contacted Carnival and they said Federal regulations will not allow me to do what I want to do Sent from my iPad using Forums Instead of notifying them ahead of time, what if you actually missed your flight and missed the ship, what are your options? You wouldn't be allowed to catch up? Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shmoo here Posted January 29, 2015 #19 Share Posted January 29, 2015 Instead of notifying them ahead of time, what if you actually missed your flight and missed the ship, what are your options? You wouldn't be allowed to catch up? Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app Most likely you would not be allowed to, now. Used to be OK, but, as chengkp75 explained, most cruiselines don't want to deal with the paperwork involved if the cruise changes from a "closed-loop" cruise to a "foreign itinerary" cruise. Yes, just one passenger embarking in a foreign port (and debarking in a US port) changes the paperwork. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rena921 Posted January 29, 2015 #20 Share Posted January 29, 2015 You will most likely not be able to do this. There have been a couple threads in the recent past where people have not been able to catch up to the ship after missing it at embarkation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justlaff69 Posted January 29, 2015 #21 Share Posted January 29, 2015 We were on NCL last April when passengers carried their luggage on board, they said they missed embarkation due to a funeral. So cruise lines allow it. Did you call the Customer Service number or the number listed on your boarding pass, you know the one that states something like 'Running Late Call .....'? The Customer Service line is known for distributing misinformation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manmachine Posted January 29, 2015 #22 Share Posted January 29, 2015 While missing the ship and rejoining in St. Thomas would not violate the PVSA, there are other reasons that this is not likely to be allowed. In the past, this was fairly common, but with Homeland Security's involvement, there are a whole new set of rules. The WHTI (Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative) allows US citizens to travel on cruise ships that only call at Western Hemisphere ports to travel without a passport. To accomplish this, CBP uses the passenger manifest created at embarkation to screen and clear the passengers during the cruise, so that at disembarkation, the CBP screening is merely pro forma. Whenever someone leaves, or misses the ship during a cruise, or joins after the original embarkation, this requires a completely new passenger manifest to be prepared and submitted to CBP, and this can then trigger more stringent screening of passengers when disembarking (think of US citizens getting off a cruise from Europe). All of this causes extra cost to the cruise line (as well as possibly frustrating passengers who have close air connections at disembarkation, bad PR for the line), so nearly all of the major lines have decided to blanket disallow late embarkation. I did it in 2009. Ship left Port Canaveral. Called Carnival, they let me fly from DC and meet ship in Nassau. No problem at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chengkp75 Posted January 29, 2015 #23 Share Posted January 29, 2015 I did it in 2009. Ship left Port Canaveral. Called Carnival, they let me fly from DC and meet ship in Nassau. No problem at all. Since the WHTI did not go into full effect until June 2009, I don't doubt that you were allowed to do this. I can say that in the couple of years I've been here on CC, I've seen several threads about this, and cannot remember seeing any here on the Carnival board where the people were allowed to board late. I believe that RCL has changed their policy within the last year or so, and don't routinely allow this. NCL may still allow it, but I've seen instances here where they have not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate123 Posted January 29, 2015 #24 Share Posted January 29, 2015 This is what travel insurance was made for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winddawn Posted January 29, 2015 #25 Share Posted January 29, 2015 We were on NCL last April when passengers carried their luggage on board, they said they missed embarkation due to a funeral. So cruise lines allow it. Did you call the Customer Service number or the number listed on your boarding pass, you know the one that states something like 'Running Late Call .....'? The Customer Service line is known for distributing misinformation. I believe RCCL allows it too, but when you start reading all the fine print, there are tons of restrictions on it. http://www.royalcaribbean.com/customersupport/faq/details.do?pagename=frequently_asked_questions&faqId=623&faqSubjectId=322 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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