NCL Downline Disembarkation Policy

[Mikble]

My wife and are US citizens and have booked a 14 day French Polynesia to Hawaiian island cruise next March on the Norwegian Jewel.  We’re scheduled to embark in Papeete and disembark in Honolulu but would prefer to disembark the day before while in Maui.  Can anyone tell me if this is possible and if so what steps we’d need to take to make this happen. I don’t believe this would be a PVSA act violation so unless I’m wrong that should not be a reason to be denied early disembarkation.  I’ve searched the NCL web and couldn’t find their specific policy on this and I’d prefer to hear from others before I reach out to them.  If anyone has had recent experience with down line disembarkation specifically on NCL I’d appreciate hearing from you.

 

Thanks in advance for your responses.

[CruiserBruce]

Welcome to Cruise Critic!

 

No, it is not a PSVA violation...not even remotely close. BUT, and it is a big but, you MUST clear Immigration and Customs procedures when you plan on disembarking, and Maui may not be prepared to do that for you. 

 

So, you DO NEED to ask NCL about this, pre-arrange it with them if they approve, and there could be very valid reasons they don't allow you to do it.

 

By the way, this would be a issue more determined by Immigration and Customs people, so it may matter little what NCL, or any other cruise line feels about it. It may be restricted by US Government folks.

[Essiesmom]

I don't think immigration and customs would be a problem because they have three port stops in Hawaii before Maui.  Hilo appears to be the first, so suspect they would clear the authorities there.  All that remains is to get permission from NCL.  EM

[spookwife]

something to consider:   the charge to  get off early can be  considerable.   but daily flights from Honolulu to Maui could be  less.  

[LHT28]

Contact the cruise line  & ask

They are the ones  that can grant permission or not

[ed01106]

I can’t imagine they would say no.  But would be helpful if you packed light enough to self disembark.  They have a bellhop plan for the next day, not that day.

[zqvol]

7 hours ago, spookwife said:

something to consider:   the charge to  get off early can be  considerable.   but daily flights from Honolulu to Maui could be  less.  

 

What do you base the statement that the cahrge to get off early can be considerable, on a non- closed loop cruise. Maui will be their 4th day in the US, so they would have already cleared immigration, the only issue might be customs and agricultural inspection.

 

OP need to check with NCL.

[spookwife]

12 minutes ago, zqvol said:

 

What do you base the statement that the cahrge to get off early can be considerable, on a non- closed loop cruise. Maui will be their 4th day in the US, so they would have already cleared immigration, the only issue might be customs and agricultural inspection.

 

OP need to check with NCL.

Most line charge a fee to disembark early.  Royal charges like $65 a person.  But a puddle jumper from Honolulu could be cheaper.

[Mikble]

Thanks to everyone for your replies!  This is all good information to have in advance of my conversation with NCL.

 

Essiesmom- with regard to your comments about clearing immigration & customs at one of the previous Hawaiian ports of call, wouldn’t we need to clear immigration & customs as we disembark the ship for the final time which in our case would be Maui? 

[delaware32]

We disembarked in Kauai on our POA cruise . We cleared it ahead of time with NCL . While they were not enthusiastic about us doing it  but allowed us to do so. We explained that we were staying in Kauai post cruise. We Guest Relations were helpful . We handled our bags . There was no extra charge

[Mikble]

Again, thanks to everyone for your responses, it gave me the perspective I needed to have a meaningful conversation with NCL.

 

Here’s the outcome-

 

After nearly an hour on the phone with NCL pre-cruise guest relations being repeatedly told I can’t do that I finally spoke with a manager who essentially said while they could not pre-authorize us to disembark early, they also couldn’t force us to remain on the ship if we wanted to disembark in Maui.  That being said, she suggested if we planned to disembark early that we speak to guest services once on board and make them aware of our plans. 

 

Unfortunately, that approach makes us uneasy as we’ll be booking airline reservations home based on the assumption that we won’t hit any roadblocks getting off the ship in Maui.  Regardless, now that I’ve been advised what to do from NCL, the concern I have is how do I know for sure there will be someone from Customs and Immigration in Maui when we disembark the ship.  Can anyone familiar with how that process works tell me who normally arranges for Customs & Immigration to be there at disembarkation, or, would there typically be someone with Customs & Immigration there anyway at all US ports of call?

[tempus137]

On 8/7/2019 at 8:28 AM, delaware32 said:

We disembarked in Kauai on our POA cruise . We cleared it ahead of time with NCL . While they were not enthusiastic about us doing it  but allowed us to do so. We explained that we were staying in Kauai post cruise. We Guest Relations were helpful . We handled our bags . There was no extra charge

 

But the POA never leaves US waters, so there is no need for customs or immigration. The OP's cruise comes in from a foreign port.

Edited August 9, 2019 by tempus137

[delaware32]

I believe if it is considered a closed circuit trip it would apply .  We also were told they could  not stop us from disembarking when and where we did and  that we needed to speak with guest services . I do not know the specifics when the cruise originates in a foreign port  . 

[ed01106]

I say go for it.....what follows is speculation but consider it food for thought....

 

the cruise ship cant give you permission to leave the ship without violating the Jones act ......but.......

 

they can’t stop you from leaving either.....

 

you aren’t violating the Jones act because ships not passengers violate the act......

 

you are entering the county illegally .....you are citizens.......

 

be very hard to distinguish you legally from the morons that will be flying to catch the ship cause they stayed at the beach too long and arrived back at the pier to watch the ship sail away....

 

the primary reason NCL wants you to tell guest service of your departure is so they don’t waste an hour paging Mr and Mrs Mikble before going into your cabin to retrieve your passport from the safe to give to the port agent and then realize they spent an hour in port waiting for people that aren’t coming back.

[casofilia]

I see no problem with Immigration as that will have been done at the first port of call in Hawaii.  BUT there will have to be Customs available for you to clear.

[Mikble]

Thanks Casofilia!  I can't imagine customs will just be there waiting for me when I want to disembark - even if I do tell guest relations of my plan when I embark. Wish I knew the procedure well enough to know for sure if I'll actually be able to get off the ship in Maui, even though NCL said I could.

[roger001]

Like Key West is a stop before Miami on some cruises, you must clear customs there as it is your arrival back in the US.   At that point, if you don't want to get back on the ship for the ride up to Miami, that's up to you.  You are officially back in the US.  But as others said, need to tell the ship so they don't try to hunt you down.   Hawaii should be the same thing.  To leave the ship, you have to clear customs to enter the US at that the first port stop.  After that, you're back in the US.  My  opinion.  

[Mikble]

Thanks roger001.  I was “on-board” 😉 with your line of thinking except, if using your example, you clear customs in Key West why would all cruise lines make you go through customs “again” in Miami as you disembark?  I would suspect if you truly cleared customs in Key West the cruise lines wouldn’t make everyone go through that a second time if for no other reason than to get brownie points with their customers by making the disembarkation process go faster.

[Mikble]

Quick update-

 

So I spoke directly with a manager at customs and immigration in Maui who confirmed as Roger001 said that we would have cleared customs in Hilo- our first port of call back in the US.  Does that guarantee we won’t have any issues disembarking in Maui?  NO, not at all, but after speaking with NCL guest relations and with someone with CBP in Maui it has given us enough warm-fuzzies that we are planning to do just that.  I will post again how that goes after our cruise so that future travelers will know exactly what to do/not to do in these same circumstances.  

 

Thanks to to everyone who has chimed-in, I appreciate all your responses!

[puppycanducruise]

Thanks for the update.

I hope everything goes as planned with no problems.

[njhorseman]

On 8/22/2019 at 4:01 PM, roger001 said:

Like Key West is a stop before Miami on some cruises, you must clear customs there as it is your arrival back in the US.   At that point, if you don't want to get back on the ship for the ride up to Miami, that's up to you.  You are officially back in the US.  But as others said, need to tell the ship so they don't try to hunt you down.   Hawaii should be the same thing.  To leave the ship, you have to clear customs to enter the US at that the first port stop.  After that, you're back in the US.  My  opinion.  

 

On 8/22/2019 at 7:43 PM, Mikble said:

Thanks roger001.  I was “on-board” 😉 with your line of thinking except, if using your example, you clear customs in Key West why would all cruise lines make you go through customs “again” in Miami as you disembark?  I would suspect if you truly cleared customs in Key West the cruise lines wouldn’t make everyone go through that a second time if for no other reason than to get brownie points with their customers by making the disembarkation process go faster.

 

Customs and immigration are two different things, even though both are handled by the same agency, US CBP.

 

In the example given you don't clear customs in Key West, you clear immigration in Key West. You don't clear customs until your final disembarkation port, Miami. Customs can't be cleared in Key West because between Key West and Miami you could purchase dutiable merchandise in the ship's on board shops.

 

And it's not the cruise line that makes you go through customs or immigration, it's the government.

[njhorseman]

6 hours ago, Mikble said:

Quick update-

 

So I spoke directly with a manager at customs and immigration in Maui who confirmed as Roger001 said that we would have cleared customs in Hilo- our first port of call back in the US.  Does that guarantee we won’t have any issues disembarking in Maui?  NO, not at all, but after speaking with NCL guest relations and with someone with CBP in Maui it has given us enough warm-fuzzies that we are planning to do just that.  I will post again how that goes after our cruise so that future travelers will know exactly what to do/not to do in these same circumstances.  

 

Thanks to to everyone who has chimed-in, I appreciate all your responses!

You situation is different than the one I addressed in the previous post.

 

IIRC you  will be clearing both immigration and customs in Hilo because the ship's duty free shops are closed while in Hawaiian waters, so unlike the other itinerary discussed you won't be able to purchase dutiable merchandise while the ship sails between Hllo and Maui.