Can I disembark in Poland if my cruise ends in Southampton?

[zerwey]

I am going on the Sky Princess this July - a 14 day cruise that departs from and returns to Southampton, England. The last 4 days of the cruise are as follows:

• Gdansk, Poland
• At Sea
• At Sea
• Southampton, England (disembark)

 

I am thinking of disembarking the cruise early in Poland and flying home to the US from there. Is this allowed by Princess? If so, do I need to notify Princess ahead of time?

[Coral]

It must be arranged ahead of time. Contact who you booked with as soon as possible for a July cruise.

 

They have approved some departures like this in the past.

Edited May 25, 2022 by Coral

[skynight]

You have to have written approval from Princess. You must also check the entry requirements at Gdansk as well as the covid testing requirements for entry and boarding a flights in Poland for the U.S. There is no refund from Princess for not being on board the last two days. 

[ontheweb]

A reason it has to be approved is that you would have to go through immigration in Poland since you are no longer just in transit. 

 

As well as no refund for the unused cruise days, there might be a charge for this.

[1025cruise]

Just note that due to Covid procedures, a lot of cruise lines are not allowing this right now. I'm not sure if Princess falls into that group.

[Rick&Jeannie]

Just got off of an NCL cruise last week.  (Rome to Trieste, 11 days) We were traveling with 2 other couples.  One couple got off the ship in Split, Croatia (the last port before Trieste) because they needed to fly home early for an important wedding.  They did NOT have anything pre-arranged but did contact guest services a couple of days into the sailing.  They had no issue at all.  I suppose each line can have its own rules...but it would seem that if you want to leave any type of transport conveyance (as long as you assume all responsibility both physical and financial) that you should be able to do so.  Otherwise...it's kinda like being kidnapped or under house arrest! 😄

[ontheweb]

13 minutes ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

but it would seem that if you want to leave any type of transport conveyance (as long as you assume all responsibility both physical and financial) that you should be able to do so.  Otherwise...it's kinda like being kidnapped or under house arrest! 😄

The problem is the immigration authorities in the country in which you intend to disembark. You are no longer just a cruise passenger in transit, but are actually in their country and need to be cleared.

[prmssk]

12 minutes ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

Just got off of an NCL cruise last week.  (Rome to Trieste, 11 days) We were traveling with 2 other couples.  One couple got off the ship in Split, Croatia (the last port before Trieste) because they needed to fly home early for an important wedding.  They did NOT have anything pre-arranged but did contact guest services a couple of days into the sailing.  They had no issue at all.  I suppose each line can have its own rules...but it would seem that if you want to leave any type of transport conveyance (as long as you assume all responsibility both physical and financial) that you should be able to do so.  Otherwise...it's kinda like being kidnapped or under house arrest! 😄

You can't enter a foreign country without meeting the requirements of entry into that country and presenting yourself at an approved entry point.  Without advanced notice customs/immigration may not be available to process someone getting off a cruise ship that was just planned to visit for the day.  This has nothing to do with being kidnapped or under house arrest.

 

In the US, there is the added potential financial cost to the cruise line of fines if an early embarkation doesn't meet the requirements of the Passenger Services Vessel Act.

 

This is not about cruise lines making arbitrary rules.  They have to follow the laws of the countries they visit.

[Rick&Jeannie]

1 hour ago, prmssk said:

You can't enter a foreign country without meeting the requirements of entry into that country and presenting yourself at an approved entry point.  Without advanced notice customs/immigration may not be available to process someone getting off a cruise ship that was just planned to visit for the day.  This has nothing to do with being kidnapped or under house arrest.

 

In the US, there is the added potential financial cost to the cruise line of fines if an early embarkation doesn't meet the requirements of the Passenger Services Vessel Act.

 

This is not about cruise lines making arbitrary rules.  They have to follow the laws of the countries they visit.

They *did* give advanced notice on about the 3rd day of the 11 day cruise.  I'm just reporting what transpired with the couple we were traveling with.  I personally would not have wanted to "muddy the water" with doing something like this...but they really wanted to do the cruise and also felt they needed to attend the wedding.  I can only comment on the fact that guest services did not give them any hassle in doing what they did... YMMV!

[voljeep]

4 minutes ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

They *did* give advanced notice on about the 3rd day of the 11 day cruise.  I'm just reporting what transpired with the couple we were traveling with.  I personally would not have wanted to "muddy the water" with doing something like this...but they really wanted to do the cruise and also felt they needed to attend the wedding.  I can only comment on the fact that guest services did not give them any hassle in doing what they did... YMMV!

I would have certainly wanted to know that pre-cruise ... not 3 days in

 

j/s

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, voljeep said:

I would have certainly wanted to know that pre-cruise ... not 3 days in

 

j/s

Yes, that does seem like an unnecessary risk to take. What were their plans if their request was denied?

[VibeGuy]

The magic words you need are “trip deviation”.  The chat or first-line CSRs you talk to may not always be familiar with the process, but if they say no, ask to be escalated.  It’s a real thing.