Start/End cruise at different ports

[lyannea]

Are there any other cruise lines, other than MSC, where passengers can start or finish their cruise  at different ports of an itinerary.

 

I was on one from Vancouver to LA, , where a couple embarked from Victoria., one of the stops, and wondered if there were any other itineraries or cruise lines that have that option .

thank you

[1025cruise]

Yes, there are repositioning cruises.

[ontheweb]

I do not think it is still the case post Covid, but this was not unusual before then. For example we were on a Western Mediterranean cruise in 2012 from Barcelona to Barcelona, but there were other passengers whose start and finish were in Rome or Marseilles.

[mom says]

When did MSC do West coast cruises? Are you sure the couple wasn't allowed a downline embarkation because they missed embarkation  in Vancouver? I don't think this is common on US sailings, due to PVSA rules. But you do see it on European sailings on some lines, as well as segments of World cruises.

[mammajamma2013]

7 minutes ago, mom says said:

When did MSC do West coast cruises? Are you sure the couple wasn't allowed a downline embarkation because they missed embarkation  in Vancouver? I don't think this is common on US sailings, due to PVSA rules. But you do see it on European sailings on some lines, as well as segments of World cruises.

OP was asking about different cruise lines/different itineraries. I wanted to take my mother on a three day Princess cruise, no port stops, so that she could experience the ocean and a cruise ship. Cruise started in Vancouver, ended in Los Angeles. OR start in Los Angeles, finish in Vancouver. Just one example of that type of cruse.

[lyannea]

17 minutes ago, mom says said:

When did MSC do West coast cruises? Are you sure the couple wasn't allowed a downline embarkation because they missed embarkation  in Vancouver? I don't think this is common on US sailings, due to PVSA rules. But you do see it on European sailings on some lines, as well as segments of World cruises.

The Pacific Coast cruise was not on MSC .

I spoke to the couple, who lives in Victoria & they embark there instead of Vancouver

(still in Canada) .

 

I’m inquiring about other cruise lines, other than MSC -where a 20-day cruise, for example has passengers embarking & disembarking at different ports, for a shorter cruise.

 

I’ll look at the other cruise lines that have World cruises- thank you.

 

[lyannea]

15 minutes ago, mammajamma2013 said:

OP was asking about different cruise lines/different itineraries. I wanted to take my mother on a three day Princess cruise, no port stops, so that she could experience the ocean and a cruise ship. Cruise started in Vancouver, ended in Los Angeles. OR start in Los Angeles, finish in Vancouver. Just one example of that type of cruse.

I’ve done many Pacific Coast cruises and repositioning cruises.

it’s a great way to relax.

MSC has the option of taking a 17 day cruise, which can also be booked at a 16-day or 15-day by embarking at ports that the 17-day cruise stops at.

I was wondering what OTHER cruise lines have that option

 

I guess I wasn’t  clear as to what I was asking initially- Sorry for the confusion.

 

[donaldsc]

I am sure that there are lots of them.  I just did one where I got on my ship in Sitka AK and got off in Vancouver.

DON

[TheOldBear]

Its not unusual - for example lots of Cunard sailings are multiple segments. The segments are sold separately or in combination. Our 2019 cruise was booked as a NY to Hamburg round trip, but passengers embarked and disembarked at NY, Southampton, Hamberg or LeHavre  [this sailing had no stops that were just plain 'port visit' stops]

[Essiesmom]

There are cruise lines sailing in Europe that embark in many if not all ports.  MSC is one example, Costa is another.  NCL does this with Epic in the Med, embarking 7 day cruises in Barcelona or Civitavecchia.  Cruise lines also do this in the Caribbean, on cruises that do not touch any US ports.  EM

[George C]

Hawaii on rccl is normally Hawaii to Vancouver, or Vancouver to Hawaii.

[wcook]

The MSC thing where you have the option of booking days 1-14 of an itinerary, or days 2-8, etc is not common, especially in North America. 
 

if your goal is book a longer cruise while friends/family book only a portion, one solution is for you to book a back-to-back cruise while the others book only one of the segments. 

[Charles4515]

4 hours ago, lyannea said:

I was wondering what OTHER cruise lines have that option

 

Holland America  does that in Europe sometimes. Combines segments into shorter or longer cruises. 

[hallux]

I think a few people are confused - OP is not asking strictly about one-way cruises but rather cruises where people don't embark all at the same port @GeorgeC @donaldsc and others.

 

As for that type of itinerary - as others noted it's much more common in Europe because of regulations in the US.  You MIGHT find some Panama Canal cruises that allow embarkation and disembarkation in multiple ports.

Edited August 6, 2022 by hallux

[thinfool]

HAL and Princess both do this on repo cruises to Florida from Vancouver.  Secondary embarkation points may include San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego.

[lagrutke]

I'm on a Mediterranean cruise on Princess with embarkation in Rome and getting off 2 weeks later in Barcelona.

[pris993]

10 hours ago, lyannea said:

Are there any other cruise lines, other than MSC, where passengers can start or finish their cruise  at different ports of an itinerary.

 

I was on one from Vancouver to LA, , where a couple embarked from Victoria., one of the stops, and wondered if there were any other itineraries or cruise lines that have that option .

thank you

I think you are approaching this the wrong way.  Find a cruise where you want to get on or off differently than the itinerary.  Ask the cruise line if you can do a "trip deviation" and present what port you wish to get on or off on.    Really depends on the cruise and what you want to do.  We have requested trip deviations when we were on cruises in Europe.  Got on in Rome, got off in LaHavre France, ship went on to Southampton England.  We needed to get prior approval in advance in writing.  If you use a TA ask TA for assistance.  We also gotten off in Ashdod Israel and stayed overnight a couple of times, reboarding in Haifa Israel.  Again, made request in writing to cruise line.  

 

In all cases we paid full fare, not a reduced fare for leaving the ship early. 

 

Now if you are only talking about west coast ports in USA, there are some restrictions.   I don't fully understand these to address them, maybe someone else can.  

 

I have done many Mediterranean cruises on Princess, Celebrity, HAL, Cunard and have seen Europeans getting on and off at different ports.   

[sanger727]

On 8/6/2022 at 1:55 PM, lyannea said:

The Pacific Coast cruise was not on MSC .

I spoke to the couple, who lives in Victoria & they embark there instead of Vancouver

(still in Canada) .

 

I’m inquiring about other cruise lines, other than MSC -where a 20-day cruise, for example has passengers embarking & disembarking at different ports, for a shorter cruise.

 

I’ll look at the other cruise lines that have World cruises- thank you.

 

The ability to do this will be very port specific. Most cruise lines would have let you get on or off early, if it didn't violate local laws, pre-covid. Now, on the cruise you are describing, I can almost guarantee you that they paid for an extra day of vacation that they didn't get. If the cruise was 8 day cruise and you only wanted to be on for 6 days, you paid for the whole 8. 

 

Very few cruise lines sell cruises the way you are asking. MSC did, and yes, if you get a smaller branch of a world cruise you could. 

 

I'm curious what sparked this. Does it matter to you whether everyone gets on and off at the same port. Doing that certainly simplifies things for the cruise line in terms of selling cabins, muster drills, shows, etc. Wouldn't choosing a cruise with the length you want and ports you want be simpler. 

[Hlitner]

On 8/6/2022 at 12:38 PM, lyannea said:

Are there any other cruise lines, other than MSC, where passengers can start or finish their cruise  at different ports of an itinerary.

 

I was on one from Vancouver to LA, , where a couple embarked from Victoria., one of the stops, and wondered if there were any other itineraries or cruise lines that have that option .

thank you

This is very common in Europe and Asia where many cruises embark at one port and debark at another.  MSC is somewhat different in that they operate many of their European cruises almost like a ferry boat with passengers able to embark/disembark at nearly every port.  This is very convenient for Europeans because they can travel to the closest port to catch their cruise.   I would like to see something similar here in the USA, but various Federal Laws (especially the Passenger Vessels Services Act of 1886) make these kind of cruises impossible.  I had to mention that 1886 law since there is a least one mariner here on CC who continues to defend that law which made a lot more sense 150 years ago than today.    But just imagine nice coastal cruises spanning Florida to Northern Canada and being able to stop at numerous US and Canadian ports where folks could choose where to embark/disembark.  But no....the PVSA prevents that kind of cruise for nearly every ship on earth (there are a handful of exceptions).  

 

At least one frequent poster predicted the sky would fall if the PVSA were ever eliminated, suspended, or even modified.  Then along came COVID and Congress enacted a temporary suspension of some of the rules so there could be Alaska cruises (last year).  And wouldn't you be shocked to know that the sky did not fall, the labor unions somehow managed to hold their tongues, and life went on without the normally required stop in Canada.

 

Hank

[Vexorg]

The main reason that PVSA remains relevant today is the fact that it applies to airlines as well as ships, so it prevents foreign airlines from offering domestic flights within the US.  Compared to that cruise ships are a bit of an edge case.

[ColeThornton]

9 minutes ago, Vexorg said:

The main reason that PVSA remains relevant today is the fact that it applies to airlines as well as ships, so it prevents foreign airlines from offering domestic flights within the US.  Compared to that cruise ships are a bit of an edge case.

 

I've never seen airlines ever associated with the PVSA and Google comes up with nothing.  Do you have a reference that you can share?

 

Thanks.

[chengkp75]

28 minutes ago, ColeThornton said:

 

I've never seen airlines ever associated with the PVSA and Google comes up with nothing.  Do you have a reference that you can share?

 

Thanks.

This is not correct.  The PVSA does not apply to airlines, that is the Civil Aeronautics Act that limits domestic flights to US carriers.

 

48 minutes ago, Vexorg said:

The main reason that PVSA remains relevant today is

because it applies to more than cruise ships, and protects the jobs, adds to the US economy, and protects the environment and safety of passengers on vessels in the US like ferries, water taxis, commuter boats, tour boats, dinner cruises, casino boats, and large charter fishing boats.

[ColeThornton]

2 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

This is not correct.  The PVSA does not apply to airlines, that is the Civil Aeronautics Act that limits domestic flights to US carriers.

 

Yea Chief, I knew that but I was just trying to be diplomatic.  lol

[Vexorg]

The PVSA (and related Jones Act for cargo vessels) are a form of what's known as a cabotage law, which is a type of law that grants a country the right to control who can transport goods and/or passengers within their borders,  Generally the US prohibits non-US carriers from flying between domestic routes or shipping between domestic ports, although in some cases permissions can be granted.  For example, when all other carriers ceased operations in American Samoa Polynesian Airlines (based in Samoa)  was temporarily granted the right to operate inter-island flights in American Samoa.  There are also some international cases where a country grants rights to a foreign airline;  generally airlines based within EU member states are allowed to operate domestic service in EU member countries, and there is a reciprocal agreement where Singapore-based airlines can fly domestic routes in the UK, and UK-based airlines can operate flights to anywhere from Singapore.

Edited August 16, 2022 by Vexorg

[chengkp75]

25 minutes ago, Vexorg said:

The PVSA (and related Jones Act for cargo vessels) are a form of what's known as a cabotage law, which is a type of law that grants a country the right to control who can transport goods and/or passengers within their borders,

While you are correct about this, the PVSA was passed long before aviation was even thought about.  The Civil Aeronautic Act, is another cabotage law, and this applies to aviation, as the PVSA does to marine passenger, and Jones Act does for cargo.

 

Trust me, I know quite a lot about both the PVSA and Jones Act.

Edited August 16, 2022 by chengkp75