Help! Getting Off Ship Early - Any Hassles?

[Jules1]

We are having some date/timing issues with our booked Crown Princess cruise. One solution would be to have our son get off the ship in St. Thomas and fly back (the rest of us would remain on the ship). I'm sure there's people out there who have done this. Any recent problems with doing something like this? Does it go smoothly?

[Spikesgirl]

i've heard of people getting off for business rasons and I thought they had to pay a 'fine' or something. A family emergency, such as illness, death, etc. you could get off without that. I'm sure someone else knows better, but I always feel badly when I see messages with no answers. What I would do is call up Princess and ask. Be polite, be firm and ask for a supervisor is they give you any flack. At lest you would have the answer from the horse's mouth.

 

Happy sails

 

Charlie

[gooch47]

As I understand it, the fine has to be paid if no foreign ports were visited before the passenger gets off the ship. That may be totally wrong, but it came up on one of the ships we were on and that was what another passenger said happened to them.

[Jules1]

I will call Princess, but was looking for any additional information before I call just to be as informed as possible when talking to them. Paying a fine if no foreign ports have been visited makes sense - if a ship misses the only foreign port for some reason, I know that they pay a fine for everyone (Jones Act). Luckily we will have already visited a couple of foreign ports before he would get off, so, hopefully no fine, and no big deal. Thanks! I'd still appreciate hearing from anyone having actual experience doing this (I know sometimes the answers you get when calling Princess are not entirely accurate).

[gipper77]

We just returned on the Island Princess May 6 - May 15 , had a great time. On our patter it indicated that if you left prior to the termination of time scheduled there would be a fine of $5,300 a person. I would check with Princess or have your TA check. This does not apply if you are ill .:)

[Jules1]

Wow - that's a chunk of change. You were southbound and your "foreign" port was Vancouver for disembarkation? I wonder if it was that much because a foreign port hadn't been visited? I'll be calling Princess and will post what I find out in case others are in the same predicament.

[Beryl]

Jules1.....You will have to make arrangements with the cruiseline for your son to disembark at St. Thomas. We were on the May 6-15 Island Princess too and a number of people disembarked there rather than in Vancouver the next day. We had dinner with one of those couples the night before we arrived in Victoria. They said they were charged an extra $90.00 for the priviledge (I don't know if was $90.00 each or per couple.) They indicated that it was worth it to them to do so. Do let us know the outcome of your further research.

[mississauga]

On our Dawn Princess cruise in April, a couple got off the ship in San Diego (it was our last stop before heading back to SF ) due to a medical emergency for the husband and they had to each pay $300 to leave the ship. They had the extra expense of airfare back to San Francisco as that is where their home is. We heard from the adult children who stayed on the ship that everything turned out ok for their father.

[wrp96]

The problem is not that a foreign port hasn't been visited (usually) but that a distant foreign port hasn't been visited before disembarking. With a round trip cruise, you only have to visit any foreign port to not violate the PSA. BUT, in the case of getting off in St. Thomas (or on the Island Princess Alaska cruise before it reached Vancouver), the cruise would start in one US port and end in another US port without visiting a distant foreign port which would violate the PSA. In the Caribbean the distant foreign ports are South America and the ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao). Now if the ship visits Aruba (don't know the Crown's itinerary), then they should be okay but even then contact the cruise line first to make sure.

[DD]

I've done this myself so I'm positive of the process. You have to speak with Princess directly. You have to apply in writing for what's called a Route Sector Deviation. Princess then forwards it, according to them, to the Captain of the ship (why not to some internal department??? I don't know). The whole process takes about a week before approval is granted, if it is granted.

[Host CJSKIDS]

A couple on our roll call left the ship a day early while on the Northern European Capitals route on the Golden last year. They didn't go back to Southampton, rather disembarked the ship in Le Havre, France. It was a great idea as they then spent a few days in Paris prior to flying home to the US. I don't know what they had to do, but obviously it's allowed.

[spongerob]

The rules change when you are embarking at a US port thanks to the archaic PSA. The best advice is to contact Princess on this matter. Also be aware that there might be different documentation requirements if you disembark in a port along the way. Some countries waive certain requirements for cruise passengers. Then you've got the whole issue of trying to book flights to get home.

 

And remember, itineraries are just guidelines, so even if you can jump all the hurdles, you still have to make port.