What is a Clearance Call????

[Witchymob]

:p Hi all you knowledgeable cruisers, just got my information for cruise on Oriana next Feb Singapore to Fremantle and notice a port of call at Okinawa Japan for about 3 hours in the middle of the night call "Clearance Call Only" never heard of this before what are they clearing? Passengers they have had enough of maybe???

[merecat]

Hi, what are your previous and next calls ?.:)

[Druke I]

I would imagine it is a Customs/Immigration requirement for another Japanese port.

 

Not too different than ships calling at Ensenada Mexico on cruises from Hawaii to California - it satisfies some US government regulation regarding "calls at a far distant port".

 

Ridiculous - Ensenada is but a short distance from California - but a long distance from Hawaii, and fulfills some provision of the US Passenger Service Act.

[Witchymob]

Hi, what are your previous and next calls ?.:)

 

The call before it is Shanghai and the call after is Keelung in Taiwan, does it have anything to do with China and Taiwan not taking to each other maybe.:p

[Druke I]

If the call at Okinawa is between Shanghai and Taiwan, it is probably to embark Taiwanese Customs/Immigration officials, to clear the ship before arrival at Keelung.

 

I don't believe mainland China would allow Taiwanese to enter Shanghai.

 

It is too bad that the call in Okinawa is so short. There are some interesting things ashore. I was stationed there, US Army, in the mid-50s, before it reverted back to Japanese control. I did go back (for closure perhaps) in the early 90s, and was amazed at how much it had changed, and in my opinion improved.

[Globaliser]

The call before it is Shanghai and the call after is Keelung in Taiwan, does it have anything to do with China and Taiwan not taking to each other maybe.

I'd put money on exactly this. Calling at a foreign port removes the appearance of a direct transport link between mainland China and Taiwan.

 

A similar thing happens if you want to fly between China and Taiwan. You normally have to fly via somewhere else, typically Hong Kong or Macau. In the case of the latter, there are some flights that simply land there, refuel and change their flight number before taking off again - the passengers never disembark. That's a very similar situation to yours.