Passenger Vessel Services Act summary to date

[Cuizer2]

When the PVSA rule change was first brought out, one of the major arguements in favor of the change was the fact that so many lines, like Princess, RCCL & HAL were making "token" stops in Ensenada just to satisfy the PVSA. The stop was only 1-4 hours, sometimes in the middle of the night and passengers were not allowed to go ashore.

 

To try and blunt some of that arguement in the fight against NCL & the PVSA changes, the other cruise lines changed their itineraries to include a longer, daytime stop in Ensenada. The cost of the extended time in Mexico was taking time off the Hawaii stops. It was a change however to try and save the Hawaii cruises.

 

If NCL had gotten their way on the PVSA rule change, then Princess, HAL, RCCL and the rest would not be allowed to make the west coast to Hawaii cruise AT ALL! Be happy that only a few hours were shaved off Kona instead of losing the ability to cruise to Hawaii on any line other than NCL-America!

 

As to HAL and Princess you are correct. However, as to Royal Caribbean and Carnival, this is not correct. Both only do one way cruises and such a cruise cannot be between two US port without a stop at a distant port. Ensenada does not qualify as a distant port.

 

Nothing in the rule change would have prevented Royal Caribbean or Carnival, or any other line from cruising one way from Ensenada or Vancouver, Canada to Hawaii or one way from Hawaii to Ensenada or Vancouver, Canada.

 

The rule change would have only impacted the round trips to Hawaii from San Diego, Los Angeles or any other US port. Had the rule come into effect, speculation was that both HAL and Princess would have moved their starting point to Ensenada, which would allow a round trip to Hawaii.

[PeterPan]

RCCL most certainly does round trip cruises from the West coast. I'm leaving for one next month! 15 night Hawaii circle cruise, round trip from San Diego.

 

You're usually right on the money Cuizer2, What happened this time?? :eek: :D :p :D

[Cuizer2]

RCCL most certainly does round trip cruises from the West coast. I'm leaving for one next month! 15 night Hawaii circle cruise, round trip from San Diego.

 

You're usually right on the money Cuizer2, What happened this time?? :eek: :D :p :D

 

I knew I should have checked before I put my foot in my mouth. I was going from memory. Royal Caribbean usually goes from the Caribbean to San Diego. Then from San Diego it goes empty to Ensenada. Then from Ensenada it goes one way to Hawaii. From Hawaii it goes one way to Vancouver, Canada. Then the Alaska season. Then one way from Vancouver, Canada to Hawaii. Then one way from Hawaii to Ensenada. Then empty from Ensenada to San Diego. Then from San Diego back to the Caribbean.

 

If Royal is now offering round trips, then I was not aware of that (though I suppose if I searched I would have found it). Usually I do research my answers. However, it seems everytime I get lazy I pay for it. Gee wiz, next thing you know Royal Caribbean is going to sail a Voyager class ship around South America and base it on the west coast.

 

At anyrate, have a great cruise.

[Cuizer2]

RCCL most certainly does round trip cruises from the West coast. I'm leaving for one next month! 15 night Hawaii circle cruise, round trip from San Diego.

 

You're usually right on the money Cuizer2, What happened this time?? :eek: :D :p :D

 

Oh boy, NCL is going to love this one. Over nights in Maui and Oahu plus eighteen hours at two ports on the big Island, then a whooping one hour in Ensenada between 1:00 and 2:00am. However, that is Sunday morning, so all the good nightlife places should be open. :)

[PeterPan]

Actually, this is one itinerary that changed due to the proposed PVSA interpretation.

 

We no longer overnight in Maui, and we get to see Ensenada from 7pm until 11:59pm. :D Might be able to experience ALL of the night life :eek: .

 

I "usually" research any of my answers for CC also. There is always someone ready to point out your errors around here! By the way, thanks for what you bring to Cruise Critic.

[rcacace]

Actually, this is one itinerary that changed due to the proposed PVSA interpretation.

 

We no longer overnight in Maui, and we get to see Ensenada from 7pm until 11:59pm. :D Might be able to experience ALL of the night life :eek: .

 

I "usually" research any of my answers for CC also. There is always someone ready to point out your errors around here! By the way, thanks for what you bring to Cruise Critic.

 

Isn't the shopping wonderful in Ensenada.:eek: Things I've never seen before.

[Cuizer2]

Actually, this is one itinerary that changed due to the proposed PVSA interpretation.

 

We no longer overnight in Maui, and we get to see Ensenada from 7pm until 11:59pm. :D Might be able to experience ALL of the night life :eek: .

 

I "usually" research any of my answers for CC also. There is always someone ready to point out your errors around here! By the way, thanks for what you bring to Cruise Critic.

 

Got to love those travel sites (I can't name them here, but lets just say they are on the Internet and you've seen their commercials on the TV). It would be nice if they updated the itinerary.

 

I had a different problem when trying to book a cabin. I called up my trusted agent and told him which cabin I wanted. He told me it wasn't available. I had to take a cabin on a lower level No big deal.

 

The next day I check and guess what, the travel site was listing the cabin I wanted as available. So I tried to book it. Guess what, as soon as I tried to book it, the cabin was no longer available. The next day, same travel site, same cabin available. It would be nice if they would update their inventory.

[Cuizer2]

Okay, you guys are going to love this one. I would have posted it earlier, but I was laughing so hard I couldn't type or mouse click. From CC's own news forum come this little gem - oops, I mean pearl ...

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=2772

 

September 1, 7 and 14. On all three seven-night Alaska sailings, the ship's call at Victoria in British Columbia has been shortened; as such, passengers will not be able to disembark the ship (the foreign stop is necessary, though, in order to fulfill the Passenger Vessel Services Act).

 

Now which company's ship could this little news story be about? The evil Princess empire? No. The evil HAL (you remember the computer from 2001 A Space Odyssey don't you) empire? No. The new evil Royal Caribbean Empire of the Seas? No. This story is about NCL's very own Pearl.

 

Good thing the PVSA was not amended, or NCL would be in a lot of trouble now.

[Cruisin' Chick]

Actually I believe the elimination of the Kona port on the Princess cruises (not a half day, but an entire elimination) was due to the point made the other day that Princess wanted to round off the cruise to an even two week cruise, and decided to knock off one of the tender ports. I wish they didn't do this as Kona was the port we had to miss on our Hawaiian cruise. Apparently it had nothing to do with a longer stay in Ensenada.

[c-legs]

would have found it).. Gee wiz, next thing you know Royal Caribbean is going to sail a Voyager class ship around South America and base it on the west coast.

 

Hi, THEY ARE !!!!!!!:D ;) :eek: Mariner of the Seas is coming up to the West Coast '' ''the hard way'' this coming winter...and will likely be ''condemned'' to a life of Mexican Riviera for the rest of its useful life....

Cheers

:)

[Cuizer2]

Hi, THEY ARE !!!!!!!:D ;) :eek: Mariner of the Seas is coming up to the West Coast '' ''the hard way'' this coming winter...and will likely be ''condemned'' to a life of Mexican Riviera for the rest of its useful life....

Cheers

:)

 

Yes, I know. I'm booked on the Mariner for June 2009 and have been for about one year now. In fact, I got one of the prime hump balconies.

[Cruisin' Chick]

Hi, THEY ARE !!!!!!!:D ;) :eek: Mariner of the Seas is coming up to the West Coast '' ''the hard way'' this coming winter...and will likely be ''condemned'' to a life of Mexican Riviera for the rest of its useful life....

Cheers

:)

 

Isn't that because it can't fit through the the Panama Canal? Cuizer 2 would know.

[Cuizer2]

Isn't that because it can't fit through the the Panama Canal? Cuizer 2 would know.

 

Only the first time. The second time it would fit. :)

[cvanhorn]

Hi all, just returned from our NCL Dream cruise. Would have to classify this as "rumor" but our cabin steward, who is a very long term NCL employee, told us that the Pride of America is 'done' the end of this year and NCL is going back to foreign flagged ships, as before, for Hawaii. He says they are already taking bids for crew slots and he has put in for one. We shall see!

[Cruisin' Chick]

Hi all, just returned from our NCL Dream cruise. Would have to classify this as "rumor" but our cabin steward, who is a very long term NCL employee, told us that the Pride of America is 'done' the end of this year and NCL is going back to foreign flagged ships, as before, for Hawaii. He says they are already taking bids for crew slots and he has put in for one. We shall see!

 

Watch, the NCLA PTB will be complaining that the other cruiselines were the problem. Oh, wait, they already have.

[scottbee]

I fully expect cruise lines to change their Hawaii west coast routes in the next couple of years of being a 10/11 schedule (which is a 3 week cycle on the boat) to being

Ensenada -> Hawaii 10 days = 5 days at sea + 5 days Hawaii

Hawaii -> Esenada 11 days = 6 days Hawaii + 5 days at sea

That way it completely avoids the PVSA issues.

 

Note that current PVSA doesn't allow San Diego-Esenada-Hawaii one way either. A one way trip between US ports must include a 'foreign distant port' (ie not Canada or Mexico); this is why the last cruise of the season for the Seattle based ships is generally sailed out of Vancouver, as a Seattle-Vancouver-Alaska-Los Angeles would also break the PVSA whereas Vancouver-Alaska-Los Angeles doesn't.

[Putterdude]

Actually I believe the elimination of the Kona port on the Princess cruises (not a half day' date=' but an entire elimination) was due to the point made the other day that Princess wanted to round off the cruise to an even two week cruise, and decided to knock off one of the tender ports. I wish they didn't do this as Kona was the port we had to miss on our Hawaiian cruise. Apparently it had nothing to do with a longer stay in Ensenada.[/quote']

 

I also believe this to be the case. I was very sorry to see Kona dropped as it was one of our favourite but I am sure that no matter which port they dropped someone would be unhappy. All of that said, I am not sure that we would return on a 14 day junket just for the 4 days in the islands and really hope that Princess reverses it's decision in the future. I know that Ensenada is a necessary under the PVSA but it is nothing that I would care to see again.

[Pam in CA]

I also believe this to be the case. I was very sorry to see Kona dropped as it was one of our favourite but I am sure that no matter which port they dropped someone would be unhappy. All of that said, I am not sure that we would return on a 14 day junket just for the 4 days in the islands and really hope that Princess reverses it's decision in the future. I know that Ensenada is a necessary under the PVSA but it is nothing that I would care to see again.

I've done this cruise twice and would definitely do it again, even as a 14-day cruise, because I love the sea days. I've been to several islands in HI multiple times (besides the two 15-day cruises) so I'd go just to be on the ship.

 

FYI, the first cruise I took to HI, several years ago, we were anchored off Ensenada for a couple of hours. My more recent cruise, we were there for about five hours and most people got off the ship, wandered around the dock, and got back on.

[Cruisin' Chick]

I fully expect cruise lines to change their Hawaii west coast routes in the next couple of years of being a 10/11 schedule (which is a 3 week cycle on the boat) to being

Ensenada -> Hawaii 10 days = 5 days at sea + 5 days Hawaii

Hawaii -> Esenada 11 days = 6 days Hawaii + 5 days at sea

That way it completely avoids the PVSA issues.

 

Note that current PVSA doesn't allow San Diego-Esenada-Hawaii one way either. A one way trip between US ports must include a 'foreign distant port' (ie not Canada or Mexico); this is why the last cruise of the season for the Seattle based ships is generally sailed out of Vancouver, as a Seattle-Vancouver-Alaska-Los Angeles would also break the PVSA whereas Vancouver-Alaska-Los Angeles doesn't.

 

If you have been reading this thread (or other ones on this same subject), you would see that one of the issues for many of us is the having Ensenada as a starting or ending point for a cruise. One major reason for the popularity of the Round Trip Hawaiian cruise is that many of us who live in Southern or Central California can just drive to the Port of LA in San Pedro, or the Port of San Diego. For everyone else, they would just need to fly into LA, Long Beach or San Diego. Who wants to drive down to Ensenada or fly into Ensenada?

[Putterdude]

If you have been reading this thread (or other ones on this same subject)' date=' you would see that one of the issues for many of us is the having Ensenada as a starting or ending point for a cruise. One major reason for the popularity of the Round Trip Hawaiian cruise is that many of us who live in Southern or Central California can just drive to the Port of LA in San Pedro, or the Port of San Diego. For everyone else, they would just need to fly into LA, Long Beach or San Diego. Who wants to drive down to Ensenada or fly into Ensenada?[/quote']

 

I live about 5 months a year in AZ about 4.5 hours from San Pedro and have no interest in going down to Endenada.

[Cruisin' Chick]

On our cruise, when the captain announced we would have to skip Kona because of high waves, but we would get a full day in Ensenada instead of an hour or two as scheduled...there was a collective groan rising from the many Southern Californians onboard who have been to Ensenada too many times. Only heard one person (at a trivia match) who was happy, and already picked out an excursion.

 

Most people seemed to stay onboard during that port, or went off the ship just for an hour or less. We went as far as the marketplace next to the pier so hubby can buy a trinket for his mother. He also bought some earrings for me that I can't wear because they irritate my lobes.

[Putterdude]

OK, I confess, we went down to La Bufadora and the market scene there and I am glad we went but but it served as further confirmation that that second prize would be two days in Ensenada.

[kerrydee]

i just booked a client on a princess hawaii 14 nite cruise for spring 2009.

there is an emergency notification on the booking. it says, we are pleased to advise that the port time in ensenada has been extended and is now from 1pm to 8pm. the balance of the itinerary remains the same.:rolleyes:

[rcacace]

The only pax who bother doing anything in Ensenada are the first timers who stop there. I love to see the expressions on their faces when I ask them how they enjoyed the stop. :eek:

[Earthworm Jim]

So how are those 2 day "Cruises to nowhere" legal under the Passenger Vessel Services Act?