New Port Security Measures

[the2ofus]

I just read in the News section of the CC website about the new stricter port security measures being implemented. I am curious how the 96 hour advance notice before arriving at a port will impact cruiselines during hurricane season.

It seems unlikely that a captain will know 4 days ahead of time that he will need to divert from one Caribbean port to another to avoid a storm. Would they be able to make tentative arrangements with alternative ports? Would that be costly in terms of port fees or staff hours to prepare the necessary documents for extra ports?

Would a ship just have to aimlessly circle around without making a port stop for several days? I love sea days, but if I am looking forward to the Caribbean ports and some beach time, that is an alternative I would not really appreciate.

[sail7seas]

I believe the 96 hour notice requirement only applies to ships entering a U.S. port???? IF, indeed, that is the case, a ship could feasibly divert to Tortola vs. St. Maartin vs. some other port so long as it is not entering a U.S. port with fewer than 96 hours notice and submission of manifest.

More often than not though, if an HAL ship misses a port, it usually has a sea day vs diverting to an alternate port. There are exceptions, of course, but it has been our experience that we have never had a port substituted but got another sea day.

[the2ofus]

S7S, when I read the article just before I posted this thread, I was sure that I read that it was an internationally agreed security measure applying to a large number of ships. The article had been in the upper right hand corner of the board for at least 24 hours but when I went looking for it just now, I could not find it. Strange!

[TedC]

2ofus,

I saw that same article and made a mental note to read it. When I returned it was gone.

Could it be we are both hallucinating?

I hope not!

[sail7seas]

Interesting.........If it reappears, I'll hope to read it.

You are probably entirely correct that it is an International agreement. I remember a short time ago, it was announced that if a ship stopped at a port/country where security was not deemed to be adequate for screening per new standards, the ship would not be permitted to enter a U.S. port. There was a conversation about what would happen to cruise pax on a ship that violated security guidelines and then could not bring the pax back home.

[dakrewser]

There were a number of different news stories about this, such as this one (http://shorterlink.com/?452K52) in a New Zealand paper.


While it does refer to a UN-mandated security upgrade to ports, it appears to be solely aimed at commercial freight-hauling vessels, not cruise ships.

[Jacqueline]

Just a TAD off topic. But we saw on our most recent HAL cruise in Europe a huge difference from one port to another how tight the security was !
In Malaga a random cab driver got into the port and drove about a mile -really - out to our ship right up to the plank ! No problem. In Le Havre we had to show ID and be dropped off away from the ship.
At other ports like Polermo the fellows had submachine guns all over the place !
AT Malta we were forced to walk thru the duty free shops !
There was no consistancy port to port day to day,