Question Re Ensenada Service Call During Hawaiian Cruise

[SuzyQ Quilter]

Last nite my hubby was gabbing with someone in the supermarket about our upcoming Hawaiian cruise during Christmas/New Year's. She remarked that we would love it, but that the only drawback was that at the Ensenada service call, they have you leave the boat and then bus you back to San Diego. I can't believe this is true!!! Please tell me it isn't so. Hubby didn't ask what cruiseline she had taken, so it may be the case (hopefully!) for another cruiseline and not Holland America. I just can't believe they would have you get off the boat between 11pm-12am (1 hour timeframe) and then bus you back to San Diego in the middle of the night! Can anyone confirm/deny this fact that has perhaps taken a Hawaiian cruise on the Statendam in the past? Pretty please? Thanks so much!

P.S. This is our first ever cruise

[Brandis]

This has to do with some ancient US law forbidding passenger ships under foreign flags to transport passengers between 2 US ports as start and end destination.

I'm sure someone else can explain in more detail...

Marc

[Esme]

HAL doesn't do that, although I gather some lines do. When my Mother cruised on Royal Viking to Hawaii years ago this is what they had to do.

Not to worry - you won't have to get off the ship in Ensenada...they just stop in Ensenada to comply with the Jones Law....they call it a "service call".

To go back a bit - when we first cruised to Hawaii in 1993, some people cruised from LA to Hawaii, stayed in Hawaii for 3 days and flew home. The reverse was also true - some people flew to Hawaii for 3 days, boarded the ship in Honolulu but they had to get off in Ensenada and were bussed back to LA. The particular trip we were on the Captain could not dock in Ensenada due to heave swells so the passengers and their luggage were tendered to the port. Not fun for those passengers or crew as it was very dark when the last load left the ship. Now I can't remember if we picked up the group in Ensenada who were staying in Honolulu and flying home or if they boarded in LA. HAL no longer has these shorter cruises - they are all now round-trip.

[Cruising Illini]

We sailed on the Statedam in Feb. 2004 and the ship didn't even dock at Ensenada -- I think they might have sent a tender to the port just to say we stopped (for about 1 hour). This is a trick they use to exempt the ship from having to pay U.S. union salaries -- that is also the reason they stop in Victoria on Alaska cruises out of Seattle.

[Cinder]

Not to worry, you can sleep right though the call!

[JohnSax]

Having done both cruises, I can clear up the confusion on this. The HAL itineraries roundtrip from San Diego to Hawaii stop at Ensenada for approximately one hour--no passengers get off. It is a service call to comply with the Jones Act--nothing more. Now, on the 10 or 11 day cruises operated by RCI or Celebrity to Hawaii, for example. the cruise must either begin or end in Ensenada. Therefore, if embarking in Honolulu, you will disembark in Ensenada, bus to San Diego and fly home from there. I did this a few years ago on Celebrity and while the cruise was great--this was a horrible way to end a great vacation. If you opt for these itineraries, my definite advice would be to take the Ensenada to Honolulu itinerary, it's better to fly into San Diego, bus down to Ensenada, and embark there than the other way around.

[temple10]

I saw your post and my mouth dropped!!, My son and I are cruiseing for the first time on the statendam december21-january 5th and I thought there is no way I am pulling all my luggage onto a bus and the end of our cruise.I am happy to hear the replys are saying, Holland does not do this.:)

[1cruiselvr]

Celebrity and RCI does this, not HAL. The supermarket person had the right info, wrong cruiseline. Don't worry, as others have stated, you will sleep right thru it. Happy Sailing!

[SuzyQ Quilter]

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you, everyone!

I am soooo relieved to hear this. We were actually second-guessing our cruise if we were going to have to disembark and be bused back to San Diego in the dead of night.

I appreciate all your wonderful, prompt replies :)

Temple -- Looks like you and your son are on the same sailing as my hubby and I. Maybe we can hook up at some point and say "hi."

Hugs, all!

[RevNeal]

Put your hearts at ease ... I've done this cruise and it's WONDERFUL! The Statendam makes that cruise ROUND-TRIP out of San Diego. The Ensenada "stop" is barely a stop ... you get to see the lights of the City, nothing more. You don't get off the ship and you're not bused back to San Diego ... that's Royal Caribbean ... among others.

Just read the other posts ... see it's already been answered. :D Sorry for the repeat!

[Pete&Cat]

I was curious about that stop myself but I had not heard anything about being bussed in the dead of night. Glad it's not the case here, what a way to end what I hope is a dream vacation!

[SharkieRools]

It has to do with the Passenger Vessel Services Act of 1886, commonly mistakenly referred to as the Jones Act (which is a later amendment that actually covers cargo.)

I won't get into all the ins and outs of it here! (although if you want to read a good article on it, go to Sealetter PVSA article (http://www.sealetter.com/Oct-99/alancol.html) )

Anyways when you do a roundtrip Hawaii cruise from LA or San Diego, all you do is make a quick 1 hour "service call" in Ensenada as mentioned above. HA, Princess and soon I believe Celebrity all do this. However on one way cruises, they usually either start or end in Ensenada (or Vancouver.) Holland America doesn't offer this, several other cruise lines do offer this, usually during repositioning between Alaska cruises and their winter cruises.

You may be asking, why don't the one way cruies just make a service call in Ensenada as well, and then go onto LA or San Diego. Again to make a long story short, the PVSA has different rules for roundtrip cruises, and for ones that begin in one US port, and end in a different US port. The roundtrip just requires a stop at any foreign port, a one way requires a stop in a "distant" foreign port. Seeing that on the one way cruises stopping at a "distant" foreign port would be very difficult and time consuming, they choose to just start/end at Ensenada. It's very weird and confusing, as mentioned before you can take a look at the article above for more info. :cool:

[1cruiselvr]

We just booked the 12/6/04 Statendam Circle Hawaii cruise yesterday. I'm so exited I can barely work at my desk. I hope our cruise is as wonderful as yours was in 2002. Love your pics!

[starysacz]

Agree with the others. One hour stop. No need to get off the ship at all.

[imsulin]

How sad that you will miss the Chicklets and 50-cent margaritas, though!

(JUST KIDDING!)

[temple10]

Maybe will bump into each other , that would be cool. we are both very excited neither of us have cruised before. My son is 15 (very respectful) and is so looking forward to it. I am hoping to find an excursion that will let him swim with the dolphins, and not just pet them. (At the same time mom not getting lost from point A to Point B) lol lol Hope we will start hearing of others on this cruise. Havent read much of this certain cruise being mentioned. Well, thank goodness we can rest easy knowing we won't be getting on a bus,after hopefully an awsome cruise of a life time:) Christine

[the2ofus]

Temple, check the Roll Call boards. If there is one listed for your cruise, just chime right in. If not, start a thread and before long others will join you. We found several other CC folks on our March 03 Hawaii cruise and had some good times with them on board.

You will love every minute of this cruise. Just be sure your 15 year old understands that there are 5 days at sea before he gets to the islands, so if he is the restless sort you might want to bring some video games or books he will enjoy. Then again, he might meet some other teens and never have a dull moment. There were about 15 kids on our March cruise in the 8 to 16 year range and they all seemed to enjoy the kids programs. They even enjoyed participating in the lip sync show the pax put on during one sea day.

[iluvcruzin]

That's nice you don't have to get off in Ensenada. It's not one of my favorite things to do. I sailed from Hawaii-Ensenada 4 years ago. We had to take a bus, get off and walk through customs on a hot day, and reboard to San Diego. We didn't have to do anything with our luggage as it was taken care of for us. It's nice they found a way around it. If I did the Hawaii sailing again, I'd like the San Francisco RT one.

[Bill HaHa]

We did this cruise on the Statendam Nov. 2000. A great cruise. Like all the other posts, you do not get off the ship in Ensenada. you are only there for about an hour. We got there about midnight. most everyone was sleeping.