Passenger services act- b/b

I'm booked on a Vancouver to Hawaii cruise and I would like to go on a previous Alaska cruise from Seattle to Vancouver. I assume that this would violate the passenger services act where you can't go from one US port to another on a foreign flagged ship without going to a foreign port. Does the stop in Vancouver and debarkation and embarkation in Vancouver allow me to do this b/b?

If the back-to-back is on the same vessel it would be illegal. You would be transported from one US city (Seattle) to another US city (in Hawaii) without having stopped at a DISTANT foreign port.

As stated above, if both of these are on the same ship, it would not be allowed.

If you are on a different ship to Alaska, that would be one way to see both places.

Another possibility, if the itinerary allows, would be that if the Alaska cruise visits Victoria, you could disembark there, take your own transportation to Vancouver, and then embark on the Vancouver-Hawaii cruise. It would be some added expense and hassle, but that would be within the law.

 

Another possibility, if the itinerary allows, would be that if the Alaska cruise visits Victoria, you could disembark there, take your own transportation to Vancouver, and then embark on the Vancouver-Hawaii cruise. It would be some added expense and hassle, but that would be within the law.

Yes, this would make it legal, but if the OP does this they need to obtain advance written approval from the cruise line that they would permit this.

Thank you cruisestitch and Gonzo70. That's a great idea. The cruise does stop in Victoria from 6 to 10 pm on the last night of the cruise. Has anyone done this previously? How difficult is it to get from the cruise terminal to the ferry terminal? Should we get on a bus in Victoria to get to Vancouver? Could we leave our larger luggage on board until we reboard for the next cruise?

I don't think your biggest problem will be the logistics of travel from Victoria. Your problem will be convincing X to let you book this in the first place. There have been reports that X grooms these passenger list and cancels reservations if someone does slip through.

Pacific Coach Lines goes from downtown Victoria to Vancouver. Here is a schedule that might help you.

.pacificcoach.com/Bus-Coach-Travel/Crosswater/Victoria-to-Vancouver?season={E1CCC114-0F68-4CD0-A82D-AE52DD088240}

As for leaving your luggage on the ship, I have no idea if they do this but I would be worried it would get off loaded in Vancouver by mistake.

I hope you can work this out satisfactorily. Vancouver to Hawaii is an awesome cruise.

Thank you cruisestitch and Gonzo70. That's a great idea. The cruise does stop in Victoria from 6 to 10 pm on the last night of the cruise. Has anyone done this previously? How difficult is it to get from the cruise terminal to the ferry terminal? Should we get on a bus in Victoria to get to Vancouver? Could we leave our larger luggage on board until we reboard for the next cruise?

The ship does a shuttle into town, the ferry terminal is right in the center of town, only a couple of blocks away. The problem you may have is the time of the last ferry since the ship arrives around 6. Check the times.

Interesting plan.

I think the biggest problem is going to be having Celebrity allow the disembark. I would suspect Canadian Customs and Immigration won't be staffing Victoria for passengers leaving the ship, therefore entry into Canada would be an issue.

I hope the O.P. comes back and lets us know if it can be done after speaking with Celebrity.

An interesting point about Canadian customs, but they still have to clear the ship, so I guess they would be there. Whether they would allow disembarkation is another question. I haven't talked to Celebrity yet as I'm waiting until the Royal Carribbean Alaska itineraries come out. If I can get a compatible RCI cruise, I won't have to go through all the trouble of getting off in Victoria. Those itineraries come out in about a week, If that doesn't work out, I'll call Celebrity and post here with their answers. I appreciate all the info posted here and I'll definitely will post once I've made an Alaska booking.

Rich

OK - If I understand correctly you are on a cruise from Seward to Vancouver that stops in Victoria.

Your questions - can you get off the ship in Victoria - Yes.

Can you clear customs in Victoria? Most likely, yes as Canadians get off there all the time.

Can you leave your luggage on board - Probably not as there is customs to clear in Vancouver again.

How hard to get from the docking in Victoria to Vancouver? Very difficult and lots of time. It is at least 20 minutes to downtown Victoria and then about a 1 hours ride to the ferry in Sydney. A couple hours over and another bus or cab as it will be about midnight to get to Vancouver. The ferry terminal on the mainland is about 20 miles from downtown. The cost would be in the area of $100USD pperson. Then you have a Vancouver hotel. Nothing to be gained here except a night with no sleep IMO.

It would be far easier to disembark in Seattle and fly to Vancouver. Probably no more money than plan A, but again a tight schedule.

PS - The ferry terminal in town has ferries to Port Angeles and Seattle. Not Vancouver

The OP is planning on sailing from Seattle to Vancouver (via Alaska) but disembarking in Victoria. I think that is doable if it is okay with Celebrity.

There are customs people in Victoria.

Sorry my link to Pacific Coaches did not work. You can google Pacific Coaches, yourself to get this. I would stay in Victoria over night and get an early coach to Vancouver. There is one at 7:45AM. It does stop at Canada Place. You must reserve and pay in advance, I think. Don't know the cost.

The ferry terminal is in Swartz Bay which is a 30 min ride from the city.

we have done it many times. The ferry crossing is 1.5 hrs. You will get off the bus and sit in the lounge on the ferry, have a meal if you want, and see some Orcas if you are lucky! Then you reboard the bus for the ride into Vancouver. It takes about 4 hours from the bus station in Victoria to Canada Place.

Your idea of doing one cruise on RCCL is a good one. I hope it works out for you.

I'll post in a few weeks after RC opens Alaska.

Probably easiest and fastest, although a more expensive way to get from Victoria to Vancouver with minimum hassle would be to take a seaplane from Victoria Harbour to Vancouver Harbour.

But that would still require an overnight in a hotel.

Why is this rule (Jones Act?) even in place does anyone know? Is it still valid or a leftover from earlier years ... From a cruising perspective is seems a plain PITA [emoji12]. Hope the OP works out something ... We would like to do something similar one year, and cruise all the way back to Australia.

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..... We would like to do something similar one year, and cruise all the way back to Australia.

So you will not be in violation of the Passenger Vessel Services Act.

The OP has a very different situation from yours, wanting to board the ship in one US port (Seattle) with final disembarkation in another US port (Honolulu), which would be in violation of the PVSA.

However, boarding the ship in Vancouver (a nearby foreign port) makes disembarking in Honolulu legal.

The reason why they would need to disembark the first cruise at Victoria a day earlier is that they cannot merely get off the ship in Vancouver and then get right back on the same ship again the same day.

If they tried to do that, it would just be considered a continuation of the previous cruise, despite having a different reservation number.

But by disembarking at Victoria a day earlier, it would be considered a new embarkation when they board in Vancouver the next day.

Or they could do the two segments on two different ships and that would also be fine, even if they were to transfer from one ship to the other in Vancouver on the same day.

The intent of the law was to protect US trade from foreign competition in such situations, although the result is that it can certainly be a PITA for cruise ship passengers. :eek:

Thanks Varoo,

We've only looked into it high level but we've already had the Jones Act mentioned as a restriction of doing the Alaska/Hawaii cruise as a B2B. Never pursued it so the info may be far from correct!

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A few minutes research will show you very clear explanations of the PVSA (the Jones Act is a misnomer). Wikipedia has a good article about it.

Quick summary --

You cannot sail on the same vessel from one US port to another US port without visiting a DISTANT foreign port. These are defined in the Act and there are none in Canada or Mexico.

If you are sailing round trip in and out of the same US port, you need only to visit any foreign port, so a stop in Canada or Mexico or the Bahamas or Bermuda will do.

Thanks cruisestitch.

Am normally pretty good at googling for info but as the guys seemed to be familiar with the restrictions etc on the thread I'd thought I'd pop the question and get some feedback in laymans terms [emoji2]. I understand the complexity of it now, but not so much of there is current need....or maybe I'm just looking at for the OP and my perspective in that it can prove to be a PITA from a cruisers perspective !! Cheers

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OP here. It is a PITA, but I really would have loved to do a Solstice b/b. Just the thought of cutting the cruise short by one night and the hassle of going from Victoria to Vancouver, makes b/b seem unlikely. In this order (RCI, Princess, Carnival,HAL and NCL) I'm looking for a different Alaska cruise. Princess dates are out and are not good timing. RCI, Carnival and HAL dates aren't out yet. Ncl dates are out and I could take the Norwegian Sun southbound and then spend 4 days in the Vancouver area sightseeing, but we prefer traditional dining so that's our last choice. HAl still allows balcony smoking so that's our next to last choice. RCI has now moved their Alaska schedule reveal to the week of Mar. 23rd so I'm waiting until then to make a decision.

I'm having trouble understanding the problem. If I understand it correctly, the FIRST cruise is from Seattle to Vancouver. END OF CRUISE. The SECOND cruise is from Vancouver to Hawaii. Vancouver is a foreign port right? On a B2B the passenger must exit the ship and return through customs, right?

If the ship can make the journey from Seattle to Vancouver and then Vancouver to Hawaii, then why can't the passenger?

Read post number 16, Varoo has a very good explanation of why I can't simply do b/b.

OP,

You could always do a B2B2B and go all the way down under! That would solve your problem completely!

:D

I wish my wife could get that extra time off and I had that extra thousands of dollars to do it.

Tried to do same B2B last Fall X Solstice Alaska, then on Solstice to Hawaii.. Its a NO. You cannot get off in Victoria and get back on later. its not a distant foreign port. Ended up on NCL Sun for 1st leg. Not a pleasant cruise.AK better in Summer. If I had to do it again I would forego AK and do Solstice HA cruise from Vancouver all the way to Sydney, which is legal.