Cruise ships that pick up passengers enroute

Do all cruise ships stop and pick up other passengers at their port of calls?

We were on an MSC Black Sea cruise and every port they stopped at there were more passengers coming on board. Do all cruise lines do this or just MSC? Your answer will determine the next cruise line we take a cruise on.Thanks in advance.

Not from my experience. e sail on Princess and will see entertainers getting on and off in ports. However, rarely are any passengers getting on or off at other than the scheduled end of a leg.

Do all cruise ships stop and pick up other passengers at their port of calls?

We were on an MSC Black Sea cruise and every port they stopped at there were more passengers coming on board. Do all cruise lines do this or just MSC? Your answer will determine the next cruise line we take a cruise on.Thanks in advance.

Well, they're probably not just picking up and disembarking passengers randomly.

In the European market, they can sell a cruise that does a Barcelona roundtrip with stops in Marseille, Genoa, Napes, Messina, and Tunis. And also sell a cruise (on the same ship) that goes from Barcelona to Naples. Or another from Genoa to Barcelona. Then the ship would be picking up passengers in Barcelona and Genoa, while disembarking others in Naples and Barcelona.

Just a small example.

I think just MSC, Pullmatuer & Louis cruise line do this ...maybe Costa

Not typical for most cruise lines

Do all cruise ships stop and pick up other passengers at their port of calls?

We were on an MSC Black Sea cruise and every port they stopped at there were more passengers coming on board. Do all cruise lines do this or just MSC? Your answer will determine the next cruise line we take a cruise on.Thanks in advance.

Used Carnival as a vehicle to island hop in the Caribbean.

Cheaper than flying. :D

On its Baltic cruises Princess allows embarkation in Copenhagen, Warnemunde, or St. Petersburg. But North American citizens must book a round-trip disembarking in the same port. Same with MSC, Costa and the European lines in the Mediterranean: only residents of European Union/Schengen Agreement nations can book segments of round-trip sailings as there are no immigration or customs formalities necessary for them.

not on a "closed loop cruise" from a US port . . .

and this statement makes me curious . . .

Used Carnival as a vehicle to island hop in the Caribbean.

Cheaper than flying.

not on a "closed loop cruise" from a US port . . .

 

and this statement makes me curious . . .

 

Used Carnival as a vehicle to island hop in the Caribbean.

Cheaper than flying.

Flew barbados, stayed Barbados for 7 days, boarded Barbados, went to SJ, stayed in the Convent to have lunch and dinner with friends, then back to Barbados, stayed Barbados for 10 days, flew back to the UK.

not on a "closed loop cruise" from a US port . . .

 

and this statement makes me curious . . .

 

Used Carnival as a vehicle to island hop in the Caribbean.

Cheaper than flying.

If the poster was getting off in one or more Caribbean islands, they were not doing a closed loop cruise, so the PVSA would not apply

World Voyages have people coming and going in various ports (different segments are sold in different markets).

Flew barbados, stayed Barbados for 7 days, boarded Barbados, went to SJ, stayed in the Convent to have lunch and dinner with friends, then back to Barbados, stayed Barbados for 10 days, flew back to the UK.

So are you saying you took a cruise R/T from Barbados that stopped one day in SJ? If so, this seems to me to be a far cry from what I think of as <<Used Carnival as a vehicle to island hop in the Caribbean.>>

Scott & Karen

This can vary based on many factors including the length of voyage and the rules related to the itinerary.

Keith

If a passenger misses the ship for what ever reason they do fly to the 1st port and get on the ship. Or, they just miss the cruise. Once we needed to change cabins but none were available. But someone who missed the ship didn't want to fly to the 1st port so we were given their cabin!

I read about this happening on some mainstream cruises but can't recall which ones. The Americans found it irritating but the cruiselines seemed to offer it for their European guests. The consensus on cruise critic seemed to be to avoid this as it disrupted the flow of the trip (getting to know fellow passengers, the hassle of other guests embarking/disembarking, etc.) but that some Europeans used the cruise ships to be more of a one way destination rather than multiport cruise. This seemed to be available on only some voyages as a way of filling up cabins and didn't appear to be marketed very openly or frequently.

I read about this happening on some mainstream cruises but can't recall which ones. The Americans found it irritating but the cruiselines seemed to offer it for their European guests. The consensus on cruise critic seemed to be to avoid this as it disrupted the flow of the trip (getting to know fellow passengers, the hassle of other guests embarking/disembarking, etc.) but that some Europeans used the cruise ships to be more of a one way destination rather than multiport cruise. This seemed to be available on only some voyages as a way of filling up cabins and didn't appear to be marketed very openly or frequently.

I guesss ass far as meeting other passengers, it would be like going to an all-inclusive resort. People are arriving and departing everyday. It does make it difficult to get to know people.

Costa offers this on a number of their Med cruises...not certain about others.

I did see data on that Carnival ship from Barbados but on a UK web site. On the itinerary I saw it was possible to board at different islands. The cruise did not stop in any US ports.

Sometimes a passenger can arrange to board at a port different than the embarkation port. If the entire voyage isn't selling well it's more likely the cruise line will do it. But it has to be booked in advance. Or, a passenger misses their flight into the embarkation port. Arrangements are made for them to board at the next port. Normally the cruise line would rather have a cabin booked for the entire voyage rather than just part of it.

As others have mentioned though it's harder to do from the US and not legal at all to travel directly from one US port to another due to the PVSA.

This happened on my recent September MSC cruise. I had made note of it in my journal.

Embarkation: It was the smoothest embarkation process that we’ve ever encountered on any of our cruises. When we arrived at 2:00 we were the only people checking in. I believe it is due to that fact that MSC allows you to begin and end any 7 day cruise at any of its scheduled ports. My guess was that 25% of the guests boarded in Southampton, while 30% each boarded in Amsterdam and Hamburg, with the remainder in Zeebrugge or LeHavre. This is not noted on the USA website or I may have started the trip in LeHavre instead and spent more time in Paris and the French countryside as we’ve been to London before. We would have saved on the high cost of London and the Eurostar fare to visit Paris.

In Europe, this practice is common on Costa, MSC, and probably others. Think of it as a world cruise with segments. Not sure what RCI or Celebrity or Carnivore do, but I suspect they do not do it.

If no US port is involved, it's quite common. On all the European cruises we've been on, folks were getting on or off at just about every port, regardless of the line.

I believe that the way it works with the San Juan itinerary for Carnival (currently the Valor) is that there are 2 ports of embarkation. This also explains why the ship leaves SJ so late on "embarkation day". The people who get on in SJ also get off there. The people who get on in Barbados also get off there. I have also read that there are 2 " sail away" type deck parties. One in SJ and one in Barbados. I don't know if a port in a US territory is considered a "US port" or not ?

We've had the same experience with an MSC cruise round trip from Southampton. It stopped in Holland, Guernsey, La Coruna, Bilbao and La Rochelle, and passengers got on and off in all but one port. What was slightly weird for the French boarding in (for us) the last call of La Rochelle was that the entertainment cycle was based on Southampton, so they all boarded and the main entertainment on their first night was the Grand Farewell Gala Dinner and Show!

I've been on a number of cruises where passengers have got on and got off (not US). I think it's brilliant and gives people more choice on the length and destination of their cruise, especially if they want a longer stay in a particular area.

It has certainly never impacted negatively on my cruises.