Passenger service act

We are taking cruise from SF to Alaska and my husband wants to disembark in Juneau to fly back to work. The kids and I will stay on the boat. We requested this with Princess cruise lines and they say not allowed because of passenger service act. He wants to just get off anyways. Maybe we will say he got lost? Sick? Mentally ill? Anyone done this? What will happen?

Yes, he can just not show up at sailing time. Then you can make any excuse you like.

If you do not inform the cruise line in advance, they will delay departure, hoping to find your husband. This delay may result in a late arrival at the next port, requiring cancellation of tours.

When the cruise line informs US Customs that your husband is not sailing, US Customs will assess the cruise line a $300 fine for violating the U.S.Passenger Vessel Services Act. The cruise line will then pas that fine on to you.

Yes, he can just not show up at sailing time. Then you can make any excuse you like.

If you do not inform the cruise line in advance, they will delay departure, hoping to find your husband. This delay may result in a late arrival at the next port, requiring cancellation of tours.

When the cruise line informs US Customs that your husband is not sailing, US Customs will assess the cruise line a $300 fine for violating the U.S.Passenger Vessel Services Act. The cruise line will then pas that fine on to you.

So, including the fine that you will pay your husband's selfish act will affect 3,000 passenger's enjoyment of their cruise. Sure, go for it. Your family plans to violate the law. It has consequences.

Yes this would be in violation of the act.

Keith

. Maybe we will say he got lost? Sick? Mentally ill?

No doc here but anyone who would skip out on a cruise vacation so he can rush back to work is definitely not normal behavior.

We are taking cruise from SF to Alaska and my husband wants to disembark in Juneau to fly back to work. The kids and I will stay on the boat. We requested this with Princess cruise lines and they say not allowed because of passenger service act. He wants to just get off anyways. Maybe we will say he got lost? Sick? Mentally ill? Anyone done this? What will happen?

If he misses the ship a fine of $300 will be assessed, and he may be blackballed from cruising on that line or any of its sisters.

The statement that it will cause late arrival at a different port and make people miss tours, etc. if simply untrue, especially in AK, where sailing distances are very short.

The issue is that if the cruise line thinks he did it on purpose they might disembark the whole family at the next port.

The US government may also be looking for him since he will be in the country illegally.

The US government may also be looking for him since he will be in the country illegally.

How would he be in the country illegally? :confused:

The statement that it will cause late arrival at a different port and make people miss tours, etc. if simply untrue, especially in AK, where sailing distances are very short.

That's just what I was thinking. If a ship is delayed in Alaska so long that they are late to their next port and tours are missed because 1 person didn't check back in, I would take a serious look at the management of that ship.

Of course lying about the situation is such a great example to set for the kids.

How would he be in the country illegally? :confused:

 

 

 

That's just what I was thinking. If a ship is delayed in Alaska so long that they are late to their next port and tours are missed because 1 person didn't check back in, I would take a serious look at the management of that ship.

he would not have gone through Customs/Immigration first. even US citizens must return to the country going through the proper channels.

I would imagine that they would first require the rest of the party to explain where he is and if they tell the truth the fine will be assessed immediately on their se pass card. if they lie, equivocate or otherwise try to avoid answering the question, they could be punished in other ways such as being restricted to their cabin for the remainder of their cruise.

OP: you asked and were told it is NOT an option. By all means break the law if you are so important that the law does not apply to you. just don;t come crying on here later when you pay the price.

Maybe we will say he got lost? Sick? Mentally ill? Anyone done this? What will happen?

LOL....are you prepared to file a police report about your mentally ill husband? Can you look ship security in the eye and totally lie to them?

If he really wants to leave the ship have him start a big fight in one of the bars, break a lot of furniture and stuff. Refuse any cooperation with security. That'll do it. He, and likely the rest of the family, will be disembarked and he won't have to worry about sailing with that cruise line ever again.

IMO, the best solution that has few consequences for this situation is to Leave Him Home. He can watch the pets while you and the kids are having a fabulous time.

Why can't he work from the ship? DH does this all the time :(

he would not have gone through Customs/Immigration first. even US citizens must return to the country going through the proper channels.

Immigrations/Customs would only be necessary if the previous port was foreign. And even then, you clear before exiting the ship. If the OP is American, the only Customs issue would be what was already mentioned...the PVSA. There would be nothing else illegal about it.

Even then, technically, it's the ship that commits the violation, not the passenger. That's why CBP fines the ship. Other than the ship forwarding the monetary fine to the passenger, he would not be in any trouble. If anything, it's possible Princess and Carnival Corp could blacklist him from future cruises with their company.

What Canadian port are you stopping in? He may be able to leave the ship in Canada.

Immigrations/Customs would only be necessary if the previous port was foreign. And even then, you clear before exiting the ship. If the OP is American, the only Customs issue would be what was already mentioned...the PVSA. There would be nothing else illegal about it.

 

Even then, technically, it's the ship that commits the violation, not the passenger. That's why CBP fines the ship. Other than the ship forwarding the monetary fine to the passenger, he would not be in any trouble. If anything, it's possible Princess and Carnival Corp could blacklist him from future cruises with their company.

Even if the previous port was in the US, clearance of the ship and its passengers at a port of call with no passengers permanently disembarking is very different than clearance when final disembarkation is occurring.

Even if the ship had not yet called on a foreign port, eliminating the need for an immigration check, a customs declaration would still be required as the disembarking passenger could have made purchases in the ship's duty free store that they were taking back into the US. Also, even if the immediately previous port was in the US, but the ship had made a foreign port call prior, immigration clearance apparently is required at disembarkation under current protocol, at least as we most recently experienced it.

For example we recently took a Canada/New England closed loop cruise from NY, where the first two ports of call were in Canada, followed by three ports in the US prior to disembarkation in NY. We only were cleared (meaning individual passenger immigration and customs clearance where you have to personally appear before a CBP officer, documents in hand) at final disembarkation in NY. No passengers...at least no US citizens...were individually cleared at our first post-Canada US port. Admittedly this was different than we had experienced a few years earlier, where we had an immigration check at the first US port post-Canada.

The bottom line is that the passenger disembarking early clearly would not have gone through a proper customs clearance and quite possibly a proper immigration check .

The bottom line is that the passenger disembarking early clearly would not have gone through a proper customs clearance and quite possibly a proper immigration check .

Not necessarily. When it comes to Customs, a family declares as a whole, which will be satisfied when the rest of the family disembarks the ship. There is nothing legally preventing a U.S. citizen cruise ship passenger in the city of Juneau from getting on an airplane and flying out of there.

Immigrations is different. Like Aquahound said, if Immigrations was necessary, it would have been completed prior to leaving the ship in Juneau.

Not necessarily. When it comes to Customs, a family declares as a whole, which will be satisfied when the rest of the family disembarks the ship. There is nothing legally preventing a U.S. citizen cruise ship passenger in the city of Juneau from getting on an airplane and flying out of there.

 

Immigrations is different. Like Aquahound said, if Immigrations was necessary, it would have been completed prior to leaving the ship in Juneau.

The OP has already contacted Princess and they said no, so on this sailing there appears to be no way to avoid a violation of the PVSA if he wants to disembark early.

Why can't he work from the ship? DH does this all the time :(

He might be a taxi driver.

Regards John

The OP has already contacted Princess and they said no, so on this sailing there appears to be no way to avoid a violation of the PVSA if he wants to disembark early.

True. That's what Princess says because it's Princess that takes the hit from the government, not the OP. Legally, nothing will happen to the OP's husband if he does this other than a civil fine from the cruise line.

We are taking cruise from SF to Alaska and my husband wants to disembark in Juneau to fly back to work. The kids and I will stay on the boat. We requested this with Princess cruise lines and they say not allowed because of passenger service act. He wants to just get off anyways. Maybe we will say he got lost? Sick? Mentally ill? Anyone done this? What will happen?

Your "I am the most important person in the world" husband who obviously does not care how much he inconveniences everyone else on the ship really sets a good example for his kids to follow.

DON

How would he be in the country illegally? :confused:

 

 

 

That's just what I was thinking. If a ship is delayed in Alaska so long that they are late to their next port and tours are missed because 1 person didn't check back in, I would take a serious look at the management of that ship.

Wouldn't he be bypassing customs. I believe that is illegal.

He wants to just get off anyways. Maybe we will say he got lost? Sick? Mentally ill? Anyone done this? What will happen?

I have to say that I am concerned about this behavior; in her first post on the Princess board, OP said she is a doctor and needs to be in constant communication with her office practice and be available to her patients. I mean, you never know if someone is playing a joke on these boards, but this is just wrong on every level. :mad: <-- first time I have ever used this emoji

If his job is so important that he'd cause problems for every other passenger on the ship, cause problems for the crew and officers, and maybe even cause problems for local law enforcement, you should just cancel the cruise or else you and the kids go and he stay home.

Can you imagine the problems that would happen if you declared your husband mentally ill? That's got to be the dumbest excuse I've ever heard anyone use. What if this "mentally ill" excuse got out and the people he works for or with hear this and believe he's mentally ill? Seriously? You'd use that awful excuse? Do you not know the problems that would cause? The cruise ship would notify the local authorities and start a search for a mentally unstable person. They find him at the airport and take him into custody and put him in a hospital for an involuntary mental health hold for 72 hours. Can you imagine the trouble he'd be in once they find out he just wanted off the ship?

Just cancel the cruise or tell hubby to stay home and work, if he's that indispensable. And you claim to be a doctor? Boy, there's no way I'd want to go to you for anything, knowing that you have no problem lying. That scares the heck out of me.

We are taking cruise from SF to Alaska and my husband wants to disembark in Juneau to fly back to work. The kids and I will stay on the boat. We requested this with Princess cruise lines and they say not allowed because of passenger service act. He wants to just get off anyways. Maybe we will say he got lost? Sick? Mentally ill? Anyone done this? What will happen?

It sounds like your husband needs his head examined. Why bother to take a vacation if you cannot TAKE the vacation. Either leave him at home to begin with (which will avoid a whole lot of trouble for you) or tell him he has to take the entire cruise. Life is way to short to live like that.

Why can't he work from the ship? DH does this all the time :(

Not ALL jobs/professions lend themselves to be able to work from the ship.

If a trial lawyer has a case, he can hardly 'go to court' while on the ship.

If a contractor has a 'finish by date', he cannot put in the countertops while on the ship. A real estate agent has to show the house to the prospective buyer......

and on and on.