'Split' cruises

Is it possible to 'split a cruise? By this I mean take a two-week cruise from Miami, and somewhere in the Caribbean islands, get off for two weeks, rejoining the same cruise ship on its' next or subsequent visit to that island. This would make a two-week holiday into a month-long one.

Or do any Caribbean cruises start from an island rather than Miami?

I'd like to be away for a month - two weeks cruising and two weeks on an island - but i HATE Florida!

That wouldn’t be a closed loop cruise.

Leave from San Juan.

Is it possible to 'split a cruise? By this I mean take a two-week cruise from Miami, and somewhere in the Caribbean islands, get off for two weeks, rejoining the same cruise ship on its' next or subsequent visit to that island. This would make a two-week holiday into a month-long one.

 

Hi Terry...you can't do this.

 

Or do any Caribbean cruises start from an island rather than Miami?

 

Yes, there are many cruises that start from places (Caribbean Islands) outside of Florida. There are websites where you can easily research this, but since some of these are considered travel agencies we are not allowed to mention their names on this site. Just take some time to search online. If you are not able to find a suitable site, you can always work with a local travel agent.

 

Just thought I would mention, that there are cruises that go to the Caribbean leaving from N.Y. state, if that would be a better option than Florida.

 

hope this helps

 

 

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nope. for one, you'd be paying in full for both cruises, even if you are only on it if for part of the time. think the longest I have seen is 10 or 11 days to the Caribbean.

two, you are most likely NOT going to get permission to disembark the cruise at X port due to local policy( they don't as a general rule allow it without extenuating circumstances such as being kicked off the ship or having an emergency ) since the ports do not routinely have the facilities or personnel to effect a disembarkation . if the ships and the country /port do permit it, it must be arranged for ahead of time and be prepared to pay for the privilege.

many cruises start in San Juan. most of OSJ is back up and running, but the interior of the island is still FUBAR and will remain so for many years. not somewhere I would consider spending an extended period of time at currently.

Also, you may have to pay fines under the PSVA.

Hi, Terry,

Yes, there are a couple of options.

But not in the middle of a cruise - that'd be a bit of a logistical problem for the cruise lines, so it'll have to be cruise then stay (or stay then cruise).

If it's a cruise & stay in the Caribbean that you want, a number of ships sail from San Juan (Puerto Rico) or Barbados or Dominican Republic, a few others from Jamaica & St Lucia, now also Cuba, probably elsewhere too.

You can fix your own flights & island accommodation and book "cruise only".

Thomson (now called Marella), P&O, and Fred Olsen offer fly-cruise packages direct to the Caribbean. I don't know Fred Olsen's arrangements but I do know that P&O use a mix of chartered aircraft and scheduled flights - if you wanted to fly out or back a week or two earlier or later I imagine that can be arranged using scheduled flights and would probably be cheaper than fixing your own flights.

Or Thomson offer the complete package - chartered flights from a choice of UK airports (not sure about Ireland) to Jamaica (sometimes other Caribbean turnaround ports), and an island hotel then cruise or vice-versa. Mainly offered as a one-week stay + a one-week cruise but you can stay on the ship for two different week-long cruises and presumably ditto for the hotel.

For a simple fly-cruise I'd suggest P&O out of Barbados. For flights, cruise & stay - esp from Ireland - you really need the help of a professional.

I suggest you goggle "cruise specialist travel agents" and phone one or two of them. They know their stuff on cruising, and you really do need help from a specialist.

BTW - Unless you're a sun-worshipper or water-sports enthusiast, I'm not sure any island is worth more than a week.

JB :)

There are some cruise line that start/ end on some of the Islands you could always stay a week prior to the cruise & one post cruise etc..

Not sure if the UK site has the find a cruise tab at the top but you can look for cruises starting in Barbados. Aruba, Martinique, Jamacia,

D.R, St Lucia, St Martin

Also, you may have to pay fines under the PSVA.

PSVA would be if they left from a US port and disembarked the ship from another US port without going to a foreign port. If they left the US and got off the ship on a Caribbean island it would not violate the PSVA.

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It's the Passenger Vessel Services Act, aka PVSA. In order not to violate the PVSA, some exemptions* that benefit the cruise industry have been created, including the "closed loop" cruise. So boarding a ship in the US and disembarking on a random Caribbean island is only a partial loop. A partial loop does not "close" the loop. The simpler answer is to follow John Bull's advice on stratagems to combine an island stay with a cruise. And not to dive into the morass that is the PVSA.

*Let's not discuss the San Juan exemption, or the fiction that Vancouver is a "distant" foreign port, etc.

Got to http://www.cruisetimetables.com and plug in some Caribbean Islands from Departure Ports. Some of the lines that do one way cruises are luxury lines with small ships...EM

Years ago, I embarked at Antigua, and 2 weeks later disembarked at Barbados. I spent an extra week on Barbados. It would have been easy to spend extra time on Antigua.

So, don't look for loop cruises out of Florida. Look for cruises leaving from the islands themselves.

Back in the 1980's, this was possible. We boarded the NCL Starward in Miami in August, 1981, on a 1 week cruise. A group of 40 passengers got off the ship in Ocho Rios Jamaica, stayed in a lovely resort near Port Antonio for a week. When the ship came back the next week, our group re-boarded, and another group of 40 disembarked. We finished the cruise on the 2nd week. It was one of our most memorable trips ever, but they discontinued the concept sometime not long after our trip. Too bad it's no longer possible, but I can see how it could be a logistical nightmare for the cruise lines.

It's the Passenger Vessel Services Act, aka PVSA. In order not to violate the PVSA, some exemptions* that benefit the cruise industry have been created, including the "closed loop" cruise. So boarding a ship in the US and disembarking on a random Caribbean island is only a partial loop. A partial loop does not "close" the loop. The simpler answer is to follow John Bull's advice on stratagems to combine an island stay with a cruise. And not to dive into the morass that is the PVSA.

 

*Let's not discuss the San Juan exemption, or the fiction that Vancouver is a "distant" foreign port, etc.

I think you're getting the PVSA rules and closed loop documentation rules jumbled up.

A cruise that starts in the US and ends outside the US, or vice versa, is never in violation of the PVSA, which only applies to cruises starting and ending in a US port. For example a cruise originating in Miami and ending in Barbados is perfectly legal. It's when a cruise starts in one US port and ends in another, such as Miami to San Diego, that the PVSA and its "distant foreign port" requirement comes into play.

There is nothing that requires cruises originating in the US to be "closed loop." There is a documentation issue...only closed loop cruises can be taken by a US citizen with a birth certificate and government-issued photo ID. Any other type of itinerary will require additional documentation, which for example could be a passport, passport card or enhanced drivers license, depending on the exact itinerary. Since the OP appears to be from Ireland, he/she will obviously have a passport as it would not be possible to travel from Ireland to the US without one.

Is it possible to 'split a cruise? By this I mean take a two-week cruise from Miami, and somewhere in the Caribbean islands, get off for two weeks, rejoining the same cruise ship on its' next or subsequent visit to that island. This would make a two-week holiday into a month-long one.

Or do any Caribbean cruises start from an island rather than Miami?

 

 

I'd like to be away for a month - two weeks cruising and two weeks on an island - but i HATE Florida!

Much easier to take a cruise from Frorida and after disembarkation you fly to the island you want to spend two weeks on.

You can also cruise from New Orleans and after the cruise fly to an island if you want to avoid Florida.

It's the Passenger Vessel Services Act, aka PVSA. In order not to violate the PVSA, some exemptions* that benefit the cruise industry have been created, including the "closed loop" cruise. So boarding a ship in the US and disembarking on a random Caribbean island is only a partial loop. A partial loop does not "close" the loop. The simpler answer is to follow John Bull's advice on stratagems to combine an island stay with a cruise. And not to dive into the morass that is the PVSA.

 

*Let's not discuss the San Juan exemption, or the fiction that Vancouver is a "distant" foreign port, etc.

Yep, njhorseman is correct. What you are mistaking is the WHTI for the PVSA. The WHTI (Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative) is a combined State and Homeland Security plan to require that travel within the Western Hemisphere requires secure documentation. This is where SENTRY, NEXUS, FAST and Enhanced Drivers License programs come in, as these are accepted in lieu of a passport for re-entry into the US. One of the exceptions to the above WHTI compliant documentation is to allow use of a normal driver's license and birth certificate for closed loop cruises. Believe me, the cruise lines would just as soon not have to deal with DL/BC documentation, and require passports for everyone, this was not done to benefit the cruise lines.

An "open jaw" cruise (one that is not a closed loop, it doesn't return to the port of embarkation) is in no way a violation of the PVSA if the embarkation port or disembarkation port is in a foreign country. That is a foreign voyage, and the PVSA only applies to "coastwise" transportation (from one US port to another).

And another misconception you seem to have, is that Vancouver is a "distant foreign port". It isn't. Again, any cruise that begins or ends in Vancouver, a foreign port (not a distant foreign port) is not covered by the PVSA. It's as simple as that. A distant foreign port is defined by CBP (the agency that polices the PVSA) as any port not in North or Central America, the Caribbean, the Bahamas, or Bermuda. There is no "fiction" about Vancouver.

And the San Juan exemption is just like a couple of other ones that I guarantee you've never heard of, where a Canadian flag ferry is allowed to carry passengers between US ports, until such time as a US flag service is provided. Puerto Rico is the same, as are the US Virgin Islands, until a US flag ship starts to have service there, and then the exemptions go away.

Thanks to everybody for the excellent information and suggestions!

Marella (Thomson) probably do flights from Dublin or Belfast to the Caribbean, and it's easy to add a stay on to the itinerary, either before or after a cruise, then fly back- or have another week/fortnight on board... we've done staycruise with them, and the transport between hotel/ship was included.

Not sure if P&O have many flights from Ireland for their Caribbean season- they have 2 ships leaving from different islands, but perhaps Manchester is manageable?