Disembarking before end of cruise

[t60]

Not totally relevant, but we cruised from UK to Caribean and a couple disembarked at St Lucia, with their 15 suitcases as they were emigrating there and it was cheaper to take all their luggage via a cruise

sandy

[ninapeter]

easy, call or t/a call....fax info...ask for route deviation, get fax back with approval and off you go. check at customer service desk before leaving ship, pay your bill and adios.

 

customs comes into play when you get off your plane in u.s.

 

with volcano stuff I am sure that department is very busy

[Luckyroot]

On the Regal Princess on one or her last sailings, we were to disembark in SJ but for the same reasons of cheaper airfare home, we got off in St Thomas. We cleared the early departure with Princess before the sailing...no problem there. The ship had it in our records when we boarded. We spent 4 days in St Thomas before flying home.

 

We got off the ship after a late breakfast, picked up our rental car, returned to the dock/ship had lunch in the dinning room and got the luggage off the ship. It was all very easy and relaxed...said we should always get off a day early if we are in port....so much easier! There were no clearence formalities as we were cleared as passengers when to ship was. We did, of course, go through customs and immigration when we got back to the US mainland as always.

 

Go for it...make the arrangements with Princess before you leave on the cruise..,there is no problem.

 

 

Thanks to everyone for the info. I had contacted TA and she is waiting to hear back from Princess, but said it shouldn't be a problem!

 

Thanks cwn, I'm taking notes and that's exactly what our plan is......have dinner on the ship and then leave! TYVM!

[cwn]

Thanks to everyone for the info. I had contacted TA and she is waiting to hear back from Princess, but said it shouldn't be a problem!

 

Thanks cwn, I'm taking notes and that's exactly what our plan is......have dinner on the ship and then leave! TYVM!

 

Have a good stay in St Thomas...you will love leaving the ship the evening before...no waiting around in the lounge till your # is called after having been forced out of your cabin by 8 and eating a rushed breakfast!

[Ms. Alpha]

We know others have done this. We have thought about the 14 day Alaska Connoisseur out of Seattle, but would like to get off in Victoria which is the last port before returning to Seattle. Since this is a short trip home, the ship is usually in port till late in the evening so we could stay onboard until dinner time.

 

Maybe as others have suggested - get off earlier in the day to arrange transportation, then get back on for dinner.

 

Hopefully they still offer this itinerary next year! This year it is the Royal but she will be leaving next year. Pacific Princess did a similar itinerary in the past.

[kath00]

What if you have an emergency (like the time my DD broke her hand while we were on vacation)? If we have to get off at some point due to some emergency reason (let's say emergency of a person who is not on board with us), they really would/should have no right to fine us or prevent us from getting off the ship! It's not like we are in jail. PSA or not... The ship is not confinement.

 

Katherine

[Pam in CA]

What if you have an emergency (like the time my DD broke her hand while we were on vacation)? If we have to get off at some point due to some emergency reason (let's say emergency of a person who is not on board with us), they really would/should have no right to fine us or prevent us from getting off the ship! It's not like we are in jail. PSA or not... The ship is not confinement.

Medical emergencies get a waiver as long as it's done through the Medical Dept. They make all the arrangements, including Customs and Immigration, if it's a U.S. port. I'm assuming it's the same if you disembark in a foreign port.

 

When my brother-in-law got so sick in January on our cruise, the Medical Dept. made copies of all of our documents, including passports. Jim was disembarked through prior arrangement with Customs & Immigration; my sister and I were personally escorted through by a Princess rep.

 

If, for instance, you are on a HI cruise and have to fly back to Los Angeles (for example) from Lahaina due to a family emergency, no one will hold you onboard or prevent you from leaving. However, you will have violated the PVSA and the ship will be fined. They have your credit card # and you can bet they will pass that cost on to you. This has nothing to do with cruiseline rules; it's U.S. law so if you have a problem with it, take it up with your Congressman or Senator.

[VibeGuy]

1) CBP agents have discretion in assessing the Violations.

 

2) When Violations of PVSA are assessed, there's not a Customs agent at the end of the pier with a bag waiting to be filled with money. It happens months later and the fines, if assessed, are automatically put through a mitigation process. Famously, after the issues with the port in New Orleans being closed forcing CCL to divert to Mobile and then return to New Orleans the next week, CCL was assessed 2.8 million in fines for PVSA violations. 1.4 million was eliminated in mitigation, and 1.4 million in litigation. Other than that, cruise lines abide by PVSA in the design and marketing of itineraries and otherwise recognize that life happens.

 

3) According to the conversations I had with CBP Entry Chiefs, my FOIA requests to each of the affected ports of entry (which are, admittedly, still pending) and my conversation with the chief of the enforcement division in DC, we're not able to come up with a single episode of a party with a route deviation triggering a fine to the line for the last five years. Yet, I know on every sailing to AK I've been on, there's been at least a couple of people meeting us at the dock.

 

Now, it is true that lines have collected "fines" from passengers upon embarkation after a trip disruption. Famously, HAL did, and in Miller v. HAL, was forced to refund every single dime to members of the affected class, as they NEVER paid a dime of those fines to the US government.

 

Jurisdictional issues on the high seas are an area that even experience admiralty lawyers argue about, but in general, you will be turned over to authorities at the next port for prosecution. When Princess used Liberia as their flag of convenience, there weren't a bunch of people being remanded to Monrovia for smoking weed on the aft of the Lido deck. ;0)

[O2B@Cagain]

People who live on St Thomas do this fairly frequently. They either embark when St Thomas is the first stop or disembark when it is the last. You do have to get approval from Princess. Customs and Immigration want to know where the heck you are.