We missed our flight and Princess would not let us join at a later port.

[PunkiC]

So how sad is that. Due to circumstances beyond our control, we missed out flight to LAX and missed our cruise to Hawaii. Alaska Air was able to accommodate us with a flight to join the ship in Honolulu, but Princess says we can't join because of the Passenger Services Act.

 

What? The ship stops in Ensenada on the way back and that is definitely a distant port from Honolulu. I even offered to disembark in Ensenada, but they say no dice. This sounds really fishy t o me.

 

Thoughts?

[Essiesmom]

Joining in Honolulu and sailing back to LAX would be transporting you between two different US ports without a DISTANT foreign port between. Ensenada may seem to be distant from Honolulu, but the PVSA defines a distant port as on another continent, so you would have to stop in South America or the ABC islands (which is what full transits of the Panama Canal do). This is covered in depth frequently here on CC. EM

[rdsqrl]

Thought #1: Per the PVSA, if you sail between one US city (say, Honolulu) and another (LA), then the foreign-flagged cruise ship must stop in a distant foreign port. No ports on the left coast of Mexico or Canada qualify as a distant foreign ports from LA; the ship would have to go to, I believe, the Fanning Islands. Or somewhere in South America.

 

It is only on roundtrips out of/back to the same port (LA) that the cruise line may substitute a stop at a near foreign port, like Ensenada.

 

Thought #2: Don't fly in the day of the cruise. Too much can go wrong.

 

Sorry you missed your cruise; hope you had insurance, so you can schedule a replacement fairly soon.

[PunkiC]

In addition to offering to disembark in Ensenada, I have also offered to embark in Ensenada. Surely that can't breach any PSA rules.

 

Moreover, we offered to pay whatever penalties might ensue.

[TheBestIsYetToCome]

I'm so very sorry you are missing your cruise! I can't even imagine the disappointment. :(

[Loonbeam]

To emphasize, the key is DIFFERENT domestic ports. A normal LAX to LAX run is closed loop, but you can't start along the way. Disembarking in Ensenada might have worked, but Princess probably doesn't have any kind of clearance operation planned for there.

[Princess Patches]

Prior posters are correct. Ensenada is a near foreign port and does not qualify. You could have joined the ship in Ensenada but since it is the last stop of the cruise it would not have been worth it. My family just sailed on the Golden Thanksgiving cruise to Hawaii and everyone flew in one or two days early because we knew if a flight was missed or delayed there was no joining the ship at a later date. You learned the hard way. I hope you got the insurance and can reschedule. It is a terrific cruise.

[PunkiC]

I am still willing to join the ship in Ensenada and can't see any reason why that wouldn't work. Does anyone else?

[Essiesmom]

Why would you want to join the ship after 4pm in Ensenada and get off the next morning in LAX? EM

[Princess Patches]

I am still willing to join the ship in Ensenada and can't see any reason why that wouldn't work. Does anyone else?

 

No, that would comply with the rules, but it would then just be a single day cruise. It hardly seems worth it to me. That is a lot of hassle for a one day cruise.

[caribill]

I am still willing to join the ship in Ensenada and can't see any reason why that wouldn't work. Does anyone else?

 

Unless I do not understand the itinerary, if you joined the ship in Ensenada, you would be disembarking the next day in L.A. at the end of the cruise.

 

Is that what you are asking about?

 

On the other hand, embarking in Hawaii and disembarking in Ensenada would be legal if Princess would allow it. If you have a travel agent for this trip, I would have the TA work his/her way up the chain of command at Princess to get them to allow this. If you have booked directly with Princess, try working up the chain of command yourself.

 

You do have several days before the ship reaches Hilo to try to get this resolved.

 

Good luck.

[Pam in CA]

I agree with Bill. You could still board in HI and disembark in Ensenada. You could not disembark in LA because that would be a violation of the PVSA. I'd call my TA in the morning and get them working on approval for this.

 

Hope it works out.

[JLC@SD]

So how sad is that. Due to circumstances beyond our control, we missed out flight to LAX and missed our cruise to Hawaii. Alaska Air was able to accommodate us with a flight to join the ship in Honolulu, but Princess says we can't join because of the Passenger Services Act.

 

What? The ship stops in Ensenada on the way back and that is definitely a distant port from Honolulu. I even offered to disembark in Ensenada, but they say no dice. This sounds really fishy t o me.

 

Thoughts?

 

In 2003 we cruised from San Diego to Hawaii, on a 10 day cruise. They put our luggage aboard in SD and drove us on buses (3,000 of us) to board in Ensenada. Our cruise was from Ensenada to Honolulu with other stops in Hawaii.

 

You should be able to leave from Hawaii and get off in Ensenada.

[Ethel5]

In 2003 we cruised from San Diego to Hawaii, on a 10 day cruise. They put our luggage aboard in SD and drove us on buses (3,000 of us) to board in Ensenada. Our cruise was from Ensenada to Honolulu with other stops in Hawaii.

 

You should be able to leave from Hawaii and get off in Ensenada.

 

Maybe Princess doesn't have permission to disembark passengers in Ensenada.

I do hope the OP has insurance so he can plan another vacation. This really isn't the fault of Princess.

[Cruisin' Chick]

On our Dec. 2010 cruise on the Golden, about 200 Brits were flying out of Heathrow during a week of really bad snowy weather there and arriving the day of the cruise in LA, which was having a record number of days in a row of rain, including the embarkation day. The captain even held the ship for 4-1/2 hours, but the Brits didn't make the cruise. We were speculating about whether they could join the ship in Hilo,the first port, but apparently that was nixed as they never showed up there, either.

 

On the other hand, every time we met one of their countrymen, I would ask if they were in that group and they said they had made other arrangements so they could get to the states at least a few days ahead of time (someone told us they managed to get to Paris and fly out from there).

 

I truly believe that the only time someone shouldn't get to their embarkation city at least a day ahead is when they have a quick (less than a few hours) drive to the port, which fits us, if going from San Pedro.

[Shogun]

HiPunkiC

 

Sorry this has happened to you, chatting to customer services director US likes to have passenger lists well in advance then no changes in last 24 hrs, or if there is then a mountain of admin to complete,

 

heard storries of ships pulling into an alternative port just to find out that a number of passengers do not have the correct paperwork to get off the ship,

 

even met crew that have been unable to leave the ship while in port,

 

do not think any of us understand the fine points of all this rules.

 

In UK some ports are not allowed to board passengers, just the rules.

 

yours Shogun

[Coral]

I am guessing they don't have operations ready to embark or disembark people in Ensenada as Customer Services will be getting ready to disembark individuals in LA. Or maybe immigrations/customs would not be available to do this to Ensenada, thus the denial.

 

Maybe next time, fly in the day before the cruise. Hope you have insurance to cover this.

[1025cruise]

Sorry to hear, but unfortunately, this is a case where Princess cannot allow you to join up. FYI, its the same on most Alaskan itineraries for the same reason.

[Coral]

 

Moreover, we offered to pay whatever penalties might ensue.

 

From what I understand, you can not knowingly break the rules (join the ship in Hawaii) and pay the penalties. The cruise line is not allowed to let you do this.

[sunsetbeachgal]

So sorry...assume you were flying in the same day as departure? I'm such a nervous Nelly about missing a departure even when driving we won't stay overnight prior more than two hours away from departure port...and we never never never fly in same day...

[luvtheships]

So how sad is that. Due to circumstances beyond our control, we missed out flight to LAX and missed our cruise to Hawaii. Alaska Air was able to accommodate us with a flight to join the ship in Honolulu, but Princess says we can't join because of the Passenger Services Act.

 

What? The ship stops in Ensenada on the way back and that is definitely a distant port from Honolulu. I even offered to disembark in Ensenada, but they say no dice. This sounds really fishy t o me.

 

Thoughts?

my thought?

 

Well, I hope you have insurance so that you get the cruise fare back...

 

but seriously....I hope you are staying in Hawaii and just turning this into a land vacation!:)

[Gunner22aa]

I truly hope the OP has insurance and the cruise will be covered. Another vote for always flying in a day prior to the cruise. Not sure of the exact reason for the missed flight but so many things can go wrong with flying these days I just don't trust the system enough not to go at least a day before. We once had a flight cancelled at the gate when the airline decided there wern't enough passangers booked on it and that we could be accomodated on a flight 4 hours later. Thankfully it was direct and no connections were required. Be it weather, mechanical problems or the whim of the carrier we are at their mercy. Hope it all works out in the end.

[Cruise Junky]

So how sad is that. Due to circumstances beyond our control, we missed out flight to LAX and missed our cruise to Hawaii. Alaska Air was able to accommodate us with a flight to join the ship in Honolulu, but Princess says we can't join because of the Passenger Services Act.

 

What? The ship stops in Ensenada on the way back and that is definitely a distant port from Honolulu. I even offered to disembark in Ensenada, but they say no dice. This sounds really fishy t o me.

 

Thoughts?

 

Not fishy at all. As everyone has stated, it's the law and they probably don't have the facilities, people in Ensenada to facilitate your request.

 

I'd make lemonade and find a condo for a week or so and fly there. Pretty cheap from Seattle or Bellingham. VRBO 103015 is open for a week, we love that condo. Better than staying home.

[Loonbeam]

Did a little checking. For you to get off in Ensenada, there are certain protocols Princess has to conduct when passengers are disembarking for non-emergency reasons. The big one is they need to have Mexican customs inspectors scheduled to be there that handle permanent departures, not just day trips. There is also a different and higher porting cost when passengers are disembarked in this manner, though I have no idea how much.

 

Add in the paperwork and so forth and its not really practical for them to do that for one passenger group, especially when it is not the lines fault they missed the ship. I suspect they would have if it had been their issue.

 

I'm trying hard not to climb on the 'you should have flown in early' bandwagon, because I know that's not always an option, but in this case the fact that you arrived same day has to be figured in to the level of effort Princess should expend to resolve the issue. By flying in same day, you did assume some risk of missing the ship, which in my mind does lower the expectations for what Princess should do to accommodate.

[Miss JAD]

First - I just want to say I feel so bad to PunkiC for missing their cruise. We all work so hard for our holidays.

 

Second - So we are on a two week B2B Carribean Cruise from Ft. Lauderdale. Flying in from Edmonton AB Canada the day before the cruise leaves. If our flight should get cancelled due to weather would we be allowed to catch up with the ship at one of the ports?

 

Thanks for your help.