Japanese PVSA?

[vandalayceo]

Presently on 2nd leg of B2B2B 27 day Diamond Japanese cruise.each leg 9 days and quite port intensive. On all 3 segments all ports, but one, are Japanese.

1st leg included Busan South Korea, this leg Korsakov, Russia (today), and last leg will have Jeju Isalnd, South Korea.

Each time we leave a Japanese port for a foreign port the Japanese regulations require a full, individual "checkout" with a Japanese immigration official.

This is done in Club Fusion and is usually quite efficient.

The day after the foreign port everyone, whether going ashore or not, must fill out new forms and go through a reentry procedure on shore.

Again, while reasonably efficient, does take a lot of time.

In addition the Russian authorities require paperwork, the turning in of passports the night before, and inspection of documents by Russian officials as you board the tenders.

The only reason I can think of to include each of these "token" foreign ports requiring so much additional regulatory effort is that Japan may have something equivalent to the US PVSA.

Can anyone confirm this, or provide any other rationale for these itineraries?

Thanks

[Pam in CA]

No, this doesn't sound anything like the PVSA but more like Immigration when going from one country to another. Not all countries board officials ahead of time to inspect/stamp passports without the passengers having to be present. Israel, for instance, not only requires passengers show up but each passenger is interviewed and questioned. This takes hours and hours which is one reason why usually only the smaller ships go to Israel.

 

Years ago, before the Schengen Agreement in Europe, you went through one country's Immigration as you entered and again as you left. Going from France to Italy, for instance, you went through two checkpoints/Immigration and Customs.

[chengkp75]

Actually, Japan does have cabotage laws nearly identical to the Jones Act and PVSA, that limits coastal carriage of passengers and goods to Japanese flagged ships. Many countries do, at least 48 according to MARAD, including countries with tiny coastlines like Malta, Israel, and Cypres. This is why I get bothered when people push to repeal these laws in the US. Canada and Mexico have cabotage laws. Cabotage even applies to airlines, which is why Air Canada cannot fly you directly between two US cities.

 

OP, you are correct in thinking this is why there are the foreign ports included in your cruises.

Edited October 1, 2014 by chengkp75

[Mary Ellen]

Not all countries board officials ahead of time to inspect/stamp passports without the passengers having to be present.

From our experiences cruising Japan, they require all passengers to have a 'face to face' meeting with the Immigration officials when exiting the country. In one port we missed our post-sailaway scenic cruising because some passengers didn't feel that they needed to report to the officials like the rest of us. In that port we had to go ashore to meet with the officials. The 'special' ones that had to be tracked down were escorted off the ship by ship's officers in full view of those of us on deck for sailaway. Kind of the opposite of pier runners - only they weren't in a hurry, just taking their own sweet time. :rolleyes:

 

Japan also requires the ship to 'zero out' on turnaround day. Just like in FLL, all passengers doing a b2b must be off the ship before boarding of new passengers is allowed.

 

Not at all surprised at chengkp75's information that Japan's cabotage laws are almost identical to those in the US.

Edited October 1, 2014 by Mary Ellen

[vandalayceo]

Actually, Japan does have cabotage laws nearly identical to the Jones Act and PVSA, that limits coastal carriage of passengers and goods to Japanese flagged ships. Many countries do, at least 48 according to MARAD, including countries with tiny coastlines like Malta, Israel, and Cypres. This is why I get bothered when people push to repeal these laws in the US. Canada and Mexico have cabotage laws. Cabotage even applies to airlines, which is why Air Canada cannot fly you directly between two US cities.

 

OP, you are correct in thinking this is why there are the foreign ports included in your cruises.

 

The 2nd Typhoon, Vongphong has resulted in a number of changes to the itinerary of the last of the 3 Japanese cruises including no foreign port stop in order to avoid the typhoon.

 

Can anyone knowledgeable in Cabotage laws tell me if Princess will be fined for this violation, or is it likely they will get a dispensation?

 

Thanks

[chengkp75]

The 2nd Typhoon, Vongphong has resulted in a number of changes to the itinerary of the last of the 3 Japanese cruises including no foreign port stop in order to avoid the typhoon.

 

Can anyone knowledgeable in Cabotage laws tell me if Princess will be fined for this violation, or is it likely they will get a dispensation?

 

Thanks

 

Each country's cabotage laws are different, but I would suspect that the line will be fined. They will swallow it as a cost of doing business at sea. Most likely the only dispensation they will be given is not being further fined or banned from embarking passengers in Japan for the repeated violations of the cabotage laws.

[hawkeyetlse]

Most likely the only dispensation they will be given is not being further fined or banned from embarking passengers in Japan for the repeated violations of the cabotage laws

Have there been repeated violations? I thought it was only the current cruise which is now headed back to Yokohama, after having to skip Busan on its revised itinerary. Edited October 13, 2014 by hawkeyetlse

[chengkp75]

Have there been repeated violations? I thought it was only the current cruise which is now headed back to Yokohama, after having to skip Busan on its revised itinerary.

 

Just going by what the OP stated, that there were 3 cruises impacted. Maybe I misunderstood how much the cruises were impacted.

[caribill]

Each country's cabotage laws are different, but I would suspect that the line will be fined. They will swallow it as a cost of doing business at sea. Most likely the only dispensation they will be given is not being further fined or banned from embarking passengers in Japan for the repeated violations of the cabotage laws.

 

The USA waives fines when weather prevents a ship from stopping at a near foreign port. I suspect Japan would do the same.