Disembarking mid cruise?

[Tutankhamen]

Wondering if Princess would allow us to check out at our last port of Cozumel.

 

Anyone have any experience with this?

[paul929207]

You will need to get approval from Princess and Mexico. I think Princess handles the Mexican approvals. You would not get any discount for leaving early.

[Tutankhamen]

You will need to get approval from Princess and Mexico. I think Princess handles the Mexican approvals. You would not get any discount for leaving early.

 

 

Thanks. I would not expect a discount, and I will be paying tips for the full cruise.

[caribill]

It also depends if Mexican immigration personnel are available.

[1025cruise]

You can ask, but don't be surprised if they tell you no. You disembarking in Cozumel makes the cruise no longer a "closed loop", so there would be a bit more mess for the remaining departing passengers back at the regular port with immigration.

[BEFdoc]

You can ask, but don't be surprised if they tell you no. You disembarking in Cozumel makes the cruise no longer a "closed loop", so there would be a bit more mess for the remaining departing passengers back at the regular port with immigration.

 

Ok, here is the back story and you can decide if you want to take this option. I know a couple (they shall remain nameless) who work on an Caribbean island. On occasion, the inside fares for the cruise lines are cheaper than the fees for flying. They have been denied early disembarkation in the past, so they feign illness or family emergency and have never been denied for that reason. Is this a "dodge" I would feel comfortable with, no. Does it work, yes. I don't think the island is Mexico territory so this might change things. Deserves some research.

[M4dC0w]

Lying to border officials is a detainable offense in ALL countries

Edited March 3, 2015 by M4dC0w

[Cabunit]

Call Princess and ask for a Route Sector Change (I think that's what it's called). They collect your info and send it to a department that will determine if it can be done or not and then get back with you.

 

Right off I think this should be OK - you would be going from a US port to a foreign port. But they know the rules better than any of us.

 

After boarding speak to the passenger services folks to get the info on when and where you should report. Usually an official of the country will meet with you and a ship's officer on-board early in the morning before the ship is cleared for the port.

 

In our experience with this in Mexico there was also a need to check in with an immigration officer ashore, which was a problem because they weren't there. So one should be ready for delays and be really flexible.

[KruzeKrazy!]

We are disembarking a port early on our upcoming French Polynesia cruise. There is a request form with Princess and, if approved, they then provide an approved route deviation form.

 

It was approved for us in just a couple of days - much quicker than we expected. But as others have said with our cruise being all within French Polynesia it may have made things easier.

 

And, as stated previously, no discount on the cruise, etc.

 

And there is always the risk the ship needs to alter the itinerary and never makes it to the desired early disembarkation port so you'll want to consider contingency plans.

[caribill]

You can ask, but don't be surprised if they tell you no. You disembarking in Cozumel makes the cruise no longer a "closed loop", so there would be a bit more mess for the remaining departing passengers back at the regular port with immigration.

 

The closed loop rule only applies if disembarking in a different USA port.

[fishywood]

You can ask, but don't be surprised if they tell you no. You disembarking in Cozumel makes the cruise no longer a "closed loop", so there would be a bit more mess for the remaining departing passengers back at the regular port with immigration.

 

The closed loop rule only applies if disembarking in a different USA port.

 

True there would be no PVSA violation. What 1025cruise is referring to is ICE taking issue with the passenger manifest changing in the middle of a closed-loop cruise, whether or not occurring at a US or foreign port. When you see reports of one ship at Port Everglades still having passengers waiting in line for Customs at 1 PM or later on a turnaround day when no other ships had any such delays, the reason often is the Customs agents' orders to "work to rule" because of an addition or deletion in the passenger manifest (when the ship did not report them as medically or criminally disembarked).

Edited March 3, 2015 by fishywood

[BEFdoc]

Lying to border officials is a detainable offense in ALL countries

 

The "lie" is the the cruise officials. I did not say anything about "lying" to government officials.

[Runbarb55]

We once left a cruise early in Lima, Peru instead of sailing to Chile. 6 days later we got back on the same ship for a cruise from Chile to Rio. Basically a b2b with a break in the middle.

[brucedodge]

Don't know about Mexico, but we've left a Princess ship before the final port in Europe on a transatlantic from the US, and know of others who have done the same.

 

I think the key is that it takes advance planning and approval by Princess, which we had done.

 

Similar to a previous poster, we've left the ship at one port in Israel, and rejoined it at another. That was on Celebrity, and again with advance planning and approval.

 

Bruce

[Tutankhamen]

Thank you everyone for the info.

 

My travel agent is submitting the request form on our behalf. Once Princess receives an "early disembarkation request", it takes about a week for them to approve or deny the request.

 

Thanks again.

[partybarbie]

I've seen quite a few Canadian citizens do this on the California Coastal cruises. They board the ship in LA and get off the last evening in Victoria, instead of the following day in Vancouver. Good luck with your request.

[cab519]

Just did this last fall - 10 day FLL-FLL Panama Canal cruise. Got off the afternoon of day 8 in Jamaica, and went to an all-inclusive for a week, and flew back from Montego Bay.

Had to get permission from Princess first (very quick), double checked when got on the ship they had us disembarking in Jamaica (itinerary showed this), then go to the customs/immigration port clearing session on the day after we docked (in wedding chapel, an interesting process to see "clearance"), where Jamaican immigration was, and get our paperwork processed and stamped. Several other passengers were getting off, plus some crew and entertainers. We had all day to get off, just had to be off before the ship departed. Princess helped us take our luggage off, and the gangway had a list of permanently disembarking passengers and cross us off.

Handed the paperwork to the customs person on the dock, and off to the all-inclusive.

In short, as long as it does not violate any cabotage (sp?) laws (PVSA, etc.) , and you get permission from Princess (who gets permission from the country I assume), have the right visas/passports, then all should be good.

After we got permission (well ahead of leaving!), it showed on our cruise personalizer as disembark in Jamaica, and only a 8 day cruise (autotips were only for 8 days).

Edited March 4, 2015 by cab519