Holland America declines NZ offshore request-advice?

[B&Dcruise]

My husband and I plan a 21 day Aust/New Zealand Cruise in November 2017. I really want to take the scenic TranzAlpine train trip and get to enjoy the views of the mountains but this is not offered as a shore excursion.. We figured out a way to get off the ship in Christchurch, take the train trip to Greymouth, rent a car and drive to Picton where we would meet up with the ship the following day- with plenty of time to spare.

 

However when we wrote to Holland America for a disembarkation request they responded that the request <cannot be approved as it is an un-proclaimed port with no customs available.>

 

I don't understand what that means or how this is any different, as regards customs, than taking a shore excursion. Can anyone help? Is there a way around this?

 

Thanks a bunch-

Derri

[VMax1700]

I'm not really experienced in this, but reading your post I think there could be a misunderstanding with the terminology you use.

 

If you ask to disembark, then customs etc must be present. You do not want disembark, but to want permission to rejoin the ship in the next port. I don't know the precise term for this, but I understand it happens ok.

 

I think you need to try again but without asking to disembark.

[erewhon]

Unfortunately, am not sure that what you plan is possible, the ship will anchor in Akaroa Harbour, so it's a journey ashore by tender, then a drive to Christchurch to the Railway Station, where the train departs at 8.15 am.

The drive over the hills to Christchurch will take at least one and a quarter hours. A winding road.

Are you used to driving on the left?

 

We were on Maasdam in November, were able to enter the harbour, but the wind became too strong to tender ashore, and Maasdam had to depart, we were eating breakfast while sailing out of the harbour.

 

Would you have time to do the TranzAlpine train trip after the cruise? The train journey is worth doing if you can. The day we did the train trip we had to be at the station at 8 am.

[Sir PMP]

Yes, you don't disembark, because that involves paperwork etc. just tell the front desk that you're leaving for 2 days and will be back in Picton, so they won't miss you when its all aboard, don't forget your room key and tell your cabin stewards the same so they won't ring the alarm bell.

[erewhon]

Which ship are you sailing on?

 

There is a travel calculator available at

https://aa.co.nz

[erewhon]

You could leave the ship at Port Chalmers, rent a car from one of the Dunedin car rental companies and drive to Christchurch, return rental car to the Christchurch branch of which company you choose, stay overnight then get a taxi to the train.

 

Will be interested to know what you decide.

[binkey36]

You could leave the ship at Port Chalmers, rent a car from one of the Dunedin car rental companies and drive to Christchurch, return rental car to the Christchurch branch of which company you choose, stay overnight then get a taxi to the train.

 

Will be interested to know what you decide.

 

Our Oz/NZ cruise cancelled our stops in Port chalmers and Dunedin, due to an incoming severe storm. Just be aware, if you are able to make your alternative arrangements that weather can/will change everything. We missed our last two stops in NZ and headed directly to Oz. We didn't know the last two stops were cancelled until we came back to the ship in Picton (delightful little town to walk around...by the way!).

[Wehwalt]

As has been pointed out, the OP did not actually submit a disembarkation request. Is it certain that HAL actually misunderstood?

[donaldsc]

As has been pointed out, the OP did not actually submit a disembarkation request. Is it certain that HAL actually misunderstood?

 

The OP's post specifically used the word "disembarkation".

 

DON

[florisdekort]

Staying off the ship overnight and rejoining in the next port was no issue for me on Celebrity. I didn't ask for permission beforehand as shoreside never seems to understand these types of requests (on any line) but dealt directly with the Immigration Officer on the ship immediately after boarding. The only thing to be aware of, as someone else pointed out, is that the ship might miss the port you plan to rejoin in case of inclement weather. So always have a plan B to get to the port thereafter.

 

Floris

 

 

 

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[The-Inside-Cabin]

Ask for a deviation - not disembarkation. Deviation is the term used when planning an overland when you will rejoin later.

 

 

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[chengkp75]

Regardless of whether you call it disembarkation or deviation, I believe the answer is in HAL's response. When you receive an approval for a deviation, the ship must prepare different manifests for each port where you get off and get back on, since the passenger counts will change between arrival and departure. Therefore, whether you actually have an interview with Immigration when you get off for your deviation, an Immigration officer will have approved the new manifests and cleared you to enter the country on a different basis than a temporary cruise visit, based on the information provided on the manifest or from your passport. If the port you intend to get off in is in fact a tender port, then very likely there will not be an Immigration officer there to clear the ship, but in fact the ship will electronically submit the passenger manifest to the closest Immigration office (Christchurch), for automatic clearance. Hence there would be no officer available to check you off the ship.

[B&Dcruise]

Chiming in for my wife, who began this thread, we asked HAL if this decision was from them or from the government of New Zealand. HAL responded, "The governing authority of this denied early disembarkation is the New Zealand Customs and Immigrations," and they provided us a link.

 

So we wrote to New Zealand Customs requesting clarification. NZ responded,

"This is a situation New Zealand Customs (Customs) would refer back to Holland America because it is a delicate situation. Holland America is correct in that the small seaside town of Akaroa is not a Customs port and therefore there is no usual Customs presence there. The advice that Customs provides to the cruise companies in respect to passengers wishing to disembark at ports such as Akaroa is that the passengers can disembark, but because there is no usual Customs presence there, the cost of providing a Customs officer and Ministry for Primary Industries officer to Akaroa must be covered by the cruise company. Additionally, the responsibility of having all passengers return to the ship after a day ashore in a port such as Akaroa is the responsibility of the cruise company. So with that in mind, it is the cruise company’s decision whether or not they will allow disembarkation at a small port such as Akaroa."

 

NZ also said Customs has a presence in Dunedin and Wellington, in case we want to officially disembark for the night there. I must say, I was very pleased with the prompt, full and helpful explanation from the NZ government. Now, just jumping ship and asking forgiveness later--as someone hinted--might work. But we are not inclined to test the boundaries.

 

In the end, we decided that this cruise would not offer enough bang (the kind of scenery and experiences we want) for the buck ($$). We canceled the booking and instead reserved a HAL cruise to Norway.

[kazu]

t

Chiming in for my wife, who began this thread, we asked HAL if this decision was from them or from the government of New Zealand. HAL responded, "The governing authority of this denied early disembarkation is the New Zealand Customs and Immigrations," and they provided us a link.

 

So we wrote to New Zealand Customs requesting clarification. NZ responded,

"This is a situation New Zealand Customs (Customs) would refer back to Holland America because it is a delicate situation. Holland America is correct in that the small seaside town of Akaroa is not a Customs port and therefore there is no usual Customs presence there. The advice that Customs provides to the cruise companies in respect to passengers wishing to disembark at ports such as Akaroa is that the passengers can disembark, but because there is no usual Customs presence there, the cost of providing a Customs officer and Ministry for Primary Industries officer to Akaroa must be covered by the cruise company. Additionally, the responsibility of having all passengers return to the ship after a day ashore in a port such as Akaroa is the responsibility of the cruise company. So with that in mind, it is the cruise company’s decision whether or not they will allow disembarkation at a small port such as Akaroa."

 

NZ also said Customs has a presence in Dunedin and Wellington, in case we want to officially disembark for the night there. I must say, I was very pleased with the prompt, full and helpful explanation from the NZ government. Now, just jumping ship and asking forgiveness later--as someone hinted--might work. But we are not inclined to test the boundaries.

 

In the end, we decided that this cruise would not offer enough bang (the kind of scenery and experiences we want) for the buck ($$). We canceled the booking and instead reserved a HAL cruise to Norway.

 

thanks very much for the update. It will help others.

 

enjoy Norway :)

[sharpsrus]

We have received a letter from HAL authorizing us to Disembark in Wellington and re join the Ship in Wellington. HAL told us we needed to clear customs in Wellington, which might be your problem, as you indicated customs is not available.

[Tampa Girl]

We have received a letter from HAL authorizing us to Disembark in Wellington and re join the Ship in Wellington. HAL told us we needed to clear customs in Wellington, which might be your problem, as you indicated customs is not available.

 

 

You are going to both disembark and re-embark in Wellington?

[sharpsrus]

my mistake getting off in Wellington, joining the ship 3 days later in Auckland. Sorry for the mistake.

[Hlitner]

We are very much in the OP's camp on doing that train ride. In fact, 3 years ago we did our 2nd Australia/NZ cruise and, after disembarking in Auckland (at the end of the cruise) flew back to South Island (Christ Church) in order to spend 2 weeks driving around that rather rural island (we loved every day). We started our self-drive trip by taking the Transalpine train over to Greymouth where we picked up our rental car and drove south to Queenstown (our favorite town in all of NZ).

 

My message to the OP is this. On our 2 cruises to NZ, we have had ports canceled (both times) due to weather related issues. In fact, on the last cruise (HAL) we had to cancel 2 ports and totally avoid the West side of South Island due to a major storm with very bad sea/wind conditions. So, even if you can get permission to leave the ship and later rejoin, there is a more then distant possibility that your ship might have to cancel one or both of the ports you would need to complete your plans.

 

South Island is an amazing place (so is North Island...but we love the natural beauty of South Island). Rather then try to squeeze a train ride into a cruise itinerary, we strongly recommend spending more time in NZ and simply doing South Island on your own (or via a land tour). The reality is that the geography of South Island makes it a less then ideal place for cruises. Many of the island's highlights cannot be accessed via a cruise because of the distance from the ports. Even the Fiords (and we had to miss this on one of our two cruises due to weather) are best seen on small boat tours which can only be accessed via a driving trip or land tour. We have cruised on Doubtful Sound (and the Fiords) on both a cruise ship and on a small boat tour (when we did our driving trip). There is simply no comparison. The large cruise ships can get into a few parts of the Fiords, but are very limited because of their size and draft. The smaller tour boats can get you right up to waterfalls (on our boat tour you could actually have been drenched by waterfalls by simply standing on the bow (most of us chose to stay inside). On that small boat we saw all kinds of interesting wildlife which could not be possibly seen from a cruise ship more then a mile away from the shoreline. With a car we could spend a few days in Queenland (unbelievable views/setting) drive to the Fiord tours, see Mt Cook, drive right up to 2 Glaciers (where we could do some easy hiking), etc. We enjoyed NZ on our 2 cruises....but totally fell in love with NZ on our two extensive driving tours (one on North Island and the other on South Island).

 

Hank

[2DesertGuys]

You need to check with the NZ consulate. I think if you're not back on board within 24 hrs, you've entered the country illegally and they don't have the proper officials to document your arrival at that port so you could be in for some trouble. Not to mention the stress you'll cause the crew.