Passenger Vessel Services Act - Missed NY Port and Embark at Orlando

[arthurkma]

Will Passenger Vessel Services Act still apply if I miss the embarkation at the Manhattan Port, NY and fly to Orlando, FL 2 days later and catch up? 

Any thoughts?

Thank you.

[Colo Cruiser]

Orlando??

[Joken35]

We missed our embarkment in LeHarve France this past August .We were able to embark the next day inSouth Hampton England. We had a Family death and informed Princess of our situation . They were very accommodating. They actually held the ship for 45 minutes due to a problem with a flight and traffic. WE were in contact with them every step of the way. 

 

[arthurkma]

3 minutes ago, Joken35 said:

We missed our embarkment in LeHarve France this past August .We were able to embark the next day inSouth Hampton England. We had a Family death and informed Princess of our situation . They were very accommodating. They actually held the ship for 45 minutes due to a problem with a flight and traffic. WE were in contact with them every step of the way. 

 

 

Thanks for your reply. I hope you feel better now. 

I know for sure there will be no problem for passengers board a cruise ship from a foreign country. However, in my case, due to my situation (changes caused by school), I have to fly back from NY to Los Angeles after having my family embark first, then I will fly to Orlando two days later to catch up. So, I don't know if the Passenger Vessel Services Act would still apply to me.

 

[thinfool]

1 minute ago, arthurkma said:

 

Thanks for your reply. I hope you feel better now. 

I know for sure there will be no problem for passengers board a cruise ship from a foreign country. However, in my case, due to my situation (changes caused by school), I have to fly back from NY to Los Angeles after having my family embark first, then I will fly to Orlando two days later to catch up. So, I don't know if the Passenger Vessel Services Act would still apply to me.

 

If your family is embarking for a 'closed loop' cruise to the Caribbean....where the ship returns to New York for disembarkation...then the PVSA will not allow you to board at Cape Canaveral unless the ship visits one or more of the ABC islands or Cartagena, Colombia.

 In addition, cruiselines no longer allow "downline" boarding for many, many itineraries even if the PVSA is not involved.  This because CBP requires that new passenger manifests be submitted which involves additional costs and manpower for the Cruise Line.

Having said that, there are reports that Royal Caribbean is now allowing this downline boarding if it is legal and if the passenger will pay an additional $100. to cover the costs of the boarding.

 

Finally, a more accurate answer will result if you will tell us the itinerary, ship, cruise line that is involved.

[waltd]

I'm assuming the OP is not on a Princess cruise?   If so didn't know Princess stopped in Orlando.

[RDC1]

40 minutes ago, arthurkma said:

 

Thanks for your reply. I hope you feel better now. 

I know for sure there will be no problem for passengers board a cruise ship from a foreign country. However, in my case, due to my situation (changes caused by school), I have to fly back from NY to Los Angeles after having my family embark first, then I will fly to Orlando two days later to catch up. So, I don't know if the Passenger Vessel Services Act would still apply to me.

 

If the ship is originally departing from one US port with the intent of returning to the same port, than you cannot board from a different US port without violating the PVSA.  You would instead have to board at the first foreign port.

 

The only exception would be is if one of the stops on the cruise is a far distant port (Cartegena, Columbia for example)

[beg3yrs]

1 hour ago, Joken35 said:

We missed our embarkment in LeHarve France this past August .We were able to embark the next day inSouth Hampton England. We had a Family death and informed Princess of our situation . They were very accommodating. They actually held the ship for 45 minutes due to a problem with a flight and traffic. WE were in contact with them every step of the way. 

 

This is completely irrelevant to the PVSA which has to do with non-US flagged ships and aircraft going between US destinations.

[arthurkma]

1 hour ago, thinfool said:

If your family is embarking for a 'closed loop' cruise to the Caribbean....where the ship returns to New York for disembarkation...then the PVSA will not allow you to board at Cape Canaveral unless the ship visits one or more of the ABC islands or Cartagena, Colombia.

 In addition, cruiselines no longer allow "downline" boarding for many, many itineraries even if the PVSA is not involved.  This because CBP requires that new passenger manifests be submitted which involves additional costs and manpower for the Cruise Line.

Having said that, there are reports that Royal Caribbean is now allowing this downline boarding if it is legal and if the passenger will pay an additional $100. to cover the costs of the boarding.

 

Finally, a more accurate answer will result if you will tell us the itinerary, ship, cruise line that is involved.

 

Thanks.  Here is the itinerary: (NCL Escape)
We will be departing from New York then to 
Orlando & Beaches (Port Canaveral),  Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas, Ocho Rios, Jamaica   George Town, Grand Cayman,  Harvest Caye, Belize, Costa Maya, Mexico, Cozumel, Mexico, New York, New York.

[HappyCruiserettu]

3 minutes ago, arthurkma said:

 

Thanks.  Here is the itinerary: (NCL Escape)
We will be departing from New York then to 
Orlando & Beaches (Port Canaveral),  Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas, Ocho Rios, Jamaica   George Town, Grand Cayman,  Harvest Caye, Belize, Costa Maya, Mexico, Cozumel, Mexico, New York, New York.

Since Port Canaveral seems to be in violation, you should be able to catch up and board at the first convenient foreign port.

[Hlitner]

25 minutes ago, HappyCruiserettu said:

Since Port Canaveral seems to be in violation, you should be able to catch up and board at the first convenient foreign port.

The OP should be aware that this would require a valid Passport Book.  Many passengers on Closed Loop cruises do not have Passport Books and this is one reason we always suggest that all cruisers have a valid Passport.

 

Hank

[arthurkma]

29 minutes ago, HappyCruiserettu said:

Since Port Canaveral seems to be in violation, you should be able to catch up and board at the first convenient foreign port.

 

So, I cannot catch up with my family at Orlando but in the Bahamas even if I am willing to pay for the fine?  

[arthurkma]

4 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

The OP should be aware that this would require a valid Passport Book.  Many passengers on Closed Loop cruises do not have Passport Books and this is one reason we always suggest that all cruisers have a valid Passport.

 

Hank

 

We all have our valid passports. Good call!  Almost forget! 

[Hlitner]

2 minutes ago, arthurkma said:

 

We all have our valid passports. Good call!  Almost forget! 

Thanks for your service :).  We suspect many from the San Diego area would not even think about Passport Books and figure a Passport Card is adequate.  Some are not aware that the Card is worthless for International air travel.

 

Hank

[arthurkma]

7 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

Thanks for your service :).  We suspect many from the San Diego area would not even think about Passport Books and figure a Passport Card is adequate.  Some are not aware that the Card is worthless for International air travel.

 

Hank

 

In fact, many older servicemembers with overseas deployments or had stationed at friendly countries would have better awareness about passports. For the younger ones, they might not aware of it until later on their careers. 

[donaldsc]

3 hours ago, Joken35 said:

We missed our embarkment in LeHarve France this past August .We were able to embark the next day inSouth Hampton England. We had a Family death and informed Princess of our situation . They were very accommodating. They actually held the ship for 45 minutes due to a problem with a flight and traffic. WE were in contact with them every step of the way. 

 

 

That is overseas.  I would assume the US law does not apply.

 

DON

[Pam in CA]

34 minutes ago, arthurkma said:

 

So, I cannot catch up with my family at Orlando but in the Bahamas even if I am willing to pay for the fine?  

Correct. The ship cannot knowingly allow you to violate the PVSA. It’s the same as the cruise lines allowing a passenger to violate any US law.

 

However, I would call NCL as it’s possible that they can obtain a waiver for you. This would have to be arranged for ahead of time. It’s worth a call. 

 

If you do fly to the Bahamas to board the ship, you should contact your cruise insurance company as you may be able to put in a claim for your travel expenses and/or missed days on the ship. I’d contact my insurance company to see what they will cover. 

[donaldsc]

31 minutes ago, arthurkma said:

 

So, I cannot catch up with my family at Orlando but in the Bahamas even if I am willing to pay for the fine?  

 

I would suggest that you really need to contact the cruise line.  Only they can say for certain and maybe not even them.

 

DON

[caribill]

20 minutes ago, arthurkma said:

 

So, I cannot catch up with my family at Orlando but in the Bahamas even if I am willing to pay for the fine?  

 

Give NCL a call.

[Pam in CA]

2 minutes ago, donaldsc said:

 

That is overseas.  I would assume the US law does not apply.

 

DON

The PVSA does not apply to any cruise either embarking and/or disembarking at a non-US port. It’s a US law that affects only cruises between two US ports. 

[arthurkma]

20 minutes ago, Pam in CA said:

Correct. The ship cannot knowingly allow you to violate the PVSA. It’s the same as the cruise lines allowing a passenger to violate any US law.

 

However, I would call NCL as it’s possible that they can obtain a waiver for you. This would have to be arranged for ahead of time. It’s worth a call. 

 

If you do fly to the Bahamas to board the ship, you should contact your cruise insurance company as you may be able to put in a claim for your travel expenses and/or missed days on the ship. I’d contact my insurance company to see what they will cover. 

 

Thank you, Pam.  I called and the lady who answered my phone told me to call back on the "check-in" day. So, my plan is to go to NY with my family and talk to the NCL people at the port while my family is checking in then will fly back to Los Angeles and work on my school then hopefully, can fly back to Orlando and catch up.  

[wolfie11]

Princess allows passengers who miss the ship in Vancouver to fly to Ketchikan and embark there.  Pretty sure that’s a violation of the PVSA.  On the other hand, if you have two US ports, you should be able to board at either port, since you will then be going to a foreign port before returning to the US.  My understanding is that you can’t transport passengers from a US port to a US port without a foreign port in there somewhere, which is why Alaska RTs out of Seattle stop at Victoria.

[caribill]

27 minutes ago, arthurkma said:

 

Thank you, Pam.  I called and the lady who answered my phone told me to call back on the "check-in" day. So, my plan is to go to NY with my family and talk to the NCL people at the port while my family is checking in then will fly back to Los Angeles and work on my school then hopefully, can fly back to Orlando and catch up.  

 

Based on check-in areas with other cruise lines, I think you can get a better answer if you call NCL back during normal business hours and speak with someone knowledgeable about this.  Flying cross country to find someone with any authority at check-in might not be the best answer.

[caribill]

1 minute ago, wolfie11 said:

Princess allows passengers who miss the ship in Vancouver to fly to Ketchikan and embark there.  Pretty sure that’s a violation of the PVSA.  On the other hand, if you have two US ports, you should be able to board at either port, since you will then be going to a foreign port before returning to the US.  My understanding is that you can’t transport passengers from a US port to a US port without a foreign port in there somewhere, which is why Alaska RTs out of Seattle stop at Victoria.

 

If a closed circuit cruise (returning to the USA embarkation port), the ship must stop at any foreign port, thus Victoria qualifies for Alaska round trips out of Seattle.

 

But if trying to sail from one USA port (Port Canaveral in this case) to another (NYC in this case), just any foreign port will not qualify. It has to be a "distant foreign port" which would mean one of the ABC Islands or any South American port. None of the foreign ports on this cruise is a "distant foreign port."

[arthurkma]

8 minutes ago, wolfie11 said:

Princess allows passengers who miss the ship in Vancouver to fly to Ketchikan and embark there.  Pretty sure that’s a violation of the PVSA.  On the other hand, if you have two US ports, you should be able to board at either port, since you will then be going to a foreign port before returning to the US.  My understanding is that you can’t transport passengers from a US port to a US port without a foreign port in there somewhere, which is why Alaska RTs out of Seattle stop at Victoria.

 

I was under the same impression before I read all of the responses from here. I was thinking that as long as I have not checked in from NY, and the cruise ship has not left the US, I am not in a violation of the law and I just need to deal with NCL I will try calling NCL again tomorrow and see if another person can give me clear and direct information.