Jones Act

[Bee Guy]

Can someone explain the Jones Act?   I was just told that someone was not allowed to book an Alaska cruise after a cruise from Hawaii because of the Jones Act, but I am booked on those two cruises.  The difference is that mine is a B2B2B starting in Sydney.  

[GeezerCouple]

8 minutes ago, Bee Guy said:

Can someone explain the Jones Act?   I was just told that someone was not allowed to book an Alaska cruise after a cruise from Hawaii because of the Jones Act, but I am booked on those two cruises.  The difference is that mine is a B2B2B starting in Sydney.  

 

The Jones Act is for cargo.  The related PVSA (Passenger Vessel Services Act) involves passengers.

 

Bottom line is that foreign flagged (non-USA flagged) ships may not transport passengers between two different USA ports (where this means starting and leaving the cruise; in different cities), unless a "distant foreign port" (defined) is included in the itinerary.  So if YOU are starting in Australia and getting off in Alaska, YOU are not being transported between two different USA cities.  Someone starting in Hawaii and ending in Alaska?  They don't have the same situation as you do.

 

There are other specifics such as for Closed Loop cruises (start/end in same USA port, and those must under most conditions stop in a foreign port, but it doesn't need to be "distant").

 

There are more specifics, but this summarizes the situation.

 

GC

[sanger727]

As long as you are not changing ships or having a layover (on your own, not the ship overnighting) in Hawaii, the above poster is correct. 

 

Your cruise is based on where you embark a ship and ultimately disembark without an interruption in the cruise. You cannot board in Hawaii and b2b to an Alaska cruise and disembark in Alaska. That’s being transported from us port to another by a foreign flagged ship without a distant foreign port in between. There’s no reason you can’t board in Sydney and disembark in Alaska.

[Ashland]

1 hour ago, GeezerCouple said:

 

The Jones Act is for cargo.  The related PVSA (Passenger Vessel Services Act) involves passengers.

 

Bottom line is that foreign flagged (non-USA flagged) ships may not transport passengers between two different USA ports (where this means starting and leaving the cruise; in different cities), unless a "distant foreign port" (defined) is included in the itinerary.  So if YOU are starting in Australia and getting off in Alaska, YOU are not being transported between two different USA cities.  Someone starting in Hawaii and ending in Alaska?  They don't have the same situation as you do.

 

There are other specifics such as for Closed Loop cruises (start/end in same USA port, and those must under most conditions stop in a foreign port, but it doesn't need to be "distant").

 

There are more specifics, but this summarizes the situation.

 

GC

And none of us want to be considered as "cargo" 

[GeezerCouple]

1 minute ago, Ashland said:

And none of us want to be considered as "cargo" 

 

Welllll....

 

.... There are those of us who arrive on the ship as passengers, but, ahem, might leave as cargo (burp!).

 

GC

[Elaine5715]

1 hour ago, Ashland said:

And none of us want to be considered as "cargo" 

Once we get home, we get in the car and go....🤣

[chengkp75]

Cruise ship officers frequently refer to passengers as "the only cargo that can talk back to you".  The OP's case is a classic one where each leg of a B2B is legal in itself, but one combination of legs, Hawaii to Vancouver? to Alaska would not be legal, another combination of legs, Sydney to Hawaii to Vancouver? would be legal, and a third combination:  all three legs Sydney to Hawaii to Alaska would be legal.  CBP does not care how the cruises are marketed, or how they are booked, they merely look at where you embark (since this is Sydney, the entire idea of a PVSA violation goes out the window) and where you "permanently" disembark (settle your bill and remove yourself and baggage from the ship).

[MicCanberra]

Some TAs do not understand the PVSA, we were not allowed to cruise from Vancouver to Sydney (b2b2b). It was a Pacific Coastal cruise to San Diego, then a second cruise was Ensenada to Hawaii and then the third cruise to Sydney. However, we were then allowed to do the last 2 cruises. Made no sense at all.

[Corby114]

You are not violating the PVSA because you are cruising from Sydney to Hawaii to Alaska. If you left out the first sailing from Sydney to Hawaii you couldn’t start your voyage in Hawaii and leave the ship in Alaska. That would be a violation of the PVSA because you are cruising from one American port to another without visiting a distant foreign port.

[MicCanberra]

I just wish the TAs actually knew the rules better than what they do.

[GeezerCouple]

1 minute ago, MicCanberra said:

I just wish the TAs actually knew the rules better than what they do.

 

"Don't worry" - it isn't just the TA's who don't understand it.  Unfortunately, there are also plenty of people, it seems, at the cruise lines who do not understand it, either.

 

Grrrrr.

 

GC

[Corby114]

Most customer service representatives are reading from a scripted paper when you call asking a specific question. On most instances if you call with a somewhat complicated question and ask ten different representatives you will get ten different answers. In this instance you get what you pay for!