Ovation May 2-24 RCCL Cancelling my second leg

[travelplus]

On 4/29/2019 at 12:43 PM, martincath said:

Unfortunately this happens EVERY year, usually within a month or two of the actual cruise dates. I don't understand why none of the cruise lines have an automated PVSA-compliance check when back-to-back bookings are made. Princess are the most guilty of this actually, but that's probably just because they have the most ships moving in to Vancouver/Seattle for the AK season!

 

There is literally nothing you can do - they have no choice but to cancel one of your cruises, or do the workaround that has been suggested (getting you, and all your stuff, off in Victoria means you now have two separate cruises, both of which go between Canada and the US or vice versa so the PVSA is not violated).

 

You might manage to convince them to refund you the cost of ferries from Victoria to Vancouver, but it's not likely - unfortunately the boiler-plate in all cruise contracts mean that YOU are the one responsible for compliance with Immigration, Customs etc. rules. Yes it sucks, but 'voting with your wallet' and changing lines in future won't prevent it happening - all lines suck at this aspect! Frankly it's a wonder they even do a batch process to flag illegal combos at all - I guess the bad press from you being kicked off at Vancouver and abandoned is too much for them to risk, but giving you a few days notice to rearrange your travel is a tolerable risk for them.

 

If you do decide to keep Cruise 2, and want advice on how to get yourselves from Victoria to Vancouver, feel free to come back and ask.

If it were me I would take the refund and book Amtrak to Seattle or a Ferry to Seattle via the San Juan Islands  or some other area. Vancouver is a beautiful city so you could see if Royal can book you a land based vacation visiting Vancouver, Victoria and Seattle staying in each city for a few days.

 

 

[Blizzard54]

13 hours ago, travelplus said:

If it were me I would take the refund and book Amtrak to Seattle or a Ferry to Seattle via the San Juan Islands  or some other area. Vancouver is a beautiful city so you could see if Royal can book you a land based vacation visiting Vancouver, Victoria and Seattle staying in each city for a few days.

 

 

In doing so they would miss out on the Alaska cruise.

It turned out that Royal stepped and will arrange their transportation from Victoria to Vancouver and put them up in a hotel.  They will miss the last night of the first cruise and re-board for the 11 night Alaska cruise.  

[Oceansaway17]

so OP are you on the ship and enjoying it?

 

Keep us posted.

 

I am on the May 13th sailing so I hope you get off in Victoria and have no issues with getting back on.

 

Meantime keep us posted on the Transit over.

[mzlisap]

On 4/29/2019 at 2:51 PM, Hoopster95 said:

 

Hey mzlisap, I've also responded to you on our roll call...

I hope our resident expert, ChengP, can chime in on this one. I believe from previous threads that a fine for violating the PVSA is $300. I don't know if there's further penalty to the cruise line. I'm 100% on your side on this one.... this is all on RCL's dime

The transfer worked smoothly and we had a wonderful evening in Vancouver. We actually took a cab over to Ambleside Park and watched the ship sail under the bridge. It was great. I will state again Royal stepped up for us and took care of everything. I thank you all for your input. We are enjoying our second leg and look forward to many more sailings. 

[Biker19]

1 minute ago, mzlisap said:

The transfer worked smoothly and we had a wonderful evening in Vancouver. 

At the B2B meeting, the host mentioned that there were 5 people like you (had to leave the ship in Victoria to avoid PVSA fine) - were there others with you?

[mzlisap]

I am traveling with my husband and parents. So I guess we are 4 of the 5.

[AlanF65]

On 5/18/2019 at 8:43 PM, mzlisap said:

I am traveling with my husband and parents. So I guess we are 4 of the 5.

I had breakfast with your mother this morning and she told me the story.

What a delightful charming woman. Glad you are all having a wonderful cruise.

A

[scuddles]

So glad this all worked out for you.