Alaska Cruise Question

[doone]

I have a friend sailing with me to Alaska round trip from Vancouver.  She is thinking of getting off te cruises ship before returning to Vancouver and heading to Denali on her own.  My initial thought is she cannot do this, but thought I’d ask here????

 

Thanks in advance….

[RuthC]

If you are thinking about the PVSA, and that it could be a violation of that, it would not be. To board in Canada and disembark in the US is fine. As far as that goes. 
She would need to make arrangements in advance, however, since not all ports have the staffing to allow her to complete US Immigration and Customs requirements. 

Good luck to her. If she isn't able to to head from a US port to Denali, perhaps she can plan a land trip for her next Alaska visit. After all, once you see a portion of Alaska, you want to go back and see more. 

[terrydtx]

Ruth is correct about the possible issues, but I do not believe the 7 day round trip from Vancouver cruises stop at Seward or Whittier which would be the only convenient port to get to Denali by driving. Other Alaska ports would require flights to Anchorage as they do not have roads inland.

[YourWorldWithBill]

The other option, which might not be possible for you at this point, would be to go one way Vancouver to Whittier. We did a nine day Vancouver-Whittier, then train to Denali and bus to Fairbanks.

[Heidi13]

2 hours ago, RuthC said:

If you are thinking about the PVSA, and that it could be a violation of that, it would not be. To board in Canada and disembark in the US is fine. As far as that goes. 
She would need to make arrangements in advance, however, since not all ports have the staffing to allow her to complete US Immigration and Customs requirements. 

Good luck to her. If she isn't able to to head from a US port to Denali, perhaps she can plan a land trip for her next Alaska visit. After all, once you see a portion of Alaska, you want to go back and see more. 

 

Since the pax is boarding in Canada, clearly US Cabotage laws are not applicable. Prior to responding, did you research or consider applicable Canadian Laws, as we also have a Cabotage Law, which is called the Coasting Trade Act. 

[Heidi13]

3 hours ago, doone said:

I have a friend sailing with me to Alaska round trip from Vancouver.  She is thinking of getting off te cruises ship before returning to Vancouver and heading to Denali on her own.  My initial thought is she cannot do this, but thought I’d ask here????

 

Thanks in advance….

 

Since you didn't mention which port your friend is considering to disembark, it is impossible to provide a definitive answer to your question.

 

Embarking in Vancouver, if you were to disembark in another Canadian port, your friend could be in non-compliance with the Canadian Coasting Trade Act, which restricts trade between Canadian ports by foreign-flagged tonnage, unless approved by the Minister of Transport.

 

However, since very few R/T Vancouver cruises visit another Canadian port, it is most likely your friend is hoping to disembark in a US port. Therefore, the voyage would be an International Voyage, so Canadian or US Cabotage Laws are not applicable.

 

As others mentioned, you would need to advise the ship in advance and pay any premiums charged, if approved.

[doone]

Thanks everyone, this is exactly what I thought.  What i told her is do the 7 day round trip out of Vancouver then head to Denali from Vancouver……

[rafinmd]

I'm trying to figure out what I'm missing here.  I do agree that the bottom line is that it's likely best to do the full 7 day and then Denali later but it looks very do-able to me, at least from a legal statement.

 

I see only 3 Vancouver itieraries for HAL.  The 7-day Vancouver-Whittier (Nieuw Amsterdam and Noordam) and the 7-day round trip (Currently Volendam and Koningsdam).

 

The 7 day Vancouver-Whittier is the obvious choice but that is apparently not under consederation.

 

There are 3 potential possibilities with the 7-day round trip, all involving Skagway.  The most obvious choice is continuing from or to a Holland America. 

Number 2 is an alternate land package.  I did that in 2002 with a Canadian tour company, flying to Inuvik in the far Northwest Territories and traveling South on the Dempster Highway to Dawson City and then boarding the Zaandam in Juneau. 

It is also possible to rent a car in Skagway and drive to Denali (I did this many years ago although I used the ferry rather than a cruise ship. 

 

Obviously, the facilities and CPB capacity is there for this to happen so the question boils down to what HAL will allow.  Even for continuing to a HAL tour, I wonder if HAL would allow it for one occupant of a stateroom while the other stays on the ship and how the pricing would work.

 

At this point I  know of no possible alternate land tours and I doubt if HAL would allow it to Denali in competition with their own offerings.

 

I think the self drive is possible but am not convinced if HAL would allow it and if so doubt the possibility of any fare adjustment.

 

The one place I see potential legal troubles would be if friend just got off while CPB was expecting a return to the ship.

 

Lots of theoretical possibilities but why not just finish the 7-day and enjoy Denali either afterwards or at another time.

 

Roy