Princess won't allow my travel agent to book a back to back cruise on the Coral !!!

[Gay Cruiser]

My travel agent is trying to book a Coral Princess 3 day Coastal cruise from Vancover, BC Canada to Los Angeles, Ca. USA. Princess will not allow me to book this because I am also booked on the Direct To The Wild Cruise Tour which after the land portion of the tour continues on the Coral Princess that Embarks in Whitter, Alaska USA and disembarks in Vancover, BC Canada.

 

The (Princess) told my agent it was due to the Passenger Services Act. "A ship is not allowed to to take passengers from one US port to another.

 

As far as I know we are talking the first cruise going USA to Canada. The Second cruise is from Canada to the USA.

 

Has anyone lese hear of this problem? Is the Passenger Services Act different from the Jones Act?

[Colo Cruiser]

My travel agent is trying to book a Coral Princess 3 day Coastal cruise from Vancover, BC Canada to Los Angeles, Ca. USA. Princess will not allow me to book this because I am also booked on the Direct To The Wild Cruise Tour which after the land portion of the tour continues on the Coral Princess that Embarks in Whitter, Alaska USA and disembarks in Vancover, BC Canada.

 

The (Princess) told my agent it was due to the Passenger Services Act. "A ship is not allowed to to take passengers from one US port to another.

 

As far as I know we are talking the first cruise going USA to Canada. The Second cruise is from Canada to the USA.

 

Has anyone lese hear of this problem? Is the Passenger Services Act different from the Jones Act?

 

 

Yes it is very common, Princess can be fined heavily if they violate it.

[venusbello1]

but I'm sure someone else can elaborate for you.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passenger_Services_Act

[LARGIN]

Your TA should have known better as the b2b will be in violation of the PSA.. In the eyes of the PSA, unless you had a 24 hour layover in Vancouver your b2b is one cruise from the US port Whittier to another US port, Los Angeles without stopping at a far foreign port. Vancouver is not classified as a far foreign port.

[Pam in CA]

My travel agent is trying to book a Coral Princess 3 day Coastal cruise from Vancover, BC Canada to Los Angeles, Ca. USA. Princess will not allow me to book this because I am also booked on the Direct To The Wild Cruise Tour which after the land portion of the tour continues on the Coral Princess that Embarks in Whitter, Alaska USA and disembarks in Vancover, BC Canada.

 

The (Princess) told my agent it was due to the Passenger Services Act. "A ship is not allowed to to take passengers from one US port to another.

 

As far as I know we are talking the first cruise going USA to Canada. The Second cruise is from Canada to the USA.

 

Has anyone lese hear of this problem? Is the Passenger Services Act different from the Jones Act?

Princess is correct. This would be a violation of the Passenger Vessel Services Act which says, "No foreign vessels shall transport passengers between ports or places in the United States, either directly or by way of a foreign port, under a penalty of $200 for each passenger so transported and landed." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passenger_Vessel_Services_Act_of_1886 The Jones Act is a provision (I believe) of the PVSA. What it boils down to is that if you are embarking on one cruise from a U.S. port and you eventually disembark in a U.S. port, you must stop at a "foreign" port. Vancouver isn't a foreign port unless that is your eventual disembarkation port. It's a bit more complicated than that but if you violate the PVSA, the ship is fined about $500/pp which they then charge you. To avoid that, they will not book you on these B-2-B cruises. Don't be angry at Princess or your TA; that's the law. Actually, it's OK to be angry at your TA; they should have known better as this has (obviously) been around for quite a while and never even called Princess but explained the PVSA to you.

[Colo Cruiser]

The Passenger Vessel Services Act of 1886 (sometimes abbreviated to PVSA, Passenger Services Act, or PSA) is a piece of United States legislation which came into force in 1886 relating to cabotage. Essentially, it says:

No foreign vessels shall transport passengers between ports or places in the United States, either directly or by way of a foreign port, under a penalty of $200 for each passenger so transported and landed. Any vessel subject to the Jones Act counts as a US vessel. Under the Passenger Vessel Services Act of 1886, 46 App. U.S.C. § 289, foreign-flagged vessels cannot transport passengers directly between U.S. ports. The handful of U.S.-flagged cruise ships in operation are registered in the U.S. to permit cruises between the Hawaiian Islands, or from the continental U.S. to Hawaii. The Passenger Services Act, however, does not prohibit foreign-flagged ships departing from and returning to the same U.S. port. Nor does it prohibit foreign-flagged ships departing from a U.S. port, visiting a foreign port, and then continuing to a second U.S. port. However, in order to embark in a US port and disembark in a second US port, the vessel must visit a port outside of the USA. Nor does it prevent a ship from taking on passengers at a U.S. port and then returning them to another U.S. city by ground or air, or vice-versa.

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Pride of Aloha, one of NCL America's three US-flagged ships, is not required to call on foreign ports.

 

 

Some exceptions have been made to the requirement of the Passenger Services Act. For example, Canadian vessels may transport passengers between Rochester and Alexandria Bay, New York and between southern Alaska and U.S. ports until such time as a U.S. carrier enters the market. The law has had an interesting consequence with regard to the cruise ship industry within the State of Hawaii. Foreign-flagged cruise ships may carry passengers between ports in the Hawaiian Islands as long as no passenger permanently leaves the vessel at ports other than the origination port and the vessel makes at least one call at a foreign port. Norwegian Cruise Line created a subsidiary, NCL America, and introduced three new US-flagged vessels: Pride of Aloha in 2004, Pride of America in 2005, and Pride of Hawaii in 2006. Previously, with its foreign-flagged vessels, NCL needed to include a four day detour to Tabuaeran (Fanning Atoll) in the Line Islands (Republic of Kiribati) on its Hawaiian itineraries.

Reportedly due to financial losses, in 2007 NCL renamed, re-flagged and relocated the Pride of Hawaii to Europe. The ship was renamed the Norwegian Jade. In 2008 NCL also removed Pride of Aloha from Hawaii service and renamed, re-flagged and relocated the ship to Florida as Norwegian Sky. This leaves only the Pride of America in Hawaii service for an indeterminate period of time.

[Gay Cruiser]

All of the information is very interesting. I know folks on this board are smart!

[c-cruise]

It is my understanding however that you could switch ships in Vancouver and not be in violation of the PVSA since a single foreign flagged vessel would not transporting you between two US ports.

 

I assume you are talking about the 9/21 Coral repositioning cruise from Vancouver to LA? The NCL Pearl also leaves Vancouver on 9/21 ending in LA. You could do your Alaska cruise on the Coral and then switch to the Pearl and sail back to LA. The Pearl does a 5 day itinerary where the Coral is a 3 day.

[JJ2sail]

It is my understanding however that you could switch ships in Vancouver and not be in violation of the PVSA since a single foreign flagged vessel would not transporting you between two US ports.

 

I assume you are talking about the 9/21 Coral repositioning cruise from Vancouver to LA? The NCL Pearl also leaves Vancouver on 9/21 ending in LA. You could do your Alaska cruise on the Coral and then switch to the Pearl and sail back to LA. The Pearl does a 5 day itinerary where the Coral is a 3 day.

 

Correct, we are doing exactly that in May. Star Princess to Vancouver and HAL Westerdam from Vacouver to Seattle, even though the Star is going to Seattle also.

[Cruisin' Chick]

BTW, the Jones Act is similar to the PVSA, but doesn't apply to passengers.

 

It's a real bummer that it still is the law.

[Desert Cruizers]

This has been interesting reading, Pam, yet, as long as you are reamining on the ship for a b2b your alright. An example is the Voyager, Nov 22, 7 day Med, returning to Barcelona, to continue out on Nov 29th for Galveston, TX. We have several friends from our last Roll Call doing this trip. I am highly considering it for 2011 providing they don't change schedules.

[DrivesLikeMario]

Your TA should've known this wasn't possible for you to do.

[mlmorrison]

It is my understanding however that you could switch ships in Vancouver and not be in violation of the PVSA since a single foreign flagged vessel would not transporting you between two US ports.

 

I assume you are talking about the 9/21 Coral repositioning cruise from Vancouver to LA? The NCL Pearl also leaves Vancouver on 9/21 ending in LA. You could do your Alaska cruise on the Coral and then switch to the Pearl and sail back to LA. The Pearl does a 5 day itinerary where the Coral is a 3 day.

 

That was quick research and feedback. You should be a (my) TA if you're not already!!

[Pam in CA]

This has been interesting reading, Pam, yet, as long as you are reamining on the ship for a b2b your alright. An example is the Voyager, Nov 22, 7 day Med, returning to Barcelona, to continue out on Nov 29th for Galveston, TX. We have several friends from our last Roll Call doing this trip. I am highly considering it for 2011 providing they don't change schedules.

Not sure I understand you. Are you saying that someone embarked in the U.S., cruised to the Med, then to Barcelona, and then Galveston? The PVSA refers to a passenger embarking in the U.S. If you are not embarking in the U.S., the PVSA doesn't apply. I know that there are some instances, depending on the itinerary, where you cannot do a B2B, even if you stay on the ship. The key phrase is that you can't go to a "near" foreign port on a cruise as your foreign port. This is why so many cruises embark or disembark in Vancouver. When they do that, they are not subject to the PVSA.

[Av8tor]

This has been interesting reading, Pam, yet, as long as you are reamining on the ship for a b2b your alright. An example is the Voyager, Nov 22, 7 day Med, returning to Barcelona, to continue out on Nov 29th for Galveston, TX. We have several friends from our last Roll Call doing this trip. I am highly considering it for 2011 providing they don't change schedules.

 

I don't see what you're trying to say here...The Barcelona RT and following cruise to TX as a B2B is OK since both cruises are NOT subject to the Passenger Services Act. The act only applies to cruises leaving from a US port!!

[abbydancer2003]

I don't see what you're trying to say here...The Barcelona RT and following cruise to TX as a B2B is OK since both cruises are NOT subject to the Passenger Services Act. The act only applies to cruises leaving from a US port!!

 

Just to make things more complicated .. even if they said from a different US port than Galveston the PSA wouldn't apply, since, as far as I know, Barcelona is a distant foreign port, a stop at which, allows you to sail between two different US ports.

 

I explained this all to one of my friends a couple of years ago, and now every time we see him, he asks me to explain it again.

[paul929207]

My travel agent is trying to book a Coral Princess 3 day Coastal cruise from Vancover, BC Canada to Los Angeles, Ca. USA. Princess will not allow me to book this because I am also booked on the Direct To The Wild Cruise Tour which after the land portion of the tour continues on the Coral Princess that Embarks in Whitter, Alaska USA and disembarks in Vancover, BC Canada.

 

The (Princess) told my agent it was due to the Passenger Services Act. "A ship is not allowed to to take passengers from one US port to another.

 

As far as I know we are talking the first cruise going USA to Canada. The Second cruise is from Canada to the USA.

 

Has anyone lese hear of this problem? Is the Passenger Services Act different from the Jones Act?

 

Princess is correct. If they let you take the two cruises, both Princess and YOU will be subject to fines by the US government.

[smeyer418]

a couple of points so people don't get confused.

 

Its illegal to transport(start and end) a person on a foreign flagged ship between two different US ports unless you travel to a distant foreign port. A distant Foreign port is any port not in Central America, The Caribbean(except for Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao) and Bermuda. So a trip that includes a stop in Aruba can start in Miami and end in LA legally. A cruise to no where doesn't transport anyone any place so that is ok too. Back to backs on the same cruise ship are considered one continuous trip(you can do this by going on another ship preferably on another cruise line if they are doing it at the same time). A trip that returns to the same US port can stop at mulitple US ports(as long as it also stops in one nearby foreign port) as long as no one gets off permanently-you can go sightseeing and get back on- at any of the intermediate US ports.

 

Finally the fine is $300 per person. If you have to get off in an emergency at the US intermediate US ports they will collect it from you although many times if its a true emergency they are supposed to get a waiver and return it to you. The penalty can also be barring the cruise line from ANY US port for the violation- although this has not been done in more than 50 years-the potential penalty is so great no cruise line will take a chance on it so they are pretty vigilant about the rules.

[Desert Cruizers]

Hello sorry for the confusion. The VOS, is doing a 7 day Med out of Barcelona Nov 22, 2009, upon its return to Barcelona, Nov 29th, it will disembark for the TA back to Galveston.

 

Gay

[DanJ]

a couple of points so people don't get confused.

 

Its illegal to transport(start and end) a person on a foreign flagged ship between two different US ports unless you travel to a distant foreign port. A distant Foreign port is any port not in Central America, The Caribbean(except for Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao) and Bermuda.

 

And Canada and Mexico (unless you are counting Mexico as Central America).

[smeyer418]

And Canada and Mexico (unless you are counting Mexico as Central America).

LOL I left off North America which doesn't count as a distant foreign port either....

[A Gay Cruiser]

The suggestion we switch ships to NCL Peral is an excellent idea!!

[triple7tahoe]

The suggestion we switch ships to NCL Peral is an excellent idea!!

We did this very thing a couple of years ago and if you do not mind the total confusion that takes over the terminal with numerous ships embarking and disembarking at the same time it can be fun. On our cruise we got (were asked to leave) Princess very early and then the NCL ship was late boarding. We were in a "holding area", after going through pre boarding, for over five hours with not enough places to sit. To top that off nobody was allowed to leave the area as we had already checked in but had not boarded the ship. I will always remember the lots of crying children (and adults) as NCL had lowered the price to around $39 each for the Van to Sea portion-Good luck

[c-cruise]

That was quick research and feedback. You should be a (my) TA if you're not already!!

 

LOL, I hear that a lot. Not a TA though, cruising is just my "hobby".

[Pam in CA]

Hello sorry for the confusion. The VOS, is doing a 7 day Med out of Barcelona Nov 22, 2009, upon its return to Barcelona, Nov 29th, it will disembark for the TA back to Galveston.

The PVSA is U.S. law that applies to vessels departing from and returning to a U.S. port. If embarking in Europe and disembarking in the U.S., the PVSA doesn't apply.