What are the rules or exclusions for back-to-back cruises?

[ironz]

I know there are some combinations (or repositioning cruises) that are not allowed.
Specifically, curious about possibility of doing San Diego to Vancouver, then the Alaska Cruise. (or vice versa), but it might be nice to know about the rules for other itineraries as well.
U.S. Citizen, if that matters.
Thanks!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I know there are some combinations (or repositioning cruises) that are not allowed.
Specifically, curious about possibility of doing San Diego to Vancouver, then the Alaska Cruise. (or vice versa), but it might be nice to know about the rules for other itineraries as well.
U.S. Citizen, if that matters.
Thanks!

The biggest one would be the Passenger Vessel Services Act. It does not allow a foreign flagged ship to carry a passenger from one US port to a different US port without a stop in a DISTANT foreign port.

San Diego to Vancouver B2B with a Vancouver round trip is legal - no problem there.

The issue comes up when people book B2B cruises that reposition from, say, Los Angeles to Vancouver, followed by a Vancouver to Seattle cruise ON THE SAME SHIP.

Another violation would occur if there were a, say, Galveston to San Juan cruise, followed by a San Juan to Miami cruise.

While either one of those cruises are legal under the PVSA (cruises to/from Puerto Rico have a waiver), booking the two together makes it illegal.

The reason? When cruising the PVSA only looks at where a passenger got on a ship and where that same passenger got off the same ship. In the second instance, the passenger would be going from Galveston to Miami and there's no distant foreign port (usually) on those cruises.

The first instance, the passenger would be going from San Diego to Vancouver and would not fall under the PVSA laws.

For the record, a distant foreign port is any port NOT in North America, Central America, the Bermuda Islands, or the West Indies (including the Bahama Islands, but not including the Leeward Islands of the Netherlands Antilles, i.e., Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao) .

While the PVSA is only on those cruises out of US ports, there are other such laws in other countries.

 

[ironz]

Thank you so much @PrincessShmoo !! That is exactly what I was looking for. (also, yay for DCL sailing out of Vancouver instead of Seattle, in this case)

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Thank you so much @PrincessShmoo !! That is exactly what I was looking for. (also, yay for DCL sailing out of Vancouver instead of Seattle, in this case)

Yeah, they learned their lesson the one year they did the Alaska cruises out of Seattle.

 

[cwis]

Just out of curiosity, when happens if you try to book those B2B? Does DCL cancel one of the itinerary for you? Or does it just prevent you from booking the second one?

This is a rule that would be pretty easy to miss if you don't know about how PVSA work.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Just out of curiosity, when happens if you try to book those B2B? Does DCL cancel one of the itinerary for you? Or does it just prevent you from booking the second one?

This is a rule that would be pretty easy to miss if you don't know about how PVSA work.

I'm not sure how DCL handles it now. When this first came up, DCL didn't know about it (although they should have). And many people did book B2B LA/Vancouver followed by Vancouver/Seattle cruises. The PVSA checks didn't catch it until about 6 weeks out and that's when DCL had to scramble. First they told everyone doing those B2B cruises they'd have to switch cabins between cruises, actually debark the ship, with their bags and check in for the second cruise as usual.

While nothing has ever been confirmed, I think that DCL just took the fine and paid it for the spring repo B2B fines. But for the fall ones, they told everyone that they'd have to cancel one or the other of the cruises, but did offer assistance with any cancellation fees for the problem.

I know that some other cruise lines computer systems have a flagging system that recognizes what cruises cannot be done together, but it's still possible to actually book them. The problem there is there are people who will book 2,3, 4 or more cruises, to ensure the lowest prices and best room selections and then cancel those that decide not to do.

 

[Marc D]

Some have reported they got a call from DCL a few weeks after booking an illegal itinerary. Since the problem can only arise on cruises around their San Juan stops, they don‘t really need to put an automated system in place to prohibit the bookings. It’s easily monitored by a person. B2B aren’t that common.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Since the problem can only arise on cruises around their San Juan stops,

Now.

The Alaska season when they sailed out Seattle was the biggest problem. But there were also problems when they coupled the repo cruise to Vancouver with a Hawaii cruise following. I believe it was LA to Vancouver followed by Vancouver to Hawaii, then back to Vancouver for roundtrip Alaska cruises.

I don't remember how that went, but people did book the LA/Vanc, Vanc/Hawaii B2B and were told they would have to cancel one (don't know how soon after booking).

 

[Lauri]

We did a BTB last year. First was San Juan to PC, with stops in St. Thomas and Castaway Cay. The second cruise was PC R/T, with only a stop at Castaway Cay. What an amazing week! And according to what is above, we should not have been allowed to do that, as our only foreign ports were Castaway Cay.

 

[Marc D]

We did a BTB last year. First was San Juan to PC, with stops in St. Thomas and Castaway Cay. The second cruise was PC R/T, with only a stop at Castaway Cay. What an amazing week! And according to what is above, we should not have been allowed to do that, as our only foreign ports were Castaway Cay.

San Juan is excluded from the PVSA for the moment, under a special exception. You can therefore start or finish a cruise from there. That’s why Magic goes from NYC to San Juan, then from San Juan to Miami. They cannot do NYC-Miami directly, not can you do both those cruises B2B.

For the purpose of the Act, your route was San Juan - PC, which is legal. They only need to visit a foreign port and CC fits that requirement.