NCL Management Does It Right - Norwegian Escape

The Norwegian Escape isbeing repositioned as she changes home port from Miami to New York for the next19 months. The Escape is replacing the Norwegian Breakaway who is scheduled fora dry dock followed by a season sailing the Baltic Capitals.

The Escape dropped off herfinal group of Miami passengers this morning and is being repositioned to NewYork April 20-22 with no passengers. This allows the crew to clean up andprepare for a busy Bermuda season, but also, NCL management is allowing thecrew to enjoy some of the public spaces on the ship. There are planned crewdinners and parties in the ship’s main dining room. The entertainment staff isputting on performances of the ship’s two main resident shows, After Midnightand For The Record: The Brad Pack to allow behind the scenes crew members to see these Broadwayproductions.

NCL could have extendedthe last Miami voyage to end in New York, but decided to do it right, and givethe crew a brief break from the normal 4500 passengers onboard. Good Job NCL!

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NCL could have extendedthe last Miami voyage to end in New York, but decided to do it right, and givethe crew a brief break from the normal 4500 passengers onboard. Good Job NCL!

Not saying NCL doesn't deserve some kudos, but they could not have extended the Miami cruise and had it end in New York, that would have violated the PVSA. That's why they have a "passenger-less" repositioning.

yes, thats a nice thing for them to do instead of trying to maximize revenue.

and thus i am shocked Del Rio allowed it! :o

Not saying NCL doesn't deserve some kudos, but they could not have extended the Miami cruise and had it end in New York, that would have violated the PVSA. That's why they have a "passenger-less" repositioning.

ahh.. must be in international waters before being in a US port?

but how hard would it be to sail into intl waters between miami and ny?

(ie: the old 2day casino cruises to nowhere)

ahh.. must be in international waters before being in a US port?

 

but how hard would it be to sail into intl waters between miami and ny?

It doesn't have anything to do with International Waters. PVSA essentially states that a foreign-flagged cruise ship cannot transport (meaning start in one and end in the other) US passengers between two US ports unless they visit a "far distant port." This is the reason why you never see cruises that start in one American City and end in another (Except for Pride of America which is flagged in the US).

Not saying NCL doesn't deserve some kudos, but they could not have extended the Miami cruise and had it end in New York, that would have violated the PVSA. That's why they have a "passenger-less" repositioning.

How and under what cirumstances does the act come into effect essentially. Given this cruise as a specific example of what you ae identifying specifically.

TIA

(Timing issue) But please expalin further...Thx!

PVSA essentially states that a foreign-flagged cruise ship cannot transport US passengers between two US ports unless they visit a "far distant port." This is the reason why you never see cruises that start in one American City and end in another (Except for Pride of America which is flagged in the US).

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How and under what cirumstances does the act come into effect essentially. Given this cruise as a specific example of what you ae identifying specifically.

 

TIA

 

(Timing issue) But please expalin further...Thx!

The act prevents cruises (of foreign flagged vessels) from starting in one US City and ending in another US City unless the cruise has visited a "far distant port." This is why you will never see, for example, east coast cruises that start in one US city and end in another. A cruise that starts in Miami cannot end in New York under the PVSA unless it has visited a far distant port.

ahh.. must be in international waters before being in a US port?

 

but how hard would it be to sail into intl waters between miami and ny?

It would not be sufficient to sail in international waters. It would be required to stop at a distant foreign port the closest of which are Aruba, Curaçao or Bonaire to comply with the PVSA law.

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It doesn't have anything to do with International Waters. PVSA essentially states that a foreign-flagged cruise ship cannot transport (meaning start in one and end in the other) US passengers between two US ports unless they visit a "far distant port." This is the reason why you never see cruises that start in one American City and end in another (Except for Pride of America which is flagged in the US).

ahh.. so this nice gesture of what NCL doing for the Escape crew is 'forced' since they cant do anything else to maximize revenue for those 2 days

ahh.. so this nice gesture of what NCL doing for the Escape crew is 'forced' since they cant do anything else to maximize revenue for those 2 days

I'm not convinced its a 'nice gesture'. Its a planned event based on what we have learned here. I do hope the crew got to enjoy a bit of freedom from their daily grind though. ;)

ahh.. so this nice gesture of what NCL doing for the Escape crew is 'forced' since they cant do anything else to maximize revenue for those 2 days

Yes, exactly.

PVSA is something that anyone who is futzing around with back to back to back cruises should familiarize themselves with, as you can create a booking that violates it and have parts of your cruise cancelled. For example:

Norwegian Jewel sails on May 26th from Seattle and arrives in Vancouver on June 4th. On June 4th it does a round trip Alaska and returns on June 11th. On June 11th it leaves Vancouver and ends in Seward. You cannot book those three cruises, because if you did you would be starting in Seattle (US Port), and ending in Seward (US Port).

Rah! Rah! Sis Boom Bah!

it is perfectly normal for ships to sail empty when repositioning between Florida and New York. Carnival does it every year with their ships, NCL is doing it and other cruise lines do it too. In addition to give crew a day off and a day to enjoy the ship, i am pretty sure they are other work being done behind the scenes like any kind of mechanical work in the engine room or elsewhere

The act prevents cruises (of foreign flagged vessels) from starting in one US City and ending in another US City unless the cruise has visited a "far distant port." This is why you will never see, for example, east coast cruises that start in one US city and end in another. A cruise that starts in Miami cannot end in New York under the PVSA unless it has visited a far distant port.

In this case the itinerary would have been Miami - Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Nassau, New York.

I was fortunate to have been on the last B2B sailings of Escape (4/7 - 4/20). Having completed 17 cruises on Escape alone I can attest to the hardworking crew members, many of whom have become friends and others like family to me. The last week of the cruise was bittersweet as I said my goodbyes.

A couple of days ago we heard they wanted everyone off the ship by 9:15 as they were departing for New York at approximately 10:00 a.m. and indeed that was true. I have never seen such a rapid disembark process!

The crew was very excited to have a few days to relax and have fun prior to NY arrival. Those lucky enough to sail Escape in the future will encounter an amazing group of people.

Happy cruising,

Tracy

In this case the itinerary would have been Miami - Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Nassau, New York.

no, it has to stop at one of the ABC islands: Aruba, Bonaire or Curaçao

no, it has to stop at one of the ABC islands: Aruba, Bonaire or Curaçao

But it can end up at the same port it started at?

I'm super excited for the crew to have this rare and enjoyable experience. They deserve it, considering the conditions they all usually work under.

I guess good PR move by NCL to have dinners and shows for crew that for months have been working 24/7. Probably pretty low cost to actually achieve, but lots of people will consider them heroes for doing it.

I guess I'm mostly glad for US Regulations making this entire situation possible :)for those crew members. :) :)

In this case the itinerary would have been Miami - Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Nassau, New York.

Right, and Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Nassau are not "distant foreign ports" as defined in the PVSA, so that itinerary is no good.

Can we all agree that this law is completely and totally ridiculous? I mean read it and it makes absolutely zero sense.

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We did the walk off on our own and was off the ship and in the shuttle van by 7:30 with no crowds other then a steady line of people.

Can we all agree that this law is completely and totally ridiculous? I mean read it and it makes absolutely zero sense.

 

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The law is totally, but it is great for the crew to relax a little.

The law is totally, but it is great for the crew to relax a little.

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Not saying NCL doesn't deserve some kudos, but they could not have extended the Miami cruise and had it end in New York, that would have violated the PVSA. That's why they have a "passenger-less" repositioning.

Are there not some “one way” Alaska cruises between Seattle and Alaska? As long as they stop in Canada on the way, I thought it was OK.

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