Early disembarkation

[critterchick]

I know, why would anybody want to get off a cruise ship early? Here's my thinking: we're thinking of the 8-day Jewel Eastern Caribbean trip (R/T from Ft Lauderdale), followed by a week at Atlantis. Nassau is the last port, leaving at 6pm to return to FT. Lauderdale. It seems like a big hassle to stay on the ship overnight and then have to get to the airport to go back to Nassau. Is there any reason we couldn't just get off the ship in Nassau? I know we'd be giving up a last wonderful night on board but it might be worth it to save on racing around to get to the airport.

 

Has anybody done this? It doesn't seem like it would violate the Jones Act or Passenger Services Act, but are there any other reasons we couldn't do it?

[dc-snoopy]

Yes you can do it. You can disembark in Nassau, but you could not disembark in another US city (e.g. Key West) unless you visited a distant foreign port. However, since you want to disembark in Nassau, you should not be limited by the PSA (cabotage law). The appropriate answer from the RCI web-site:

 

Can I take a partial cruise?

Yes! Partial cruises allow you to enjoy part of your cruise vacation in the event that you are unable to meet the ship in the scheduled boarding port, or would like to end your cruise earlier than the scheduled departure date.

 

Requests for security clearance concerning late boarding or early departure must be submitted in writing to the Guest Flight Operations office for consideration at least one week prior to sail date. Guests must have a confirmed reservation in order to receive clearance. If the reservation was made by a travel agency, the agency must submit the request on travel agency letterhead. Guests with reservations made directly through Royal Caribbean International or royalcaribbean.com can submit their own request. Please include a return fax number or e-mail address.

 

If guests are pre-approved for boarding/departure in an alternate port of call, the ship's security staff is notified to expect the guests at the designated port. The approved guests are responsible for making all travel arrangements and will incur any additional expenses (for flights, hotels, transfers to the pier, etc.). Prepaid gratuities will be added to all approved reservations for the length of cruise.

 

Restrictions: Certain countries, such as the U.S., Italy and Norway, have cabotage laws affecting passenger movements. These laws restrict foreign flag passenger vessels (such as those operated by Royal Caribbean) from transporting guests from one port to another port in the same country. In the U.S., the cabotage law applicable to the cruise industry is commonly called the Jones Act but is legally titled the Passengers Services Act. A brief summary of this U.S. law follows:

 

If a passenger (as listed on a vessel passenger manifest) embarks in a U.S. port and the vessel calls in a nearby foreign port (such as Ensenada, Grand Cayman and Nassau) and then returns to the U.S., the person must disembark in the same U.S. port. A passenger who embarks and disembarks in two different U.S. ports (such as Los Angeles and San Diego) would result in the carrier (not the violator) being fined. The vessel must call in a distant foreign port before the U.S. embarkation and disembarkation ports can differ. The nearest distant foreign ports are in or off the coast of South America. If either the passenger's embarkation port or disembarkation port is in a foreign country, then the provisions of this cabotage law do not apply. Nor do they apply in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

 

Similar passenger movement restrictions exist for cruise vessels calling in Italy and Norway.

 

Please direct any requests and/or questions to the following e-mail address or fax number:

Fax Number: (305) 373-6695

E-mail: AirSeaGFO@RCCL.com

[critterchick]

Thanks, Snoopy! How interesting that they add gratuities to your bill - are they really afraid that somebody would skip off without tipping (any more frequently than those who are going to stiff the staff would)?