Departing ship mid-cruise

[ctdahlquist]

Does anyone have information on policies regarding leaving the ship mid-cruise, and then catching the same cruise back the following week? This was allowed on Royal Olympia in the Mediterranean, but I've not heard this mentioned in the Caribbean.

 

I travel with someone who doesn't fly, and I'd like to have a land based vacation in the tropics. A cruise and stay option might work for me.

 

I'd appreciate any insights.

[waterrats]

I don't think ships do this. It would be too much of a headache for them to pull off. Lots of people would probably end up doing that and Caribbean ports are not set up for registration of passengers and luggage.

 

Your best bet would be something leaving from Fort Lauderdale and go to the Bahamas. These you can get for one way fares and aren't really cruise ships. You can then stay in the bahamas for awhile and then get on one of the ship shuttles back to Florida.

[springtxbill]

The Jones Act prevents you from travel between 2 US ports or possessions.:)

[QueensChick]

My parents did this about 20 years ago. The cruised on Cunard (not sure which ship) out of San Juan. The got off the ship in St. Lucia and stayed on the island for a week, then re-boarded the ship when it stopped again in St. Lucia and completed the cruise, disembarked in San Juan.

I'm not sure if it's still possible to do this, but it won't hurt to ask. I'd suggest discussing this with a reliable travel agent.

Good luck. :)

[kitty9]

With all the new security rules and regulations that are around now, cruise ships won't be doing this. Plus, they won't do this because they lose money on the deal, with you only paying for the room for a couple of days and then having the room empty for the rest of the cruise, and the reverse is true when you want to come home. The cruise line will actually lose a week's worth of revenue when you only use the room for a few days for two cruises.

[springtxbill]

You might could do it but only if you paid for the time you were not on the ship as well as the time you were on it. :)

[lccruiser]

TWO cruises planned??? :D

[springtxbill]

Have to keep 2 in the queue. I will be booking another one on my Vision cruise in a couple of weeks.:)

[TheWog]

Don't forget ships also normally alternate itineraries. So the same ship wouldn't be back for two weeks. I doubt they allow this anymore though. Let us know what you find out.

[QueensChick]

It turns out that when my parents did this on Cunard Countess in 1983, the hotel they stayed at was owned by the cruise line. I'm sure that helped a lot in smoothing out the process.

 

Good luck.

[Wennfred]

What if the ship is full when it returns back, I doubt they will do this, Chances are you will have to pay to fly back.

[momofmeg]

Five years ago when we cruised Carnival Fascination out of San Juan many people boarded in Barbados-especially people from Europe. So when we boared in San Juan-they had already been on the cruise for 2 days then ofcourse they debarked in Barbados and others boarded.

 

Now Fascination no longer does that route and I have no idea which Carnival ship replaced it. It was not Destiny because we had cruise mates who did the cruise with us, spent one night in San Juan after the cruise and then boarded the Destiny for another cruise.

 

Anyway I am thinking since they on that ship had 2 boardings and debarktations you may be allowed to split your trip on that cruise.

 

I guess you should ask your tA and have them check into it for you.

[critterchick]

I believe you can disembark early, but you will have to pay for the entire cruise and pay a small ($35 or so) fee. Somebody posted a link to the Royal Caribbean website regarding their policy. You have to ask in advance and receive written approval form RCI before you leave.

 

We were on the Star Princess in 2002 from LA to Vancouver, and we saw people embarking in San Diego (yes, we went backwards first!) and Santa Barbara. I'm sure they also paid for the entire cruise.

 

We may do that on our Jewel cruise in 2006. It's 8 nights, with Nassau as the last port before returning to Ft. Lauderdale. We want to do a week in Nassau post-cruise, so instead of the hassle of getting off the ship in FLL and flying back, we may try disembarking during our port stop. If we can do it any time during the day, it would beat having to arise at 6:00 on disembarkation day only to return where we were the day before.

[johnql]

As someone earlier pointed out, the Jones Act may come into play. Part of the Jones Act imposes a fine on a passenger who disembarks a ship early if the ship has gone from one U.S. port to another U.S. port without stopping at a foreign port in-between. I think the fine is something like $250 or so. Keep in mind: this is NOT controlled by the cruise line. They have no discretion in the matter. If the federal statute applies, the cruise line will be forced to collect the fine from the disembarking passenger.

[critterchick]

Here's what it says on the RCI website (it's in the FAQ section, so it must happen a bunch):

 

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.

 

So yes, you can do what you've asked so long as you don't violate the Passenger Services Act. You will have to pay for the entire cruise each way, though.