Join cruise at first port?

[themutis]

Hi All

 

Looking to book a family holiday vacation and DS's girlfriend can not make it the day the cruise leaves from Florida. Would it be possible for her to fly to the first port and join us on Day 3?

 

Thanks in advance for your advice

[neverbeenhere]

Go to the source... Celebrity

[Lsimon]

Hi All

 

Looking to book a family holiday vacation and DS's girlfriend can not make it the day the cruise leaves from Florida. Would it be possible for her to fly to the first port and join us on Day 3?

 

Thanks in advance for your advice

 

in most cases this isn't a problem but in any event it should be cleared through the cruise line. There may be some ports where regulations prevent this. What is the port you're considering?

[themutis]

San Juan.

[cruisestitch]

Joining the cruise downline takes special permission from Celebrity:

 

Here is the statement from the Celebrity website FAQ:

 

Can I Join My Cruise After It Starts Or Disembark Before It Ends?

It depends on the specific itinerary of your cruise, your nationality, and various United States and foreign laws. Joining the cruise at one of its ports of call or leaving the cruise prior to its scheduled termination point may be prohibited by law. If you need to join late or leave early, or both, submit your request in advance and we will tell you whether your proposed changes will be permitted.

 

For more information, call 800-256-6649. There is a cut-off date for submitting this information, so make your request early. Please note that no refunds, prorated or otherwise, are granted to customers who join their cruise late or leave their cruise early. Certain governments impose fines or other charges when a guest permanently disembarks from a cruise before its final port of call. The guest will be responsible for those charges.

Edited September 24, 2014 by cruisestitch

[Lsimon]

San Juan.

 

There are laws that prohibit most foreign flagged ships, which includes all of Celebrity ships as well as most of the other major cruise lines, from transporting people between two USA ports without stopping at a "distant foreign port". There is a big discussion going on about this on another thread: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2105443

 

Post #36 of that thread contains a brochure on the applicable law.

The brochure indicates that Puerto Rico is included in the US territories the law applies to. As a result they might not allow someone to join the ship in Puerto Rico if they will eventually disembark in Florida. This would be less of an issue if the ship stopped at Aruba, Bonaire or Curaco which are the only Caribbean ports considered "distant foreign ports" under the law according to the brochure.

 

The whole situation gets complicated because of this law and Celebrity will have the final say. If the law is the only issue then joining at the following port after San Juan might be possible but again a discussion with Celebrity is in order.

[cruisestitch]

I believe that Puerto Rico is an exception to the general rule about needing to visit a distant foreign port. The repositioning cruise bringing the Summit from New Jersey to Puerto Rico does not stop in a distant foreign port. There are other examples as well.

 

quoting from that other thread, post 61:

 

"Transportation of Passengers Between Puerto Rico and Other U.S. Ports—46 U.S.C. § 55104

An exception to the PVSA permits non-coastwise-qualified vessels (vessels not qualified to engage in the coastwise trade) to transport passengers on voyages between ports in Puerto Rico and other U.S. ports until qualified U.S. vessels are available

 

You can board the ship in Puerto Rico.

 

The PVSA applies to the United States, including the island territories and possessions of the United States, e.g., Puerto Rico. See 46 U.S.C. § 55101(a). However, the coastwise laws generally do not apply to the following: 1) American Samoa; 2) the Northern Mariana Islands; 3) Canton Island; or 4) the Virgin Islands. See 46 U.S.C. § 55101(b)."

[themutis]

Wow - what a wealth of information! Thanks everyone.

 

I will call them tomorrow and ask directly, but it's looking promising. We could switch to the 5 night cruise if need be, but I want to show the kids the Silhoutte :)

 

Thanks again

[themutis]

Hi All

 

I did contact Celebrity and was told that we would NOT be able to have someone join the cruise starting in San Juan. We are disappointed, but thankfully we hadn't booked yet.

 

Thanks everyone for your help with this.

 

Eileen

[jayoldschool]

However, if the cruise DEPARTS from San Juan, you can join it at the next port.

[Algebralovr]

We actually looked into this last year. In general, people are told no when they ask to join late or leave early. The reason has to do with open vs closed loop cruise, and that if someone joins late, then not everyone is on a closed loop cruise. In instances where there is a major storm and lots of people miss the ship, the cruise line does the extra paperwork and the US Government works with them, but not for one or two people in general.

[Algebralovr]

However, if the cruise DEPARTS from San Juan, you can join it at the next port.

 

Again, it is unlikely. While San Juan is US territory and no passport is needed to embark and disembark there, the closed loop rules still apply. If someone joins the ship at the next port, which probably does require a passport unless it is the USVI, the rest of the passengers are on a closed loop cruise with no passports required.

 

More paperwork would still be required by the ship, therefore they are likely to deny it.

[sheffield]

We missed our cruise from Fort Lauderdale last January due to bad weather, and along with a few other people, we were able to join it two days later in San Juan.

[cherylandtk]

As noted above, Puerto Rico is a listed exception within the PVSA, however, embarkation in San Juan would require that Celebrity arrange for immigration formalities. So while it is not illegal, it appears that Celebrity considers it to be too bothersome to deal with. Either that, or the CSR spoke to was incorrectly informed.