Leaving the Ship Early

[jaycruises]

I have a friend who is taking a San Juan to Southern Caribbean on Celebrity. The last stop of the cruise before returning to San Juan is St. Thomas. He wants to get off the ship and spend a few days in St. Thomas.

Should he tell the cruise line up front or just let him tell them on board?

Is this a violation of any laws?

Thanks.

 

james@thebeckhams.us

[njhorseman]

He must get advance permission from the cruise line. They have to notify US Customs and Border Protection as your friend will have to be screened by a CBP agent just as he would have if he were disembarking in San Juan at the scheduled end of the cruise .

 

It will not be a violation of the Passenger Vessel Services Act as exceptions are in place for both Puerto Rico and the U. S. Virgin Islands that waive the normal closed loop cruise requirements. However, the cruise line reps he may speak to initially may not be aware of the PVSA closed loop exemption and the question may have to be kicked upstairs to someone in their law department who is more familiar with the details of the law in order to gain approval for the early disembarkation.

 

By the way, if the cruise is making a port call at Aruba, Bonaire or Curacao it would be exempt from the closed loop requirement regardless as they are defined as distant foreign ports...but advance permission will still be needed to arrange for CBP clearance when your friend disembarks in St. Thomas.

Edited November 2, 2015 by njhorseman

[CruiserBruce]

Don't keep it a secret. Not a smart thing to do.

 

You will not get any reduction in fare getting off early.

[jaycruises]

Thanks for the information. I will pass it on to him.

[spookwife]

I have a friend who is taking a San Juan to Southern Caribbean on Celebrity. The last stop of the cruise before returning to San Juan is St. Thomas. He wants to get off the ship and spend a few days in St. Thomas.

Should he tell the cruise line up front or just let him tell them on board?

Is this a violation of any laws?

Thanks.

 

james@thebeckhams.us

 

he MUST request permission BEFORE he boards and depending on a variety of factors, none of which are in the cruise line's control, may or may not be granted.

[notentirelynormal]

Also, time and energy won't be wasted while they search for him etc. It wouldn't be nice to hold up and entire ship in case they are waiting for him. I've been on cruises where we have left early once everyone was on board.

[chengkp75]

I cannot speak for Celebrity in particular, but generally, over the last two years, "downstream" embarkation (voluntary late embarkation) and "upstream" disembarkation (voluntary) have become fairly rare instances. As NJ has said, there is no violation of PVSA, but if a passenger joins late or leaves early, a new passenger manifest must be prepared, and submitted to CBP for screening. The reason that US and Canadian citizens are allowed to cruise on BC/DL identification is because the passenger manifest submitted at embarkation is used by CBP to screen passengers during the cruise, and then the passengers are subject to only the most cursory interview with CBP upon disembarkation. When a different passenger manifest is submitted, there is additional cost to the cruise line, and CBP can, at its discretion, submit all passengers to a more thorough interview upon disembarkation. This can cause lines and delays, and the cruise lines don't want to deal with the complaints this would cause, so they routinely deny permission for early/late dis/embarkation.

 

Celebrity may grant this, it requires notice to them in advance, or they may not. If your friend just leaves at the last port, this will cause the ship to search/announce for him/her until sailing, and then possibly delay sailing. It will also attract attention if your friend disembarks in the USVI with baggage. This could result in a future ban from the cruise line.

 

Also, as NJ said, he would need to clear through CBP as if he was returning from a foreign country, and when CBP checks the manifest when the cruise is over, and the person never made it back to port of origin, they will come looking for him/her.

Edited November 2, 2015 by chengkp75

[Keith1010]

As mentioned your friend needs approval from Celebrity and needs to get it in writing.

 

Keith

[GottaKnowWhen]

I have a friend who is taking a San Juan to Southern Caribbean on Celebrity. The last stop of the cruise before returning to San Juan is St. Thomas. He wants to get off the ship and spend a few days in St. Thomas.

Should he tell the cruise line up front or just let him tell them on board?

Is this a violation of any laws?

Thanks.

 

james@thebeckhams.us

 

 

You've had good answers to your basic question about whether this is doable. Let me answer a different question: "is this a good idea?" I have spent a total of about ten days on St Thomas, about eight days in San Juan. I would never choose to go back to St Thomas, and it is one of the few ports I've seen so far that I will probably treat as a stay-aboard day on future cruises; I would however happily spend a lot of time in San Juan. But if your friend is determined to go there, I would suggest he finish the cruise, then take a local flight back over to St Thomas. They are only 75 or so miles apart...