Passenger service act

[navybankerteacher]

I have to say that I am concerned about this behavior; in her first post on the Princess board, OP said she is a doctor and needs to be in constant communication with her office practice and be available to her patients. I mean, you never know if someone is playing a joke on these boards, but this is just wrong on every level. :mad: <-- first time I have ever used this emoji

 

A doctor who suggests that her husband could claim mental illness to justify jumping ship????????? Wow!

 

How does one start trying to fix stupid?

[njhorseman]

Not necessarily. When it comes to Customs, a family declares as a whole, which will be satisfied when the rest of the family disembarks the ship. There is nothing legally preventing a U.S. citizen cruise ship passenger in the city of Juneau from getting on an airplane and flying out of there.

 

Immigrations is different. Like Aquahound said, if Immigrations was necessary, it would have been completed prior to leaving the ship in Juneau.

 

Please reread my post. Immigration (as in immigration for final disembarkation) would not have been completed in Juneau. There is a difference between the type of immigration clearance given for a port call and the individual passenger by passenger clearance at final disembarkation.

 

Further, the single customs declaration is only good for all family members traveling together. If someone is disembarking separately they have to make a separate declaration. Try to understand this from a common sense perspective. If the person disembarking early did not have make a customs declaration, they could take prohibited items or items on which duty was owed without any fear of detection or the need to pay duty. The family members disembarking later then would not have to declare anything as they were not taking these items into the US with them. The result is there would be no way for the government to collect any duty owed. That is why the use of a single declaration form is only valid when the family members are all disembarking together.

Edited January 21, 2016 by njhorseman

[zoncom]

Just leave him at home. Alaska not that great.

[Aquahound]

Please reread my post. Immigration (as in immigration for final disembarkation) would not have been completed in Juneau. There is a difference between the type of immigration clearance given for a port call and the individual passenger by passenger clearance at final disembarkation.

 

I think you're a little confused about Immigrations. Immigrations is not conducted at the end of the cruise.....it's conducted in the first US port after a foreign port. I know this....it's an every day thing here in Key West. If this cruise goes to Victoria or Vancouver early, Immigrations would be done at the next US port. If the foreign port is last, Immigrations would be done in SF.

Edited January 21, 2016 by Aquahound

[chengkp75]

Not necessarily. When it comes to Customs, a family declares as a whole, which will be satisfied when the rest of the family disembarks the ship. There is nothing legally preventing a U.S. citizen cruise ship passenger in the city of Juneau from getting on an airplane and flying out of there.

 

Immigrations is different. Like Aquahound said, if Immigrations was necessary, it would have been completed prior to leaving the ship in Juneau.

 

Please reread my post. Immigration (as in immigration for final disembarkation) would not have been completed in Juneau. There is a difference between the type of immigration clearance given for a port call and the individual passenger by passenger clearance at final disembarkation.

 

Further, the single customs declaration is only good for all family members traveling together. If someone is disembarking separately they have to make a separate declaration. Try to understand this from a common sense perspective. If the person disembarking early did not have make a customs declaration, they could take prohibited items or items on which duty was owed without any fear of detection or the need to pay duty. The family members disembarking later then would not have to declare anything as they were not taking these items into the US with them. The result is there would be no way for the government to collect any duty owed. That is why the use of a single declaration form is only valid when the family members are all disembarking together.

 

There are two issues here, other than the PVSA. Both are with branches of CBP.

 

One is Immigration. When a cruise ship enters a US port, CBP gives a temporary clearance to enter the country, only for the stated time of the port call, since they expect to see the same number of names on the manifest when clearing to leave. This is true even for US citizens who have been on the ship and gone to a foreign port. Anyone leaving the ship early needs to clear Immigrations (CBP) formally, as if you were returning on an airplane or the cruise ship at its final destination.

 

The CBP interview when disembarking is so casual because CBP has used the manifest to screen all the passengers throughout the cruise. But if you leave early, you have to clear Immigration personally.

 

The second area is Customs. Since the person is leaving the ship alone, and he has to clear Immigrations alone, he needs to make a Customs declaration alone, not as part of the family.

 

Unless the ship has not called at its required foreign port at the time the guest departs, he must clear customs and immigration, personally, in order to leave the ship and not be liable for a CBP fine for failure to clear.

[njhorseman]

I think you're a little confused about Immigrations. Immigrations is not conducted at the end of the cruise.....it's conducted in the first US port after a foreign port. I know this....it's an every day thing here in Key West. If this cruise goes to Victoria or Vancouver early, Immigrations would be done at the next US port. If the foreign port is last, Immigrations would be done in SF. Either way, if the passenger is off the ship and walking around in Juneau, there is no longer an Immigrations issue.

 

I'm not at all confused. Did you read my post with details about how immigration was handled on my most recent NE/Canada cruise? It was not conducted at the first US port after a foreign port, it was conducted at disembarkation. I've experienced the same with Caribbean cruises that made a port call at St. Thomas after a foreign port. What you're saying used to be true in ourexperience...but in our most recent cruise experiences it was not. Maybe how it's done in Key West is different than how it's done elsewhere. I also know from personal experience it has changed from time to time.

Edited January 21, 2016 by njhorseman

[Aquahound]

One is Immigration. When a cruise ship enters a US port, CBP gives a temporary clearance to enter the country, only for the stated time of the port call, since they expect to see the same number of names on the manifest when clearing to leave. This is true even for US citizens who have been on the ship and gone to a foreign port. Anyone leaving the ship early needs to clear Immigrations (CBP) formally, as if you were returning on an airplane or the cruise ship at its final destination.

 

That's interesting you say that because early debarkations of US citizens is very common in KW. Usually its because we take people off for one reason or another, or there are medical issues. The only time CBP wants to be involved is if it's a foreign national. They don't really care if they're Americans. From what they tell me, it creates more issues with the clearance of the ship than it does the individual.....if they're American.

 

On second thought, they do want a personal clearance if the immediate previous port was foreign, but that's it. If last port was US, they don't care. They still fine the ship though.

Edited January 21, 2016 by Aquahound

[zqvol]

The US government may also be looking for him since he will be in the country illegally.

 

No he won't.

[BeagleOne]

Since the OP has already contacted Princess about this issue, I would imagine that Princess would have a record of this phone call, and if they have the call logged in as coming from the OP or tied to a particular reservation, and they somehow tie the husband's not returning to the ship to this phone call, they could disembark the entire family.

 

And as for the OP's being a doctor....that's her screen name. Screen names don't necessarily reflect reality. For example, I am not a beagle.

[sail7seas]

I'm not at all confused. Did you read my post with details about how immigration was handled on my most recent NE/Canada cruise? It was not conducted at the first US port after a foreign port, it was conducted at disembarkation. I've experienced the same with Caribbean cruises that made a port call at St. Thomas after a foreign port. What you're saying used to be true in ourexperience...but in our most recent cruise experiences it was not. Maybe how it's done in Key West is different than how it's done elsewhere. I also know from personal experience it has changed from time to time.

 

Whenever we sail the return of our Canada/NE, Boston to Montreal to Boston, we clear Immigration in Bar Harbor on the return from Montreal to Boston. That is the first U.S. port since being out of the country. I've done that cruise over and over and over and that is always the routine.

 

[headhunterke]

I am not even going to give any advice on this post. This selfish behaviour is a real winner, though. Congratulations. If work's that important, stay at home or go on a holiday when work's not interupting.

Or just stay of cruise ships. Everyone will thank you for that.

[Shmoo here]

Since the OP has already contacted Princess about this issue, I would imagine that Princess would have a record of this phone call, and if they have the call logged in as coming from the OP or tied to a particular reservation, and they somehow tie the husband's not returning to the ship to this phone call, they could disembark the entire family.

 

And as for the OP's being a doctor....that's her screen name. Screen names don't necessarily reflect reality. For example, I am not a beagle.

 

Maybe in her reality she is one. She had post (since removed) on another thread about being a doctor and needing to be constantly available (24/7), even on the cruise, asking if her cell phone would work for her in this case.

 

Don't really know why that thread/post was removed, last I read it, it was fairly calm.

[freestyling]

The "Doc" has posted twice now. The 1st post was about cellphone service in Alaska to keep in touch with patients and now a thread on "leaving" ship without notice. Suggest you let your family go without you.

Edited January 22, 2016 by freestyling

[Shmoo here]

OK, :confused: now the missing post is back:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2289095

Edited January 22, 2016 by Shmoo here

[njhorseman]

Whenever we sail the return of our Canada/NE, Boston to Montreal to Boston, we clear Immigration in Bar Harbor on the return from Montreal to Boston. That is the first U.S. port since being out of the country. I've done that cruise over and over and over and that is always the routine.

 

 

I'm not making up how our last Canada/NE cruise was handled. Went from NY to Halifax and St. John, then to Bar Harbor, Boston and Newport before returning to NY. There was no immigration or customs check until our return to NY. I agree it had previously been handled just as you described.

Edited January 22, 2016 by njhorseman

[navybankerteacher]

I think you're a little confused about Immigrations. Immigrations is not conducted at the end of the cruise.....it's conducted in the first US port after a foreign port. I know this....it's an every day thing here in Key West. If this cruise goes to Victoria or Vancouver early, Immigrations would be done at the next US port. If the foreign port is last, Immigrations would be done in SF.

 

Just because you have seen it done at the first US port after a foreign port does not mean that it is always done that way. Believe it or not, there is more that happens than you might have experienced.

[Nitemare]

The "Doc" has posted twice now. The 1st post was about cellphone service in Alaska to keep in touch with patients and now a thread on "leaving" ship without notice. Suggest you let your family go without you.

 

And the OP hasn't been back since posting this important question over 30 hours ago.

 

Methinks we're being trolled.

[Aquahound]

Just because you have seen it done at the first US port after a foreign port does not mean that it is always done that way. Believe it or not, there is more that happens than you might have experienced.

 

Yes, I know that. And I still contest that while it's irresponsible, the op's husband will be in no legal trouble if he does this other than a civil issue with the cruise line.