Partial cruise

[Abc300900]

We are looking at a cruise that departs Fort Lauderdale and stops four places and then sails for two days back to Fort Lauderdale. The last stop is Aruba. I know Carnival does not officially sell partial cruises but if we wanted to take this cruise we would need to depart in Aruba and fly home from there. Is there any way Carnival could stop us? I'm guessing we just say we had an emergency.

[k2excursion]

No problem, and no need to lie. It's not all that unusual for people to debark in a port of call, although it's typically not a planned thing. My friends tried a cruise for their honeymoon, and found out that cruising isn't for them. They got motion sickness and debarked in Cozumel, stayed there for a few days, then flew home. So you don't really need to make up a story of why you "need" to disembark, but there's also no need to let them know ahead of time. On that morning you arrive in Aruba, just go to guest services, and let them know that you are disembarking there, so they can close out your account & know to not be looking for you at the end of the day. They'll probably ask why, not only to be friendly, but also to make sure that it's not because of something terrible that they did.

 

There are some rare situations where people might have a problem with disembarking in a port of call, but that won't apply to you. If they started in a US port (within the 50 states--territories are exempt), then had a different US port of call in the itinerary (such as Key West), it would be a violation of a law to disembark there, unless they had visited a "distant" foreign port. Aruba actually is considered distant, just as a side note. But disembarking in a foreign port is certainly not a problem.

Edited May 18, 2016 by k2excursion

[GUT2407]

You will pay the whole fare though.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

No problem, and no need to lie. It's not all that unusual for people to debark in a port of call, although it's typically not a planned thing. My friends tried a cruise for their honeymoon, and found out that cruising isn't for them. They got motion sickness and debarked in Cozumel, stayed there for a few days, then flew home. So you don't really need to make up a story of why you "need" to disembark, but there's also no need to let them know ahead of time. On that morning you arrive in Aruba, just go to guest services, and let them know that you are disembarking there, so they can close out your account & know to not be looking for you at the end of the day. They'll probably ask why, not only to be friendly, but also to make sure that it's not because of something terrible that they did.

 

There are some rare situations where people might have a problem with disembarking in a port of call, but that won't apply to you. If they started in a US port (within the 50 states--territories are exempt), then had a different US port of call in the itinerary (such as Key West), it would be a violation of a law to disembark there, unless they had visited a "distant" foreign port. Aruba actually is considered distant, just as a side note. But disembarking in a foreign port is certainly not a problem.

 

Could you elaborate on this? I assume you are talking about the PVSA when you mention this.

 

I'm wondering why it would be a violation of the law if the ship stopped at Key West during the cruise but they elected to get off in say Cozumel?

 

I've understood the PVSA if indeed that is what you are referring to mean you couldn't start at one US port and get off at another U.S. port if they hadn't visited a distant foreign port.

 

I didn't know stopping at a U.S. port during your itinerary had any bearing in the matter.

 

It's probably obvious but it's late and I probably shouldn't even post this or I simply misunderstood the initial response.

 

Bill

[poolreader]

The only issue I can see is that sometimes a cruise has a change in the order of the ports last minute due to weather. Also, sometimes they do not make it to a specific port. You would need to have contingency plans.

[k2excursion]

Could you elaborate on this? I assume you are talking about the PVSA when you mention this.

 

I'm wondering why it would be a violation of the law if the ship stopped at Key West during the cruise but they elected to get off in say Cozumel?

 

I've understood the PVSA if indeed that is what you are referring to mean you couldn't start at one US port and get off at another U.S. port if they hadn't visited a distant foreign port.

 

I didn't know stopping at a U.S. port during your itinerary had any bearing in the matter.

 

It's probably obvious but it's late and I probably shouldn't even post this or I simply misunderstood the initial response.

 

Bill

 

If a cruise begins in Galveston, and the ports of call is are Nassau, Freeport, & Key West, the passenger cannot disembark in Key West (Florida) without violating that law. In the eyes of the law, that would be a cruise that started in one US port, then ended in a different US port for that particular passenger, and no distant foreign port was visited. That is not allowed under this law. The passenger could disembark in Nassau or Freeport just fine, just not Key West. This is probably exactly what you were thinking, and it's what I was meaning in my 1st post, but I must not have made that clear.

 

For the OP, poolreader brings up some great points that should be considered. You are not guaranteed to make the port or that the order remain as planned. I had ports cancelled in 4 of my first 5 cruises, with only 1 of those happening more than a couple days before sailing. But since then, I am 9 out of 10 in reaching every port & in the planned order from the original plans.

Edited May 18, 2016 by k2excursion

[chengkp75]

While k2 is correct in that the ship cannot hold you hostage, and you can get off in any port, even in violation of the PVSA (though that invites a fine on the cruise line, which your ticket contract allows them to pass to you), there are several considerations to consider.

 

In the past, "upstream" disembarkation was a common practice, but within the last 2-3 years, CBP has changed how they handle passenger screening for re-entry into the US. They use the information on the passenger manifest provided by the cruise line at embarkation to screen passengers throughout the cruise. Since they have several days to screen passengers, the disembarkation "interview" with CBP is very brief. When a passenger disembarks mid-cruise, a new manifest must be submitted to CBP, and they now treat this as a "new" cruise, one beginning in a foreign port, and without the same time frame as the original, so CBP handles the disembarkation interview in a different way, and this can cause delays if not enough agents were scheduled. Because of the complaints of delays, and the cost of submitting a new manifest, most cruise lines in the past couple of years have discouraged upstream disembarkation. It will probably result in no more than a "black mark" on your file with that cruise line, possibly affecting future bookings. Also, passengers permanently disembarking in a foreign port will have to be cleared separately from the remainder of the guests, and this may or may not result in added cost to the cruise line, which they may require you to pay.

[Abc300900]

Thanks for all the responses. Your comments jive with the research I did online, so thanks for the reassurances. I think we will go ahead and book it!

[gtalum]

We are looking at a cruise that departs Fort Lauderdale and stops four places and then sails for two days back to Fort Lauderdale. The last stop is Aruba. I know Carnival does not officially sell partial cruises but if we wanted to take this cruise we would need to depart in Aruba and fly home from there. Is there any way Carnival could stop us? I'm guessing we just say we had an emergency.

 

There is no problem with this at all as long as the debarkation port is not in the US.

 

Just make sure to let guest services know before you debark so that they aren't looking for you when it's time to depart.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

If a cruise begins in Galveston, and the ports of call is are Nassau, Freeport, & Key West, the passenger cannot disembark in Key West (Florida) without violating that law. In the eyes of the law, that would be a cruise that started in one US port, then ended in a different US port for that particular passenger, and no distant foreign port was visited. That is not allowed under this law. The passenger could disembark in Nassau or Freeport just fine, just not Key West. This is probably exactly what you were thinking, and it's what I was meaning in my 1st post, but I must not have made that clear.

 

For the OP, poolreader brings up some great points that should be considered. You are not guaranteed to make the port or that the order remain as planned. I had ports cancelled in 4 of my first 5 cruises, with only 1 of those happening more than a couple days before sailing. But since then, I am 9 out of 10 in reaching every port & in the planned order from the original plans.

 

OK thanks for the clarification. I misinterpreted your response.

 

When you said if the if it had Key West "in" the itinerary that threw me off.

 

Bill