If we miss the ship departure in San Juan can we board in St. Croix???

[Got Out There]

Sailing Jewel of the Seas which departs from San Juan, seven day southern Caribbean, no stops in ABCs....we have a conflict and may not be able to board in San Juan, next stop (following day) is St. Croix (U.S. Virgin Island).....will we be allowed to board there?

 

Had this similar issue last year where we were not able to board in Tampa, next port was Key West and we were not allowed to board there and instead joined the ship in Cozumel due to the passenger vessel services act.

 

Before I approach RCCL, I thought I would reach out to see if this is even possible....

[Clarea]

Legally, you would be able to board there because San Juan and the US Virgin Islands are exempt from the PVSA law. However, whether the cruise line would allow it is another story. I would contact them.

[Bookworm1985]

Contact the cruise line.

 

 

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[LeeW]

If you are not boarding in San Juan you definitely need to let the cruise line know in advance. Ship personnel will have to come out to the port gate and escort you in. And if the ship misses St Croix you might be there while the ship is somewhere else.

[myfuzzy]

You had booked a cruise, and unable to board at embarkation, now another cruise same issue? But, you've sailed RCCL over 60 times, you should know their policy by now.

Edited March 27, 2018 by myfuzzy

[lbjen]

You had booked a cruise, and unable to board at embarkation, now another cruise same issue?

 

Maybe they booked the cruises way ahead of time and can’t sail any other week, but things like family weddings come up in the meantime?

[Got Out There]

You had booked a cruise, and unable to board at embarkation, now another cruise same issue? But, you've sailed RCCL over 60 times, you should know their policy by now.

 

I do not know all of rccl rules and what I was looking for is other cruisers experience with this out of San Juan. And to be completely transparent we were looking at a cruise on the 29th of April out of San Juan on the Jewel. There is a great rate on the royal suite that week (might still be available) but one of us can not make it to San Juan Sunday.

 

The thought was to see if this would be difficult to join (one of us) a day late in St. Croix.

 

I am not a big poster here on cruise critic......but I value the experiences and opinions of others here. The thought was that after input from here we would decide if we would proceed with booking the cruise.

 

Perhaps if I would have shared this in the original post it would have been clearer as to why I posted on the first place.

 

Thank you for your response and other posters too.

[myfuzzy]

I do not know all of rccl rules and what I was looking for is other cruisers experience with this out of San Juan. And to be completely transparent we were looking at a cruise on the 29th of April out of San Juan on the Jewel. There is a great rate on the royal suite that week (might still be available) but one of us can not make it to San Juan Sunday.

 

The thought was to see if this would be difficult to join (one of us) a day late in St. Croix.

 

I am not a big poster here on cruise critic......but I value the experiences and opinions of others here. The thought was that after input from here we would decide if we would proceed with booking the cruise.

 

Perhaps if I would have shared this in the original post it would have been clearer as to why I posted on the first place.

 

Thank you for your response and other posters too.

 

You have to admit your question doesn't come up too often. Being that you've been on 100 or so cruises, you might have come across someone who has had your situation. It has been standard practice (but you already know that) for the cruise industry to start a cruise at point A, visit various area's and return to point B. I don't think going forward the cruise industry is going to initiate a "bus" type service, where people get on and off at their leisure, unless, and I do say "unless" laws change and they then allow such travel.

[Got Out There]

You have to admit your question doesn't come up too often. Being that you've been on 100 or so cruises, you might have come across someone who has had your situation. It has been standard practice (but you already know that) for the cruise industry to start a cruise at point A, visit various area's and return to point B. I don't think going forward the cruise industry is going to initiate a "bus" type service, where people get on and off at their leisure, unless, and I do say "unless" laws change and they then allow such travel.[/quote

 

Thank you again for your response. I appreciate that you took the time to offer your thoughts.

[mgdehoyos]

My only experience was traveling with a group of 10, one member brought her expired passport versus her current one. I won’t go through the agony of going to the port and racing the clock to get proper documentation in time ... it didn’t happen. The family member stayed behind and had to make special arrangements (at her own cost, not covered under travel insurance) and she was able to fly to Jamaica and join the cruise on day 3. There was a lot of behind the scenes stuff as names had to be left at the terminal pre-arrival for her to board, etc. key point being it can be done but you really have to talk to RCL for your options.

 

 

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[Gilgorm]

Years ago I had a cruise leaving out of San Juan in February. Unfortunately there was a severe snowstorm the day before the cruise was leaving that affected the entire Eastern seaboard including Toronto. Our flight was the day of the cruise but due to the airline trying to catch up on all of the flights that were cancelled the day before, changed my flight time many times and we finally landed in San Juan at 11:30 pm. The ship sailed away on schedule at 8:30 pm.

 

I talked with RCI earlier in the morning of my delayed flight and was recommended to arrange a flight to the next port (Tortolo) where we could join the cruise.

 

When we finally arrived at the port in Tortolo the next day, RCI reps came down and facilitated our boarding.

 

One quirky thing that we did experience in this situation was the need to surrender our passports which were not returned till disembarkation day.

We also had to leave the ship early that day due to having to go through customs in San Juan.

 

D.

[Merion_Mom]

Thank you again for your response. I appreciate that you took the time to offer your thoughts.

You are a better person than I am. ;)

[myfuzzy]

You are a better person than I am. ;)

 

Ouch! :evilsmile:

[myfuzzy]

Well, no responses in days, so going forward, have a great cruise.....If you make it, if you don't please stop back and let us know what happens.....

[MsOne]

You are a better person than I am. ;)

 

I was humbled by the responses as well.

 

That's the light I want people to see when I speak :halo:

[Slugsta]

I was humbled by the responses as well.

 

:halo:

 

Yes, me too! Such graciousness is, IMO, rare on any type of discussion forum.

[Biker19]

[cruisinfanatic]

You had booked a cruise, and unable to board at embarkation, now another cruise same issue? But, you've sailed RCCL over 60 times, you should know their policy by now.

I would think the op should start planning better

[Merion_Mom]

Thank you, Biker. 😄😄😇