getting on ship at different port?

[Hsmama]

are there hard and fast rules about when you get on the ship,or does it vary from line to line? Is it allowed to possibly book a cruise,but not actually get on the ship till the 1st stop? I was looking at a cruise that's r/t from NYC,1st stop is port canaveral. Would we be able to book that, but not get onboard till Port Canaveral,and take remainder of the cruise as  normal? 

[LHT28]

in this  case you probably would not be able to board in a US port due to the PVSA

but  you can always ask the cruise line

I am sure you will get lots of other answers

[1025cruise]

In this case, definitely not due to PVSA. 

[Flatbush Flyer]

26 minutes ago, Hsmama said:

are there hard and fast rules about when you get on the ship..

Yes.

Your TA or the cruise line itself can clarify and/or make arrangements if possible.

 

[BillB48]

There might be other answers, but the first answer is the correct answer!  By boarding in Port Canaveral, you would in effect be transported between 2 US ports (Canaveral and New York) by a non-US vessel. Contrary to the PVSA.

[Shmoo here]

51 minutes ago, Hsmama said:

are there hard and fast rules

Well, there's a law - the Passenger Vessel Services Act.

[paul929207]

You would be denied boarding.

[Kartgv]

All the previous comments about PVSA are correct.    If, however, you were talking about a different boarding port, one that was not affected by PVSA, you still can't just get on the ship without prior approval (which I'd have in writing) from the cruise line.    They have rules they must follow about passenger manifests, for example, and must have appropriate personnel available to check you in and complete all the necessary paperwork.   

Edited January 6, 2019 by Kartgv

[GUT2407]

1 hour ago, BillB48 said:

There might be other answers, but the first answer is the correct answer!  By boarding in Port Canaveral, you would in effect be transported between 2 US ports (Canaveral and New York) by a non-US vessel. Contrary to the PVSA.

Depends on if it visits a qualifying port.

[GUT2407]

2 hours ago, Hsmama said:

are there hard and fast rules about when you get on the ship,or does it vary from line to line? Is it allowed to possibly book a cruise,but not actually get on the ship till the 1st stop? I was looking at a cruise that's r/t from NYC,1st stop is port canaveral. Would we be able to book that, but not get onboard till Port Canaveral,and take remainder of the cruise as  normal? 

Once again you are being given advice that may be wrong you will not breach the PVSA if your cruise includes a port that qualifies under the act, as you haven’t told us your itinerary, any answer is pure speculation and in any event a call to the cruise line will give you the correct answer, there may also be other issues involved including availability of security and check in.

[Shmoo here]

6 minutes ago, GUT2407 said:

Once again you are being given advice that may be wrong you will not breach the PVSA if your cruise includes a port that qualifies under the act, as you haven’t told us your itinerary, any answer is pure speculation and in any event a call to the cruise line will give you the correct answer, there may also be other issues involved including availability of security and check in.

Are there many round trip NYC cruises that visit a distant foreign port?  That have Port Canaveral as their first port.

Edited January 6, 2019 by Shmoo here

[Go-Bucks!]

1 hour ago, BillB48 said:

By boarding in Port Canaveral, you would in effect be transported between 2 US ports (Canaveral and New York) by a non-US vessel. Contrary to the PVSA.

 

My next cruise starts in NYC then embarks more people at the next port, Miami. No ports between NYC and MIA. 

 

How is that allowed if the OP's situation isn't?

[Shmoo here]

2 minutes ago, Go-Bucks! said:

 

My next cruise starts in NYC then embarks more people at the next port, Miami. No ports between NYC and MIA. 

 

How is that allowed if the OP's situation isn't?

What's the itinerary?  They can embark, but not DISembark passengers there.

 

Basically the law says "no foreign flagged ship can embark passengers in one US port and disembark the same passengers in a different US port without a stop at a distant foreign port."  A DISTANT foreign port is "any port NOT in North America, Central America, the Bermuda Islands, or the West Indies (including the Bahama Islands, but not including the Leeward Islands of the Netherlands Antilles, i.e., Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao)."

 

Our Boston to San Diego cruise also embarked passengers in Ft Lauderdale, but no one got off there.  We stopped in Aruba on that cruise.  

[GUT2407]

7 minutes ago, Go-Bucks! said:

 

My next cruise starts in NYC then embarks more people at the next port, Miami. No ports between NYC and MIA. 

 

How is that allowed if the OP's situation isn't?

Depends on the rest of the itinerary.

 

[cherylandtk]

Go-Bucks, Your cruise is a world cruise that will visit distant foreign ports on its itinerary before returning to the US.  OP is on a RT cruise out of New York and thus has to abide by the PVSA rules regarding transport between two different US ports.

[sanger727]

45 minutes ago, Go-Bucks! said:

 

My next cruise starts in NYC then embarks more people at the next port, Miami. No ports between NYC and MIA. 

 

How is that allowed if the OP's situation isn't?

 

I think people are making the assumption that the OPs cruise is round trip to New York with stops in the Bahamas/Caribbean only. Bahamas/Caribbean do not qualify as ‘distant foreign ports’ so the embark in Florida and disembark at the end in New York would not be permitted. If the cruise ports in anything considered a ‘distant foreign port’; there’s no PVSA violation so embarking and disembarking in multiple ports will just depend on cruise line policy.

 

What could not happen on your cruise is if someone embarked on New York and then disembarked in Miami without traveling to a distant foreign port in between.

Edited January 6, 2019 by sanger727

[Heidi13]

3 hours ago, Hsmama said:

are there hard and fast rules about when you get on the ship,or does it vary from line to line? Is it allowed to possibly book a cruise,but not actually get on the ship till the 1st stop? I was looking at a cruise that's r/t from NYC,1st stop is port canaveral. Would we be able to book that, but not get onboard till Port Canaveral,and take remainder of the cruise as  normal? 

Based on the information you provided, it is impossible to provide a definitive answer.

 

Since it is a R/T cruise. the US PVSA require the ship to visit any foreign port, but if you board in Port Canaveral the cruise is no longer R/T and the PVSA now requires you to visit a "Distant Foreign Port". The only Caribbean ports meeting this definition are the ABC Islands  (Aruba, Bonaire or Curacao). So unless the R/T cruise is visiting one of these ports, or South America/Worldwide port, you would be in contravention of PVSA. I think it unlikely a R/T cruise from NYC gets down to ABC Islands.

 

If it was in compliance with PVSA, you would still require cruise line approval prior to the cruise and may be subject to additional costs.

[Heidi13]

1 hour ago, Go-Bucks! said:

 

My next cruise starts in NYC then embarks more people at the next port, Miami. No ports between NYC and MIA. 

 

How is that allowed if the OP's situation isn't?

Go-Bucks - I believe the WC has NYC, Miami & LA as the 3 embarkation ports. The PVSA does not prevent US passengers boarding in multiple ports, but it does consider which port you embarked and disembark and the ports visited.

 

Prior to going through the Canal, you stop at Cartegena, which is considered a distant foreign port. Therefore, passengers that board in NYC & Miami could complete the whole World Cruise or even disembark in LA.

[S1drfl]

FWIW, using the search engine of a large online TA, and based on the OP's comment that the cruise in question is r/t from NYC, I found the following for Feb. 2019 to Feb. 2020:

 

Norwegian Dawn makes one run to the ABC's, but does not call at Port Canaveral.  

 

Carnival Sunrise makes one Panama Canal Partial Transit run, but does not call at Port Canaveral.

 

Couldn't find any r/t's that call at either Recife or Rio de Janeiro.

 

Looks like the no's are likely to be correct.