How much does it cost to get off a cruise ship early?

[Tracela]

Myself, my husband and daughter have requested to get off a day earlier, in Livorna (June 23), than our sched disembarkation in Civitavecchia. We have been granted permission to do this, but are being advised by Holland America Cruise line, that we may have to pay fees at the port to do this! Also, we are unsure how long it will take to get thru immigration at this port.

 

Does anyone have any experience here on how long the process will take and what the costs may be? We are sched to dock at 7am and are trying to catch a flight out of Pisa at 12:45...

[navybankerteacher]

Sounds like a gamble - if it is a local flight, you might be OK - but still want to be at airport by 10:45.  If your clearance is a real exception, the timing might be too tight. I love Italy and the Italians, but their beaurocracy can be something glacial.  If there are other ships debarking that AM, you might be in luck, but if special arrangements must be made I think expense and time might be too much.

 

Also, just getting out of Livorno port area can be a hassle .  I hope you would have reliable car service pre-arranged.

Edited June 6, 2019 by navybankerteacher
Missed point

[Tracela]

Thank you for the insight and heads up...

[pris993]

We  have done this in France... without any issue or extra expense, on Princess.   The only think I have to offer is what day of the week are you getting to LIvorno?   Suspect weekdays are better than weekends and Sundays... in terms of time involved waiting for special arrangements, just a guess.  

[Essiesmom]

If you previous port is an EU port, there will not be any customs or immigration.  EM

[Tracela]

Our previous port the day before is Monaco.

 

[Hlitner]

You should not have any formalities at Livorno.  The ship will generally be cleared within 20 minutes of docking and then everyone is free to come and go.  As long as the ship keeps to its schedule you should have no problem making your flight.  The drive from the port to Pisa International should take about 20-25 minutes.   I cannot think of any fees that would be charged by the Italians (to disembark).  One disturbing trend is that a few cruise lines are starting to charge their own fees for early disembarkation but we are not aware of HAL playing this game.

 

Hank

[MicCanberra]

I do not foresee any issues barring the costs may need to be paid there and then.

[K32682]

Which cruise lines are charging for early departure, what are they charging and why? 

 

 

Edited June 6, 2019 by K32682

[SRF]

RCI charges $65 for the port fees to disembark at a port that is not a normal disembarkation.

 

This is to cover the fees charged to get immigration and customs people to clear the disembarking passengers.

 

If other ships are ending cruises there on the same day, there should be no reason for a charge.  Although the cruise line/ship does have some paperwork to modify the manifest for the final port.

[mom says]

Celebrity charges a similar fee. 

[K32682]

3 hours ago, SRF said:

RCI charges $65 for the port fees to disembark at a port that is not a normal disembarkation.

 

This is to cover the fees charged to get immigration and customs people to clear the disembarking passengers.

 

If other ships are ending cruises there on the same day, there should be no reason for a charge.  Although the cruise line/ship does have some paperwork to modify the manifest for the final port.

 

A port fee is reasonable if it is pass-through cost covering a third-party charge. It is not reasonable if the lines are charging people simply for their paperwork.  It would be worth seeking an explanation and a justification for an additional fee for an early disembarkation. 

[chengkp75]

2 hours ago, K32682 said:

 

A port fee is reasonable if it is pass-through cost covering a third-party charge. It is not reasonable if the lines are charging people simply for their paperwork.  It would be worth seeking an explanation and a justification for an additional fee for an early disembarkation. 

It is not a port fee, it is a downstream disembark fee.  And it is reasonable to charge for paperwork that would not be needed to be done, and filing fees for that paperwork, had your request not been made.  As others have said, it covers the additional cost to have customs officials clear you for disembarkation, as well as for cruises that start/end in the US, the additional cost of submitting a new passenger manifest partway through the cruise.

[Tracela]

Holland Am is not charging us to get off early. They have just suggested that the Port Authority in Livorna may charge us some unknown fee! However, from what I am reading there it should not be any cost incurred to us...

I really appreciate all the feed back from everyone.

[K32682]

1 hour ago, chengkp75 said:

It is not a port fee, it is a downstream disembark fee.  And it is reasonable to charge for paperwork that would not be needed to be done, and filing fees for that paperwork, had your request not been made.  As others have said, it covers the additional cost to have customs officials clear you for disembarkation, as well as for cruises that start/end in the US, the additional cost of submitting a new passenger manifest partway through the cruise.

 

It would depend on the size of the charge.  I would seek a justification of the amount and discuss the matter further if I regarded the charge as excessive.  

[Hlitner]

5 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

It is not a port fee, it is a downstream disembark fee.  And it is reasonable to charge for paperwork that would not be needed to be done, and filing fees for that paperwork, had your request not been made.  As others have said, it covers the additional cost to have customs officials clear you for disembarkation, as well as for cruises that start/end in the US, the additional cost of submitting a new passenger manifest partway through the cruise.

It is a very rare day that I would ever disagree with any of your knowledgeable posts.  But in this case we are talking "Italy" where any "downstream" agony is minimal..if it even exists :).   And the cruise line will save some costs with the passengers off the ship early (i.e. no food).

 

Hank