Leaving cruise a day early- who do we contact at Princess

[Sarnia 432]

We have an upcoming cruise and want to leave the ship a day early, in Victoria rather than Vancouver.  Does anyone know who we should contact at Princess to arrange this?

[Fouremco]

Try the general support number:  1-800-774-6237

[Sarnia 432]

Thanks everyone, I will let you know how we get on

[lost4sure]

Hello Sarnia 432,

 

I also wanted to disembark in Victoria on the Princess Royal May 14 to 28 cruise.  I applied for a deviation request and Princess denied the request.  Pre-covid, I have disembarked in Victoria many times with HAL with no issue except once due to mechanical (propulsion) issue. There were over 40 Victorians on that cruise and HAL shuttled them back to Victoria.  I didn't take the offer because the shuttle is not handicapped accessible for my Dad.  

Lost4sure

[ALD18]

I've seen similar requests on other forums and the usual answer was no you cannot.  Not sure how they could control you if you inadvertently "missed" the ship, but suspect they may have a rather stern follow up call with you afterwards. Getting all your stuff packed and off the ship may be a clue to challenge you as well. 

[Fouremco]

3 hours ago, ALD18 said:

I've seen similar requests on other forums and the usual answer was no you cannot.  Not sure how they could control you if you inadvertently "missed" the ship, but suspect they may have a rather stern follow up call with you afterwards. Getting all your stuff packed and off the ship may be a clue to challenge you as well. 

In the majority of cases, a request is refused because the early departure would result in a PVSA infraction. For example, take a Caribbean RT cruise out of Miami that has Key West as its last port of call before returning to Miami. You can't disembark in Key West as that would be a PVSA violation. In the OP's case, disembarking in Victoria instead of Vancouver creates no such infraction. Another consideration in many of these cases is whether the country where the passenger wishes to disembark early is willing to allow them entry (as opposed to visiting for the day as cruise passengers). As Canada is the country of disembarkation in either case, there is no issue on this account.

[Sarnia 432]

Update - we did contact the Route Deviation Desk, but were told we could not get off in Victoria.  However they apologized and upgraded us from our inside cabin to a mini suite at no charge!

[ringers0815]

We disembarked early once with Princess (and once with Costa). Both times we just notified Guests Services when we were on the ship, they had us fill out a form where they asked the reason for early disembarkation and we just indicated we were doing this for personal reasons. Both times we disembarked in the same country where the cruise was to end (once in the UAE and once in Australia). The time with Princess was in March 2020, when the pandemic was spreading quickly and we just decided we wanted to fly home earlier than planned. We disembarked in Australia (Perth instead of Sydney) and flew home from there.

[Fouremco]

27 minutes ago, Sarnia 432 said:

Update - we did contact the Route Deviation Desk, but were told we could not get off in Victoria.  However they apologized and upgraded us from our inside cabin to a mini suite at no charge!

Strange. Did they provide any rationale for the refusal?

[Sarnia 432]

Timing - the cruise is on Friday

[Fouremco]

1 minute ago, Sarnia 432 said:

Timing - the cruise is on Friday

LOL. I don't know what the day of the week has to do with it, but I guess they don't want you missing your last night aboard. 

[Sarnia 432]

1 hour ago, Fouremco said:

day of the week

Friday as in 2 days time.

[Blackduck59]

Interesting, we just did an early disembarkation in Victoria off of Viking Orion. We asked our travel agent, and the request was approved. Different lines I guess. 

[LHT28]

I would ask the purser onboard 

[LHT28]

3 hours ago, ringers0815 said:

We disembarked early once with Princess (and once with Costa). Both times we just notified Guests Services when we were on the ship, they had us fill out a form where they asked the reason for early disembarkation and we just indicated we were doing this for personal reasons. Both times we disembarked in the same country where the cruise was to end (once in the UAE and once in Australia). The time with Princess was in March 2020, when the pandemic was spreading quickly and we just decided we wanted to fly home earlier than planned. We disembarked in Australia (Perth instead of Sydney) and flew home from there.

Totally different  situation

 some Countries  do not allow disembarking early  as noted   out of USA ports

[Fouremco]

2 hours ago, Sarnia 432 said:

Friday as in 2 days time.

Ah. Maybe they feel that they need a bit more lead time. 

[em-sk]

9 hours ago, Sarnia 432 said:

Update - we did contact the Route Deviation Desk, but were told we could not get off in Victoria.  However they apologized and upgraded us from our inside cabin to a mini suite at no charge!

 

I have done this before with NCL.  There were a bit more honest.  The call center staff basically said it is discouraged but they don't actually know the answer.  The question would have to be answered by the ship board staff as they are aware of local customs regulations for the specific port.  

 

Once on the ship they had no problem with the request.  I would ask once your on the ship.

 

In my case it was Istabul.  For a cruise visit there is no visa requirement for Canadians but there is for a longer stay or transit.  Since I was leaving the ship in Turkey, this Purser collected my passport the day before so it could be presented with the passports for some of the crew that were also leaving when the ship was cleared.   It was then retuned to me with visa and stamp added.  

 

Canada is going to be much simpler. 

Edited April 28, 2022 by em-sk

[DirtyDawg]

13 hours ago, Fouremco said:

Ah. Maybe they feel that they need a bit more lead time. 

 

14 hours ago, LHT28 said:

I would ask the purser onboard 

Note to self for our next Princess Alaskan cruise.

 

Book down from our usual balcony cabin save some bucks.  Right after boarding ask to disembark at Victoria, get upgraded to a suite. Hop on a Harbour Air flight from Victoria harbour to Vancouver harbour and beat the crowds disembarking the ship. 🏆

[Halo19]

Hmm.  This is something my husband and I may like to do.

 

Doing an Alaskan cruise starting and ending in Seattle.  Last port is Victoria Canada. 

 

We would much rather get off there and spend a day or two extra around British Columbia then going back to Seattle.

[Blackduck59]

9 minutes ago, Halo19 said:

Hmm.  This is something my husband and I may like to do.

 

Doing an Alaskan cruise starting and ending in Seattle.  Last port is Victoria Canada. 

 

We would much rather get off there and spend a day or two extra around British Columbia then going back to Seattle.

 

I think the OP was inquiring about getting off in Victoria because that was their home town.

When we got off of Viking Orion a day early here in Victoria it was because we were getting off in our home port in Canada with the final port also in Canada.

Your situation may run afoul of the PVSA, I'm not sure.

You could easily spend a week exploring Vancouver Island without even getting to the mainland.

[Oscar13]

We are doing the roundtrip Seattle to Alaska in June, with a stopover in Victoria to satisfy the PVSA.  I asked if we could get off in Victoria and was told no.  So now we have a flight from Seattle back to Victoria.

 

Karen and Kevin

[bookbabe]

6 hours ago, Oscar13 said:

We are doing the roundtrip Seattle to Alaska in June, with a stopover in Victoria to satisfy the PVSA.  I asked if we could get off in Victoria and was told no.  So now we have a flight from Seattle back to Victoria.

 

Karen and Kevin

We have the same problem for our NCL cruise out of Seattle this weekend.  My mom lives in Comox, and it would have meant a lot easier travel for her if my brother could have picked her up at the port in Victoria on Saturday night rather than her having to deal with tight connecting flights from Seattle to Comox on Sunday.

[em-sk]

4 hours ago, bookbabe said:

We have the same problem for our NCL cruise out of Seattle this weekend.  My mom lives in Comox, and it would have meant a lot easier travel for her if my brother could have picked her up at the port in Victoria on Saturday night rather than her having to deal with tight connecting flights from Seattle to Comox on Sunday.

 

Once your on the ship ask at the customer service counter.  

 

 

[em-sk]

10 hours ago, Oscar13 said:

We are doing the roundtrip Seattle to Alaska in June, with a stopover in Victoria to satisfy the PVSA.  I asked if we could get off in Victoria and was told no.  So now we have a flight from Seattle back to Victoria.

 

Karen and Kevin

 

The PVSA act is not violated by you getting off in Victoria.  If they said no it is for some other reason.

 

[bookbabe]

On 5/2/2022 at 11:36 PM, em-sk said:

 

The PVSA act is not violated by you getting off in Victoria.  If they said no it is for some other reason.

 

 

On 5/2/2022 at 11:33 PM, em-sk said:

 

Once your on the ship ask at the customer service counter.  

 

 

Asked again, this time phoning the NCL shoreside concierge desk instead of my PCC…got a yes, so my brother is going to come and get our mom in Victoria on the last night of the cruise instead of her traveling back to Seattle to fly back to Comox.  Saves her so much travel, very happy about this.  Thanks for the idea.