New England Cruises

[tmduffy]

I've searched multiple cruise lines and can not find a cruise itinerary that only includes New England ports and not Canada. Are there any cruises that would be considered east coast and New England without stopping in Canadian ports?

[CruiserBruce]

Welcome to Cruise Critic!

 

There are a number of laws about this. There maybe one or two small, specialized cruise lines that can do it, but generally, the laws require a stop in a foreign country for a roundtrip cruise out of a US port. So, in this case, there would need to be at least one Canadian port.

[Essiesmom]

Look at American Cruise Lines.  Small ships, but just the itineraries you want.  They are American registered so they can cruise america without visiting a foreign port.  None of the big cruise lines are American registered, so they cannot do an itinerary without visiting a foreign port.  EM

[Hlitner]

The Passenger Vessel Services Act (PVSA) generally prohibits cruises between American ports without a stop at a "distant foreign port."  The Law (which goes back to the 1886) essentially forces nearly all the cruise lines to include at least one Canadian port.  A very few American owned cruise lines that have an American crew and use American built ships, are exempt.

 

Hank

[navybankerteacher]

5 hours ago, tmduffy said:

I've searched multiple cruise lines and can not find a cruise itinerary that only includes New England ports and not Canada. Are there any cruises that would be considered east coast and New England without stopping in Canadian ports?

Yes - American Cruise Lines.

[CruiserBruce]

13 hours ago, Hlitner said:

The Passenger Vessel Services Act (PVSA) generally prohibits cruises between American ports without a stop at a "distant foreign port."  The Law (which goes back to the 1886) essentially forces nearly all the cruise lines to include at least one Canadian port.  A very few American owned cruise lines that have an American crew and use American built ships, are exempt.

 

Hank

Hank, a round trip out of a US port, in this example, Boston, can visit a foreign port to meet the PVSA requirements. The 'distant foreign port" requirement does apply to the concept of a roundtrip out of Boston, or New York or similar for a New England cruise. Just like Alaska cruises, or Caribbean cruises, or Mexican Rivera cruises. 

[1025cruise]

As previously stated, all of the major cruise lines doing New England have to go to Canada for the cruise to be legal. You would need to look at a smaller line, like America Cruise Lines to avoid that stop. With that said, the cost for ACL is also 3x the majors.

[navybankerteacher]

1 hour ago, CruiserBruce said:

Hank, a round trip out of a US port, in this example, Boston, can visit a foreign port to meet the PVSA requirements. The 'distant foreign port" requirement does apply to the concept of a roundtrip out of Boston, or New York or similar for a New England cruise. Just like Alaska cruises, or Caribbean cruises, or Mexican Rivera cruises. 

It’s not the area cruised which calls for the “distant foreign port” stop - it is if the cruise is not a round trip - returning to port of origin.  Halifax (the usual stop for a round trip out of Boston or New York) is not considered “distant” - it is just a “foreign” port.  If a line wanted to offer a New England cruise starting in New York and ending in Boston, the “foreign” port would have to be something like Cartagena or Southampton.

[Zach1213]

Would be neat to have a New England + Bermuda cruise (Mass. + Maine + Bermuda), but alas, I am not sure if that exists. 

[chengkp75]

2 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

If a line wanted to offer a New England cruise starting in New York and ending in Boston, the “foreign” port would have to be something like Cartagena or Southampton.

While further from NYC or Boston than say the ABC islands, but closer than Southampton (even Cork would be closer), Nuuk in Greenland is a more logical "distant" port.  Even though Greenland is geographically considered part of North America, it is considered as "distant" ports, which is how the Northwest Passage cruises were allowed from Alaska to NY.

[1025cruise]

1 hour ago, Zach1213 said:

Would be neat to have a New England + Bermuda cruise (Mass. + Maine + Bermuda), but alas, I am not sure if that exists. 

Last summer, NCL was doing a Boston round trip to Bermuda with a stop at Bar Harbor.

[LHT28]

Look at Blount cruises if  they are still around

they  the east coast & Hudson river

 

Some lines to the Bermuda  run from NYC/BOSTON areas  no Canadian ports but usually spring to fall 

[chengkp75]

2 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

Look at Blount cruises if  they are still around

they  the east coast & Hudson river

 

Some lines to the Bermuda  run from NYC/BOSTON areas  no Canadian ports but usually spring to fall 

Blount folded.

[GeezerCouple]

5 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

Look at Blount cruises if  they are still around

they  the east coast & Hudson river

 

Some lines to the Bermuda  run from NYC/BOSTON areas  no Canadian ports but usually spring to fall 

 

The Bermuda cruises from NYC are still going, and it's departing very late today due to the storm.

I'm not sure if the sailings from Boston are year-round.

 

The Boston route used to stop at Bar Harbor, but I think they (the BH folks) have imposed a limit on ship size starting at some point in the future.  The itinerary may substitute Portland (Maine), but I'm not sure if that is definite, or if there are other ports of call.

However, the extra port takes time away from Bermuda...

GC

[LHT28]

7 minutes ago, GeezerCouple said:

 

The Bermuda cruises from NYC are still going, and it's departing very late today due to the storm.

I'm not sure if the sailings from Boston are year-round.

 

The Boston route used to stop at Bar Harbor, but I think they (the BH folks) have imposed a limit on ship size starting at some point in the future.  The itinerary may substitute Portland (Maine), but I'm not sure if that is definite, or if there are other ports of call.

However, the extra port takes time away from Bermuda...

GC

Thanks  I did not think Bermuda would be worth it in the winter  but  we have gone spring & summer

[njhorseman]

13 minutes ago, GeezerCouple said:

 

The Bermuda cruises from NYC are still going, and it's departing very late today due to the storm.

I'm not sure if the sailings from Boston are year-round.

 

The Boston route used to stop at Bar Harbor, but I think they (the BH folks) have imposed a limit on ship size starting at some point in the future.  The itinerary may substitute Portland (Maine), but I'm not sure if that is definite, or if there are other ports of call.

However, the extra port takes time away from Bermuda...

GC

 

6 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

Thanks  I did not think Bermuda would be worth it in the winter  but  we have gone spring & summer

It's not what what is normally called a Bermuda cruise any more than a transatlantic repositioning cruise that stops in Bermuda.

Today's cruise on Norwegian Gem that's delayed is a Panama Canal cruise that was scheduled to make a very brief port call in Bermuda as the first stop on its itinerary.  With the ship being held in NYC it wouldn't be possible to stop in Bermuda without disrupting the entire remaining itinerary. 

 

[navybankerteacher]

33 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

 

It's not what what is normally called a Bermuda cruise any more than a transatlantic repositioning cruise that stops in Bermuda.

Today's cruise on Norwegian Gem that's delayed is a Panama Canal cruise that was scheduled to make a very brief port call in Bermuda as the first stop on its itinerary.  With the ship being held in NYC it wouldn't be possible to stop in Bermuda without disrupting the entire remaining itinerary. 

 

Have they cancelled the Bermuda stop?  Generally cruises have the ability to make up for a few hours of delay by increasing speed  - I suppose it would depend upon how many hours were involved for them to get to Bermuda soon enough to make the effort worth while. Increasing speed by 2 knots on a 36 hour leg could cure a few hours’ delayed sailing.

[njhorseman]

51 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

Have they cancelled the Bermuda stop?  Generally cruises have the ability to make up for a few hours of delay by increasing speed  - I suppose it would depend upon how many hours were involved for them to get to Bermuda soon enough to make the effort worth while. Increasing speed by 2 knots on a 36 hour leg could cure a few hours’ delayed sailing.

The port call was canceled.  Right now they’re not inclined to use the extra fuel needed to go full bore to make up for the lost time. In fact they've been shaving time off their port call schedules to allow somewhat slower cruising speeds between ports in order to save fuel. 

 

[navybankerteacher]

4 hours ago, njhorseman said:

... In fact they've been shaving time off their port call schedules to allow somewhat slower cruising speeds between ports in order to save fuel. 

 

I guess it is just one more cost-cutting measure.  I first really noticed them about 15 years ago when HAL stopped serving fresh-squeezed OJ (at no charge) for breakfast in the Lido.