Help! DCL says my plans violate Pass Vessel act

[_auroraborealis_]

Not sure it is discouraging anything since only 1 major ocean cruise ship is registered in the United States.

Well, yes, it is discouraging coastwise commerce for non-US flagged vessels. It is working.

 

[amym2]

Has anyone booked the San Diego to Vancouver then B2B Hawaii cruises recently? I just called DCL, and they told me this is allowed. But based on this thread, it shouldn't be, correct?

 

[hrhdhd]

Has anyone booked the San Diego to Vancouver then B2B Hawaii cruises recently? I just called DCL, and they told me this is allowed. But based on this thread, it shouldn't be, correct?

Deleting this post. I was confused. Sorry.

 

[cdoc29]

So how do one way cruises work where they start in one US port and finish in another US port with a stop in another country along way? (Such as the Panama Canal Cruises) Why wouldn't that be the same as starting in San Diego finishing in Hawaii with a stop in Vancouver along the way?

 

[_auroraborealis_]

So how do one way cruises work where they start in one US port and finish in another US port with a stop in another country along way? (Such as the Panama Canal Cruises) Why wouldn't that be the same as starting in San Diego finishing in Hawaii with a stop in Vancouver along the way?

The law only looks at where a passenger gets on a ship and where that same passenger permanently debarks the same ship. The disembark in Vancouver for the SD-Hawaii route, on the same ship, is not counted as a disembark legally.

The PC cruises visit a "distant foreign port." A distant foreign port is described as 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)." 19 CFR § 4.80a(a)(2). " Cartagena, Colombia is in South America and meets definitions of DFP.

Vancouver is not a DFP but as an embark city for Alaska, they are doing closed-loops, which makes it legal. For Vancouver to Hawaii, it again is okay because it is either closed loop as a B2B (embark/disembark in Vancouver), or one way between a US and foreign port, and is not coastwise. But going SD-Vancouver-Hawaii is not legal because disembarkation between itineraries is not counted and the ship is being used for transportation between US ports.

 

[Quellman]

Has anyone booked the San Diego to Vancouver then B2B Hawaii cruises recently? I just called DCL, and they told me this is allowed. But based on this thread, it shouldn't be, correct?

Disney knows best.
Since on your total trip transit would be San Diego to Vancouver, no issue.

If you end up anywhere but San Diego, it's not legal.

Can you explain this? Disney does plenty of repositioning cruises - with passengers. Puerto Rico back to the mainland is one instance. As amym2 is doing San Diego - Vancouver - Hawaii - Vancouver they would be fine to travel since their start and end voyage is San Diego - Vancouver.

They should be aware that if the passenger cancels the hawaii to vancouver option, Disney would be in violation.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Puerto Rico back to the mainland is one instance

Puerto Rico gets special status under the PVSA.

US ports include US states (including HI and AK) and US island territories and possessions, with the exception of American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the USVI. Puerto Rico is also exempt from the PVSA until such time as US-flag vessels service that route.

 

[hrhdhd]

Disney knows best.
Since on your total trip transit would be San Diego to Vancouver, no issue.

Can you explain this? Disney does plenty of repositioning cruises - with passengers. Puerto Rico back to the mainland is one instance. As amym2 is doing San Diego - Vancouver - Hawaii - Vancouver they would be fine to travel since their start and end voyage is San Diego - Vancouver.

They should be aware that if the passenger cancels the hawaii to vancouver option, Disney would be in violation.

You are correct; I'll edit my post. (And Disney has been wrong before about the PVSA.) But the one-way cruises to San Juan are an exception to the PVSA.

 

[cdoc29]

The PC cruises visit a "distant foreign port." A distant foreign port is described as 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)." 19 CFR § 4.80a(a)(2). " Cartagena, Colombia is in South America and meets definitions of DFP.

Thanks, I was unaware of the "distant foreign port" requirement and that explains the stop in South America

 

[cgolf]

Now, if you were to get off the ship in Vancouver and get on a different ship to Hawaii, that would be legal.

That statement right there is why the law needs to be adjusted. You could sail RCCL to Vancouver and get onboard DCL the same day. Common sense says you took the same trip and one is legal and the other isn't.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

That statement right there is why the law needs to be adjusted. You could sail RCCL to Vancouver and get onboard DCL the same day. Common sense says you took the same trip and one is legal and the other isn't.

The legality has to do what cruise line is doing the transport. I don't really understand all the monetary ramifications, but at the time the act was passed the US didn't want US money supporting foreign lines so banned them from providing US only travel (one US port to a different US port). As well as the US requirements for what a safe ship is. A US registered ship can do such cruises, but it's too expensive to have US registered ships doing them and the foreign flagged ships fill the breech.

The only time there was any sort of effort to change the law the proposed changes were so bad that it didn't sit well with the cruise lines at all.