PVSA - Alaska and Repositioning B2B allowed?

[Flounder89]

Hi there we are thinking about booking the last 7 Night Alaska cruise next year from Vancouver and following it up with a repositioning cruise to San Diego from Vancouver - would that be in violation of PVSA laws or not? I've gotten different answers and no one seems to be sure. Thank you!

 

[lorimay]

Hi there we are thinking about booking the last 7 Night Alaska cruise next year from Vancouver and following it up with a repositioning cruise to San Diego from Vancouver - would that be in violation of PVSA laws or not? I've gotten different answers and no one seems to be sure. Thank you!

I don't believe you can book both, but if you call DCL they will tell you for sure.
We were on the last Alaska cruise of the season in 2013 and they wouldn't allow us to book then re-po cruise back to the US.

 

[Flounder89]

I don't believe you can book both, but if you call DCL they will tell you for sure.
We were on the last Alaska cruise of the season in 2013 and they wouldn't allow us to book then re-po cruise back to the US.

I need to call anyway to transfer my placeholder so I will ask them. Stupid law! Lol

 

[Flounder89]

Thank you!

 

[ImprovGal]

I don't believe you can book both, but if you call DCL they will tell you for sure.
We were on the last Alaska cruise of the season in 2013 and they wouldn't allow us to book then re-po cruise back to the US.

Was that the year that had most of the Alaska cruises out of Seattle instead of Vancouver? Seattle-Vancouver could not be booked as b2b with Vancouver-Los Angeles or San Diego.

But if the last Alaska is rt Vancouver-Vancouver, it shouldn't be a problem.

 

[lorimay]

No, it was Vancouver-Vancouver, then Vancouver to California and we were not allowed to do it.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Hi there we are thinking about booking the last 7 Night Alaska cruise next year from Vancouver and following it up with a repositioning cruise to San Diego from Vancouver - would that be in violation of PVSA laws or not? I've gotten different answers and no one seems to be sure. Thank you!

If the first cruise is Vancouver round trip and the second cruise is Vancouver to San Diego, then it's legal to do.

The PVSA says that a non-US flagged ship cannot transport passengers from one US port to a different US port without a stop in 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).

The PVSA also looks at B2B cruises as one cruise. So, the B2B you're asking about would be a Vancouver to San Diego cruise. And legal.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

No, it was Vancouver-Vancouver, then Vancouver to California and we were not allowed to do it.

There was a lot of misinformation from DCL while they were learning about the PVSA. A Vancouver round trip B2B with a Vancouver to CA trip is legal. But early on DCL was saying it wasn't.

For example, the last set of Hawaii (one-way Vancouver/Hawaii) cruises in 2015 were legal to do as a B2B Vancouver roundtrip/Vancouver-Hawaii.

BUT, there were people who wanted to do the Hawaii/Vancouver trip B2B with Vancouver/San Diego - that's illegal as B2B cruises are viewed under the PVSA as one voyage. In this case Hawaii to San Diego. With no distant foreign port available on either of those routes, it couldn't be booked.

 

[lorimay]

There was a lot of misinformation from DCL while they were learning about the PVSA. A Vancouver round trip B2B with a Vancouver to CA trip is legal. But early on DCL was saying it wasn't.

The last set of Hawaii (one-way Vancouver/Hawaii) cruises were legal to do as a B2B Vancouver roundtrip/Vancouver-Hawaii.

BUT, there were people who wanted to do the Hawaii/Vancouver trip B2B with Vancouver/San Diego - that's illegal as B2B cruises are viewed under the PVSA as one voyage. In this case Hawaii to San Diego. With no distant foreign port available on either of those routes, it couldn't be booked.

OK, thanks I really thought I was loosing my mind. LOL I know I called and they told me that we couldn't do the B2B.

 

[Flounder89]

Ah great so we might be able to do it after all - I was confused because I heard of people being forbidden to do it after they had already booked airfare but when I read the rules I also thought Vancouver - San Diego would be allowed. I will ask DCL tomorrow as well and let you guys know how it turned out thank you!