San Juan and Passenger Vessel Service act - help needed

[Thorb73]

Hi all,

looking at the new itineraries for 2026/2027 there is one potential trip which got our attention.
However I'm not 100% sure if this can be done with the Passenger Vessel Service Act in Place...

The idea would be:
4 Night Eastern Caribbean from FLL ending in San Juan April 12-16 2027
B2B with
7 Night Southern Caribbean from San Juan April 16-23 2027
B2B with
4 Night Eastern Caribbean from San Juan ending in Port Canaveral April 23-27 th

I know I can't do Only Cruise 1 and Cruise 3 because of PVSA since there is no foreign port in between. But when I add the 7 night then I will be visiting foreign ports and it is my understanding that this should be allowed.

I hope that some of you are more expirienced in reading the PVSA as I am and I would like to know if it makes sense in trying to book this or if this is not allowed.

Thanks a lot!!

 

[AquaDame]

There should be a stop on the four nights, right? Otherwise even just FLL to San Juan might not be allowed? That sounds like a heck of a trip if it is... consider me a possible copycat!

 

[jimmymc]

You or your travel agent should call Disney and ask. All three legs will have a stop outside of the US, and I'm 98% sure this itinerary will be fine. But sometimes there are weird rules with doing back-to-back, one-way cruises.

 

[Thorb73]

There should be a stop on the four nights, right? Otherwise even just FLL to San Juan might not be allowed? That sounds like a heck of a trip if it is... consider me a possible copycat!

Yes both 4 nights stop on Castaway and Lighthouse Point - at least it would be something outside of the regular DCL fair ;-)

 

[Thorb73]

You or your travel agent should call Disney and ask. All three legs will have a stop outside of the US, and I'm 98% sure this itinerary will be fine. But sometimes there are weird rules with doing back-to-back, one-way cruises.

Already dropped an Email to Disney.. Will keep you posted.

 

[Mommb]

The Bahamas counts as a foreign port for the PSVA, but not as a distant foreign port.

Cruises that leave from and return to the same US port need a stop at a foreign port. That's why cruises to/from Florida that stop at Castaway Cay or Lighthouse Point are permitted.

Cruises that leave from one US port and end at a different US port need a stop at a distant foreign port. However, cruises to and from San Juan are exceptions to this rule, which is why Cruise 1 and Cruise 3 are permitted.

Curacao and Aruba (on the 7 night Southern Caribbean cruise from San Juan) are distant foreign ports, so it should be possible to do Cruises 1, 2, and 3 back-to-back. Of course, it would be a good idea to check with Disney Cruise to make sure this is permitted.

 

[jwalk03]

Since the 7-night visits the ABC Islands- those do count as distant foreign ports. So I believe this would be compliant with the PVSA. That said it may take some work to get Disney to agree that it would be compliant. Make sure you have it in writing from them that its allowed- so it doesn't get cancelled later and cause stress.

Also you certainly could do only cruise 1 and cruise 3 since there is an entire week in between them? It would be 2 separate trips not a single cruise.

 

[apathetic]

I don't see why you can't do any combination of the three. As stated, you can do a 1 way from US city to Puerto Rico. You could do 1 and 2 because I've done that before (Galveston to San Juan then 7 day southern). You could do 2 & 3 because that would be similar, just in a different order. Doing cruises 1 & 3 is totally possible because there is a 7 day lag (not back2back) and each would fall under the same rule as 1-way cruises to/from San Juan. You could do all 3 because it would be like leaving Ft. Lauderdale and then returning to Ft. Lauderdale. As explained previously on these forums, since they are all consecutive it would be considered the same departure/arrival port (Ft. Lauderdale in this case). The fact it stops at a distant foreign port is helpful but not necessary.

 

[jwalk03]

I don't see why you can't do any combination of the three. As stated, you can do a 1 way from US city to Puerto Rico. You could do 1 and 2 because I've done that before (Galveston to San Juan then 7 day southern). You could do 2 & 3 because that would be similar, just in a different order. Doing cruises 1 & 3 is totally possible because there is a 7 day lag (not back2back) and each would fall under the same rule as 1-way cruises to/from San Juan. You could do all 3 because it would be like leaving Ft. Lauderdale and then returning to Ft. Lauderdale. As explained previously on these forums, since they are all consecutive it would be considered the same departure/arrival port (Ft. Lauderdale in this case). The fact it stops at a distant foreign port is helpful but not necessary.

The 3rd cruise does not end in Ft. Lauderdale. It ends in Port Canaveral. So combining these 3 cruises into a B2B2B means the OP would be sailing from Ft. Lauderdale to Pt. Canaveral which normally would not be allowed but since the middle cruise visits the ABC Islands that is considered a “distant foreign port” under PVSA which would make it compliant.