Transatlantic question

[LINDATHEPOOH]

We are taking the British Isles cruise next year 9/2-9/9. I see according to the just released Fall 2018 itineraries the westbound transatlantic leaves Dover England the day our British Isles cruise ends in Dover England. We would rather take the transatlantic cruise back to the US than fly. Would we be breaking any maritime laws or would the logistics not work out? Any help is GREATLY APPRECIATED!

 

[_auroraborealis_]

This is a common BTB booking. No maritime laws will be mangled, mutilated or violated.

 

[LINDATHEPOOH]

Thank you Aurora! Now, if only they had a cruise going from NYC to Port Canaveral(we live in central FL)! I'll be booking first thing Tuesday morning!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Thank you Aurora! Now, if only they had a cruise going from NYC to Port Canaveral(we live in central FL)! I'll be booking first thing Tuesday morning!

Well, sadly, that won't be offered. A NYC to Port Canaveral cruise isn't legal.

 

[Steve Dexter]

I hope this isn't hijacking this thread. I am considering the Dover to NY transatlantic cruise. For those with experience with flying one way, what is the deal with one way being so more expensive that round trip? I Googled it and still don't understand. I fly a lot domestically but almost never to Europe. I'm so tempted to buy a round trip ticket and just not use the return portion of the ticket. I see that airlines frown on that. It's incredibly more expensive to go one way. I would be grateful for advice or comments from those with experience.

 

[PurplePencil]

Well, sadly, that won't be offered. A NYC to Port Canaveral cruise isn't legal.

While obviously it would stop at CC (would that be legal?)

 

[_auroraborealis_]

While obviously it would stop at CC (would that be legal?)

The Jones Act prohibits ships of Non-U.S registry from embarking and debarking guests at two different U.S ports.

Puerto Rico and the U.S Virgin Islands (St. Thomas; St. Croix; St. John) are not in the category of U.S ports under this act.

The exception to this rule is if the itinerary includes a 'distant foreign port'. Castaway Cay doesn't count as a distant foreign port; most of the Caribbean doesn't.

 

[PurplePencil]

The Jones Act prohibits ships of Non-U.S registry from embarking and debarking guests at two different U.S ports.

Puerto Rico and the U.S Virgin Islands (St. Thomas; St. Croix; St. John) are not in the category of U.S ports under this act.

The exception to this rule is if the itinerary includes a 'distant foreign port'. Castaway Cay doesn't count as a distant foreign port; most of the Caribbean doesn't.

Thank you! I didn't remember the rule

 

[NancyIL]

The Jones Act prohibits ships of Non-U.S registry from embarking and debarking guests at two different U.S ports.

Puerto Rico and the U.S Virgin Islands (St. Thomas; St. Croix; St. John) are not in the category of U.S ports under this act.

The exception to this rule is if the itinerary includes a 'distant foreign port'. Castaway Cay doesn't count as a distant foreign port; most of the Caribbean doesn't.

It is the Passenger Vessel Services Act (and not the Jones Act) that prohibits one-way cruises between two US ports without a visit to a distant foreign port.

I'm on a Hawaii repo cruise now from Honolulu to Vancouver. That will be followed by an Alaska cruise from Vancouver to Seward. I would love to get off the ship in Seward and do an Alaska land trip, but that would violate the PVSA. Therefore, I am doing back-to-back Alaska cruises, so I will disembark in Vancouver.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Pardon. Jones Act is cargo.

 

[coloradocutie]

I hope this isn't hijacking this thread. I am considering the Dover to NY transatlantic cruise. For those with experience with flying one way, what is the deal with one way being so more expensive that round trip? I Googled it and still don't understand. I fly a lot domestically but almost never to Europe. I'm so tempted to buy a round trip ticket and just not use the return portion of the ticket. I see that airlines frown on that. It's incredibly more expensive to go one way. I would be grateful for advice or comments from those with experience.

Yes, you are correct! Crazy expensive to go one way. I was advised not to book a round trip and choose not use one leg as the airline could turn around and change the fare on you to the one way expensive price.

We used miles for our one way tickets. (We used credit card miles and transferred to British Airways to use for our tickets- we booked our tickets almost a year in advance and had no problem getting the flight dates we wanted). You could also look at a low cost carrier such as Norwegian Air, as I remember thinking that they offered reasonable one way fares (there may be a comparable airline closer to your airport). The transatlantic cruise was AMAZING!!!!!

Hope you can make it work!

 

[dclpluto]

I hope this isn't hijacking this thread. I am considering the Dover to NY transatlantic cruise. For those with experience with flying one way, what is the deal with one way being so more expensive that round trip? I Googled it and still don't understand. I fly a lot domestically but almost never to Europe. I'm so tempted to buy a round trip ticket and just not use the return portion of the ticket. I see that airlines frown on that. It's incredibly more expensive to go one way. I would be grateful for advice or comments from those with experience.

For one way for Europe you might be better off using Disney air. Usually disney air will cost you lots more $$$ but for one way Europe disney saved me $$$$.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

While obviously it would stop at CC (would that be legal?)

No. It's not the Jones Act (that deals with cargo). It's the PVSA (Passenger Vessel Services Act). It states that a foreign-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 defined 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).

Castaway Cay is not a distant foreign port.

 

[Neptune's Fork]

This thread has turned into a maritime law discussion.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

This thread has turned into a maritime law discussion.

Well, the question was asked.....

 

[Neptune's Fork]

Well, the question was asked.....

It's actually very interesting so not complaining. Carry on.

 

[clten]

We've been able to get very good one-way fares on Iceland Air the last couple TA cruises we have done. While there are rules against booking a roundtrip ticket with the intention of flying only one way, it is difficult for the airlines to prove that was your intention when booking it - plans change all the time. And rarely do they come back after the fare difference -- I have known them to go after a Travel Agency that I worked at for it and have seen them attempt to rescind frequent flyer miles for it. But those are far and few between. So if you are going to do it, don't get a Travel Agent involved, try not to use a carrier you have frequent flyer miles with and have a story as to why you will be using the other half. (One year when we booked roundtrip Barcelona flights - from Barcelona in spring and back to Barcelona in fall; we were questioned at the airport when we were checking in why we were coming back in the fall. The true answer was that we just completed the EBTA and were coming back to do the WBTA. So since we did use the back half of the ticket, I don't know what they would have done if we didn't have a quick answer for their question and then didn't use the ticket.)

 

[LJC1861]

Lisa and I are thinking about the 9/9/18 Transatlantic as well! So much to think about...travel to Dover, travel home from NYC......so much time off from work, etc.

 

[GPaLarry]

Took the WBTA last Sept. Looks like every Transatlantic is a little bit different...different ports, sometimes longer or shorter cruise. Like the way DCL mixes things up. May have to try the EBTA in a year or two. Who knows, we might wind up in Oslo, Norway from NYC.

 

[MaleficentUK]

We took the Magic out of Miami and only stopped at Castaway Cay on our 3 night January 2016. The other day was a sea day, as planned and scheduled by Disney. I thought that meant that for our cruise CC counted as the non-US port.