Should have used a US flagged vessel. Problem solved.
Cancel the credit card you paid with and tell them to f*** off
I’d rather take an ass-whipping than take a cruise or attend a sporting event.
The Jones Act is really not all the new. That the author does not know about the limitations of the Jones act is the crime of public education of Alaskans, a large portion of entire economy and expenses is based on what you can and cannot do with foreign built/ foreign flagged vessels.
If memory serves, the fine is from the US government to the company owning the vessel. It is not against the passenger. Correct me if I am wrong.
Proof that there are too many outdated laws on the books. I bet there isn’t a single member of Congress that knows the reason why this law was created without researching it. More than likely there was what seemed to be a good reason at the time, but if you look at the U.S. Constitution you won’t find a power granted to Congress to create such legislation. And no, the commerce clause does not cover this. That wasn’t the Founders’ intent.
"OPINION: I decided to give an Alaska cruise a try. Then I got fined."
I haven't read the referenced law. But it sounds like the fine was intended for the foreign owners of the ship, not the passengers.
“In accordance with this law, cruise lines that operate foreign-flagged vessels are fined $798 for each passenger who boarded such a vessel in one U.S. port and left the vessel at another port.” —Passenger Vessel Services Act of 1886 (non-FR)
A scam?
PENALTYThe statute, 46 U.S.C. § 55103(b), provides in pertinent part that the penalty for violating the PVSA is $300 for each passenger transported and landed.
The applicable CBP regulation regarding penalties for violating the PVSA is found in 19 CFR § 4.80(b)(2), which provides that “[t]he penalty imposed for the unlawful transportation of passengers between coastwise points is $300 for each passenger so transported and landed (...as adjusted by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990).” However, when the violation is the result of a vessel in distress, CBP may remit without payment any penalty which arises for violation of the coastwise laws if there is satisfactory evidence that the violation occurred as a direct result of an arrival of the transporting vessel in distress. See 19 CFR § 171.11(c).
It also states that no foreign vessel larger than 5 tons, including ferries and other ships, shall transport passengers from one port within the US to another or face a penalty of $762 per passenger that was successfully transported and landed. The price at the time was $200 but has since been raised to $762 per passenger, where it currently stands.
Sounds like she is being charged both amounts. 762 + 200 = 962 with a 20 dollar rebate? I guess the price went up again from when this write-up was written that I am sourcing from. 😋
It may have been in the agreement she signed. But yes, she should have been made aware that she faced a fine if she disembarked at a different port than she had left from, and that the Cruise Ship line was operating under a foreign flag. In fact, that disclosure should have been made as she was booking the cruise.
>> It does seem like there should have been some kind of disclosure before they disembarked. <<
There absolutely is. Because the author thought she knew everythng, she disregarded the warning. Frankly, I do not and cannot believe she is that stupid. Here’s why:
She wrote, “I helped report on the ins and outs of the law during the pandemic when Alaska’s delegation spurred Congress to waive the requirement that cruise ships stop in Canada when Canada’s ports were closed to keep the virus out.” That means she has some otherwise not-so-apparent financial interest in opposing the law.
Odds are this interest is considered officially disclosed because the article included, “She ... produced the “Midnight Oil” and “Cruise Town” podcasts.” If so, that’s compliance in letter but not spirit, because it’s not clear how producing a podcast creates an interest, but even if she’s not directly sponsored by the cruise industry, her business relies on theirs.
A friend and his family who live in the UK took a US-based cruise ship to the Mediterranean. Their baggage was lost and after four days wearing the same clothes and unable to buy any onboard the ship, and receiving no word from the cruise line about when or if their baggage would arrive, they got off and returned home. The cruise line magnanimously offered a 20% discount on a future cruise! He informed them there would be no future cruise and that he intended to sue, which eventually resulted in refunding 50% of the cruise price but none of his airfare home or other costs. It seems that cruise companies cannot be counted on to do what is right or fair, are primarily out to screw people!
Only time to go on a cruise if you want an intestinal illness, or a Somalian kidnapping or your spouse to throw you overboard.
When you board a foreign flagged vessel you are in a foreign country subject to their rules. Don’t go on a cruise and you won’t run into how other countries adapt to US laws.
Cruises are incredibly over rated. I did some equipment inspection work on larger ships and got a boatload of good gouge and insider info.
A smaller boat/ship would be a lot healthier and safer IMHO.
No thank you
Would it work to simply get off and not tell them you’re not coming back? When they stop, don’t they say something like “be back by 4:00 or we’re going on without you?”
I guess you could lose your luggage that way. Maybe there’s a way to claim it later...
The only cruises I’ve been on are local (Creole Queen in New Orleans, Gateway Clipper in Pittsburgh, etc.)
Isn’t democrat party government grand? /s
I did an Alaskan Cruise a few years ago. All I heard the whole time was how Climate Change was destroying the glaciers.