Can I get on and off the ship at alternate ports?

For those who want to cruise but think they can’t get to the departure port or who need to get off early, the question often comes up can I get on late or off early. There is however no simple answer to this question. It tends to vary based on what ports are involved, most specifically the departure and arrival ports for the ship. (The two ports being, where the cruise officially begins and ends.)

Ships sailing out of embarkation ports in the USA have special rules to follow. There are laws on the books which prohibit foreign flagged ships from taking passengers from one US port to another port for hire.  To add some clarity, taking passengers who remain on the ship is permissible, thus we have all the Alaskan Cruises.   What is not allowed is sailing passengers for pay from Anchorage to Seattle which is why you see the ships embarking and disembarking in Vancouver on the Southern end.

Round trip cruises out of and back to the same US port are permissible so long as if they stop at a port, a foreign port is included in the mix. Thus the round trip Alaskan cruises out of Seattle stop somewhere in Canada.  US flagged ships such as those owned by American Safari Cruises can depart and go to any US port they want without the same restrictions. NCL’s Hawaii based cruise ship is essentially the same situation where they have a US flagged ship serving the destination.

Since most of the cruise ships are foreign flagged (that is a whole different blog post) I will focus the answer there.  Most cruise ships with advanced notice of the special need for downstream boarding or early disembarkation are able to work it out. The key is that you are boarding in a US port and getting off in a foreign port or vice versa.  There are other cases and countries where you can’t get on or off at alternate ports like with the US. 

You will find many one way sailings between foreign ports and even transits of the Panama Canal. Notice though that the Panama Canal transits almost always you stop in Aruba which is one of the nearby distant foreign ports where ships can stop that allow then for one way transports between US ports by foreign flagged ports.

If you miss your ship catching up later is usually possible except on most Alaskan cruises sailing round trip from Seattle.  However, missing your ship and playing catch up can be a costly affair, hence the need for travel insurance.   Getting off early usually can be arranged. You just have to work it out ahead of time and make sure it is not in another US port than where you boarded.  Of course if it is a medical emergency there are provisions for paying a fine if it were enforced in the time of a medical emergency.