Why do Cruise Ships, sailing U.S. waters, have to make a port stop in a Foreign port ???

Question

Why do Cruise Ships, sailing U.S. waters, have to make a port stop in a Foreign port ???

Answer 1

It is a requirement of the Passenger Services Act.  The Passenger Services Act is a piece of United States legislation which came into force in 1886 relating to cabotage. Essentially, it says:

    No foreign vessels shall transport passengers between ports or places in the United States, either directly or by way of a foreign port, under a penalty of $300 for each passenger so transported and landed.

Any vessel subject to the Jones Act counts as a US vessel. Under the Passenger Services Act of 1886, 46 App. U.S.C. § 289, foreign-flagged vessels cannot transport passengers directly between U.S. ports. The handful of U.S.-flagged cruise ships in operation are registered in the U.S. to permit cruises between the Hawaiian Islands, or from the continental U.S. to Hawaii. The Passenger Services Act, however, does not prohibit foreign-flagged ships departing from and returning to the same U.S. port. Nor does it prohibit foreign-flagged ships departing from a U.S. port, visiting a foreign port, and then continuing to a second U.S. port. However, in order to embark in a US port and disembark in a second US port, the vessel must visit either Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao or Colombia. Nor does it prevent a ship from taking on passengers at a U.S. port and then returning them to another U.S. city by ground or air, or vice-versa.

Answer 2

They usually go through their port of origin...(where they are "headquartered" so to speak...where the ships registery is held)...

Kinda like flying...you most likely will fly into or out of an airlines "hub" (or change planes or layover to add more passengers)...ie; Delta's hub is Atlanta...

Answer 3

Maybe You should try to google it first ,however if you like some direct resource ,here might be helpful.http://cruise.online-assistant.info/2006...