Is it Ilegal To stay at your last Port of call and not return Home on your cruise ship?Any penalties 4 this?

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luludoodie

If you want to leave the cruise ship part way through the journey you can, basically the don't care as long as you have been electronically "cleared off the ship with you luggage" - to cover their backs!

Local immigration may not be happy when you try to leave as you may not have correct visa etc.

Then you have to pay for your own flight home!

If you are hoping to have a fling with one of the locals I have to ask is it worth it!

Kevin L

There can be penalties. It depends on where the ship originally left from and what port you are trying to disembark in is.

There is usually a hefty fine for doing this, upwards of $600 per passenger, if it is allowed at all.

If you just went to the gangway with your luggage, security will not let you depart the ship, if you don't have the proper paperwork and documentation completed.

You'd have to check with the cruise line before you embark, and see if it's possible. More often than not it is not permitted.

tetlitea

I'm sure it can be done with a lot of hassles on your part. It will also probably cost you a little something too. The best thing to do is to go home and then book another trip to this location.

seventy

I'm not sure about this. When you travel, an immigration form has to be filled in with dates and where you are going and where you are flying/staying once you have left the ship.
So I would think you can't do it.

Penny B

you could, but if you do not tell the cruise line what you are doing, you cause a lot of financial problems. and you could be billed those charges for calling the search and rescue teams.

I would highly recommend you continue your cruise, and plan on going back to that port at a later date.

Mary L

It is not illegal, and people do it who have to stay on shore due to medical emergencies that cannot be handled on board. (Some friends had to leave a ship in Turkey, and while wife was in the hospital the husband got help from the US Embassy. They wound up having to charter a LearJet whe it was OK medically for her to leave, which flew from Turkey to Ireland for re-fueling, and then to the US.) To leave a cruise just for fun can create financial burdens, visa issues depending on the port, and immigration questions when you return to the US. Why not just finish the cruise as planned and return to the port later?

Shelley L

The bursar on the ship holds onto your papers and passports, so you would have to make arrangements to pay your tab and get your documents. They would arrange for you to clear immigration if the port allows you to stay .. (some ports will NOT allow you.. since there's no immigration except the ships record keeping).

If you're thinking that you would just not return to the ship... think again... you would have a hard time getting a flight out to return home, since you are not legally in the country to begin with.

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