Say Bon Voyage to Cruises to Nowhere
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Carnival Cruise Line(NEW YORK) — The short jaunts on which guests board a cruise ship and sail out to sea without calling on any ports are about to come to an end.
Commonly referred to as “cruises to nowhere,” the two- to three-day sailings are popular for people looking for a quick getaway from their home port. They’re offered by both Carnival and Norwegian Cruise Lines, though both say they will end the trips in 2016.
Cruise lines that sail under a foreign flag — as Carnival, Norwegian and most other mega-ships do — are no longer allowed to sail in foreign waters without calling on a port, according to the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), the official trade organization of the cruise industry of North America.
In a statement to ABC news, the group said, “While itinerary decisions are made by individual cruise lines, beginning in 2016, in compliance with U.S laws and regulations, foreign-flagged cruise lines operating out of U.S. ports are not to offer cruises for sale that do not include a call in a foreign port. Ships are cleared into and out of the United States by officials from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.”
In a Facebook post entitled “Disappointing news,” Carnival cruise director and blogger John Heald wrote, “Due to recent changes in how ships are cleared into and out of the United States by U.S. officials, certain short duration cruises without a foreign port of call are subject to itinerary changes beginning in 2016 . Unfortunately, this means that we will not be permitted to operate cruises-to-nowhere. This does include the Carnival Vista’s 3 day cruise to nowhere from New York.”
In addition to Carnival Vista’s New York sailings, a two-day sailing out of Norfolk, Virginia has also been cancelled. Norwegian has cancelled two-day cruises from New York on Norwegian Breakaway.
Cruise lines typically run a cruise to nowhere in between longer itineraries. When the ship doesn’t make port calls, customers spend all their time and money on the ship itself.
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