To clarify, the Bahamas is a British commonwealth. It is a foreign country
to all but UK citizens.
Further to the discussion re: the order of US ports, a foreign-flagged ship
can go directly from a US port to another US port. Many cruises feature
itineraries with a US port as their first stop, e.g., New York, Florida,
then to the foreign islands. Paraphrasing the requirements of this
particular law is always tricky. The first Google hit I got was a Senate
committee report made in connection with NCL's push for a legal exemption to
operate the inter-island Hawaiian cruises (which it was awarded). Here's the
relevant excerpt from the legislative history section of the report:
The Passenger Vessel Services Act has not been interpreted to restrict
domestic port calls as long as the domestic port call is part of a trip that
includes foreign destinations and the U.S. port calls are intermediary
stops. This means that foreign-flagged vessels are currently entitled to
make as many U.S. port calls as they choose, provided that these calls are
part of an international route and that passengers who embark at a U.S. port
do not permanently disembark at a different U.S. port. Additionally, the
U.S. Customs Service has interpreted the Passenger Vessel Services Act to
allow a foreign vessel to make as many intermediary U.S. port calls as it
chooses, and disembark passengers at a different U.S. port, as long as the
vessel makes a port call at a distant foreign port such as Aruba.
Diana Ball
near Houston, TX
|