Here are some of the latest questions asked of CruiseReports’ web site visitors – and of course, my answers to them.  Please e-mail me your questions through our Ask Jessica link!

Bon voyage,

Jessica 

Q: I have a question that you might not have heard before. My girlfriend and I were first time cruisers on the Celebrity Century. What a wonderful trip we had even though it was in the middle of hurricane season. We tried not to watch the news & weather, but low and behold hurricane Francis formed and was heading for Florida. The night before our last port of call, Key West, the captain told all of us that we would be staying at sea for 2 or 3 more days to ride out the storm.

            This would be great except for the fact that Francis was expected to make landfall in our town of Jensen Beach. I asked about getting off the ship in Key West and I was told that it would not be a problem. The next morning we were packed and ready to get off the ship, when we went to check out I was told that it would cost us $300.00 each. I explained that we didn't have an extra $600.00 readily available. I was also told that if we did get off the ship & not come back I would be arrested. I was told that it was because of the "Jones Act", I had never heard of this before.

            Governor Bush had already declared a "State of Emergency" for Florida. The town where I live & work was expected to be hit with a major hurricane. Still they wouldn't let us off. To finally get us off the ship I was forced to sign a promissory note, under duress... I'm not sure whether I will pay it or not. It is more the point of it more than anything. We would love to sail with Celebrity again, but we're afraid that they won't let us because of this outstanding issue.

            P.S. Less than 36 hours after getting off the ship I stood in the eye of Hurricane Francis, three weeks later I stood in the eye of Hurricane Jeanne, less than a mile from where I was for Francis. Between the two storms we lost little more than our roof, and besides being without electricity for a total of a month, we did okay. If you have any advice for me please let me know.         

A: Yikes!  Sounds like you really had bad luck with hurricanes this year!  Sorry to hear that.  I can understand how you would want to get off of your cruise ship. While I don’t know too much about the $300 per person charges that you mentioned, I can tell you that the cruise line did give you a straight story about the legal complications of disembarking at Key West. Under U.S. law, only American-flag ships can carry passengers between two American ports without visiting a foreign port. Most cruise ships, including the Century operate under the flags of foreign countries, so the ship must stop at a non-U.S. port at least once during a cruise.  That’s the law in a nutshell.

            My best advice to you is to contact ICCL (The International Council of Cruise Lines) at 800-595-9338 or www.iccl.org.  They might be able to better explain the technicalities of your situation.

            Good luck!

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