Changes to PVSA

US Customs and Border Protection have put forward a proposal to amend the PVSA (Passenger Vessel Services Act), which will have a huge impact International cruise ships operating Hawaiian cruises (which is the majority!).

Currently the PVSA forces all foreign-flagged ships taking passengers from one US destination to another to make at least one stop at an international port. Because the Hawaiian Island ports are all part of the US it means that international cruise ships must make a necessary stop an international port, which generally is at Ensenada Mexico.

The proposed changes to the PVSA will now force foreign flagged cruise ships to dock at an international port for at least 48 hours and that the time spent at the international port is at least 50 percent of the cruise. This has a huge impact on the Hawaiian cruise industry because the international cruise lines would struggle to take passengers to all the popular Hawaiian Ports.

Popular Hawaiian cruise lines such as royal Caribbean cruises, princess cruises and carnival cruises would almost be forced out of the market. One would hope that common sense prevails. There are currently many people and groups fighting this decision.