The "Law" of The Sea

I RECENTLY read yet another reference to the much-maligned, "Jones Act," in a comment about rules and laws affecting cruise ships and cruising. I see that particular reference often. Having a legal background, I was at least vaguely aware that the act referred to ships and shipping and U.S. ports. More specifically, I knew that it also was "protectionist" in nature, as it placed restrictions on foreign ships in U.S. ports. But curiosity got the better of me. Something back in my long-ago memory didn't ring true here. I am not a maritime lawyer by any stretch of the imagination. 😅 My purpose here is as much entertainment as informational. I seriously doubt that this piece will change anybody's mind about their next cruise. So here is my take: As popular as it is to confidently throw out "The Jones Act," when opining about cruise ships rules, it is simply wrong!

The Passenger Vessel Services Act was enacted many years before The Jones Act

THE ACTUAL law these commenters are referring to is "The Passenger Vessel Services Act," of 1886 (a/k/a, PVSA), enacted many years before the Jones Act! The Jones Act (also sometimes known as "The Merchant Marine Act of 1920,) was enacted in 1920. Its primary sponsor was U.S. Senator Wesley Jones, a Washington State Republican. Its stated purpose was to stimulate and provide a strong U.S. Merchant Marine for commerce and national defense, following WWI (when much of the industry had been diverted to military use and shipbuilding, and suffered substantial depletion). However, when Jones was senator, Alaska was not yet a state (Alaska gained statehood in 1956). The Senator's (and former Congressman) other legislative activities makes it appear just as (or more) likely that his own motivation was to favor the Washington State shipping industry, ensuring its continued monopoly on shipping goods to Alaska by sea. The similarity in the language of the Jones Act suggests that its text was probably adopted from the PVSA's prior language.

The Jones Act says that a non-U.S. vessel may not transport goods from a U.S. port to another U.S. port

BOTH THE Jones Act and the (prior) Passenger Vessel Services Act have now been codified (added and organized into the U.S. Code system) under Section 46 U.S.C. They remain separate, but very similar provisions. The Jones Act essentially says that a non-U.S. registered ("flagged") vessel may not transport goods from a U.S. port to another U.S. port. Unless one considers the tons of food aboard cruise ships merchandise, technically, the Jones has little application to the industry.

IT IS the Passenger Vessel Services Act that really applies here. The applicable provision is 46 U.S.C., section 55103, which states (in relevant part): "a vessel may not transport passengers between ports or places in the United States . . . unless the vessel . . . is wholly owned by citizens of the United States." When last amended in 2006, the penalty for transporting passengers in violation of this provision was $300 per passenger (it is indexed for inflation - around $800 today). The actually applicable law - the PSVA - sponsored by Maine Republican Congressman, Nelson Dingley, was enacted 34 years before the Jones Act!

Why don't U.S. based cruise lines just flag their ships as U.S. ships?

THERE ARE exceptions and interpretations, which may go a long way toward explaining some of the itineraries and ports of departure and return of many of the cruise lines, from U.S. ports. For example, the PVSA has been interpreted to mean that a non-U.S. ship may depart from and return to a U.S. port, as long as passengers do not permanently leave the ship at any of the ports. So day excursions are not treated as a passenger disembarking from the ship). This explains most of the Caribbean and Bermuda cruises, as well as the "U.S." east coast cruises. The law has also been interpreted not to apply if the ship stops at (at least one) "distant" non-U.S. port during its trip. "Distant" means a port that is not in "North America." U.S. customs considers Bermuda, Bahamas and most Caribbean Ports (except Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao - the so-called "ABC" cruise) to be part of North America. But the rule may partially explain a transatlantic cruise which may make multiple U.S. stops. European destinations almost all start and finish in non-U.S. ports, so the PVSA would not apply.

WHY IS this even an issue? Why don't U.S. based cruise lines just flag their ships as U.S. ships? Well, there are several reasons. First, the text of the law suggests that the statutory definition of "U.S." based ships means that at least 75% of its ownership U.S. based, and the majority of the crew must be U.S. citizens. For anybody who has ever been on a cruise, you don't need to be a math prodigy to see that that won't work. 😀

Opting to register a ship in one of the "open-registry" countries gives the owner of the vessel (especially cruise ships) some significant advantages

FOR A ship to be US-flagged (registered) the ship must have been built in a US shipyard. The majority of large cruise ships are built in either Italy or Germany, (US shipyards primarily build military and cargo vessels). Most nations have a similar requirement (that in order to be registered in the country, the ship must have been built there), which is known as "closed registry." A few countries, however, have "open registries," including such countries as Panama, Bahamas, Bermuda and Malta. Because "I am a Celebrity," I will note here, that all but Celebrity's 3 "specialty" ships are registered in Valletta, Malta.

OPTING TO register a ship in one of the "open-registry" countries gives the owner of the vessel (especially cruise ships) some significant advantages. In a "white paper" by Caitlin Burke (I had some difficulty establishing whether this was for sure her, but it appears she graduated from The University of Florida in 2009, and then from The University of Miami Law School in 2014), the author notes that "by opting to re-flag in a new nation, a vessel owner becomes subject to the safety, labor and environmental codes of that nation." Not coincidentally, the most popular of the open registry countries tend to be those with the most liberal tax, labor, safety and environmental codes. This means that if they wish, cruise lines may pay workers lower wages (lower than U.S. minimum standards), require them to work longer hours, and allow them less leave time.

Not coincidentally, the most popular of the open registry countries tend to be those with the most liberal tax, labor, safety and environmental codes

THERE IS also the issue of liability (mainly to passengers for injury to person or property). According to Burke, "the legal rights and remedies of U.S. passengers are greatly inhibited." In keeping with her observations, The Federal Maritime Commission has noted that it has no authority over: "passenger line vessel operations, safety issues, amenities onboard vessels or fare levels," and that "for claims against cruise lines based in foreign nations, foreign laws may apply and claims may be resolved abroad." This should not come as a surprise for anyone who has slogged through the contract between you as a passenger and the cruise line (and you should so slog).

SO THERE you are. Your little bit of Cruise Line Legal trivia for the day. 😎 And remember, it is not the Jones Act. It's the PVSA! Cruise on.

Paris (via LaHavre)

I TALK a fair amount here about our travels to some of the larger cities of the world. This is a cruise-oriented blog, but honestly, a single day cruise stop is not really the best way to see these cities. As I have mentioned before, I think that when you travel to a cruise embarkation destination, it is worthwhile to plan to arrive a few days early, and plan to spend some time in a major city at or near the cruise port. We have done that now with Barcelona, Venice, Rome, Athens, Amsterdam, Dublin, and London (cruise port was Southampton, about a 1-hour train ride away. I touched on this on last week's post, about our trip to London. Two years later, we booked a cruise out of Southampton. Generally, you will fly into London and find your way down to the port. We planned a full week in advance and from Heathrow, took and express train to our destination for the week, the Paddington Hilton. London requires at least a week, in my opinion.

Champs-Élysées

PARIS IS another one of those cities which really needs several day, at a minimum. That one is on our list for a more extended visit one day. But one of the things you can do on a cruise is at least see the city (perhaps at a glance) and determine whether it is one of those places worth spending more time. Some - to be frank - probably aren't.  If is certainly going to be different for each of us, but for example, for our stops last year in Helsinki and Stockholm, a day stop and an overnight were enough for me. Copenhagen, on the other hand, I wish we had spent at least an overnight in.

Arc de Triomphe and roundabout - Champs Elysees

OUR PORT the day after Dover was just across the English Channel: LaHavre, France. LaHavre is an interesting port, and there are decisions to make on a cruise stop there. Normandy is a distance of about 100 miles. But any student of history would want to visit the site of the U.S. Troop landing there - by all accounts, in spite of the violence and lost lives, the turning point in WWII. Paris is just about 100 miles in a different direction.

Paris Street from the Hop on - Hop Off Bus

I WOULD guess that the majority of passengers on our cruise chose Normandy and the beaches. I suspect that though it would be a full day's excursion, it is more manageable than trying to do Paris on a cruise stop. I am certain that our next time in LaHavre, that is what we will do.

Eiffel Tower

BUT IN this instance, we had some unusual (in our experience) circumstances. Because the trip across the Channel was short, we landed at LaHavre early the next morning. This was an overnight stop (interestingly, as we generally haven't experienced 2 overnight stops on a cruise). Anyway, the ship was not due to leave the port until midnight on the following day - giving us essentially 2 full days. Knowing this in advance, we booked a motel overnight in Paris, and railway tickets to and from. We arrived in Paris around 10:30 and were checked into our hotel by 11:00.

The Eiffel Tower from the Esplanade de Trocadéro

THERE ARE, of course, a few "must see" things in Paris. I suspect, like London, we could spend a week there and not get it all done. But we had to make the best of 2 days, and we surely got more out of that excursion than the London one. We had tickets with a late afternoon reservation for the Eiffel Tower, with entrance to the top. For the first afternoon, we bought "Hop on - Hop off" tickets for both the "Red Bus," and the water taxis. I have mentioned before here that we have found mixed results with the "Hop on - Hop off" systems, depending on the country and city running them. We have thought the ones in Dublin and London were very good, so we took a chance on Paris. That turned out to be good too. The nice thing about these is that they to a loop (or multiples) around most of the major attractions in a city. In Paris, that got us past the Louvre, The Notre Dame Cathedral, along The Champs-Elysees' and the Arc de Triomphe, and a few other notable sights. One of the stops (where we got off) is The Esplanade de Trocadéro, which is arguably the best place to photograph the Eiffel Tower from. A photographer can't visit Paris without photographing the tower. Multiple times. From multiple perspectives.

Paris - from The Eiffel Tower

AS DEMONSTRATED with the London shots from the London Eye, getting up high over a city can yield some pretty good photographs. In this case, our vantage point was from as high as you can go up in the Eiffel Tower. We had the good fortune (actually good planning by my wife, the travel coordinator) to get up there in the late afternoon and be there for the sunset.

Paris - from The Eiffel Tower

THE TOWER view provides a pretty nice perspective of the sun setting over the city. And being there after sunset, we were also able to photograph the Tower while it was lit up at night (see earlier image). The next day, I would have several other perspectives, from the water taxi ride we took up the Seine and Back.

Paris Sunset from The Eiffel Tower

THAT SUNSET picture might normally have been a great place to end the post. But we still had another nearly full day. The next morning, we walked about 1/2 block down the street from our hotel to a tiny little cafe that had an affiliation with our hotel and had a nice breakfast. Our next planned activity was a walking tour around the L'île de la Cité, the island in the middle of the Seine River where the Notre Dame Cathedral is located. A unique spot, it makes sets the Cathedral apart from the other city architecture and allows it to be a central attraction from both sides of the Seine, as well as from boats along the river.

Notre Dame Cathedral under repair (2019)

SADLY, SHORTLY before our trip, the Cathedral suffered a catastrophic fire (most will remember as it made the national news for a few days). Consequently, it was closed to the public and we weren't able to visit inside, or on the immediate grounds. We were kind of getting "euchred" on must see sights (with the Big Ben refurbishment in London, and now the Notre Dame). If there was one or two single sights in Paris I would have ticked off as "must see," the cathedral - for me- was second only to the Eiffel Tower. You make the best of the situation you are in, and we were able to see it from both sides of the river, and one of the bridges crossing onto the southeast end of the island. It is still a pretty impressive building, even with the damage showing. Hopefully, by the time we visit again, it will be repaired and open (like Big Ben was on our subsequent London visit).

Notre Dame Cathedral

OUR WALKING tour took us all the way around the Cathedral, as well as to a much older, gothic church on the south side of the river, the Gothic Architecture, St. Severin Church. We also walked around the neighborhood and got a bit of a history lesson.

St. Severin Catholic Church

AFTER A nice lunch at a delightful little sidewalk cafe in the shadow of Notre Dame, we boarded one of the "Hop on - Hop off" river boats for a short cruise up and down the Seine. There were some nice views of the cathedral, a couple other government and religious buildings, and of course, the Eiffel Tower (which is one of those monuments that can basically be seen from virtually every part of the city of Paris).

The Seine (the Louvre buildings are on the right)

View from the Seine; Paris

The Eiffel Tower, viewed from the Seine

ALL GOOD things eventually come to an end. After a long, eventful, nearly 2 days, it was time to head back to the train station, and ultimately back to the cruise ship. We were nearly done with the cruise.

Paris, France

I ALWAYS like to recall a funny or unusual anecdote here, when one arises. It is an exaggerated, and certainly unfair common assumption or characterization that the French people - especially in Paris - are rude to, and don't like Americans. I don't recall even a single small instance of rudeness (or even indifference for that matter) during our two days in Paris. Quite to the contrary, we found the people friendly, helpful, and pleasant. Ironically, my own belief is that there is a (perhaps small, but nonetheless visible) group of American tourists who often give their hosts in the country they are visiting good reason to "not like us." I may note (sometimes vocally) how I don't understand why they do things a certain way in another country from time to time. But I also recognize that they are from their own unique - and often different from my views - culture. And we are their guests! One thing they do in France (and I think the entire rest of the world could take a cue here), that is very different, is how they administer their taxi services. In most cities and towns, there is a designated "queue" for taxis, and the expected tradition is that you get in line. There is no stepping out into the street and flagging one down. And in most cases, if you are being picked up in a public area, you don't call for a cab. You go to the queue and stand in line. Taxis are next up - next served. Pretty calm. Pretty efficient. But non-Europeans don't "get" it. They still want to flag one down on the street. This evening, we got off the train in LeHavre and went to the line to taxi back to the cruise port. There were quite a few cruise passengers exiting the same train, with the same need to get back to the ship. They made it chaotic, even though the French cab drivers knew, and stuck to their own rules. As another cab came to the curb at the queue, we were next in line. But a somewhat loud and pushy lady stepped off the curb (not in her place in line) and started to get in the cab. Problem was that my wife had already gotten in on the other side and we were waiting to join her. The lady was incensed. She loudly insisted that she had called this cab for her party, and that this was her cab! My wife said: "no, this is our cab." The lady said: "how do you know it is your cab?" She responded: "it's my cab because I am in it, and you aren't even properly in line." 😀 She huffed that she had called the cab, but our driver confirmed that they don't even do that. She had probably called the company, who told her one would be coming - because they were doing that all evening.  Relax. Enjoy. Don't be entitled. 😇

The iconic entrance to The Louvre; Paris

A (all too brief) "Taste" of London

London, England (under renovation at the time)

FROM COBH, we sailed all the way down into the English Channel, and back up to the end of the channel, to Dover, England. Dover is at - essentially - the entrance to The North Sea, which separates the British Isles from the Scandinavian/Baltic nations. Apropos of my discussion regarding Liverpool (and Flint, Michigan), I had the same kind of "parochial" vision of Dover. It seemed to me to be small, middle of nowhere, with little of interest to do (we will be there again in June and will perhaps see how wrong I was).

St. Pancras Train Station, London, England

NEVER HAVING been to London, we deemed that a reachable site, especially given that our port stop was a fairly long day. We booked train tickets in advance, and taxied to the train station, boarding a 9:00 train. A distance of only around 70 miles, the train ride each way was about 1 1/2 hours. I think we were due back to the ship around 8:00 p.m. We had hired a tour, who picked us up at our stop - The St. Pancras station and took us around London for the day. The St. Pancras station was pretty spectacular, architecturally. We also learned that the staircase below has been a prominent part of the popular series: "Downton Abbey."

St. Pancras Train Station - Hotel

WE REALIZED later that the tour we had booked was not really a true "highlights of London" tour. It had an odd name, like "Secrets of London," or similar. Although we did see many of the main sights, we really didn't see all the things we wanted to see.

Royal Courts of Justice; London, England

BUT WHAT I also realized was that there is simply no way to "see" London in just part of one day. We would return there in late 2021 and spend a week. Even that was not really enough time, and we look forward to our next visit to that splendid city. Much of what we did see was more in the form of a "drive-by." Not that our tour wasn't excellent. It was. We saw and learned about some pretty interesting things.

Guildhall Art Gallery; London, England

WE TOURED, for example, a small museum dedicated to the London Police Department, and learned about "the Bobbies." We saw pockmarks on the exterior walls of buildings from the bombings during WWII. When our guide learned that I was an attorney, and my wife worked for years in the U.S. Federal Court system, he decided to deviate slightly from his planned tour, and took us into the British "Royal Courts of Justice" at the beginning of Fleet Street. While we didn't see any court action, we did see the inside of the magnificent building. London has some of the most spectacular architecture of any city in the world. 

Entrance to Smithfields; London, England

ONE OF the historical places we saw was the old North Gate into the early 12th century St. Bartholomew's Priory Church. The church is located in Smithfield, just down the street from where we saw the damage from WWII Blitzes. The original (north gate) entrance to the church is said to be one of few buildings in the area to avoid damage from the Blitzes. The church at one time housed monasteries, but fell into disrepair and was demolished in 1543, but left abandoned until it was rebuilt in the late 19th century. During the time before its downfall, it was known, among other things, as a place of healing, and eventually, was the precursor for the still existing, nearby, St. Bart's Hospital (a teaching hospital). The north gate, a portion of the original, Tudor style facade remains, having survived the Blitzkrieg and the Great Fire of London.

Original Main Gate; St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church; London, England

NOT REALLY part of the tour, we cajoled our guide into at least a quick stop at Buckingham Palace. Once again, I could see from our abbreviated visit that this was a place that deserved much more time and exploration. On our return in 2021, I spent at least 3 early mornings in Westminster, and in and around the Buckingham Palace grounds and nearby parks. It really represents all the pomp and pageantry the Great Britain is. Especially with its ceremonies like the "Changing of the Guard." But for now, we just had a "tease."

Buckingham Palace, Westminster, England

AS WE drove back and forth across the Thames River, we saw the famous "Tower Bridge" from other bridges. It is a very photogenic piece of architecture, and I really wanted to photograph it. Alas, it was not on the agenda. But we again cajoled, and our guide (hesitantly - he was on a schedule) took a detour to a spot where he let us get out and photograph it. It was a very cool spot, but it was challenging to photograph it. But I am very glad we did. I did not get back to this spot during our weeklong visit to London in 2021, though I did get some other shots of the Tower Bridge that I liked. You can see here that there is a nice little "park" which appears to serve as a lunch and break spot for nearby office workers.

Tower Bridge; London, England

WHEN OUR tour concluded, we were dropped off at the waterfront (Thames) near one of London's "must-do" facilities: "The London Eye." I was able to get a nice shot of it from down the river a way. But the highlight was when my wife surprised the 4 of us with tickets she had bought to "cut the line" and take a spin in the "Eye," along with a glass of champagne.

The London Eye, London, England

THE VIEWS from the eye were quite good, though the reflections created by the thick plexiglass were a challenge. The opening image of London was made from the "Eye." It was a fun experience. But it just underscored to me how much there was to see in London, and how much we had missed. We didn't see "Big Ben." Actually most people don't because "Ben" is actually the bell inside the tower, which is on the north end of the Parliament Building and is known as "Elizabeth Tower" (as it happened, it was under renovation at the time - as you can see in the opening image - and probably would not have yielded great photos anyway), Parliament, The Tower of London, and a few of London's odd, but iconic structures. We didn't get into any museums. No pubs. No fish and chips. We knew we must come back.

View of London from "The London Eye;" - London, England

WE KIND of ran out of time. We had to catch the train back to Dover and board the ship for our next port, LeHavre, France. Back on the ship, we learned that there were some things to do in Dover, including a Castle, the Cliffs, and a military aviation museum. We don't plan to try the "London experiment" from Dover again. We have learned it is much better to go directly there and stay for a period. Because it is not at a port, I suggest you think about a cruise out of Southampton and spend several days in London (where it makes the most sense to fly in and out of) either before or following your cruise. We did that and London was undoubtedly the best part of that trip! I will get us there on the blog eventually.

"The White Cliffs of Dover"" - Port of Dover, England