Often1 wasn't disputing that fact. He was just simply, and correctly, saying that the cruiseline can't sell you that itinerary, but they won't physically restrain you from disembarking a cruise in another US port, you will just have to reimburse the cruise line for the fine they get from the US government. Why someone would actually book a cruise like that with this intention in the first place, I don't know.

I never heard this term before. To what does it refer?

Spelling police? Because I think reading the thread should actually answer it. Must be bored on a weekend.

Don't know if its spelled right when I don't know the word. I looked it up anyway to make sure I understood what OP was asking. I am as new to cruising as OP stated.

On the broader concept of 'spelling police', I think there are times where it is helpful to politely correct the spelling of another. In this case, we are talking about a relatively unfamiliar word to many people, including presumably, the OP. It can be difficult for people to google a term that they may have heard, but can't spell properly, so why not gently indicate that the word is 'cabotage' and perhaps even provide a definition - although in this case, I found the dictionary definitions to be a bit weak. Although much of this can be found upthread, I will summarize and add to it below.


Traditionally, cabotage is navigation and shipping along a coastline, oftentimes used in reference to a single country. Many countries have regulations which restrict cabotage to domestic providers so as to maintain their domestic shipping industry. The US has such regulations which require that US flagged ships must be owned by US citizens and crewed by US citizens or permanent residents. In addition, the US also has regulations that US flagged ships must have (at a minimum) their bottoms built in the US. For that reason, there are very few commercial cruise vessels of any size that are US flagged, given that the US shipbuilding industry is all but dead with the exception of naval vessels.

More recently, the term has been extended to airlines and the transportation of passengers between two airports in the same country, with the added wrinkle that it is often also applied even in the case of transiting an airport outside the country (so-called 6th freedom rights). So, Air Canada cannot transport passengers from New York via Toronto to Los Angeles, something which would be permitted on ships.