Say Bon Voyage to Cruises to Nowhere

Popular short sailings to end in 2016.

— -- The short jaunts on which guests board a cruise ship and sail out to sea without calling on any ports are about to come to an end.

Cruise lines that sail under a foreign flag -- as Carnival, Norwegian, and most other mega-ships do -- are no longer allowed to sail in foreign waters without calling on a port, according to Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), the official trade organization of the cruise industry of North America, said.

In addition to Carnival Vista's New York sailings, a two-day sailing out of Norfolk, Virginia has also been cancelled. Norwegian has cancelled two-day cruises from New York on Norwegian Breakaway.

Cruise lines typically run a cruise to nowhere in between longer itineraries. When the ship doesn't make port calls, customers spend all their time and money on the ship itself.