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Denied Boarding Holland America


Captsksier
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My wife was denied boarding because she did not have a Canada Visa for a Alaska cruise out of Seattle, I am just trying to get a voucher for a future sailing. Any suggestions on how to go about this? They will not reply to my email and agent hung up on me when calling about this issue. Thanks in advance for any and all advice.

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The cruiser is responsible for their visas and passports. As far as they are concerned you cancelled at the 100% penalty phase. I don't think you can get the voucher at this point.

 

 

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I doubt you will get a voucher because correct travel documentation is the responsibility of the passenger. Travel insurance won't cover this because it is considered something entirely within the passenger's control.

 

If your wife needed a Canadian visa then she is probably not a US citizen. It makes no difference if she is a legal permanent resident of the US or not. As far as Canada is concerned she is a citizen of the country whose passport she carries. They don't care about her residency arrangement with the US.

 

It stinks to be denied boarding but if this was the case you don't have any recourse. Checking with Canadian immigration and meeting their requirements is something that she should have done.

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I understand all that and thanks for the answers. But the airline industry will rebook you when issues are taken care of. Why is the cruise industry like this? Do they not understand mistakes are made? They are in a position to make more money from me if they allow me to sail. They would not even refund my shore excursion that I paid for. I worked for a major airline for 20 years and rebooked many for one reason or another with no fault of the airline.

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You should get back any thing you prepaid (shore excursions, etc) as well as port charges, but that's it. Per the contract you agreed to, it is up to the passenger to make sure they have the proper paperwork.

 

Unfortunately, this is one situation where even travel insurance wouldn't have helped.

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I understand all that and thanks for the answers. But the airline industry will rebook you when issues are taken care of. Why is the cruise industry like this? Do they not understand mistakes are made? They are in a position to make more money from me if they allow me to sail. They would not even refund my shore excursion that I paid for. I worked for a major airline for 20 years and rebooked many for one reason or another with no fault of the airline.

 

Cruise lines have always been this way. From their standpoint at least they got paid for the empty space onboard the ship where you and your wife should have been and they trusted your wife to get the Visa she needed, but she failed to do that and because of HER mistake they lost other potential revenue such as spa revenue, drinks revenue, gift shop purchases, etc. They even lost out as they provisioned food for her and she wasn't there to eat it. So given that they have lost revenue because of your wife, why would they provide a refund or any kind of voucher for a future sailing?

 

I'm sorry this happened to you.

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The airline industry measures their travel in hours not days. Seats can be filled by passengers on standby. Cruse ship cabins cannot. HAL reserved that cabin for you and they don't have anybody standing at the pier waiting to take your place.

 

Cruise ships also have an escalating cancellation penalty schedule because the closer it gets to the sailing date the more difficult it is to re-sell the cabin. The pool of people who can sail gets limited to those who don't need visas, those who don't need vacation time approval, and those who can get to the embarkation port at reasonable cost. On sailing day how could HAL possibly get a fare paying passenger to go in your place?

 

Nobody here is happy this happened to you. But it's entirely your wife's fault that she was denied boarding.

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You should get back any thing you prepaid (shore excursions, etc) as well as port charges, but that's it. Per the contract you agreed to, it is up to the passenger to make sure they have the proper paperwork.

 

Unfortunately, this is one situation where even travel insurance wouldn't have helped.

I guess those are the only thing that the OP can hope to recover, like non-appearance on cruise date.

 

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Why didn't your wife have the necessary visa?

It is always the travveler's responsiblity to have all required travel documents. From whatt country was the passport on which she was traveling?

 

HAL owes you nothing. Your wife was not properly perrpared to board the ship. Sorry this happened to you but hopefully it was a good lesson and will not happen again. Most insurance policies will not pay if the policy holder is denied boarding because they lack proper travel documents.

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If your wife needed a Canadian visa then she is probably not a US citizen. It makes no difference if she is a legal permanent resident of the US or not. As far as Canada is concerned she is a citizen of the country whose passport she carries. They don't care about her residency arrangement with the US.

Legal Permanent Residents of the United States do not require a visa to enter Canada; the green card is an accepted WHTI-compliant document. If she was denied entry, this tells me that she does not have a green card.

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I understand all that and thanks for the answers. But the airline industry will rebook you when issues are taken care of. Why is the cruise industry like this? Do they not understand mistakes are made? They are in a position to make more money from me if they allow me to sail. They would not even refund my shore excursion that I paid for. I worked for a major airline for 20 years and rebooked many for one reason or another with no fault of the airline.

 

Why? Because cruise lines are not airlines and you should not expect them to operate in the same manner or have the same SOP.

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Searching for "Canada visa requirements" led me to this page in less than one minute:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/visas-all.asp

 

According to that page a US lawful permanent resident needs an eTA but not a visa. Since the OP said "visa" his wife was probably a citizen of one of the countries where Canada requires one.

 

 

In a follow up post he says that he worked 20 years in the airline industry so I'm surprised this happened given that background. Airlines deny boarding to somebody every day for the exact same reason.

Edited by BlueRiband
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My wife was denied boarding because she did not have a Canada Visa for a Alaska cruise out of Seattle, I am just trying to get a voucher for a future sailing. Any suggestions on how to go about this? They will not reply to my email and agent hung up on me when calling about this issue. Thanks in advance for any and all advice.

 

Unfortunate development - but you must realize that because you and your wife booked the space, the line was not able to sell it to anyone else - who also would likely have contributed to on board spending profits.

 

It is unfair to expect them to then give away something of value to reimburse you for the loss you and your wife experienced through your error and not due to anything the line did.

 

To expect otherwise would be comparable to expecting a grocery store to give you a coupon for free eggs if you took the dozen you paid for, left the store, and then dropped in the river.

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My wife was denied boarding because she did not have a Canada Visa for a Alaska cruise out of Seattle, I am just trying to get a voucher for a future sailing. Any suggestions on how to go about this? They will not reply to my email and agent hung up on me when calling about this issue. Thanks in advance for any and all advice.

I'm sorry you've had such a horrible experience, but the cruise lines are very clear about the legalities of boarding, and it is the cruiser's responsibility to come prepared to board. They aren't going to give you a voucher for a future sailing.

None of that excuses them for failing to reply to your emails /hanging up on you. Even though it was your (or your wife's) mistake, they owe you pleasant customer service.

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Searching for "Canada visa requirements" led me to this page in less than one minute:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/visas-all.asp

 

According to that page a US lawful permanent resident needs an eTA but not a visa. Since the OP said "visa" his wife was probably a citizen of one of the countries where Canada requires one.

 

eTA only applies when flying.

 

If the wife was entitled to travel visa-free to Canada due to being a US LPR, then the OP has standing.

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Searching for "Canada visa requirements" led me to this page in less than one minute:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/visas-all.asp

 

According to that page a US lawful permanent resident needs an eTA but not a visa. Since the OP said "visa" his wife was probably a citizen of one of the countries where Canada requires one.

 

 

In a follow up post he says that he worked 20 years in the airline industry so I'm surprised this happened given that background. Airlines deny boarding to somebody every day for the exact same reason.

 

 

 

It's a good bet that many occasional travelers think an ETA is a Visa while even seasoned travelers may refer to an ETA as a Visa (travel agents often call any additionally required doc as a Visa. In any case and, which ever it is, OP (like oh-so-many others) either didn't read the fine print and/or follow the instructions. So, next order of business is for him to reread that old dog-eared copy of "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance."

 

 

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eTA only applies when flying.

 

If the wife was entitled to travel visa-free to Canada due to being a US LPR, then the OP has standing.

 

The OP clearly stated that his wife needed a visa, but didn't have one.

 

If the OP has 20 years of experience in the airline industry, he should have been fully aware of the necessity of checking into the required documentation for international travel, and should probably shoulder some of the blame in this case.

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If the OP has 20 years of experience in the airline industry, he should have been fully aware of the necessity of checking into the required documentation for international travel, and should probably shoulder some of the blame in this case.

 

Maybe, just maybe, the OP thought cruise lines are like air travel: No visa required if you stay onboard the ship, like no visa required if you stay onboard the a/c or airside in the airport. Maybe they thought she didn't require a visa if they didn't disembark in Victoria.

 

A few years ago, I got on a repo cruise from Vancouver to Valparaiso with the only U.S. stop in San Diego. Remarkably, one only had to go through U.S entry if you got off the ship (either because your cruise ended there or you wanted to visit SD) - I thought everyone (at least pax) would have to clear U.S. entry. Not sure what the U.S. visa requirements were if you needed one but didn't intend to get off the ship.

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few years ago, I got on a repo cruise from Vancouver to Valparaiso with the only U.S. stop in San Diego. Remarkably, one only had to go through U.S entry if you got off the ship (either because your cruise ended there or you wanted to visit SD) - I thought everyone (at least pax) would have to clear U.S. entry. Not sure what the U.S. visa requirements were if you needed one but didn't intend to get off the ship.

Did you go through US immigration in Vancouver before boarding the ship?

For Alaska cruises that is what happens so maybe the same when your next port is in the lower 48

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Did you go through US immigration in Vancouver before boarding the ship?

 

No, but then the ship stopped in Victoria on the way out - no pre-clearance there either. U.S. entry procedures appeared to be purely voluntary - only if you wanted/had to disembark. I did so only to get enough wine at dinner for the trip to Valparaiso.

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