sparks1093

As I'm sitting here this morning I had a thought. While I understand this latest delay since folks weren't able to get into a DMV in person to get the REAL ID thanks to COVID I do wonder how many fliers this actually affects. I would expect that the vast majority of the frequent fliers, the ones that travel more than once a year, have long had an ID that is REAL ID compliant. Since they travel by air so frequently they can't take the chance of being caught without a necessary ID. I know that is what I would have done if regular flying is part of my life.

When we visited my brother in law in Germany we found that the use of plastic is not universal. DW and I were on our own the first day and decided to stop at a restaurant for a strudel and coffee. Came time to pay and I presented my credit card, nope, don't take those (and the waitresses English was about as good as my German). I hadn't had time to get any Euros yet and she was able to let me know there was a bank with an ATM in the village center. So I left DW sitting there (as collateral) and set off to find the ATM. I promptly got lost, but after a while I did find my way to the bank and then back to the restaurant. This was in Warnemunde, which is a cruise stop, so I was rather surprised that plastic wasn't accepted. Now when we land in Europe the first order of business is an ATM (and not a money exchange machine, made that mistake on our first trip over).

At the end of the day this is all that matters, no matter what the math or anyone else says about it. 🙂

In most cases (if not all) in order to get a REAL ID compliant license/ID one must go to the DMV in person with the required documents. Many haven't been able to do that because of COVID and this has slowed down issuance of the new ID. All states are now compliant, so it's a matter of giving folks the time to get in to get it done. In this case I can understand the delay.

The REAL ID Act passed in 2005. It will be almost drinking age by the time it's fully enacted. (I do see the point though that during COVID a lot of people didn't have the opportunity to renew in person in order to get a REAL ID compliant license/ID.)

In Vermont they can do that if they wish. They are only limiting what they can do with that ID. I don't know how long it will remain an option. I've had a REAL ID compliant license since 2014 when I got my first EDL (which of course is a different animal than the REAL ID compliant license and is only issued by 5 states).

One of these days they will get it fully implemented. At least all states are now issued REAL ID compliant licenses.

What I'm saying is the policy should match the practice so new cruisers know exactly what to expect.

The same thing applies at the border. It happens around here once or twice a year, someone goes to Canada and while there loses the document required to re-enter the US. When they show up at the border they are sent to secondary inspection where CBP varies who they are. That sometimes does entail having a family member make the drive to the border crossing to deliver other documents or to provide identification. It's good to know that such provisions exist for both CBP and TSA but one would not ordinarily show up sans proper ID.

This is one time a search really helped me find the answer I am looking for. We recently bought 100 shares of CCL stock and was wondering if the transaction confirmation would work. I'll email it in and we'll see how it goes. Thanks all for the info!

That would make me want to chose the option more.

Yes, one does need to consider port days but as demonstrated it's usually not too difficult to have enough on those days as well (and making sure to average the sea days and port days in the consideration).

I'm not sure that the cuisine or the entertainment will be vastly different on the same line. Different folks doing the same thing is the more likely result. I would still rather experience two different ships if possible so that is probably what I would chose.

I do recall one such day and it was the first time we ever had a drink package (on Royal). We had spent the day at Universal Studios and by the time we returned to the ship we were both so tired we turned in early. As I recall we had 2 whole drinks (each) on the ship. But we did have enough the rest of time for the average to work in our favor (and it certainly helped that Royal's drink package does work on their private island, so essentially another sea day. It also might have helped that our clamshell was right next to the bar. Maybe.).

I can tell.🙂 Since neither of us is involved it doesn't matter, we're just passing the time of day and hopefully other people reading the thread can learn something from it (even if it's only lock your valuables in the safe).

Sounded to me like the Chief Security officer was the one that accused by pointing out only employees had been in the cabin.

All I know is that for a week without Cheers our bar bill was $1300 and to me that is the only number that matters. I can easily drink 5 cocktails every day on vacation, even on most port days. One in the evening on the way to dinner, one with dinner, three during and after the show. That's with starting drinking at 5pm or so and 5 drinks between 5 pm and 11 pm (or 5 drinks in a 6 hour span of time).

Sounds like you want them to be Sherlock Holmes 😉. The bank doesn't require card holders to do that and I know that I wouldn't. I would leave it to the investigative agency if they chose to investigate, which they very likely wouldn't. The OP (and any other card user) isn't required to identify who they suspect committed the fraud when they call the bank and we don't even know if they did. From what the OP provided it is reasonable to conclude that the fraud occurred on the ship and that it might have been the steward or the plumber. That doesn't mean that someone else couldn't have done it, but that is where any investigation would start until they were excluded. I personally don't care where it happened, other than possibly that having an impact on where a police report gets filed.

Ok, dusted of the copy of the proposed regulations. Economic impact was considered by OMB as a result of Federal law, which mandates such a study in any regulation that would cost more than $100 million dollars and when considering Alternative 1, requiring all US travelers including children to present a valid passport book this is what it says: "This alternative would require all U.S. citizens, including minors under 16 and all cruise passengers, to present a valid passport book. The passport card, CBP trusted traveler documents, the MMD, and documents from DHS-approved pilot programs would not be accepted. This would be a more stringent alternative, and it was rejected as potentially too costly and burdensome for low-risk populations of travelers. While the traditional passport book will always be an acceptable document for a U.S. citizen to present upon entry to the United States, DHS and DOS believe that the cost of a traditional passport book may be too burdensome for some U.S. citizens, particularly those living in border communities where land-border crossings are an integral part of everyday life. As stated previously, DHS and DOS believe that children under the age of 16 pose a low security threat in the land and sea environments and will be permitted to present a certified copy of a birth certificate when arriving in the United States at all land and sea ports-of-entry from within the Western Hemisphere. Additionally, DHS and CBP have developed an alternative procedure for children traveling in groups. DHS and DOS have also determined that exempting certain cruise passengers from a passport requirement is the best approach to balance security and travel efficiency considerations in the cruise ship environment." (bolding for emphasis). Too burdensome for groups of low risk populations of travelers (NOT low income populations-- low risk populations). Additionally, if every traveler needed to have a passport this would increase the number of Federal employees because of the increased demand, and while some of those expenses would be offset by user fees some tax dollars would still be in play. If anyone is interested in reading the proposed regulations which I just quoted you can go here Federal Register :: Documents Required for Travelers Departing From or Arriving in the United States at Sea and Land Ports-of-Entry From Within the Western Hemisphere but bring some milk, some of it is very dry reading. These regulations have been in place since 2008 and until the security threat posed by US citizens on closed loop cruises changes the regulations won't change. DHS and DOS have developed procedures to be used since the regulations were written to assist those passengers without passports on a closed loop cruise that need assistance.

The same could be said for people who have a passport and lose it or have it stolen while traveling. Traveler services have always been a part of State's mission and always will be.

AFAIK all of the different IDs are paid for by the fees for said IDs, not tax dollars. And millions of people travel on closed loop cruises every year with something other then a passport and vary few have any issues at all.

And those folks are already on the payroll. No new employees were added to the State Department rolls because of the closed loop exception.

If they are being pennywise and pound foolish if it goes south it's on them and no one else. Hardly a reason for the government to require passports on closed loop cruises.

I get that you understand it, just mentioned it for those that didn't. 🙂

I was raised that way as well. There's a fine between that and victim shaming, though.