Using Birth Cert. at embarkation...

[celticd1]

I read it on John Heald's (Carnival Sr. Cruise Director) Blog. I think I might also have read it on his facebook page. At any rate, it is NOT my "wild imagining". LOL

 

Well, you know the old saying "Trust but verify"? ;)

 

I read JH's blog and FB daily and must have missed this bit of info. Could you please provide us with a link to the particular FB and or blog post?

 

TIA

[GoingWithTheFlow]

In the case of the Victory, San Juan is a U.S. territory so travel with b.cert plus ID is fine, but upon missing embarkation, only the passengers with passports would have been allowed to fly to Barbados since it is a foreign country. There is nothing Carnival could have done about this, it was beyond their control since it is the regulation. I doubt Carnival is liable for anything since they say on their website...they strongly recommend traveling with a passport.

 

Although a passport is not required for U.S. citizens taking cruises that both originate and terminate at the same U.S. port, we, again, strongly recommend all guests travel with a passport (valid for at least six months beyond completion of travel). Having a passport will enable guests to fly from the U.S. to a foreign port in the event they miss their scheduled embarkation or to fly back to the U.S. if they need to disembark the ship mid-cruise due to an emergency.

That's pretty clear. The most Carnival could be faulted for is not wording the passport recommendation strongly enough. I noticed another competing cruise line making sure passengers understood the risks of not having one.

 

You could make the argument that all the cruise lines should make passports mandatory, but they will never do this since it is the U.S. gov't that made the ruling---for whatever cockamamie reason. :confused: Even if a cruise line made it a requirement, someone would threaten to sue them because of the rule--and they would win.

 

So we have to deal with this confusion.

Or not.

 

If you know for sure that you'll never miss the ship (or that the ship will depart early due to a storm) I guess that works for you. On the other hand, if your psychic powers fail you and you end up getting stuck, you'll probably change your tune and never travel without a passport again.

 

All I know is I'm happy I have mine! It's already tucked away in my carry on case. Right next to my pop up hamper. :)

[MissDiva1]

In the case of the Victory, San Juan is a U.S. territory so travel with b.cert plus ID is fine, but upon missing embarkation, only the passengers with passports would have been allowed to fly to Barbados since it is a foreign country. There is nothing Carnival could have done about this, it was beyond their control since it is the regulation. I doubt Carnival is liable for anything since they say on their website...they strongly recommend traveling with a passport.

 

That's pretty clear. The most Carnival could be faulted for is not wording the passport recommendation strongly enough. I noticed another competing cruise line making sure passengers understood the risks of not having one.

 

You could make the argument that all the cruise lines should make passports mandatory, but they will never do this since it is the U.S. gov't that made the ruling---for whatever cockamamie reason. :confused: Even if a cruise line made it a requirement, someone would threaten to sue them because of the rule--and they would win.

 

So we have to deal with this confusion.

Or not.

 

If you know for sure that you'll never miss the ship (or that the ship will depart early due to a storm) I guess that works for you. On the other hand, if your psychic powers fail you and you end up getting stuck, you'll probably change your tune and never travel without a passport again.

 

All I know is I'm happy I have mine! It's already tucked away in my carry on case. Right next to my pop up hamper. :)

 

Or purchase insurance......and we still don't know what happened to the people that only had b.c.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

In the case of the Victory, San Juan is a U.S. territory so travel with b.cert plus ID is fine, but upon missing embarkation, only the passengers with passports would have been allowed to fly to Barbados since it is a foreign country. There is nothing Carnival could have done about this, it was beyond their control since it is the regulation. I doubt Carnival is liable for anything since they say on their website...they strongly recommend traveling with a passport.

 

That's pretty clear. The most Carnival could be faulted for is not wording the passport recommendation strongly enough. I noticed another competing cruise line making sure passengers understood the risks of not having one.

 

You could make the argument that all the cruise lines should make passports mandatory, but they will never do this since it is the U.S. gov't that made the ruling---for whatever cockamamie reason. :confused: Even if a cruise line made it a requirement, someone would threaten to sue them because of the rule--and they would win.

 

So we have to deal with this confusion.

Or not.

 

If you know for sure that you'll never miss the ship (or that the ship will depart early due to a storm) I guess that works for you. On the other hand, if your psychic powers fail you and you end up getting stuck, you'll probably change your tune and never travel without a passport again.

 

All I know is I'm happy I have mine! It's already tucked away in my carry on case. Right next to my pop up hamper. :)

 

The cruiselines are the ones that lobbied against the passport requorements from the get go.

 

Unless they had a changw of philosophy I doubt tbey make the passports mandatory even if they could.

 

Bill

 

 

 

Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk

[GoingWithTheFlow]

Or purchase insurance......and we still don't know what happened to the people that only had b.c.

 

Do you know for sure that insurance would cover this? If the cruise line itself recommends me having a passport and I cannot fly to meet the ship because I only have a birth certificate---knowing how insurance is all about the fine print---I have a feeling they could get out of compensating me.

 

I wouldn't bet on my insurance covering me for not following what was "strongly" recommended. I hope someone can confirm this.

[MissDiva1]

Do you know for sure that insurance would cover this? If the cruise line itself recommends me having a passport and I cannot fly to meet the ship because I only have a birth certificate---knowing how insurance is all about the fine print---I have a feeling they could get out of compensating me.

 

I wouldn't bet on my insurance covering me for not following what was "strongly" recommended. I hope someone can confirm this.

 

Depending on the policy yes the covererage is under trip delay/interruption....

[celticd1]

In the case of the Victory, San Juan is a U.S. territory so travel with b.cert plus ID is fine, but upon missing embarkation, only the passengers with passports would have been allowed to fly to Barbados since it is a foreign country. There is nothing Carnival could have done about this, it was beyond their control since it is the regulation. I doubt Carnival is liable for anything since they say on their website...they strongly recommend traveling with a passport.

 

Do you know for a FACT that those without passports were turned away?

 

I personally think that we would have heard from many irate passengers from this sailing if that was the case. As far as I know, we have not heard from any.

 

Can ANYONE come up with an official announcement regarding this?

[GoingWithTheFlow]

Do you know for a FACT that those without passports were turned away?

 

I personally think that we would have heard from many irate passengers from this sailing if that was the case. As far as I know, we have not heard from any.

 

Can ANYONE come up with an official announcement regarding this?

 

No I don't know for a fact that they were turned away, but I do know you cannot fly into a foreign country like Barbados without a passport regardless of the circumstances. Don't need confirmation of that. What we don't know is if travel insurance will cover those who only had birth certificates and were forced to return home.

[celticd1]

No I don't know for a fact that they were turned away, but I do know you cannot fly into a foreign country like Barbados without a passport regardless of the circumstances. Don't need confirmation of that. What we don't know is if travel insurance will cover those who only had birth certificates and were forced to return home.

 

From John Heald's blog today:

 

"We certainly were not always so but the last few years I think that our response teams and our care teams both shoreside and on board have done a brilliant job making sure that when something like this happens the guests are taken care of properly. And so they were all placed in hotels and when the storm passed they will be flown to Barbados to join the Carnival Victory tomorrow (Wednesday) and once on board I can promise a whole big fuss will be made of them."

 

I see no mention of passport requirements.

 

Seems pretty clear to me that EVERYONE will be joining the ship in Barbados.

[Swampbabe]

That's not up to Carnival. It's up to the government of Barbados. They control their borders, not Carnival.

[jmeans23970]

Not fishy at all......she is in business for herself Although my last TA did the same thing.....They do this so if we they were to get lost or stolen while we were on vacation she could help us get it replaced....what is wrong with that? That's what a good TA does...

 

 

I work for one of the largest TA in the US, and we don't ever ask for any ID ( even passport) to keep on file. I can understand a smaller agency keeping one on file, in case you lost one while traveling. Our's wouldn't, we are a bigger agency, so you would have to have a family member or such do something like that for you. (All we keep are emergency contact numbers, as most people don't have passports anyway) I don't feel like not doing that makes me a bad TA. I've never had any complaints. I however still find it fishy that your TA "requires" a passport for all guests, but will not turn someone away for not having one. Also does she demand a copy before she books their cruise? This is what all sounds fishy. I'm not trying to be rude, just really trying to understand. And if she "requires" a passport, I find that stupid, mainly because she is purposly refusing business? I mean I recommend all my clients to have a passport, but if they don't want one, they don't have to get one. They know the risks, and if they are fine taking them, then I am fine allowing them. I don't think that makes me a bad TA, or the agency I work with bad. We may do fine business just booking cruises for people who have passports, but we would never limit ourselves to just that segment of people. I can't see how that would be a sound financial decision.

[ferfoodle]

Do you know for a FACT that those without passports were turned away?

 

I personally think that we would have heard from many irate passengers from this sailing if that was the case. As far as I know, we have not heard from any.

 

Can ANYONE come up with an official announcement regarding this?

 

Not an "official" announcement but the closest I can come is from:

http://www.travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1022.html

 

and:

http://www.barbados.org/docs_cruiseships.htm

 

Passports are required for Barbados for air travel into the country. Cruise passengers are exempt, but must enter by sea. Whether or not the Barbados Government will "allow" the passengers who missed the ship to fly into the airport with only WHTI (not passport) is up to them and the airlines. My guess: no.

[MissDiva1]

I work for one of the largest TA in the US, and we don't ever ask for any ID ( even passport) to keep on file. I can understand a smaller agency keeping one on file, in case you lost one while traveling. Our's wouldn't, we are a bigger agency, so you would have to have a family member or such do something like that for you. (All we keep are emergency contact numbers, as most people don't have passports anyway) I don't feel like not doing that makes me a bad TA. I've never had any complaints. I however still find it fishy that your TA "requires" a passport for all guests, but will not turn someone away for not having one. Also does she demand a copy before she books their cruise? This is what all sounds fishy. I'm not trying to be rude, just really trying to understand. And if she "requires" a passport, I find that stupid, mainly because she is purposly refusing business? I mean I recommend all my clients to have a passport, but if they don't want one, they don't have to get one. They know the risks, and if they are fine taking them, then I am fine allowing them. I don't think that makes me a bad TA, or the agency I work with bad. We may do fine business just booking cruises for people who have passports, but we would never limit ourselves to just that segment of people. I can't see how that would be a sound financial decision.

 

I believe you are taking this way too personal because I never said you or your agency are bad. Many well established small TA's have clients passports on file for emergency reasons and also to remind them of upcoming expirations. She also has my cc# that I use for all my bookings. I'm not sure how her wanting her clients to have a passport would be considered stupid:confused: And I already posted that she had not refused any business because of a lack of passport. She told me that the majority of her clients already have them or if they don't then they comply. Evidently her clients understand the importance of one....whether they are longtime clients or new. She's a great TA IMO because she has all our info at her fingertips in case of an emergency, whether we miss a connecting flight and need to reschedule and get a hotel room, or in the event of lost or stolen luggage, documents etc....all I have to do is make one phone call......and she takes care of us....

[kbmeow]

Yes it is a recent marriage and the cruise is booked under her married name. Her passport and birth certificate are in her maiden name but her drivers license and of course the official marriage license are in her married name. We sail in a few weeks so I dont think there is enough time to get the passport changed.

 

I would take passport, Id , BC and marriage license. Maybe overkill but just in case I would try the passport and the Id first

[MIZZ_K]

I'm glad I have a passport.

[kbmeow]

On the people who have copies of the passports with there TA. I actually took photos of my husband and my passports. I also have a picture of our cruise ticket and itinerary. We both have the picture on our phones and well as in email so we can send and print it. We also sent copies to our family.

I like having it digitally instead of paper. I would hate to have multiple copies floating around and one getting lost. With digitally I know where they are.

[jmeans23970]

I believe you are taking this way too personal because I never said you or your agency are bad. Many well established small TA's have clients passports on file for emergency reasons and also to remind them of upcoming expirations. She also has my cc# that I use for all my bookings. I'm not sure how her wanting her clients to have a passport would be considered stupid:confused: And I already posted that she had not refused any business because of a lack of passport. She told me that the majority of her clients already have them or if they don't then they comply. Evidently her clients understand the importance of one....whether they are longtime clients or new. She's a great TA IMO because she has all our info at her fingertips in case of an emergency, whether we miss a connecting flight and need to reschedule and get a hotel room, or in the event of lost or stolen luggage, documents etc....all I have to do is make one phone call......and she takes care of us....

 

 

I am not taking this personal, and I stated that I can understand you TA keeping such on file, since she would be a smaller agency, since she works for herself. What I don't understand is you say she has never refused any business because of lack of passport, but then say she requires ones. Either she requires one or she doesn't. If it is a requirement, that would mean if one didn't comply, she wouldn't book their cruise. If she would, then a passport isn't a requirement. Also what I meant by saying "stupid", is even if she is doing well for herself, it would be stupid to refuse business on the basis of someone not having a passport for a cruise, even though it isn't a requirement for a closed loop cruise. Esp considering most Americans don't have passports. I am really not trying to offend, I really am just trying to see what I am missing.

[jmeans23970]

On the people who have copies of the passports with there TA. I actually took photos of my husband and my passports. I also have a picture of our cruise ticket and itinerary. We both have the picture on our phones and well as in email so we can send and print it. We also sent copies to our family.

I like having it digitally instead of paper. I would hate to have multiple copies floating around and one getting lost. With digitally I know where they are.

 

 

I do have my passport scanned in my email, just so I have a copy that way.

[anchorsores]

Not an "official" announcement but the closest I can come is from:

http://www.travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1022.html

 

and:

http://www.barbados.org/docs_cruiseships.htm

 

Passports are required for Barbados for air travel into the country. Cruise passengers are exempt, but must enter by sea. Whether or not the Barbados Government will "allow" the passengers who missed the ship to fly into the airport with only WHTI (not passport) is up to them and the airlines. My guess: no.

 

my guess YES! read the whole thing (or scroll down to speciall circumstances) where it talks about huricans and such. i think this is a special one and that it would fall under an "evacutaion" of sorts thus allowing all to fly.

[MissDiva1]

On the people who have copies of the passports with there TA. I actually took photos of my husband and my passports. I also have a picture of our cruise ticket and itinerary. We both have the picture on our phones and well as in email so we can send and print it. We also sent copies to our family.

I like having it digitally instead of paper. I would hate to have multiple copies floating around and one getting lost. With digitally I know where they are.

 

Yes when I said my TA has a copy....it is a pdf file.

[ferfoodle]

my guess YES! read the whole thing (or scroll down to speciall circumstances) where it talks about huricans and such. i think this is a special one and that it would fall under an "evacutaion" of sorts thus allowing all to fly.

 

 

Sorry - don't see it that way. Saw nothing on evacuation (which means leave an area due to imminent danger - not fly into an area because of missed ship). This is all it says for special circumstances from:

http://www.travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1022.html

 

But like I said earlier, I have heard nothing official - so maybe they can.

 

SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES: All Caribbean countries can be affected by hurricanes. The hurricane season normally runs from early June to the end of November, but there have been hurricanes in December in recent years. General information about natural disaster preparedness is available via the Internet from the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

U.S. citizens are encouraged to carry a copy of their citizenship documents with them at all times so, if questioned by local officials, proof of identity and U.S. citizenship are readily available.

[MissDiva1]

I am not taking this personal, and I stated that I can understand you TA keeping such on file, since she would be a smaller agency, since she works for herself. What I don't understand is you say she has never refused any business because of lack of passport, but then say she requires ones. Either she requires one or she doesn't. If it is a requirement, that would mean if one didn't comply, she wouldn't book their cruise. If she would, then a passport isn't a requirement. Also what I meant by saying "stupid", is even if she is doing well for herself, it would be stupid to refuse business on the basis of someone not having a passport for a cruise, even though it isn't a requirement for a closed loop cruise. Esp considering most Americans don't have passports. I am really not trying to offend, I really am just trying to see what I am missing.

 

 

I know you are not trying to offend me you just are not understanding my posts......I don't know how to explain it any clearer. She has never had a problem with people complying.......And like I said she doesn't specialize in mass market cruises but she hasn't turned one down. Maybe she just has a more educated clientele in regards to traveling and knowing how important passports are.

[MissDiva1]

Sorry - don't see it that way. Saw nothing on evacuation (which means leave an area due to imminent danger - not fly into an area because of missed ship). This is all it says for special circumstances from:

http://www.travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1022.html

 

But like I said earlier, I have heard nothing official - so maybe they can.

 

SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES: All Caribbean countries can be affected by hurricanes. The hurricane season normally runs from early June to the end of November, but there have been hurricanes in December in recent years. General information about natural disaster preparedness is available via the Internet from the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

U.S. citizens are encouraged to carry a copy of their citizenship documents with them at all times so, if questioned by local officials, proof of identity and U.S. citizenship are readily available.

 

Post number 84 posted what was on John Healds blog.

[GoingWithTheFlow]

my guess YES! read the whole thing (or scroll down to speciall circumstances) where it talks about huricans and such. i think this is a special one and that it would fall under an "evacutaion" of sorts thus allowing all to fly.

 

But at this point, the storm has passed and the passengers flying into Barbados are not in any danger nor are they being evacuated from San Juan for their safety. The ship left early and that was not an evacuation technically either, as much as it might have felt like it was!

 

I'd say the answer is still No. :)

 

And the more important point is this---even if for some reason the Barbados officials decided to make an exception and allow non-passport passengers to fly in, this does not mean another country would do the same! We should look at this situation as a warning.

 

Better to be safe and GET A PASSPORT or take the chance of being left behind. :eek:

[jmeans23970]

I know you are not trying to offend me you just are not understanding my posts......I don't know how to explain it any clearer. She has never had a problem with people complying.......And like I said she doesn't specialize in mass market cruises but she hasn't turned one down. Maybe she just has a more educated clientele in regards to traveling.

 

 

 

But if they wouldn't comply, than she wouldn't book them? I know you say she has no problem not booking someone, but if someone calls me to book a cruise, i just inform them of what they need at the current time to travel, not what I think they should have.

 

My clientele is educated, and know they don't need a passport for a closed loop cruise, mass market or otherwise. In fact I can't see a person who doesn't have a passport, wants to do a closed loop cruise, knows they don't need the passport, complying just cause I, a TA tells them too. What they would most likely do, is book the cruise with someone else, and I would lose the business, and for what? A client having or not having a passport doesn't affect me in any way. Should they have one, yeah. Do they have too, nope, not for closed loop cruises.

 

It just sounds all wacky, and I don't mean to offend you or your friend. You say she doesn't specialize in mass market cruises, but even on the non mass market cruises I book, there isn't a ton of money in that (commission wise), so If she is doing pretty well, she would have to be booking a lot of mass market cruises in addition to what she specializes in. If she does, I can't see her never having a problem with people complying to her "passport rule", that honestly makes no sense. I can't think of one reason why a TA would have such a rule. I even asked my boss, who has been in the industry for nearly 40 years, and he said he would have no idea.

 

I mean If I walked in her office, said I wanted to book a cruise, would she ask for the passport then? And If I said no, would she say I have to get one, and if I refuse, would she not book me?

 

Really, not trying to be rude ( truly I am not), just as a TA myself, it perplexes me.