Denied Boarding Holland America

[Lookingforfacts]

No, cruise lines say it is passengers sole responsibity to get their traveling paperwork and visa in order before showing up at the pier. No babysitting, hand holding or free tutorial service provided on this subject. No freebie cruise voucher if you screw up. That's the deal.

Regular posters on this board research and are very unlikely to make the mistake the OP made.

 

Cruise lines have no problem babysitting, hand holding and offering free tutorial services regarding the "best" stores to frequent in ports. Same with respect to shore excursions. Believe some of the CDs and independent excursions leave passengers behind on a regular basis.

 

We can agree to disagree. I think helping customers comply with various rules is good business. Leaving customers at the dock isn't good business. It's not a matter of owing anything to the passenger. It's about satisfied customers and repeat business.

[Hlitner]

I think some of the posts have gone astray. The OP's wife was denied boarding for lack of a Canadian Visa. This means it had nothing to do with birth certificates, enhanced drivers licenses, etc. It does mean we are talking about somebody who has a Passport from a country....for which a Visa is required to enter Canada. So the OP's wife does not even hold a US Passport and since the OP has never come back to the thread, we have no clue as to where the lady is from or what Passport she holds. With several hundred countries in the world, and various requirements for each....one cannot expect a cruise line to deal with every possible combination.

 

Hank

[sfaaa]

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/hundreds-of-immigrants-use-washington-state-to-sneak-into-canada-for-asylum/

 

".

 

Well what do you know. This is proof that no visa is required to enter Canada so long as you are a bit creative. OP's wife has been fooled and may have a case.

[iancal]

The bottom line is that when you travel, YOU are ultimately responsible for determing what the visa requirements are for the countries that you are visiting. You cannot fob it off to the cruise line or to the tour company. Besides....who would want to rely on HAL or any other cruise line for visa information? We certainly do not and we verify any visa information that they do share with us. They have certainly been known to make an error.

 

We check our visa requirements independent of the cruise line or tour company. Because at the end of the day it is OUR vacation investment that is at risk, not theirs. It is so easy to be lazy or to blame others. The correct information is usually a few keystrokes away if you bother to make the effort.