Does NCL require passport for boarding now due to coronavirus?

[Nn2036]

This couple plan for a wedding on cruise ship and NCL said that all boarding guests need passport?

https://abc7ny.com/5928770/

 

Does this policy apply to everyone? I haven't heard any news about this?

[PortFees45]

They should require it for everyone. People who leave the country without a passport are flipping insane. 

[Snowball]

7 minutes ago, Nn2036 said:

This couple plan for a wedding on cruise ship and NCL said that all boarding guests need passport?

https://abc7ny.com/5928770/

 

Does this policy apply to everyone? I haven't heard any news about this?

I know the couple that are the subject of the story and am sailing on the Gem along with other family members of the brides.  
 

NCL changed their policy to require non-sailing guests of the wedding to have a passport. Those that are actually sailing on the cruise can still use a photo ID and birth certificate. Doesn’t make sense to me but that’s what we’ve been told. 

[XuGator]

That was only for non sailing guests visiting the ship.   DL and birth certificate is fine for a closed loop cruise. I’m not sure why people using that method are “insane”. That is all that is required for the Caribbean.  People will play the what if you miss the ship , what if you get sick and have to fly home.  Losing a passport is more likely than either of those things and if an American citizen is on a  Carribean island and needs to get home , they will get home just fine.  This is St Thomas , not Malaysia. 

[Weluv2cruise2gether]

I believe what the poster was referring to by saying insane, was the fact that if you need to fly home to the US from a foreign county, which most of the Caribbean islands are considered, you may have difficulty entering without a passport. So, yes you can travel with a birth certificate on a closed looped cruise to the Caribbean from the US, but if for any reason you need to return by any other way then the original cruise you left on, there may be an issue. 

[esm54687]

1 hour ago, XuGator said:

That was only for non sailing guests visiting the ship.   DL and birth certificate is fine for a closed loop cruise. I’m not sure why people using that method are “insane”. That is all that is required for the Caribbean.  People will play the what if you miss the ship , what if you get sick and have to fly home.  Losing a passport is more likely than either of those things and if an American citizen is on a  Carribean island and needs to get home , they will get home just fine.  This is St Thomas , not Malaysia. 

Ugh

 

St Thomas is probably the worst example you could've used because it literally is part of the United States...... should just have said Cincinnati! 

[esm54687]

1 hour ago, Snowball said:

I know the couple that are the subject of the story and am sailing on the Gem along with other family members of the brides.  
 

NCL changed their policy to require non-sailing guests of the wedding to have a passport. Those that are actually sailing on the cruise can still use a photo ID and birth certificate. Doesn’t make sense to me but that’s what we’ve been told. 

It actually makes perfect sense...... when you are a passenger, your identification information is provided to US Customs and Border Patrol and they do checks on previous travel ..... 

 

A guest going to the wedding will not be processed as thoroughly as the passenger thus the reason for a passport. It is to protect the rest of the passengers from an infected guest who can contaminate a ship in the few hours they're on board....... and then the ship's medical staff, USCG, CDC, etc have no idea the cause. 

 

NCL, other cruise lines, airlines, resorts, Walt Disney World, your local hospital,  etc are dealing with a medical emergency, a political landmine and a public relations nightmare.  They are not sitting around the pool thinking of ways to screw passengers and guests....... I think everyone should be very happy that some are taking this so serious especially with the ridiculous lack of correct information coming out of the hot zones. 

[hallux]

3 hours ago, Snowball said:

I know the couple that are the subject of the story and am sailing on the Gem along with other family members of the brides.  

I feel sorry for them, I do.  However, it's not like NCL could have known when they originally asked if the day guests needed passports that this virus was going to become the issue it has become, or that the passport policy was going to change.

 

I hope they can work something out, either with NCL or with some other venue.

[Nn2036]

If guests only use birth certificates, how can cruise line know if they been to China or not

[Nn2036]

1 hour ago, esm54687 said:

when you are a passenger, your identification information is provided to US Customs and Border Patrol and they do checks on previous travel ..... 

Can they do that with just birth certificate? 

[esm54687]

2 minutes ago, Nn2036 said:

If guests only use birth certificates, how can cruise line know if they been to China or not

The reason why you need to be on board 2 hours prior to embarkation is because the cruise line must provide the passenger list and all that information to USCBP. They run that information against the entry information from all other US checkpoints (borders and airports) that have captured where you travelled. 

 

That's why you need a Government Issued ID as well as the birth certificate. That Government Issued ID has your personal information. 

[esm54687]

4 minutes ago, Nn2036 said:

Can they do that with just birth certificate? 

You can't travel with just the birth certificate as your lone source of identification. 

[Snowball]

6 hours ago, hallux said:

I feel sorry for them, I do.  However, it's not like NCL could have known when they originally asked if the day guests needed passports that this virus was going to become the issue it has become, or that the passport policy was going to change.

 

I hope they can work something out, either with NCL or with some other venue.

I certainly don’t disagree with their right to change the policy to protect guests; however, I think their outright refusal to issue a full refund for the wedding expenses paid to NCL for non-sailing guests is awful.  NCL is only offering a 70% refund, despite the fact that their policy change is the only reason why the wedding is cancelled. This is the part of the whole situation that none of us can understand. 

[XuGator]

9 hours ago, esm54687 said:

Ugh

 

St Thomas is probably the worst example you could've used because it literally is part of the United States...... should just have said Cincinnati! 

That’s what makes it the best example to use.  The Caribbean thrives on American tourism and cruising there with a DL and BC is not a big deal.  We have passports because we travel to Europe often but we wouldn’t think twice about not having it for the Caribbean. It’s hardly insane to travel there without a passport. Someone needing to fly home without one would be just fine and their predicament would not be all that much worse than someone who lost their passport. A little extra paperwork maybe for processing but as you indicated St Thomas and many of the other islands are literally part of the US.   

[esm54687]

1 minute ago, XuGator said:

That’s what makes it the best example to use.  The Caribbean thrives on American tourism and cruising there with a DL and BC is not a big deal.  We have passports because we travel to Europe often but we wouldn’t think twice about not having it for the Caribbean. It’s hardly insane to travel there without a passport. Someone needing to fly home without one would be just fine and their predicament would not be all that much worse than someone who lost their passport. A little extra paperwork maybe for processing but as you indicated St Thomas and many of the other islands are literally part of the US.   

OK, when someone in a discussion makes a statement that the Carribean "islands are literally part of the United States" ........ I tap out to save my sanity

[XuGator]

1 hour ago, esm54687 said:

OK, when someone in a discussion makes a statement that the Carribean "islands are literally part of the United States" ........ I tap out to save my sanity

Those were your words Esm.  You are also arguing against yourself at this point. 

[esm54687]

Just now, XuGator said:

Those were your words Esm.  You are also arguing against yourself at this point. 

Nope.... never said Belize or Dominica or Tortola or Cuba or any part of the Carribean was essentially part of the US .....   but a solid D- in your attempt to defeflect. 

 

Happy cruising

[XuGator]

I think you mean deflect but you can’t note how easy it is for US customs to process an individual and pull info from only a drivers license in less than an hour and then argue that it would be the end of the world to travel back without a passport from the Caribbean. Fact of the matter is that thousands sail the Caribbean daily using just their DL and BC and  people have had to fly back without a passport.  It’s a little more paperwork and a matter of acquiring a passport but not the end of the world.  

Edited February 16, 2020 by XuGator

[Homosassa]

Just curious - aren't weddings on board ship handled by an outside contracted vendor and not the cruise line?

 

If that is the case, is it NCL or the vendor that is offering the 70% refund? Wouldn't this then fall under the contract signed with the vendor ?

[Snowball]

12 minutes ago, Homosassa said:

Just curious - aren't weddings on board ship handled by an outside contracted vendor and not the cruise line?

 

If that is the case, is it NCL or the vendor that is offering the 70% refund? Wouldn't this then fall under the contract signed with the vendor ?

I haven’t seen the contract so I’m not sure but either way it is still unfair to charge a penalty for canceling a wedding when the cancellation is solely caused by the policy change. 

[Nn2036]

12 hours ago, esm54687 said:

The reason why you need to be on board 2 hours prior to embarkation is because the cruise line must provide the passenger list and all that information to USCBP. They run that information against the entry information from all other US checkpoints (borders and airports) that have captured where you travelled. 

 

That's why you need a Government Issued ID as well as the birth certificate. That Government Issued ID has your personal information. 

Can they tell what country the passenger had visited with just driver license and birth certificate?

[esm54687]

15 minutes ago, Nn2036 said:

Can they tell what country the passenger had visited with just driver license and birth certificate?

answered you already in post #11 but will try to clarify

 

Your Govt Issued ID is captured by USCBP and documents all countries you visited and if you travelled via a Passport then that information is also captured by USCBP combined into one big record........

 

That is why you can't travel with just a birth certificate...... and they scan your driver's license upon cruise check in.