Live from the Viking Star World Cruise 2021-22

[njhorseman]

13 minutes ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

I have been fingerprinted and photographed whenever I entered the USA, from what I've been told it is the same entering Australia on a foreign passport and at Haneda Airport Japan I was fingerprinted once (for some reason no fingerprinting at Narita🤷‍♀️) . I have heard quite a few countries are doing fingerprinting on arrival now, I think it is becoming more common.  

Fingerprinting of cruise passengers on a ship making a port call? I've never heard of or experienced  that...not that I've been everywhere by any means.

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

8 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

Fingerprinting of cruise passengers on a ship making a port call? I've never heard of or experienced  that...not that I've been everywhere by any means.

We (U.S. citizens) weren't fingerprinted when we entered Australia on a 2019 cruise which started in Bali on 2019.  I haven't been around the world by cruise or land trip, but I've never been fingerprinted when traveling.  That would be a first.

[Heidi13]

14 minutes ago, Twitchly said:

The US fingerprints tourists from other countries?? I had no idea. I don’t think I’ve ever been fingerprinted when traveling. 

 

Affirmative, the US has been taking fingerprints and photos for almost 20 yrs. I believe Canadians are the only exception, as this was one of the factors in me eventually getting a Canadian passport.

 

If I use my UK Passport to enter USA, I am photographed and finger-printed, but not with my Canadian passport.

 

As per a previous post, I am seeing an increasing number of countries taking finger-prints on entry.

[GKTV32162]

2 hours ago, cruiselvr04 said:

Quite the experience.  I noticed the women wearing hats instead of scarves which I would find more acceptable. I did wear a scarf in some of the churches in Europe as well as kept my shoulders and knees covered.  
 

I would not like the fingerprinting and phone app.  What if you just didn’t carry a phone or is this not allowed? 

They had some solution for people that do not have a smartphone and wanted to self-explore, but I do not know what it was.

[njhorseman]

1 hour ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Affirmative, the US has been taking fingerprints and photos for almost 20 yrs. I believe Canadians are the only exception, as this was one of the factors in me eventually getting a Canadian passport.

 

If I use my UK Passport to enter USA, I am photographed and finger-printed, but not with my Canadian passport.

 

As per a previous post, I am seeing an increasing number of countries taking finger-prints on entry.

Yes, but I still have not experienced nor heard of countries fingerprinting cruise ship passengers from a ship just making a port call . Have you ?

[GKTV32162]

World Cruise Day 97/152 - Jeddah, Saudi Arabia Day 2 - Communication breakdown and the kindness of strangers

 

 

https://kolbsontheroad.blogspot.com/2022/03/world-cruise-day-97152-jeddah-saudi.html

[PasadenaDave]

32 minutes ago, GKTV32162 said:

World Cruise Day 97/152 - Jeddah, Saudi Arabia Day 2 - Communication breakdown and the kindness of strangers

 

 

https://kolbsontheroad.blogspot.com/2022/03/world-cruise-day-97152-jeddah-saudi.html

In what universe in an American Mall would someone give $50 to a foreigner.

[JM0115]

3 hours ago, Twitchly said:

The US fingerprints tourists from other countries?? I had no idea. I don’t think I’ve ever been fingerprinted when traveling. 

Many countries fingerprint you. I’ve been fingerprinted in Japan for over a decade. A recent list I found is: US, Argentina, Uruguay, Panama, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Cambodia, Malaysia, Ghana, Uganda, and Saudi Arabia.

 

We did go to Uruguay on this trip and did not get fingerprinted though.

[njhorseman]

29 minutes ago, JM0115 said:

Many countries fingerprint you. I’ve been fingerprinted in Japan for over a decade. A recent list I found is: US, Argentina, Uruguay, Panama, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Cambodia, Malaysia, Ghana, Uganda, and Saudi Arabia.

 

We did go to Uruguay on this trip and did not get fingerprinted though.

Excuse me for being persistent, but you will be the third person I've asked whether you were fingerprinted as a passenger on a cruise ship making a port call.

So far all I've heard in response were crickets. 

It seems to me that everyone who has replied "Oh, sure, an increasing number of countries are fingerprinting" ignores the fact that Saudi Arabia is fingerprinting port call cruise passengers, not passengers arriving by air nor even passengers ending their cruise in the country.

[ldpetrillo]

2 hours ago, GKTV32162 said:

World Cruise Day 97/152 - Jeddah, Saudi Arabia Day 2 - Communication breakdown and the kindness of strangers

 

 

https://kolbsontheroad.blogspot.com/2022/03/world-cruise-day-97152-jeddah-saudi.html

Great stories. It’s too bad we did not get to Dubai as they have a huge mall with an indoor ski hill. We were also amazed at all the western stores and restaurants. We saw a Chuck E Cheese last night on the way to the desert. We also noticed that people in Jeddah were eating out as much as we do back home. Why cook when there are perfectly good restaurants to go to. 

[ldpetrillo]

5 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

Excuse me for being persistent, but you will be the third person I've asked whether you were fingerprinted as a passenger on a cruise ship making a port call.

So far all I've heard in response were crickets. 

It seems to me that everyone who has replied "Oh, sure, an increasing number of countries are fingerprinting" ignores the fact that Saudi Arabia is fingerprinting port call cruise passengers, not passengers arriving by air nor even passengers ending their cruise in the country.

We are spending four days in Saudi Arabia which might explain the process. Other than MSC which runs a seven day cruise out of Jeddah, we may have been only the second ship to visit. Saudi Arabia is leaping into the 21st century so expect some glitches. The people we have met are awesome. 

[CurlerRob]

10 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

Excuse me for being persistent, but you will be the third person I've asked whether you were fingerprinted as a passenger on a cruise ship making a port call.

So far all I've heard in response were crickets. 

It seems to me that everyone who has replied "Oh, sure, an increasing number of countries are fingerprinting" ignores the fact that Saudi Arabia is fingerprinting port call cruise passengers, not passengers arriving by air nor even passengers ending their cruise in the country.

On a 2019 cruise, we were printed in Singapore (port call - not the end of the trip). I recall it because it added a lot of time to disembarkation and the terminal was very busy. That's the only port call one in our experience so far. 🥌🍺

[SJD117]

1 minute ago, ldpetrillo said:

Saudi Arabia is leaping into the 21st century so expect some glitches. 

Any bone saws for sale in Saudi?

[njhorseman]

35 minutes ago, CurlerRob said:

On a 2019 cruise, we were printed in Singapore (port call - not the end of the trip). I recall it because it added a lot of time to disembarkation and the terminal was very busy. That's the only port call one in our experience so far. 🥌🍺

Thanks for replying. Was it a full set of fingerprints or just a thumbprint scan as what I've read the latter is what Singapore currently uses.

[Heidi13]

4 hours ago, njhorseman said:

Yes, but I still have not experienced nor heard of countries fingerprinting cruise ship passengers from a ship just making a port call . Have you ?

 

Affirmative, we have definitely experienced it in - USA, China and Japan, and seem to recall Russia, and at least 1 other country.

[CurlerRob]

1 hour ago, njhorseman said:

Thanks for replying. Was it a full set of fingerprints or just a thumbprint scan as what I've read the latter is what Singapore currently uses.

My memory is foggy, but I believe it was one or both thumbprints - I do not recall providing a full set. 🥌🍺

[njhorseman]

1 hour ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Affirmative, we have definitely experienced it in - USA, China and Japan, and seem to recall Russia, and at least 1 other country.

Thanks. We weren't fingerprinted when we went to St. Petersburg, but it was a few years ago so perhaps Russia hadn't started doing it yet. We haven't been to China or Japan yet but they are on our 2024 Oceania world cruise itinerary .

[njhorseman]

9 minutes ago, CurlerRob said:

My memory is foggy, but I believe it was one or both thumbprints - I do not recall providing a full set. 🥌🍺

Thanks. Both thumbprints appears to be what they do currently so your memory is likely accurate.

[GKTV32162]

4 hours ago, njhorseman said:

Thanks. Both thumbprints appears to be what they do currently so your memory is likely accurate.

For Saudi Arabia, it was a full set, all ten digits captured as all four right fingers at once, all four left fingers at once, both thumbs at once.

[bvm49]

9 hours ago, CurlerRob said:

On a 2019 cruise, we were printed in Singapore (port call - not the end of the trip). I recall it because it added a lot of time to disembarkation and the terminal was very busy. That's the only port call one in our experience so far. 🥌🍺

In November 2017, we were fingerprinted by the Singaporean authories as we boarded a ship to sail to Australia. I remember it well, as they had to use several different machines to finally get my DW's fingerprints! Also, as we had been given a free upgrade to a suite, our swift progress boarding the ship came to an abrupt halt🙃.

I couldn't understand why they needed to do that as we were leaving the country!

Aussie Brian

[HHI Cruiser1]

Viking Sea just announced masks are optional staring April 1.   Hope your ship does this also, especially since CDC just dropped cruise ship covid requirements.

[JeriGail]

21 hours ago, GKTV32162 said:

They had some solution for people that do not have a smartphone and wanted to self-explore, but I do not know what it was.

My issue with installing the app is not knowing whether some spyware was installed with the app and then left there when the app was removed.

[GKTV32162]

World Cruise Day 98 - Yanbu, Saudi Arabia - Not ready for prime time - and optional masks starting tomorrow - no April Fools!

 

 

https://kolbsontheroad.blogspot.com/2022/03/world-cruise-day-98-yanbu-saudi-arabia.html

[Jim Avery]

Congrats on the mask optional and also the ability to hold hands.  That is our norm as well.  Hard to break old habits...😎

[KBs mum]

On 3/30/2022 at 4:44 PM, njhorseman said:

Fingerprinting of cruise passengers on a ship making a port call? I've never heard of or experienced  that...not that I've been everywhere by any means.

USA immigration is the only place we've encountered it, wasn't required In Russia a few years back, but we didn't have individual visas thete

Edited March 31, 2022 by KBs mum