Guests Denied Boarding Due to Passport Requirements at Port Everglades

[startedwithamouse]

57 minutes ago, SomewhereGirl said:

 

I'm going to guess this statement didn't come from an employee authorized to speak to the media.

 

CBS News, Miami

 

https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/dozens-of-cruise-line-passengers-stranded-at-port-everglades/

[Outerdog]

23 minutes ago, startedwithamouse said:

CBS News, Miami

 

https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/dozens-of-cruise-line-passengers-stranded-at-port-everglades/

 

 

Wow. Thanks for the citation.

 

It still doesn't read like an official statement. Something is wrong there. No way any corporate statement would lead off with blaming the customer.

[SargassoPirate]

In this day and age, why would anybody leave the US and not carry a passport?  I don't understand, but then I've had a passport since I was in my twenties.

[Homosassa]

It took less than two minutes to bring up the Princess website and find the following information on travel documentation:

 

https://www.princess.com/learn/faq/pre-cruise/prepare-for-your-cruise/?accordion=travel-documents

[ijscheer]

1 hour ago, Outerdog said:

 

Wow. Thanks for the citation.

 

It still doesn't read like an official statement. Something is wrong there. No way any corporate statement would lead off with blaming the customer.

The citation contains the following quote from the reporter. "Passengers are telling me that they put a 10-day cruise with the Princess Cruises. The representatives told them that they didn't need to bring a passport and then they were turned away when they tried to board, saying that they needed a passport." 

The first sentence of the reporter's quote makes no sense.

 

[cruzin4us]

The funny part of the news story is actually true:   "We've reached out to Princess but have yet to receive a response"......I could have written this line.     Wonder if her request is being "escalated"......ha

 

I made myself laugh at the irony.

[Essiesmom]

Well, as much attention as this is getting, maybe Princess will press their reps to be more familiar with passport requirements.  EM

[Guest ldtr]

3 minutes ago, Essiesmom said:

Well, as much attention as this is getting, maybe Princess will press their reps to be more familiar with passport requirements.  EM

If they actually did talk to someone from Princess at all or if they are properly saying what they were told.

 

Based upon the lack of accuracy in the article I would not count on either being correct.  Any time I have had such questions the customer service rep would not give me the answer, instead they told me where I could find the specifics for my particular cruise.  Though one one cruise (dealing with a visa for a multi country excursion (Angor Wat)) they did say that they would transfer me to the department that would be able to answer such a question.

[startedwithamouse]

1 hour ago, Outerdog said:

 

Wow. Thanks for the citation.

 

It still doesn't read like an official statement. Something is wrong there. No way any corporate statement would lead off with blaming the customer.

It is between Christmas and New Year's, and let's face it, Princess is already operating short staffed.  

[Bobbiegentry]

4 hours ago, Ombud said:

And the reporter is clueless.

You’re an educated person so I know you’re not surprised for what passes as journalism in today’s world. 

[Buckeye10640]

It totally amazes me that anyone thinks it a good idea to get on a cruise ship without a valid passport. And they are saying 'dozens' of passengers. Are these all people who have never cruised before? It bears repeating....if you can afford to pay hundreds or thousands for your cruise, you can afford the passport!  We even got passports for all of our kids when they were teens and we were cruising. 

Edited December 31, 2022 by Buckeye10640

[MamaFej]

24 minutes ago, Buckeye10640 said:

It totally amazes me that anyone thinks it a good idea to get on a cruise ship without a valid passport. And they are saying 'dozens' of passengers. Are these all people who have never cruised before? It bears repeating....if you can afford to pay hundreds or thousands for your cruise, you can afford the passport!  We even got passports for all of our kids when they were teens and we were cruising. 

And be aware of when it expires. Renew it before then. 

Booking an $8500 cruise (or an $85 one) druing which the passport will expire does not strike me as excellent planning. 

 

Yes, we all make mistakes, myself included. Nonetheless, this whole story is not making a ton of sense. 

[sloopsailor]

2 hours ago, Outerdog said:

 

Wow. Thanks for the citation.

 

It still doesn't read like an official statement. Something is wrong there. No way any corporate statement would lead off with blaming the customer.

 

Nor with talking about a cruise the author of the statement took. That sounds completely fake to me.

[RD64]

2 hours ago, SargassoPirate said:

In this day and age, why would anybody leave the US and not carry a passport?  I don't understand, but then I've had a passport since I was in my twenties.

Because for some reason - and perhaps a generalization - Americans seem very reluctant to spend the $$$ to get a passport.

[Bobbiegentry]

47 minutes ago, RD64 said:

Because for some reason - and perhaps a generalization - Americans seem very reluctant to spend the $$$ to get a passport.

Americans?

[RD64]

Just now, Bobbiegentry said:

Americans?

Yes Americans - follow these passport threads for any cruise line and you will see that Americans are more than happy to travel with just a driver’s license or whatever minimal ID is required for a closed loop cruise from a US port.  A common complaint - for my family of xx people it would cost me $XX - why would I spend the money on passports.

 

Canadians and Europeans - and just about any other country are used to having and travelling with a passport. I consider myself lucky in that I have both a Canadian and a European passport. I live in a Canada / US border town, and cannot even cross the bridge without presenting a passport.

 

Another example - recently went on a school trip - crossed the border into the US - crossed back into Canada five hours later. All forty students had a valid passport - nothing unusual - just a part of life if we want to travel anywhere.

[kywildcatfanone]

Guests fault, pure and simple.  No story here.

[sloopsailor]

33 minutes ago, RD64 said:

Yes Americans - follow these passport threads for any cruise line and you will see that Americans are more than happy to travel with just a driver’s license or whatever minimal ID is required for a closed loop cruise from a US port.  A common complaint - for my family of xx people it would cost me $XX - why would I spend the money on passports.

 

Canadians and Europeans - and just about any other country are used to having and travelling with a passport. I consider myself lucky in that I have both a Canadian and a European passport. I live in a Canada / US border town, and cannot even cross the bridge without presenting a passport.

 

Another example - recently went on a school trip - crossed the border into the US - crossed back into Canada five hours later. All forty students had a valid passport - nothing unusual - just a part of life if we want to travel anywhere.

 

Perhaps it's because the US is so large that many citizens never need a passport to travel since there are so many places to visit in one country, resulting in that they never have a desire to go to a foreign country. If you look at the size of the US overlaid over Europe, this one country covers dozens of European countries where people used to need passports to cross borders. 

 

[wrenofthemill]

Of course, I always have my passport for every cruise.

A passport should be tucked in with essential IDs, credit cards. No exceptions.

Sadly, I don't fully trust cruise agents; I sometimes get vastly different answers.

There's inconsistentcy in the depth and quality of their training and experience.

This is why the cruise lines post ALL that info. -- sometimes overloading we mere travelers.

 

So, I am going to say I feel Princess should have put out a softer statement.

The statement struck me as quite institutional and incompassionate. 

There's a lot of policies and detailed requirements thrown at cruisers; it can be overwhelming for the less savvy traveler.

 

On another huge cruise line, I recently got the same emailed policy 3 times with a lengthy GENERIC policy: port by port entry requirements. My cruise wasn't visiting any of those ports! I didn't appreciate wasting my time by sending irrelevant info when there's so much relevant info to wade through.

 

 

 

[westerdam]

I am curious is immigration actually inspecting and stamping all the passengers passports in the countries requiring them?  I have generally only had mine inspected and stamped when flying in with one exception on the Astoria sailing from Poole into Wismar, Germany in 2019  There they looked through it, had a few questions, stamped it and sent me on my way. 

[donaldsc]

8 hours ago, ATL_Miami_Cruiser said:

 

Agreed it does sound very odd as an official statement. At timestamp 3:00 the reported states "This representative said" which could mean anyone at the company.

 

It was probably from a Princess employee who was sick and tired of dealing with  self entitled customers who could not be bothered w reading their cruise documents and just had to say what he was really thinking when he had to deal with these people all day.  His coworkers are probably cheering him.

 

DON

[DallasGuy75219]

I'm on a 10-day Caribbean Princess partial Panama Canal cruise leaving January 7.  Ports are in Colombia, Panama, and Costa Rica, in addition to a couple of mainstay Caribbean ports that alone wouldn't require a passport.  

 

Princess' travel summary clearly states, "A passport book is required and must be valid for 6 months after the completion of travel."  Apparently because of this recent stink, we received one of those emergency type booking notifications today stating the same thing: "A passport book is required and must be valid for 6 months after the completion of travel."

[Steelers36]

7 hours ago, SargassoPirate said:

In this day and age, why would anybody leave the US and not carry a passport?  I don't understand, but then I've had a passport since I was in my twenties.

IMO, the government was dumb whenever they allowed exceptions to requiring a passport to re-enter the US.

[AZjohn]

3 hours ago, sloopsailor said:

 

Perhaps it's because the US is so large that many citizens never need a passport to travel since there are so many places to visit in one country, resulting in that they never have a desire to go to a foreign country. If you look at the size of the US overlaid over Europe, this one country covers dozens of European countries where people used to need passports to cross borders. 

 

Sadly, I don’t think the reason a lot of Americans don’t get a passport is because our country is so large.

[sloopsailor]

12 minutes ago, AZjohn said:

Sadly, I don’t think the reason a lot of Americans don’t get a passport is because our country is so large.

 

If people don't travel internationally, why would they need a passport? My mother was 71 before she got her passport. And that was because my wife and I wanted to take her to our favorite European cities for her first overseas trip ever. Until then she was perfectly satisfied with visiting federal and state parks, and famous cities and sites here in the states. For her it WAS because this country is so large and has so much to offer without ever having to leave it's borders. And I was in my late 30s before I got one for the same reason. 

 

Note, I have since taken a different route than my mother and my wife and I have travelled extensively since the mid 80s, visiting 43 countries during our 39 years (and counting) of marriage. We absolutely recognize the value of an up-to-date passport.

 

But many people have different priorities. I don't think less of them if they don't see the value of getting a passport, unlike some people on this thread. 

Edited December 31, 2022 by sloopsailor