FInger printing of International cruise passengers?

[Mikel1733]

It appears cruise line operators will be required to finger print international travelers. The cost to air and cruise operators is estimated at $2.7 billion over 10 years. Add that to the cost of your cruise now.

 

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,352064,00.html

[Wennfred]

Long Beach cruise terminal already has the Finger Printing pads out and also a webcam ball for the pictures.

 

 

Fred

[big_duck]

These morons have been watching too much CSI.

 

Unlike they show on TV, it takes hours to do a fingerprint check.

 

Multiply that by the number of cruiseships/aircraft leaving the US everyday figure you will be safely tucked in your bed post cruise before the check is completed.

[Wennfred]

I think that for now they want to link finger prints to a face for future use.

 

 

Fred

[big_duck]

I think that for now they want to link finger prints to a face for future use.

 

 

Fred

 

Actually I just re-read the article, "U.S. officials already collect fingerprints from visitors when they come into the country, but the administration has yet to complete the exit portion of the tracking program — known as US-VISIT"

 

I guess by international travelers they meant me, but not you. So this only affects a small portion of cruise travellers.

[firefly333]

They did it in Galveston to all the Mexicans on board. It took them about 20 minutes or so PER FAMILY to do all that was required. Worst disembark Iv ever been thru, as we had a Mexican group on board. They put them in the regular lines and the wait was bad if you had a Mexican family in your line in front of you, which most of the lines did I was watching. They need a separate line if they are going to do all this. There were questions and lots more evidently it took so long. Not just fingerprinting.

[Mikel1733]

 

I guess by international travelers they meant me, but not you. So this only affects a small portion of cruise travellers.

 

 

Sure costs a lot though. And that cost will be passed on to all of us.

[big_duck]

Sure costs a lot though. And that cost will be passed on to all of us.

 

Yup but ya gotta keep an eye on us for-n-ers though. :p

[gazingm42]

One of my customers I visit uses my hand print to open the computer

room door.

 

So could CCL use finger print to allow us on/off the ship. No fear of losing

you S&S card.

 

Only if you loose a finger in port will you have a issue getting back on.

[Mikel1733]

One of my customers I visit uses my hand print to open the computer

room door.

 

So could CCL use finger print to allow us on/off the ship. No fear of losing

you S&S card.

 

Only if you loose a finger in port will you have a issue getting back on.

 

One word..........Norovirus

[gazingm42]

One word..........Norovirus

 

You got a great point there!

[Longin2cruise]

Oh Boy! Does that mean that the ship's crew has to be fingerprinted each time the ship leaves the US? That sure could play havoc with embrakation day. We'd have to carry our own luggage, bring a sack lunch instead of having a buffet, help load provisions & fuel, bring our own bed & bath linens(if we wanted clean ones) & clean our own cabins all while the crew is waiting in line to be fingerprinted. Sounds like sooo much fun!

[NYCFOD]

These morons have been watching too much CSI.

 

Unlike they show on TV, it takes hours to do a fingerprint check.

 

Multiply that by the number of cruiseships/aircraft leaving the US everyday figure you will be safely tucked in your bed post cruise before the check is completed.

 

 

I have a NEXUS card for regular travel between Canada and the US. When I use a NEXUS or CANPASS terminal in Toronto, the kiosk scans my irises and pulls up my information in seconds. Whether the same applies to electronic fingerprints I don't know. What I do know is that when I was fingerprinted for the NEXUS card the CBP agent said that on a scale of 1 - 5 (one being the best) my prints were a 1, "So wear gloves if you're going to commit a crime".

 

As a resident alien, so much of my biometric data is held by the Department of Homeland Security, that I am sure regular fingerprinting won't be an issue. Before I got my green card, I was fingerprinted whenever I entered the US. For us foreigners, they already have the print matched to the passport anyway, so the machine would have to answer the question, "Does this person's fingerprints match the last set we took for this passport."

[nolaAlive]

Look for more and more biometric data to be collected everywhere.

 

On temporary hold:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7315415.stm

 

People wearing jeans are exempt. :p