AScientist

Unless things have changed very recently, US passports only have two lines for the name: one for the last name, and one for all given names (first and middle).

Also remember whenever you return to the ship they will send your bags and hats thru a xray machine and have you walk thru a simple xray.

You walk through a magnetometer, which does not use x-rays.

You'll also be glad to know that the x-ray backscatter machines were all removed from US airports several years ago. The body scanners that are there now use millimeter waves, which are very high frequency radio signals that (unlike x-rays) are not capable of ionizing atoms. They were removed because the vendor did not meet the deadline for providing software to flag concealed objects on a generic human outline rather than displaying revealing pictures of the individual.

You don't need an international calling card with T-Mobile. International calling is 20 cents per minute and you get it automatically. Data for internet and checking email/Facebook is free. We have T-Mobile and have never been charged and we've been to Europe, the Caribbean, Canada, Belize and Mexico. And you don't need to call T-Mobile to "turn it on" either - it's just on. Everyone has it. Of course, it works when you're in port, not on the ship. The only plans I don't know about is the prepaid phone plans.

I'll just add a caution to this...if you've been a T-Mobile customer for a long time, so that you are on an older billing plan, you might need to call in to move to a "Simple Choice" plan. Their older plans have much higher international rates, including extortionate charges for data.

Your phone device itself also needs to be compatible with international networks. Most current smartphones are, but not all older phones.