sparks1093

Great catch, can't believe I missed that.

I really don't know how CBP would react to this. My gut says they would just process the family and let it be. But then there could be that one officer with a chip that makes a big deal about it.

Sometimes CBP will have a separate line at the end of the cruise for folks with passports, but this has nothing to do with any of the cruise lines themselves. If you get in the birth certificate line with her you would still just use your passport and the processing time will be about the same.

You can get cash from the cashier's cage for a fee, as well as I understand it.

90 to our Mardi Gras cruise!

I am flattered, but my opinion rarely quells the debate because people see things they way that they see them and it's difficult to convince them otherwise. In the OP's case their unexpired passport would be fine for the cruise they are taking and if needed would be sufficient for a return by air. For those traveling without a passport at all (and I've seen nothing that suggest that percentages of those using an alternative to a passport on a closed loop cruise has changed significantly). There are provisions in the regulations covering closed loop cruises that allow the waver of the passport requirement for emergencies and for humanitarian reasons and it can only be said that there will be some delay in returning by air until that waiver is granted. Based on what I have read for real life situations the delay is usually measured in a few hours, but every case will be different. If I were in the OP's situation I would probably just use my passport for this cruise and renew it later based on my future travel needs (so if I weren't actually traveling for a year I would wait to renew until just before that trip, allowing enough time for standard processing).

It's a niche product that isn't for everyone. Like booking a Disney cruise. If you are into the whole thing the price is reasonable, but if not then it looks overpriced (as it does to us).

There will undoubtedly be folks on your cruise who are traveling with birth certificate and government issued ID. It would be quite silly for Royal to reject a valid passport that doesn't expire until after the cruise is done. While there are some cruise lines that do mandate that all passengers have a passport and that they have 6 months validity, but Royal isn't one of them. (And there are some countries that do require passports to have 6 months remaining but the requirement is to have that needs to be at the conclusion of your trip, so if your trip. So if you visited one of those countries for a month your passport would need 7 months validity at the beginning of your trip.)

And hopefully in all of it there may be some kernels that actually help the OP. I know that this thread opened my eyes about this type of thing and even though I don't use a TA all of this still helps me be on the alert.

It is regrettable that you are bowing out because all of this is helpful. At the end of the day unless the OP can convince CCL otherwise all of this would require a court to sort out because at issue is CCL's right to keep the deposit. They are asserting that right, presumably because they are applying it to money owed from 7 years ago.

From the OP it sounds like the OP did go on the cruise, so the charge back would have been done after the cruise was completed. It is entirely possible that the TA used his/her own credit card (possibly issued in another name, even) and did the charge back after the cruise.

Following along since we'll be onboard 4 months later.

But Carnival is treating this like a bad debt, and a collection account against the OP, not the original agent (in Carnival's eyes the OP took a cruise and didn't pay for it). Who knows when the SOL started tolling on that. They may or may not have the right to keep OP's deposit but they are acting like they do have that right which means that the OP might have to go to court to recover what they are keeping (unless he can somehow convince them otherwise). Any way that you slice it, this is a mess of highest order.

As I understand it they have only a certain period of time to respond and it's quite possible that CCL missed that window for some reason so the bank had no choice but to approve the charge back. The OP still has quite the mess on their hands to figure out though, regardless of how the charge back occurred.

This action was done by your agent and they probably communicated this to your agent. Not surprising that your agent didn't pass the communication on to you.

Actually there are two SOLs here. One for the fraud, which is criminal. One for the collection of a debt, which is civil. OP might be able to get a refund if the second SOL has tolled, but if not, we'll, he is SOL.

We often travel with folks that don't have pre-check and they are usually done not too long after we are so it does save a little time, perhaps, but nothing too significant. For us the main benefit is not having to remove things from our person or our bags.

I agree, it sounds like after your cruise the TA did a charge back in your name. Not sure what the remedy would be.

I just checked and for Mardi Gras in April it's still $10 for adults, but for Horizon next February it's $15.

Yes indeed, in the carryon and not your checked bag. I find it fits better if I take it out of the carton.

On Glory in April they had copies of the menus on every bar and they were available on request in the MDR. Will be on Mardi Gras this April so I'll make a point to ask for a hardcopy menu in the MDR one night (I have no issues with using the app, though).

I forgot to say that one needn't get drunk in order to enjoy the drink package. On a sea day I usually start drinking around noon and will typically have one drink an hour throughout the day, turning in around 11pm. That's 11 drinks right there and unless I group them closer together I don't even get a buzz from it. For most port days we are back onboard at least 2 hours before sail away, so if we get back at 3 that's still 8 hours or so.

When you think about it all rules and laws come about because of that someone.

I didn't think to ask the server to do that. I'll have to keep it in mind.

Definitely an option for some. We would have done this when we drove but now that we fly I'm not sure it's feasible (although I will be researching the issue, just in case).