sparks1093

To you it may not feel like enough but they are acceptable nonetheless. The people that carry these IDs are a low risk to the national security, which is why this type of ID is permissible for them. Some people fixate on the requirement that the ID needs to be issued by the government and a private school would seem to be excluded because of that. @Ferry_Watcher has cleared folks and may be able to discuss how often these IDs show up.

They did the same thing in the Navy, and often for lunch as well.

I've seen a couple of folks say that a school ID isn't sufficient. The regulations only say that a government issued photo ID is required. Here is what one cruise line (Carnival) says in its FAQ: Photo Identification A non-expired government-issued photo I.D. is required of all guests 16 years of age and older. The following are acceptable: Driver's License (a temporary Driver's License with photo is acceptable) Driver's Permit School/Student I.D. (acceptable for guests 16/17/18 years of age) Government-issued identification card including a U.S. Military I.D. with photo (city/state/federal) Government-issued Trusted Traveler Program Membership Card (NEXUS/SENTRI/FAST) - for photo identification use only As the bolded text says, a Student ID is acceptable for those who are 16–18-year-old. Now before anyone says "well, it's only Carnival" remember that while a cruise line may impose a stricter standard than what the regulations require, they cannot accept less (it helps that OP is sailing on Carnival as well). Also note that there is no distinction made between a public and private school.

I answered yes but would consider booking elsewhere under the right conditions. The right conditions come down to price for the most part- which cruise line will take us where we want to go for the least amount of money. Since we are now getting the drink package on every sailing we will factor that in when looking at a line that includes their drink package in the fare (and typically they will also include gratuities and wifi so since we get both of those that gets factored as well).

Most Americans flat out don't need one for the type of travel that they can do. I live 8 miles from the border with Canada and for most of the folks around here that will be their only international destination in their life time. They could spend the money on a passport, but for that type of travel it is more affordable to get the passport card or an EDL. When we first started cruising it would have cost around $850 to get passports and for a 4 day cruise that just didn't seem like a good expenditure (and three of those passports would have limited validity due to the age of the kids). DW and I both knew that we wanted to travel to Europe some day, but at that time those plans were only pipe dreams. After looking at all of the risks we determined that it was feasible to cruise using our birth certificates (naturalization certificate in DW's case) and photo IDs and wait until we needed the passports for the type of travel we were doing. Every cruise we took thereafter we looked at the issue all over again. We made our first trip to Europe in 2015 and that is when we got our passports (and by that time we had taken 4 cruises, although we had EDLs by the time of the 4th trip). So in the end it probably comes down to Americans don't need a passport for the types of travel they can do so they don't worry about getting one.

Quite so, but to be clear I was talking about a closed loop cruise within the WHTI. For other cruises a passport would be needed.

The lesson learned is if at all possible deal with the issue onboard and don't wait until after the cruise. I'm glad they took action and hope that it corrects the issue (but as you say at least they did try to do something).

Are the two mutually exclusive? Could not both have been equally compelling?

A whole bunch of interviews, more than likely. As I understand it the affects of gambling and smoking on the brain create a similar affect, but I haven't looked at it all that closely. (I do recall that when I smoked I did tend to gamble more, mostly by playing the lottery which I very rarely do any longer. Could just be confirmation bias, who knows.)

I read post 91 more as a commentary then as a whine (and if it is whine it's alcohol content is very very low🤣).

I'm sure that the bean counters have analyzed this every which way they can. I have read of many studies that link gambling and smoking together so it does make sense from a revenue viewpoint to allow smoking. I do gamble a little but not very much and I wouldn't gamble more if the casino was smoke free.

Maybe there shouldn't need to be a workaround but it's far from a perfect world. As mentioned there are different clientele on the two lines and Celebrity doesn't rely as heavily on casino revenue. I'm sure a good number of smokers do just that. It just means that my money stays in my pocket longer. 😁

I've never heard anyone whine about it and if they do they are being inconsiderate (unfortunately there's no rule against whining...but if there were it would likely not be enforced as well 😉.) Post #76 was someone drooling over a menu item on a different cruise line, perhaps you meant another (or possibly the original #76 was deleted).

We've always managed to find a way around, even if up one deck and then down after the casino. And short term exposure is only unpleasant, it's the longer exposure that tends to be an issue (in my previous post we thought that where we were sitting for trivia was far enough away from the smoke but we were wrong).

We by no means expect anyone to cater to us. We know where the smoking areas are and we avoid them. Easy enough to do. The problem is when smoking takes place outside of the approved smoking areas. I don't care how much anyone paid for their cruise nothing allows them to smoke in an area that isn't authorized. Nothing.

My EDL has both a star and a flag. And to be clear the REAL ID is acceptable for a cruise in conjunction with a document that shows citizenship such as a birth certificate.

Unless it is broadly advertised it would do little good. People would disbelieve that it happened or they would just think "well, it couldn't happen to us".

Yes, there are some who do overreact but my wife almost needed emergency medical care onboard after we spent an hour playing trivia within smelling distance of the casino. Fortunately after a few inhaler treatments and a couple of nebulizer treatments the attack subsided.

I paid a premium for the same balcony to be smoke free so yes, if I smell it and it's bad enough (which means that it has to be right next to us and I can tell where it's coming from) I am going to report it. And I will emphasize that this pertains to cigarette smoke as well. I'm all for minding my own business but when someone else's business starts interfering with mine that is different. (And I will add that in all of our years on a balcony this has been a non-issue and I expect that it will be going forward as well.)

Yes, that is a constant regardless of port of departure.

Some states have sales tax and some don't. If they do then it will be added if you receive something in port.

Both my wife and I have lung issues and not being able to enjoy our balcony because of smoke (cigarette or otherwise) would be an issue.

Tax isn't charged in all ports but a work around is to have the bottle delivered on the second day. It will likely be in the cabin when you board and you won't have to pay tax.

I stand corrected and evidently "zero tolerance" varies by cruise line (and as you say it is on them for not doing so). I do know that if I smell any type of smoke on the balcony I will be reporting it.

I believe Chief is referring to zero tolerance for the crew, not the passengers (and that extends to alcohol use as well by crew).