sparks1093

The same could be said for people who have a passport and lose it or have it stolen while traveling. Traveler services have always been a part of State's mission and always will be.

AFAIK all of the different IDs are paid for by the fees for said IDs, not tax dollars. And millions of people travel on closed loop cruises every year with something other then a passport and vary few have any issues at all.

And those folks are already on the payroll. No new employees were added to the State Department rolls because of the closed loop exception.

If they are being pennywise and pound foolish if it goes south it's on them and no one else. Hardly a reason for the government to require passports on closed loop cruises.

I get that you understand it, just mentioned it for those that didn't. 🙂

I was raised that way as well. There's a fine between that and victim shaming, though.

The WHTI is much broader than you make it out to be and covers air, land and sea travel. There are exceptions to the general rule for using a passport when two conditions are met 1) the risk is low to the national security and 2) the traveler can be vetted in a timely manner for the mode of travel they are using. I can travel outside the US on a tank of gas, but I do know that isn't what you're referring to. There are people in all income levels who arguably cannot really afford to cruise, it's not just those dirty, good for nothing low-income bottom feeders (and I know that no one used that specific language but that's how many of these posts sound). I still don't understand why so many are hung up on what documentation another traveler is using since if the traveler in question chose wrongly all of the consequences fall squarely on their own head.

Which I think is just part of the onboard point of sale system. No sense having two different systems.

When we first started buying a bottle it was to stretch our budget. Then it became a matter of convenience so we could have nightcaps on the balcony. We could certainly afford it but it's just too steep for convenience. Since we have 5 adults in our party we'll be able to bring enough wine so that's what we'll do.

Carnival does listen. 😄

Nothing changes. During the cruise CBP verifies all of the passenger information through government databases whether they have a passport or not. If someone does have a passport they only need to check one database, without a passport they might have to check a couple. Since this is all done during the voyage it is transparent to the passengers. I'm sure that a lot of hard-working people will appreciate being called a bottom feeder.

The cruise line warning is the key and if you did need a passport to visit the island on a cruise and didn't have one you wouldn't be allowed to board. When the ship pulls in to a port the passenger manifest is (or has been) shared with the authorities and that manifest includes information on citizenship and documents.

Who did they lobby? The regulations were written by faceless government bureaucrats. Sure, the cruise lines, like any other entity (including private citizens) could provide comment on the proposed Federal regulations, but that is not lobbying as the term is used. I did read the proposed regulations and it was clearly spelled out- the closed loop exception was implemented because a US citizen on a closed loop cruise presents a very low risk to the national security. So, the practice that existed prior to the regulations being enacted was allowed to continue. Economics of travel weren't considered, for if they were then citizens would still be allowed to use a birth certificate at a land border (and economic impact was put forth by many commentators, mostly impacted communities and businesses along the border). How people chose to spend their money and vacation is no concern of mine (even if they aren't acting at all prudently).

And if the police never investigate then no one is excluded. Hopefully the report from the Security Officer will be sufficient but if not the OP will be able to convince the local PD to take it.

Since the crime didn't occur in their jurisdiction it's doubtful whether or not the local PD would even accept the complaint.

She did file a report onboard and that report will likely be accepted by the credit card company. I doubt that this will go any further than that.

I would agree, but that doesn't matter because there are always bad apples in every profession. I think that police reports routinely contain lists of potential suspects if they are identifiable.

I think the point was victim shaming is still victim shaming regardless of the crime. As for everyone else's comments regarding when and where this could have happened, while that is true the fact remains that the attempted fraud did occur and the OP needs a police report for the credit card company, so at the end of the day it could have been the Professor in the Library with a Candlestick and it doesn't matter.

When we cruised in November when we wanted something we bought it. Our bar bill was $1300. It's Cheers from now on.

That's what made us look at Princess. When you factor in what they include with Princess+ versus what one pays on Carnival (if one buys all of those things, of course) then Princess works out to be about $300 more. We're willing to pay that much more to try a different line. (And I did double check with DW, we will not be paying the asking price for a bottle. She's happy using the wine we're allowed to bring on.)

Princess offers the same thing, the base fare or a slightly higher price with several things included (drink pkg, wifi, etc.). And if you are paying a couple hundred dollars it certainly isn't free ("included" is the better word to use).

Could be. Only time will tell. I haven't been tracking alcohol prices but figured they were going up along with everything else and Carnival was adjusting for prior hikes and planning for future ones but if that isn't the case it isn't. We have Cheers and even at the somewhat higher prices will get our use out of it.

Inflation sucks, that's for sure (plus they are probably trying to encourage folks not to purchase in the first place). I'll have to ask DW if she can make do with carried on wine and beer from Funshops.

I personally don't do much drinking ashore. We tend to make up the port days on sea days so Cheers averages out.

And shore excursions.