Denied boarding

[DAllenTCY]

Has anyone ever been given a full or partial refund if you were left behind because you didn't have the proper proof of citizenship? For example: San Diego embarkation on a roundtrip Hawaiian itinerary. Some people don't read the requirements. It did not happen to me personally, but I'm aware that it does occur.

David

[Intuit]

Has anyone ever been given a full or partial refund if you were left behind because you didn't have the proper proof of citizenship? For example: San Diego embarkation on a roundtrip Hawaiian itinerary. Some people don't read the requirements. It did not happen to me personally, but I'm aware that it does occur.

David

 

Only if their trip was insured!

[Gracie115]

Nope...I have a friend who did not have a passport (didn't need one it was just a 4 day Bahamas cruise) and the night before his cruise he realized his driver's license had expired a week before .... and it turned out the next day was 11/11--Veteran's Day and all the government offices were closed, so he couldn't renew it. He still came to the port and begged and pleaded but to no avail. This was just last year, the only refund he got was for the on board credit he had.(and, oh, a LOT of harassment from his friends since this was HIS 50th birthday cruise....):D:D

[beisenj@aol.com]

I would be surprised if they would get ANY refund. The cruise line cannot be held responsibile for the guest's irresponsibility. The cuise documents are very clear about having proper documents.

[cb at sea]

If I was a cruiseline, I wouldn't give a refund to someone who doesn't do what they need to do to board!

[Cruise Junky]

I also don't think it's covered by insurance unless you had cancel for any reason - but even then, I don't know if you can cancel as late as boarding time

[DAllenTCY]

I understand; however, the cruise lines spend a good 15% of their budgets on advertising.

Why wouldn't you want to rebook a guest under the circumstance? I'm just wondering.

David

[FrankinPA]

I understand; however, the cruise lines spend a good 15% of their budgets on advertising.

Why wouldn't you want to rebook a guest under the circumstance? I'm just wondering.

David

 

Not sure what your point is. What does advertising have to do with the fact that a passenger did not meet the requirements for boarding? If you are suggesting that the cruise line would get bad press for following international rules, I disagree. The person who did not bother to follow the rules is never going to talk about how dumb they were. Only their "friends" will. The ship had no opportunity to resell the cabin so why should they be asked to forfeit the fees?

[Denny01]

The Cruise Lines have given refunds (usually credits for another cruise instead of actual refunds) for some pretty lame reasons, and people have been pretty 'proud' of taking credit for such on these boards, but haven't seen any 'I forgot any type of ID' as a rationale to get some type of refund. I know you say it didn't happen to you, and you are listing a pretty specific cruise, so what is the reason you are asking?

 

Den

[Gonzo70]

Only if their trip was insured!

 

Why would insurance cover someone not having proper documentation to travel?

[Chicago Boy]

Has anyone ever been given a full or partial refund if you were left behind because you didn't have the proper proof of citizenship? For example: San Diego embarkation on a roundtrip Hawaiian itinerary. Some people don't read the requirements. It did not happen to me personally, but I'm aware that it does occur.

David

 

 

If people read their documentation, Celebrity is very clear about what documents are required to board their cruise. If someone had not paid attention that is not Celebrity's fault. :D

[JanineM]

There was a case a few years ago with Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas (Royal Caribbean and Celebrity are related). Mariner was doing a re positioning cruise from Florida to California and was going around the tip of South America. For one of the stops all passengers needed a visa - whether they were getting off the ship or staying on board. SEVERAL people (around 60 if I recall correctly) did not have the visa and they were denied boarding. So they all had to travel on their own dime from Port Canaveral to Miami to get the visa, then fly to the first port stop (San Juan, I think) to catch up with the ship. Some people didn't have the extra cash so they skipped the cruise and lost their fare.

 

There was a lot of discussion about this and I suspect some people had attorneys involved but it came down to this ... the cruise documents are very clear about the travelers responsibility.

 

I don't see how advertising comes into play ... if you open the door for something like this then unfortunately people will find a way to take advantage of the situation.

[Milo_27]

You should be glad you don't have to try and enter the US nowadays as a foreign citizen ! On my last time through Miami I was questioned and searched like a common criminal for half an hour, then when returning from the cruise exactly the same. I'm all for being thoroughly checked before entering a country but a bit of common courtesy wouldn't go a miss.

 

The treatment you get at immigration is always the worst part of visiting your wonderful country by a mile.

[Lsimon]

Only if their trip was insured!

 

Insurance only covers events which are specifically covered under the policy. For the most part the covered events are those that are not within the control of the cruiser. Generally a personal mistake or act, intentional or not, of the cruiser is included in the covered events.

 

The only common exception is those policies that provide cancellation coverage for any reason and those are generally either very expensive of the coverage benefits are limited such as Celebrity's policy which provides an "any reason" benefit which provides a 75% credit towards a future cruise rather than a refund.

[lcmslady]

You can't fix stupid.......so why should the cruise line's be accountable.

[Porter20]

You should be glad you don't have to try and enter the US nowadays as a foreign citizen ! On my last time through Miami I was questioned and searched like a common criminal for half an hour, then when returning from the cruise exactly the same. I'm all for being thoroughly checked before entering a country but a bit of common courtesy wouldn't go a miss.

 

The treatment you get at immigration is always the worst part of visiting your wonderful country by a mile.

 

Milo - It's just not foreign Citizens. My last cruise, I was detained for 30 mins, searched & questioned like a common criminal also. And this is from someone who has only ever had 1 speeding ticket in my life. They asked at least a half dozen times - did you buy cigarettes or liquor : there are none listed on your customs forms. Each time, "No sir, I don't smoke & I can buy liquor at home. No need to carry it". Finally, he said "Ok, welcome back - do you want a survey form?". Oh boy did I answer that with a resounding, yes.

[CrabbyHarper]

So sorry you were treated rudely at immigration. I hope that does not happen all the time.

 

You can't believe what US citizens go through sometimes by our own TSA in airports! I won't post anything more because there is a lot posted already, but unfortunately when one travels, one has to put up with this sort of thing.

 

Nope, I will not stop traveling, and I hope you won't either.

[tserface]

That is so true Crabby,

 

I remember when it used to be really easy to travel, but a few nefarious types have ruined it for all of us. Seems to be a human paradigm since the same thing seems to happen elsewhere. For example, my computer runs a lot faster without the virus checker on it, but then I'm open to attack from people who have never met me, but somehow have decided I'm evil enough that they want to ruin my computer.

 

Wouldn't the world be a better place if people could just learn to respect each other... :(

 

Tom

 

So sorry you were treated rudely at immigration. I hope that does not happen all the time.

 

You can't believe what US citizens go through sometimes by our own TSA in airports! I won't post anything more because there is a lot posted already, but unfortunately when one travels, one has to put up with this sort of thing.

 

Nope, I will not stop traveling, and I hope you won't either.

[iancal]

I fail to see what the big issue is. Perhaps many Americans are not used to having proper/up to date identification or passports.

 

Having, or obtaining a passport for travel does not seem to be such a big deal to me. I am always amazed that those who think that they don't need it, have let it expire, or have lost it. Millions of people would give their right arm to have a passport form the US, Australia, Canada, France, etc. It is a valuable document that needs to be safeguarded at home in the same way that people do when they travel outside the country.

 

I think the crux of the matter is that people today seem to be less inclined to take responsibility for their own actions and are quick to blame others for their self inflicted problems. No doubt our politicians have led the way in this respect and have set the example.

 

This is really simple...if you do not have proper documents you will not be allowed to board the ship or the airplane.

 

And it is not Celebrity's fault, or AA's fault if they refuse to board you-it is yours and NO, you should not be entitled to a refund.

[Lsimon]

I fail to see what the big issue is. Perhaps many Americans are not used to having proper/up to date identification or passports.

 

Having, or obtaining a passport for travel does not seem to be such a big deal to me. I am always amazed that those who think that they don't need it, have let it expire, or have lost it....

 

I agree with all these points. However, there will always be some who are totally unaware of the fact that they need documents or if their documents are going to expire and who also don't bother to read the pre-cruise information provided to them which might have informed them about this. It is unfortunate that some people can be so clueless.

 

There was a cable TV show we watched a month or so ago about one of the RCCL mega ships (it was probably either the Oasis or the Freedom of the Seas). The whole show was about the logistics of turnaround day. One thing included in the story was that every cruise there are a number of passenger groups that have document issues. They covered three or four parties who had incomplete documents and how the staff worked with them to inform them and/or determine if their problems could be fixed or not. It was very interesting and pointed out that this is a regular recurring problem.

[FrankinPA]

 

I think the crux of the matter is that people today seem to be less inclined to take responsibility for their own actions and are quick to blame others for their self inflicted problems. No doubt our politicians have led the way in this respect and have set the example.

 

 

Exactly right. Every time I watch the news, I see someone implying that "It is always someone else's fault that I have failed to have a good job, or get put in jail, or don't have as much money as "the rich" do, or have to pay back my college loans." Makes me sick. Taking personal responsibility for your actions and the outcomes of those actions was more common than not until this generation. Not sure what happened but it spells trouble ahead. Maybe I just don't understand...

[tserface]

Overall, I am not a fan of Celebrity's website, but they do have a big ol' section on how to prepare for the trip including a really large picture of a passport. Anyone could understand the lists they present. If someone doesn't take the time to look at it or has let one or more of their IDs lapse then they would have a difficult time blaming Celebrity for it IMO. Celebrity tries really hard to make it easy (hey, there's a good marketing catch phrase).

 

Tom

 

Exactly right. Every time I watch the news, I see someone implying that "It is always someone else's fault that I have failed to have a good job, or get put in jail, or don't have as much money as "the rich" do, or have to pay back my college loans." Makes me sick. Taking personal responsibility for your actions and the outcomes of those actions was more common than not until this generation. Not sure what happened but it spells trouble ahead. Maybe I just don't understand...

[mamasue]

You should be glad you don't have to try and enter the US nowadays as a foreign citizen ! On my last time through Miami I was questioned and searched like a common criminal for half an hour, then when returning from the cruise exactly the same. I'm all for being thoroughly checked before entering a country but a bit of common courtesy wouldn't go a miss.

 

The treatment you get at immigration is always the worst part of visiting your wonderful country by a mile.

 

 

 

I'm a UK expat living in the USA. Every time my daughter comes to visit me from the UK, she gets a barrage of questions "Why have you got so many stamps in your passport for such short trips?"

She's a flight attendant for British Airways.:rolleyes:

For her, it's just par for the course!

[Kathie44]

I saw a show on the Travel Channel recently showing numerous passengers without passports, driver's license, permission for children to travel with non-parents, etc. Most of them were able to scramble around and get things faxed to the ship, but many were denied boarding the Freedom of the Seas. It amazes me how stupid and careless people can be. One woman grabbed her expired passport instead of the new one. Many said they thought all they needed was a drivers license--HELLO! It's been years since the rule changed!

When DH and I went to Aust/NZ in 2008, I did research and found out on Cruise Critic that we needed visas to enter Australia. At the GATE in San Fran, when they should have been boarding, numerous passengers found out about the visas. The airline staff were madly getting the visas for them online. It was so nice to not even have to show our copies because we were on their computerized list. My TA did the visas for us and we didn't have to pay the fee, because TA's are not charged.

Reading your cruise documents is a must, especially the chapter on required IDs.

 

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[Milo_27]

I know what you mean mamasue, the immigration official seemed very keen on looking at the passport stamps from Egypt, Jordan, India, Nepal and pausing on a fair few occasions as to what the reason was for me visiting these places.

 

Even though you've gone through it loads of times and done nothing wrong all sorts of things start racing through your mind.