Criminal record

[judcost]

Hi,

we wanna book the Costa Luminosa leaving from La Romana. We are canadians and hubby has a criminal record (stupid teenage years) and he can't pass the United States. Canadians can't pass the US even if you steal a pen or don't pay a parking tickets. We have traveled passing United States many times before but since a few years they are very strict and refused him access right at the airport when we were flying to Miami for another cruise.

 

I think Costa is italian and they are no US ports of calls in that itinerary. I'm wondering if he can have any type of problems. We travel a lot in the Carribeans and Europe. He was in London for work just a few weeks ago.

 

I don't know were to get that information. I will try to call Costa but I really wanna have the right information and not have the same disappointment at the airport.

[CtheW0rld]

i think posting this on the ports of call boards of wherever you are flying into would be a good idea. costa does not control this and the costa boards are very slow. the cruise air section might be helpful, too.

[judcost]

He's allowed in all the ports of calls and we would be flying to La Romana with a canadian company so no problems there. The only problem is the US.

[CtheW0rld]

are you asking if costa will keep him from boarding the ship?

[judcost]

are you asking if costa will keep him from boarding the ship?

 

 

Yes

[CtheW0rld]

i think costa is the only one that can answer that. seems unlikely, but you never know. call them - but don't use your real name :eek: this is such an interesting question, please do let us know what you find out.

[judcost]

yeah, leaving for Mexico so I'll sure keep you posted when I get back.

[CtheW0rld]

seeing that you've been on 3 other cruises with carnival - same parent company as costa - i doubt there will be a problem. have a safe trip to mexico.

[balf]

The problem is entering US. This surely has nothing to do with the cruise line being a US authorities ban. No cruise line is going to refuse to accept a booking because of an expired criminal record. There are loads of cruises that do not go anywhere near the US. I have a problem visiting the US, not because of your problem but because a medical condition makes insurance cover add up to more than the price of the cruise.

 

There is a big world out there.

 

David.

[judcost]

Ctheworld, we were boarding in the US and never had problem until the were more strict when the Nigerian guy was suspected of beeing a terrorist in december 09 and wanted to blow up a plane. Hubby was refused access to the US in february 2010. Before that we were going to the US every year.

 

Balf, that's what I was wondering, when you're at sea, if sealing on a US owned vessel are you considered in US grounds? For example, if we take Carnival, Celebrity or RCL in Europe, or any cruises with no US ports can he be refused access to the ship? If not, then that's great. We had a few Europe cruises on our list but we were hesitating because of that and we didn't wanna have the suprise of arriving in Rome and be refused access to the ship.

[Se4deb]

Hi,

we wanna book the Costa Luminosa leaving from La Romana. We are canadians and hubby has a criminal record (stupid teenage years) and he can't pass the United States. Canadians can't pass the US even if you steal a pen or don't pay a parking tickets. We have traveled passing United States many times before but since a few years they are very strict and refused him access right at the airport when we were flying to Miami for another cruise.

 

I think Costa is italian and they are no US ports of calls in that itinerary. I'm wondering if he can have any type of problems. We travel a lot in the Carribeans and Europe. He was in London for work just a few weeks ago.

 

I don't know were to get that information. I will try to call Costa but I really wanna have the right information and not have the same disappointment at the airport.

 

Doesn't Canada have a means to expunge the offense from his record or alternatively, if he was a juvenile, seal the thing. I know that most non-violent offenses in the US can be expunged from a record if a period of years has passed with no other offenses. Might be worth looking into.

[judcost]

So just called Costa and Carnival, and they both say that as long as he has a valid passeport he doesn't have any problem. When at sea you are considered in international water. I will double check when booking because we don't wanna have the same problem as we experienced in february 2010.

[judcost]

Well Se4deb, he actually doesn't have a criminal record, what happened was he thought he was helping a friend who didn't speak english to get a passport in Ottawa but was then accused of smuggling people. Yeah, he was naive thinking he was really just "helping". The judge saw that he was just a naive 20 something years old and didn't have nothing to do with it (after spending thousands on lawyers fee) and just said "I don't wanna see you here anymore". If he really had a criminal record or really did an offense he wouldn't be able to work for the federal government in Canada. That story was long in the past and we entered US once or twice a year until february 2010 when the US boarder officer said "You have unfinished business with the US" and refused him access. That's when the US tighten the access to the US after the nigerian arrest in december 2009. Until now we are still trying to clear his fill but it's very hard to see someone from the US embassy.