Cruising while Transgender

[KVRead]

I'm a transgender woman, early stages of transitioning.  My passport and other documentation is still in my original male name.  
 

My wife, adult son and some friends will be on Regal Princess in October.   I really want to be able to be myself   I have some questions for anyone that is a transgender person, especially but not necessarily female, that has been thru this before.

1.  Any experience with Princess Cruises and their staff?
2.  Since my documents say male, and have an older picture, will that cause problems with customs on the return?  Or in boarding the ship initially?   This cruise is from NYC to Canada and New England.  Any issues in Halifax or Nova Scotia?   
3.  I don't have to fly so I won't have TSA and imaging scanners to deal with, but obviously I do have to go thru security getting on the ship at each port.   Any worries with breast forms, I wouldn't think they would be a problem for the metal detectors on the ship, or in the cruise port.    On the one hand I know I can certainly go "Male" to get on board, but then the picture associated with my cruise card/medallion will be more masculine.  I booked during a sip and sail deal, so we have the drink package, and I'm hoping to not have any issues with them thinking the cruise card isn't mine.  Bad enough it will have the old name on it.

Anything else I should be thinking about or considering?    We are all looking forward to my first formal night as Kristine, I just want it to be as smooth as possible.

Thanks for any guidance.

Kristine 
 

[JustaOreo]

Kristine

No first hand knowledge, as an old airline person and too many cruises, though never enough, think you ought to get best input from Princess themselves.

https://viewfinder.expedia.com/traveling-while-transgender/

Though specific to airline travel treat this as a guideline.

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/before-you-go/travelers-with-special-considerations/lgbti.html

A good resource with Links that should, at the very least point you in the direction of what questions to ask of whom.

Wishing you the best!!

[KVRead]

7 minutes ago, JustaOreo said:

Kristine

No first hand knowledge, as an old airline person and too many cruises, though never enough, think you ought to get best input from Princess themselves.

https://viewfinder.expedia.com/traveling-while-transgender/

Though specific to airline travel treat this as a guideline.

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/before-you-go/travelers-with-special-considerations/lgbti.html

A good resource with Links that should, at the very least point you in the direction of what questions to ask of whom.

Wishing you the best!!

JustaOreo - Thanks very much for your response.   

I've seen the TSA page, and its good and useful information.  What I'm finding there though has to do with the blasted image scanners.  Since the ships use Metal Detectors, I don't think i have to worry about them, since thankfully I'm not flying as we live in NJ, and are going out of NY on this one.  If anyone knows if they have changed that in the NY ports and are using the image scanners that TSA uses, I'd sure like to know that, too!

My TA is currently on a European cruise himself (lucky guy and his wife!  though I have no desire to go anywhere near Russia these days as an LGBTQ person) with a big group, and I plan on asking him to reach out to Princess to find out what their policies are when he returns.  

I posted here to see if I could get some more personal experiences, in addition to the "official" responses.  I've read thru some of the similar posts from prior years, and that's been helpful as they suggest that it should be okay.  But the specific questions above did not seem to be addressed.

Anyway, thanks again!

 

Happy cruising!

Kristine


 

[JustaOreo]

2 hours ago, CPTraveller said:

Since Cruise Critic doesn’t consider this enough of a review to post, I will post it here: I’ve calmed down significantly since the sailing, but I feel the need to warn people that Guest Services on this sailing was not trans friendly. We were told by Royal Caribbean in advance of sailing that our transgender traveling companion could have her preferred name added to her account so that she was addressed properly by staff. However, this did not happen and when we asked about it on board were told by Guest Services it couldn’t be done - that only her legal name could be on it. Later, when this woman complained about an inappropriate, transphobic joke made during one of the headliner shows, Guest Services dismissed her and didn’t initially even record her complaint. (The cruise director did attempt to follow up after a second trip to Guest Services, but her effort lost some credibility in that she was using the guest’s legal name.) Perhaps this review is skewed by the other incidents in which we received poor service from Guest Services (there were several) or by the effect that the incident had on our traveling companion, but I will not likely be booking Royal Caribbean again. I always had the impression that RC was a higher class of service than other lines (and therefore more expensive), but I walked away disappointed.

Didn’t know if you saw this. There a few of us up here rooting for you. Getting something in writing may be a good idea......

[CPTraveller]

Kristine,

My companion had no problem with cruise port security (we were in Europe on Royal Caribbean). And I believe only one waiter (approaching from behind) misgendered her. Hope you have a good experience!