As all the passengers you will hear about discovered, being denied boarding for a cruise,
not only turned their dream vacation into complete disarray,
but lost them a fortune as cruise lines do not refund guests who they deny boarding to,
arguing it's up to us as passengers to pay close attention to any rules and requirements,
whether it's the cruise lines or the countries being called upon.
Welcome aboard, I am Gary Bembridge, and after seeing reports of more people being
caught out these days, I want to make it easier for you to avoid the things that
could get you denied boarding. Many of which I stumbled upon and am wrestling
with as I was getting ready to board a cruise on Cunard’s Queen Anne as I was making this.
One reason was fresh in my mind after a group of 10 guests were refused boarding
on my previous cruise, an Oceania Vista Caribbean cruise out of Miami.
The ship was due to set sail at four o'clock and they arrived half an hour
before that due to flight delays. However, they were not allowed to check in and board.
Cruise lines have a final check in and boarding time, which is usually an hour
before the cruise departs, due to local Customs and Immigration authorities’ requirements. So,
those unfortunate guests had to watch the gangway
being pulled back after they arrived, and the ship set sail without them.
This made me double check my Cunard Queen Anne boarding pass which clearly
says I must be checked in and on board by 4:30pm even though the ship is only
leaving at 6pm. Arriving later than that and I am likely to be denied boarding.
So, always know the final boarding time to avoid the fate of that Oceania Vista group.
But it seems the most common reason cruisers are denied boarding,
is also the one I fret about the most too, which is not having the right documents to travel.
What I need varies based on where I am cruising which makes it trickier,
but I have discovered there are three critical things to focus on.
The first is around passport and identification.
While some cruises starting and ending in the United States, like some Caribbean cruises and
Alaska cruises, allow USA nationals to use a birth certificate and a government issued photo ID,
every single cruise line I checked with recommend using a passport even for those.
As if something goes wrong and you need to leave the cruise and return home,
not having a passport makes it extremely difficult.
However, if you do decide to cruise with a birth certificate, it must be the official
state-certified birth certificate, and the original copy as photocopies are not allowed. Your
government issued photo ID (like your driver's licence) must exactly match the name on it too.
Also check if your itinerary does allow the birth certificate option. Last year dozens of
guests were refused boarding on a 10-day Princess Caribbean Cruise out of Port Everglades as it
included the Panama Canal and calls into Central American, so guests had to have a passport.
Even though some had called Princess and been told that a birth certificate was okay,
Princess refused refunds and compensation and the statement they issued said and I
quote “Passengers need to take responsibility for their mistakes” and went on to say “it is
the passenger's sole responsibility to ensure they have proper documentation. Even if a cruise
representative provided wrong information, it's still the passenger's responsibility.”
So, as I said at the start, we need to be very sure we have the right documents.
But having a passport also comes with some watch outs. First, every cruise
line I checked with says the passport must be valid for six months after the end of the
cruise or you will be denied boarding. This is mostly due to requirements by many countries.
Some countries require a certain number of blank pages. For example, when I headed off on a cruise
earlier this year to South Africa, I had to have a minimum of two blank pages for the visas.
Third, if you're cruising in the European Union, so most likely the Mediterranean,
due to a quirky rule, your passport expiry date must be within 10 years from the date of issue.
So, for example, if you've had your passport expiry date extended say to cover the
period of your cruise, you will be refused boarding as happened to an English couple,
Andrew and Sandra Sutherland, when they went to check in for Cunard Queen Victoria cruise
to Spain and Portugal recently. Again, the line would not refund anything.
Name Changes
Another thing to bear in mind is your reservation must be the same as on your
government issued identification to avoid being denied boarding.
And, if your name has changed for any reason, you must bring official
documentation to show why your name is different such as a marriage licence,
government issued name change document, or anything proving your name legally has changed.
That's also important that if you're travelling
with kids who are not your own or have a different surname.
If you're travelling with a child that's not your own, perhaps you're taking a grandchild, niece,
or nephew, then you need to have a notarized form signed by the child's guardian.
If your child has a different last name to you, you also need to bring any sort of official
document to explain why the name's different and it must be the original or a notarized copy.
The next important thing is visas. I see so many cases
of cruisers being denied boarding for this one.
This is a live topic for me because the cruise I'm going on after the Queen Anne one is a cruise to
Alaska, which starts in the United States from Seward but ends in Vancouver Canada.
The risk was brought home to me after reading about Sherry Ramhit and her husband who decided
to take their teenagers on a cruise to Alaska on Norwegian Encore out of Seattle.
As non-US residents like me, they needed and got their USA ESTA visas to be able
to fly into the US, board the ship and visit Alaska ports. However,
they hadn't thought to get a Canadian ESTA or visa.
They were denied boarding without any refund in Seattle, as their cruise was
calling into a Canadian port and they lacked the required Canadian visa.
As a reminder, if you're sailing out of Vancouver on Alaska cruise,
and not a USA national you're going to need a US ESTA or visa if you are going to Alaska.
If you are a USA citizen the rules are slightly different,
again showing how we all need to make sure we know the exact requirements. At time of making this,
the Canadian government does not require US citizens to have a visa.
No matter where you are cruising to, check if you need a visa. And remember
things change. For example, the European Union is introducing a system like the
USA and Canadian ESTA visa so everyone who is not an EU national will need to
get this before cruising in Europe. Another reason that I see cruisers
refused embarkation is one that is only the case on some cruise lines and destinations,
which is why people get caught out. This is for not having travel insurance, and the right type.
For example, for my Queen Anne cruise, Cunard require anybody that has booked in the UK,
whether via a travel agent, online or directly with Cunard, irrespective if they live in the
UK or not, to have travel insurance. And then it must be of a certain kind.
Cunard say the policy must include cruise cover, cover the full length of the trip,
all destinations being visited, and include medical and repatriation cover
for not less than UK £2 million. That's about US $2.4 million. At the terminal,
I will have to show and prove I have this, as I did for my last Cunard cruise too.
Other lines sailing out of the UK also require this.
Always check if you are required to have travel insurance to board. I have found that while many
lines recommend it, it is not a requirement or reason for denying boarding in many parts of
the world. The only other cruises where I have had to prove it to date have been expedition
cruises to remote places like Antarctica and the Canadian Arctic I have been on.
There are also several age and condition related reasons that
I am seeing people denied boarding at check in. Starting with this one.
Cruise lines have strict rules around pregnancy. So, for example,
I can see reviewing the rules for my Queen Anne trip that Cunard will not carry guests
who've entered or will enter their 24th week of pregnancy during the cruise.
Anyone checking in who's showing a pregnancy must produce a letter from their doctor or
midwife staying there in good health to travel, if the pregnancy is progressing normally, and must
include an estimated date of delivery calculated from the last menstrual period or ultrasound.
This does catch people out. For example, an Australian Gold Coast resident called
Kaylee Farrington was excitedly checking in for a Carnival Luminosa cruise in Brisbane recently but
was denied boarding because during check-in the people in the check-in realised that she was
pregnant. On finding she was 26 weeks pregnant, so she was turned away again at her own cost.
I also noted that Cunard, like all other lines including Disney that I checked,
will refuse boarding to anyone travelling with a child under the age of six months,
and under 12 months on World Cruises, Exotic and Transatlantic crossings.
While I have not seen many cases of people being denied boarding for
innocently or mistakenly packing items from the cruise line prohibited list,
things like irons, drones, alcohol to even something that looks like a weapon,
I have where cruisers refuse permission for a search of themselves or bags.
In most cases prohibited items will be confiscated when spotted through
hand and check-in bag screening. Unless it is drugs or actual weapons that is.
For example, earlier this year a Texas woman
called Melinda Van Veldhuizen was both denied boarding and banned for life by
Carnival Cruise Lines for trying to take CBD gummies on board to help her sleep.
She was going through check-in security at Port Miami when a security guard spotted a
bag of CBD gummies in her backpack. She’d bought them legally online as
they are allowed in the State she lives in, so assumed she could bring them on the cruise.
Carrying recreational drugs will have you denied boarding. Trying to take weapons likely will too.
Sort of linked to that, although I have never seen it firsthand,
if cruisers are disruptive, threatening or causing issues at check in,
especially if drunk, the cruise lines will deny boarding too.
I have seen some lines update their guidelines which makes me think this must be a growing
issue. For example, P&O Cruises, a sister line of Cunard here in the UK, has recently published
this warning as part of an update of their alcohol policy and pricing saying, “We reserve the right
to deny access to the ship to anyone who appears to be heavily under the influence of alcohol”.
One area that seems less clear on if you will be denied boarding or not is around Covid.
For example, for my Queen Anne cruise, in the documentation Cunard says if I am experiencing
symptoms of Covid-19, or test positive in the three days prior to embarkation,
I need to declare that at the terminal to the check-in staff,
and the onboard medical team will screen and assess if I’m fit to travel.
Some cruise lines I reviewed say online that they will refuse boarding if I
show signs of Covid or have Covid. For example, Norwegian Cruise Lines online
at time of making this says any guest with very high temperature or who've have
Covid or been in contact with someone with Covid are unlikely to be allowed to board.
So, make sure you know the cruise line rule on that.
If you'd like to know more quirky and unusual rules and things that happen on cruises,
watch this video where I talk about some unusual things that I do on cruises that
most people don't know about. See you over there.