Allison Webb
gautier,#2Author of original report
Mon, July 04, 2011
Carnival has agreed to allow us to cruise at a later date within the year to compensate for the cruise.
Flynrider
Phoenix,#3Consumer Comment
Wed, April 06, 2011
Back in the days of travel agents, the person who booked your travel would also advise you of documentation requirements and all of those other important things that are listed in the contracts that cover your trip. Now that you have become your own travel agent, you should know who is ultimately responsible for this issue. Go to the mirror and give your agent a thorough talking to.
We see this all the time on this site. Something as simple as a spelling mistake on your airplane ticket can end up making the ticket unusable and unrefundable. Real travel agents have procedures in place to make sure things like that do not happen. If you're acting as your own travel agent you need to accept the responsibilities that come with the job.
Robert
Irvine,#4Consumer Comment
Tue, April 05, 2011
Not knowing the exact cruise you took in 2010 and if it was EXACTLY the same cruise you attempted to take this year it is hard to say if they made a mistake in the documentation requirements.
The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) was supposed to go into full effect in 2009. As of that time you were required to provide a Passport for any form of travel outside of the US(including Cruises). There is an exception for what are considered "Closed Loop" cruises. For a "Closed Loop" cruise if you don't have a Passport you would be allowed to show a Government issued picture ID(such as a Drivers Licence) AND a copy of your Birth Certificate. But they require one from the County, Hospital Birth Certificates are not acceptable.
I seem to remember that there were some issues fully implementing it and I believe that the full implementations were delayed a few months, mainly because of the Passport backlog. So it is possible that your first cruise was during this period so they were able to make an exception. However, since then they are not able to make exceptions, as this has been in full effect for quite a while. If they had made an exception for you and Homeland Security found out they would be in serious trouble, not to mention you probably would have been pulled off of the ship by Homeland Security anyways.
Unfortunatly it is your responsibility to know what documents are required and you can not assume(you know what happens then) that nothing has changed. They make it quite clear on their web site and in your travel documents that you should have known. Not only for this last cruise but for the cruise in 2010.
As for it being a "scam". These are Government requirements, Carnival(and other cruise ships) are just following the regulations. These complaints pop-up every now and then. But with the number of cruises and taking into account when it is reported it always seems to be only a couple of people who "didn't get the message". So one must figure that 99.9999999% (approx) of the other people got the message.
Michael
Summerland Key,#5General Comment
Tue, April 05, 2011
One thing I find confusing is how they let you on board in 2010 with just a driver's license and SS card. You have needed a birth certificate or passport for as long as I can remember. That has not changed in the past 11 months. That's the way it's been for a long time. If they let you on board with just that documentation in 2010, they made a mistake. A federal mistake. I have a feeling they gave you the 11 month story to cover up the fact they made a mistake. Unfortunately, I do not think you are going to get anywhere with this. I've seen these complaints time and time again and the canned response from the cruise lines is you should have read your cruise contract that spells out what documentation you need to sail. And they do have a point there.
As far as your on-line booking, that's standard with all cruise lines. You cannot access the booking on the day of the cruise. Shore excursions are also not available. Those are cut off a few days before the cruise.