Carnival Journeys Cruises b2b and Passport

Before I start I just want to say...yes I have a passport but I have a question.

We are taking the Glory Journey cruises b2b. First cruise starts in Miami ends in San Juan. We stay on the same ship and then the second cruise sails from San Juan to Miami. It is booked as 2 separate cruises but actually 21 days on the same ship.

My question is do you have to sail with a passport to go on these 2 cruises or could you just use your BC and DL?

You don't need a passport for San Juan, it is a territory of the U.S. so drivers license and birth certificate will be fine.

Each cruise is a separate sailing, and you (and I) will have to go through Customs at the end of the 1st leg in SJ before "reboarding" and starting the next leg. Maybe we will have a champagne toast and photo taken in the Arium afterwards?

The previous poster is correct about no requirement for a passport. However, I'll still use mine, it's an easier process. I have just one page left in it and will renew it after returning in February, since it expires Sept 2016.

Before I start I just want to say...yes I have a passport but I have a question.

 

We are taking the Glory Journey cruises b2b. First cruise starts in Miami ends in San Juan. We stay on the same ship and then the second cruise sails from San Juan to Miami. It is booked as 2 separate cruises but actually 21 days on the same ship.

 

My question is do you have to sail with a passport to go on these 2 cruises or could you just use your BC and DL?

no passport required. It is considered to be a closed loop cruise even if booked as 2 cruises.

Only thing that matters is where you get on when you start the cruise and where you get off on your last day of cruising.

Bill

...Only thing that matters is where you get on when you start the cruise and where you get off on your last day of cruising.Bill

The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) allows U.S. citizens (including children) sailing on cruises that begin and end in the same U.S. port to travel with one of the WHTI compliant documents, listed below. Additionally, the same document requirements apply when taking a cruise that begins and ends in a different U.S. port.

Each cruise is a separate sailing, and you (and I) will have to go through Customs at the end of the 1st leg in SJ before "reboarding" and starting the next leg. Maybe we will have a champagne toast and photo taken in the Arium afterwards?

 

The previous poster is correct about no requirement for a passport. However, I'll still use mine, it's an easier process. I have just one page left in it and will renew it after returning in February, since it expires Sept 2016.

If we get a champagne toast and picture it will be the first one I have ever received and have done lots of b2b's.

We do have to renew our passports this year. I had better get busy on that.

Had about 20 people doing a B2B on the Conquest last October. Staff was extremely helpful with getting all of us through Customs and assembling those who wanted to be included in the B2B "ceremony".

The photographer stood up on the 4th deck as we raised our champagne toast to ourselves on the 3rd deck atrium. A few days later I found 2 8x10" glossies of the occasion in an envelope in my cabin. Now even though I don't drink, I thought this was an appropriate token of customer appreciation.

Had about 20 people doing a B2B on the Conquest last October. Staff was extremely helpful with getting all of us through Customs and assembling those who wanted to be included in the B2B "ceremony".

 

The photographer stood up on the 4th deck as we raised our champagne toast to ourselves on the 3rd deck atrium. A few days later I found 2 8x10" glossies of the occasion in an envelope in my cabin. Now even though I don't drink, I thought this was an appropriate token of customer appreciation.

Huh, must be something they started after we were on the Conquest. We were on the Conquest 11 months before you and did a b2b2b and didn't get anything except a fruit basket.

You don't need a passport for San Juan, it is a territory of the U.S. so drivers license and birth certificate will be fine.

We sailed from Tampa to Long Beach on Legend in August 2014. We absolutely needed passports because we began and ended in different U.S. ports.

See my next post with the link to U.S. Customs and Border Protection link.

Before I start I just want to say...yes I have a passport but I have a question.

 

We are taking the Glory Journey cruises b2b. First cruise starts in Miami ends in San Juan. We stay on the same ship and then the second cruise sails from San Juan to Miami. It is booked as 2 separate cruises but actually 21 days on the same ship.

 

My question is do you have to sail with a passport to go on these 2 cruises or could you just use your BC and DL?

Read the info below regarding passports.

From: https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/1139/~/documents-needed-to-take-a-cruise

Documents needed to take a cruise

I'm taking a "Closed Loop" cruise, do I need a passport?

Most cruises beginning and ending in the U.S. are considered "Closed Loop," meaning they begin and end at the same port in the U.S. For instance, if you board a cruise ship at Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and after visiting at least one foreign port of call, such as Bermuda, or Cancun, return back to Fort Lauderdale, you have taken a closed loop cruise.

If, on the other hand, you - say - board a cruise ship in San Diego, California, sail through the Panama Canal (stopping at a foreign port during the cruise), and end the cruise in Miami, Florida, you have not taken a closed loop cruise and the following information does not apply to you. As of June 1, 2009 you need a passport (including infants).

It looks like you'll need a passport since each of your cruises begins and ends in different U.S. ports.

Read the info below regarding passports.

 

From: https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/1139/~/documents-needed-to-take-a-cruise

 

Documents needed to take a cruise

 

I'm taking a "Closed Loop" cruise, do I need a passport?

 

Most cruises beginning and ending in the U.S. are considered "Closed Loop," meaning they begin and end at the same port in the U.S. For instance, if you board a cruise ship at Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and after visiting at least one foreign port of call, such as Bermuda, or Cancun, return back to Fort Lauderdale, you have taken a closed loop cruise.

 

If, on the other hand, you - say - board a cruise ship in San Diego, California, sail through the Panama Canal (stopping at a foreign port during the cruise), and end the cruise in Miami, Florida, you have not taken a closed loop cruise and the following information does not apply to you. As of June 1, 2009 you need a passport (including infants).

 

It looks like you'll need a passport since each of your cruises begins and ends in different U.S. ports.

oops

Bill

Read the info below regarding passports.

 

From: https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/1139/~/documents-needed-to-take-a-cruise

 

Documents needed to take a cruise

 

I'm taking a "Closed Loop" cruise, do I need a passport?

 

Most cruises beginning and ending in the U.S. are considered "Closed Loop," meaning they begin and end at the same port in the U.S. For instance, if you board a cruise ship at Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and after visiting at least one foreign port of call, such as Bermuda, or Cancun, return back to Fort Lauderdale, you have taken a closed loop cruise.

 

If, on the other hand, you - say - board a cruise ship in San Diego, California, sail through the Panama Canal (stopping at a foreign port during the cruise), and end the cruise in Miami, Florida, you have not taken a closed loop cruise and the following information does not apply to you. As of June 1, 2009 you need a passport (including infants).

 

It looks like you'll need a passport since each of your cruises begins and ends in different U.S. ports.

oops

 

Bill

Well now I am confused. Starting the cruise and ending the cruise in the same port technically. Do I or do I not need a passport?

San Juan is a territory of the US. You would just need a birth certificate like you would in Miami.

Well now I am confused. Starting the cruise and ending the cruise in the same port technically. Do I or do I not need a passport?

A back to back cruise is still considered two cruises. After the first cruise, you'll quickly go through customs, then you'll receive a new S&S card and a new folio. Since each of your two cruises begins and ends in different U.S. ports, you do need your passport.

San Juan is a territory of the US. You would just need a birth certificate like you would in Miami.

Doesn't matter if SJ is a U.S. territory. Any cruise that begins and ends in different U.S. ports requires passports.

See my posts above about our Tampa to Long Beach cruise and the Customs and Border Patrol requirements, as of 2009.

Doesn't matter if SJ is a U.S. territory. Any cruise that begins and ends in different U.S. ports requires passports.

 

See my posts above about our Tampa to Long Beach cruise and the Customs and Border Patrol requirements, as of 2009.

Thanks for the info and I apologize for giving a wrong answer to the OP's query.

https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/1139/~/documents-needed-to-take-a-cruise

Well now I am confused. Starting the cruise and ending the cruise in the same port technically. Do I or do I not need a passport?

You do not need a passport. It is a closed loop cruise. Miami to Miami.

I don't know why some posters just can't answer the question directly without going off on all different scenarios. No wonder people get confused.

You do not need a passport. It is a closed loop cruise. Miami to Miami.

 

I don't know why some posters just can't answer the question directly without going off on all different scenarios. No wonder people get confused.

This is NOT a closed loop cruise. It is TWO separate cruises, the first Miami to San Juan and the second San Juan to Miami. The OP will have to leave the ship in SJ, go through customs, and get back on the ship. OP DOES need a passport for these TWO cruises.

I DID answer the question directly. I posted the link from Customs and Border Patrol and the info from the link, as well as my personal, first-hand experience of sailing a cruise that was not closed loop.

Curious as to why people are thinking that B2B cruises count as one sailing?

You do not need a passport. It is a closed loop cruise. Miami to Miami.

 

I don't know why some posters just can't answer the question directly without going off on all different scenarios. No wonder people get confused.

Yeah, no wonder.

With people like you giving wrong information,

This is TWO separate cruises.

We were on a repo cruise that went from SJ to Miami on the second leg of the journey. We wanted to make it a B2B by doing the NY to San Juan cruise (first part of the repo cruise) but we were not allowed to do it due to the PVSA. If they are considered 2 separate cruises, I do not understand why we could not do both of them. Some Americans on our cruise managed to book both, but were later called and told they had to chose which cruise to take. One couple asked if they could just pay the $300 pp fine. They were told that Carnival could not knowingly violate this act. We could have sailed the NY to San Juan cruise and then take a cruise from SJ on another cruise line. The law is certainly confusing.

In January of next year, we can take 2 B2B journeys cruises - Baltimore to SJ and then SJ to Baltimore. It does not violate the act because the ship visits a distant foreign port on the first cruise. Most of the Caribbean islands are not considered distant ports; however, the ABC islands are considered distant foreign ports.

I could very well be mistaken, but I was under the assumption that any number of cruises that started and ended in the same US port, from the CBP standpoint and PVSA laws, was considered a closed loop cruise regardless of how many legs were between the beginning and end.

Stargate Fan, you are correct, but to satisfy the PVSA laws, the CBP looks at embarkation port and debarkation port, so they look it as one cruise. It could be 15 cruises, but still comes down to beginning and end.

I could very well be mistaken, but I was under the assumption that any number of cruises that started and ended in the same US port, from the CBP standpoint and PVSA laws, was considered a closed loop cruise regardless of how many legs were between the beginning and end.

 

Stargate Fan, you are correct, but to satisfy the PVSA laws, the CBP looks at embarkation port and debarkation port, so they look it as one cruise. It could be 15 cruises, but still comes down to beginning and end.

And this is what I was told by Carnival. I wonder how many people will show up and be denied boarding due to the fact that if what Stargate Fan states is true and they do not have a passport?

Well, whatever the real answer is, I'll have my passport with me, I always do when I cruise. I even take it with me off the ship when I book independent excursions.

For me, having a passport is an inexpensive way to save time. I do enough foreign travel each year that it is a necessity.

I could very well be mistaken, but I was under the assumption that any number of cruises that started and ended in the same US port, from the CBP standpoint and PVSA laws, was considered a closed loop cruise regardless of how many legs were between the beginning and end.

 

Stargate Fan, you are correct, but to satisfy the PVSA laws, the CBP looks at embarkation port and debarkation port, so they look it as one cruise. It could be 15 cruises, but still comes down to beginning and end.

Customs doesn't care about B2B cruises. You board in one US port and you exit in another US port. You need a passport. It is not a closed loop cruise, you need a passport.

People are confusing two different sets of regulations.

The PVSA governs transport of passengers; all that matters in this regulation is where the passenger gets on the ship and where they get off. Whether the cruise is multiple legs is irrelevant. What matters is whether the embark/disembark ports are in the U.S. and if so, are they the same port. If not, then the interim ports must meet specific Distant Foreign Port requirements or the cruise violates the regulation. Documentation is Irrelevant in the PVSA.

The other entirely separate regulation concerns travel documents. The described cruises, whether one - way between Miami and San Juan or a combined B2B cruise can be taken with just WHTI documents, so a certified US birth certificate plus ID is allowed. A passport is preferred, but not required. Stargate Fan and Elaine are mistaken; please re read the quote in post #5