sparks1093

I've seen passengers confined to their cabins over something like this with a security officer outside their door for the duration of the cruise (either the brig was already in use or what they did wasn't serious enough to warrant confinement there). Passengers may be escorted off the ship at the next port and have to make their own way home. And they may be put on the cruise line's no sail list and not be allowed to cruise with that line any longer. What is done depends very much on the circumstances.

I wouldn't count insurance out without filing a claim with them. Some policies do cover the loss of travel documents before a trip. As for changing the reservation each cruise line has a different policy for that so it might be worth checking that out as well. I know that your friend feels terrible about this and I, for one, sincerely hope that an emergency passport may still come about. He'll need a cruise after having to deal with this (as will you). Good luck!

The DL isn't strictly necessary but can be used in port as ID to return to the ship.

"Could be" is right because the regulations contain provisions that allow the passport requirement to be waived for emergencies or for humanitarian reasons. IF someone had to return home without a passport there would be a delay while the cruise line and the authorities sorted things out but they would get home eventually.

Absolutely right. DW was born in Germany and has a naturalization certificate. Her German birth certificate is no more than a souvenir and gets her nothing. We traveled with her nat cert several times, but a warning- it costs about $550 to replace one of those bad boys so if you do use it for travel be very careful with it. Once I found out how expensive they are I looked for an alternative for cruising and since Vermont does issue Enhanced Drivers Licenses we decided on those (since at the time travel to Europe was still on the bucket list).

No, your son was issued a REAL ID compliant license. He did have to submit citizenship documents when he applied but that was only to establish that he had legal presence in the US, even a permanent resident who is a citizen of another country may obtain a REAL ID compliant license. An Enhanced License comes with the same background checks and security features that are in a passport card and California does not issue those.

If it happens (and it doesn't happen for the vast majority of passengers) the there are provisions in the regulations to waive the passport requirement for emergencies and for humanitarian reasons. There will be a delay while Carnival and the authorities sort things out but it's not as big of an issue as some think it would be.

Glad to hear Glory is holding up. We were on her a few years ago to celebrate our 25th anniversary and will celebrate our 30th anniversary on her next April (in an Ocean suite, no less). Thanks for your thoughts!

They'll change bills for you in the casino and possibly at Guest Services as well, just a better chance of a line.

They have 2 or more kiosks on the ship, they look like an ATM. You can check your balance, add funds to your account, change bills to smaller denominations (down to $5's). I believe you can also get a print out of your account if you wish. Kind of a mini-guest services station. I think you can find them using the Hub App.

If this is an option, and I don't believe that it is (not any longer, at any rate), there is probably a fee associated with it.

Very true, one just needs to make sure that they are comfortable with the worst cabin in the category. Ours wasn't horrific, it just wasn't what we would have chosen (and we did find out that cruising does appeal to us).

Exactly, there is always a receipt even if the items haven't a charge (and interestingly when we ordered the breakfast sandwiches a gratuity wasn't added automatically, just the cost of the sandwiches).

We had Cheers in February and it showed the cost of the drink minus the cost of the drink and 0 as the total (except when sales tax was charged), it never showed anything for gratuity. I do agree that all of the gratuities that are automatically added are put into a tip pool and divided among the bar staff. Our S&S cards didn't have a Cheers sticker and our service was always topnotch, even after the server or bartender knew we had Cheers.

OP, our first cabin was a guaranteed inside cabin and we didn't like the choice that was made for us. We haven't used a guarantee since. We look at the deck plans and pick which cabin we want. A guarantee is a crap shoot and sometimes you will win and sometimes you will lose.

They've been aware of this for years and haven't stopped it yet, I doubt they are going to any time soon.

Interesting, I thought the older posts were gone since the last renovation of the site. Loved seeing posts about skeet shooting. Tipping and whether or not to have a passport were also present.

OBC is for any charge incurred onboard so I don't see why you can't parlay it into something bigger.

Go to the casino and put $125 on your player bank on a slot machine. Spin a few times and cash out. Take the slip to the cashier and get your cash. I did this recently to obtain cash since we ran short unexpectedly.

What sort of result are you looking for? These types of complaints are best to get resolved onboard. If you are expecting an apology or even some sort of remuneration the chances are good that you won't receive what you are looking for. I believe that NCL publishes their corporate address on their website so you could try writing to that address.

We always book Early Saver so I would presume so.

We just booked Mardi Gras for 2024 so I appreciate your detailed review!

A bit. I was looking for the $50 deposit for the friends who are sailing with us. The two families of four can afford $200 better than $500, but they still want to sail on Mardi Gras so they'll figure it out.

We recently booked Mardi Gras for April 2024 and according to the website Carnival was offering reduced deposits from $50. We are cruising with a number of families with small children so the $50 deposit looked attractive. Came to find out that the "from" in the offer is literal and for this sailing on Mardi Gras the reduced deposit was actually 50% of the normal deposit. When I spoke to my PVP and mentioned this she said that they rarely offer $50 deposits for the newer ships, which makes sense (and this is the first time we were booking a newer ship so never noticed it before). It didn't matter to us but it might to others, so I wanted to post this here as a heads up to those looking for reduced deposit deals.

Probably they are referring to needing one to return by air if you have to leave the cruise for some reason. Of course the regulations give the authorities the ability to waive the passport requirement for emergencies and for humanitarian reasons.