HA is consciously engaging in highly unethical actions and disregards customer concer

[Shmoo here]

Having read the OP's story, I am a little confused regarding the need for a Visa to travel to/through Canada. If anyone can answer this, thank you. My question is this - we are taking a 9 day cruise of the Atlantic Coast next April on the Veendam. So, a New England into Canada cruise, embarking in Boston and disembarking in Montreal. We will be driving home as it's only a few hour drive. We are US citizens with passports, are Visas required to enter Canada as well? I know there must be others that have done the New England Canada cruise, and wondered of you would share your experience. Thank you.

 

Lorie

 

I believe US citizens do not need a Visa to travel to/through Canada. The OP was apparently from a "third world country" and, apparently, required a Visa which they did not have.

[Fouremco]

Having read the OP's story, I am a little confused regarding the need for a Visa to travel to/through Canada. If anyone can answer this, thank you. My question is this - we are taking a 9 day cruise of the Atlantic Coast next April on the Veendam. So, a New England into Canada cruise, embarking in Boston and disembarking in Montreal. We will be driving home as it's only a few hour drive. We are US citizens with passports, are Visas required to enter Canada as well? I know there must be others that have done the New England Canada cruise, and wondered of you would share your experience. Thank you.

 

Lorie

No need to worry. As US citizens travelling on US passports, you don't need visas.

 

Whether you are admissible to Canada, of course, is a different question (see my earlier post). If you have any concerns on any of these or similar grounds, you should contact Canadian authorities.

[IRL_Joanie]

Having read the OP's story, I am a little confused regarding the need for a Visa to travel to/through Canada. If anyone can answer this, thank you. My question is this - we are taking a 9 day cruise of the Atlantic Coast next April on the Veendam. So, a New England into Canada cruise, embarking in Boston and disembarking in Montreal. We will be driving home as it's only a few hour drive. We are US citizens with passports, are Visas required to enter Canada as well? I know there must be others that have done the New England Canada cruise, and wondered of you would share your experience. Thank you.

 

Lorie

 

Lorie, our driving over the border, North and South Bound both were exactly the same. Got to the Border, presented our US Passports answered a couple questions such as,

 

Border Officer "What were you doing in Canada?"

Answer, "On a Cruise to Alaska."

 

Border Officer "Where do you live?"

Answer "New Mexico."

 

Border Officer "Have a great Day, Thanks for visiting and come back again."

Answer "We will, we'll be back next year again:)"

 

Joanie

Edited September 10, 2015 by IRL_Joanie

[3rdGenCunarder]

No need to worry. As US citizens travelling on US passports, you don't need visas.

 

Whether you are admissible to Canada, of course, is a different question (see my earlier post). If you have any concerns on any of these or similar grounds, you should contact Canadian authorities.

 

We entered Canada twice this summer. Once sailing from England, and once sailing from the US. In both cases, we had to fill out an arrivals form, but did not have to show ourselves at any border control inspection. The form did not ask for our passport numbers. So does the cruise line submit a passenger list with passport info in advance of arrival? I wish I'd paid more attention to the questions. I don't recall any questions asking about arrests or convictions.

 

I've seen threads where people ask about going to Canada if they have a DUI on their record. How does Canada know if the person doesn't tell them?

[dakrewser]

Ok! Turn this around. You state that the conditions can change so fast that the carrier cannot be responsible and this is the line that carriers take. However, if it happens so fast can it be reasonable to expect the passenger to keep abreast e.g. I purchase a ticket to Kenya in Jan for travel in April, I check that Irish citizens do not need a Visa. In March Kenya require Irish citizens require a Visa to enter. This goes unnoticed by me and I cannot travel in April. Is it reasonable to expect me the passenger to check things on a daily basis as information and conditions change.

 

 

Yes, it is reasonable to expect you to be sure you have the correct docs. Especially when the carrier tells you, numerous times, that you are responsible for having the correct docs.

[chefestelle]

We entered Canada twice this summer. Once sailing from England, and once sailing from the US. In both cases, we had to fill out an arrivals form, but did not have to show ourselves at any border control inspection. The form did not ask for our passport numbers. So does the cruise line submit a passenger list with passport info in advance of arrival? I wish I'd paid more attention to the questions. I don't recall any questions asking about arrests or convictions.

 

 

 

I've seen threads where people ask about going to Canada if they have a DUI on their record. How does Canada know if the person doesn't tell them?

 

 

Canada and U.S. Share criminal record information. Not everyone receives a secondary inspection but criminal records can come up if you are subjected to one. Not all officers (in fact, my experience says never) ask about records on a primary. You can be denied entry though if they do discover you have one.

[sail7seas]

We entered Canada twice this summer. Once sailing from England, and once sailing from the US. In both cases, we had to fill out an arrivals form, but did not have to show ourselves at any border control inspection. The form did not ask for our passport numbers. So does the cruise line submit a passenger list with passport info in advance of arrival? I wish I'd paid more attention to the questions. I don't recall any questions asking about arrests or convictions.

 

I've seen threads where people ask about going to Canada if they have a DUI on their record. How does Canada know if the person doesn't tell them?

 

U.S. and Canada share access to some criminal records.

 

[Fouremco]

We entered Canada twice this summer. Once sailing from England, and once sailing from the US. In both cases, we had to fill out an arrivals form, but did not have to show ourselves at any border control inspection. The form did not ask for our passport numbers. So does the cruise line submit a passenger list with passport info in advance of arrival? I wish I'd paid more attention to the questions. I don't recall any questions asking about arrests or convictions.

 

I've seen threads where people ask about going to Canada if they have a DUI on their record. How does Canada know if the person doesn't tell them?

Cruise lines, like airlines, provide a passenger manifest to the immigration officials of all countries that they will be visiting. So for an Alaskan cruise or a Canada/New England cruise, both US and Canadian officials would receive a copy. The manifest would include passport information and, I believe, visa details where applicable.

 

The CBSA Declaration Card that you filled out is primarily a customs tool, although the information may be used by CBSA officials when considering admissibility at airports.

 

Regarding your DUI question, CBSA routinely ask questions that vary with the circumstances. An elderly couple returning from an Alaskan cruise is unlikely to be asked the same questions as a scruffy looking solo male returning from a country with a history of easy access to illegal drugs. If an American denies having any criminal conviction, a CBSA officer having any doubts has access to US databases that will help determine the facts.

 

In my limited experience with Canada-USA cruises, there is a much more relaxed attitude than there is with air or land (re)entry. Assuming you have the necessary travel documents at embarkation, things go very quickly and easily thereafter. For example, when we needed to return early from a cruise due to a medical emergency, ship officials dealt with St. Lucian immigration to change our entry status. We handed in our passports at the front desk, got them back a short while later and never saw an official until we went through immigration at the airport on our way out.

[RDC1]

On the other hand---while I agree with everyone that it is indeed the responsibility of each traveler to insure that documents are in order---how hard is it for a large travel company like CCL to have in place a computer program that checks for documentation when the person does online registration. We just had a thread wanting a computer program to show birthdays and anniversaries, It seems a no brainer that when a person enters nationality the registration asks for appropriate visa information before allowing the passenger to continue.

Obviously this is in place because we do occasionally hear complaints here and not just from this poster where people have been denied boarding at the pier.

While I am also suspicious of this particular post I think that in general this is a problem that has an easy fix. Not everyone is an experienced traveler, we need to remember that.

 

The problem with any such system from the cruise lines point of view is both keeping it up to date and dealing with exceptions. If the cruise line provides the information then they are liable for negative results due to errors. By being clear that it is the passengers responsibility they remove that risk. Also, most people from country X might be able to access county B, but mister Y has a felony conviction which excludes them. A system run by the cruise line would say no problem, but for that individual there would be. Thus staying out of it and making it clear that it is up to the traveler for them to make sure that they have all necessary document to access any countries being traversed make it clear.

[Stratheden]

From 15th March, 2016 Australians will need an eTA to visit or transit Canada by air. If we travel by land or sea we will not requre one.

[iancal]

We needed a similar eta when we travelled to Australia last February. We were doing a cruise plus independent travel. $20. And give minutes doing an on line form took care of it.

 

Did we rely on a TA or Princess for entry requirements to Japan, Thailand, Malaysia! Aua, NZ, Fiji, ettc.

 

No, took us about five minutes each to understand the requirements. People make a huge error if they depend on the cruise line or TA for this data.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I read over the OP's thread 2 times and I am still wondering why they were denied boarding the ship.

[SetAnOpenCourse]

While it seems the OP needs to accept responsibility for what happened (or at least does not seem to offer facts suggesting otherwise), others should not oversimplify. The ease of determining visa requirement depends on citizenship, place of residence, destinations, and how clear the information for those destinations is. It's not a quick task for all. Also, for those who say it's impractical for a cruise line to provide the requirements because they can change, well then, are not some passengers in an impractical situation (i.e. even if researched perfectly, the requirements might change after booking). Be happy if you are one of the majority of cruisers (I almost wrote 'cursers', but these boards aren't that bad :) ) whose situation is pretty straightforward.

[Host Walt]

This thread is closed.