Cross Border Booking and Dual Citizenship

[ClawhammerBanjo]

Hello. Never been on a cruise but looking to book one.

 

I'm in the UK and I am looking at Mediterranean cruises without a flight. I.e. drive to the port. Seems prices are cheaper in the US in US$, but with the small print "must be a US resident", etc.

 

I am a dual UK/US citizen. I have a US passport, driver's license, bank account, credit card, phone number, mailing address, plus the funds for the cruise are in my US bank account. But... I don't live there anymore.

 

I presume the travel agency wouldn't know I am not living in the US, so they would honor the booking and get their commission. But what about boarding? I will have to show my US passport, right? Is there a risk of being found out and denied boarding? Do you get grilled?

 

Thanks!

Edited December 22, 2015 by ClawhammerBanjo

[LHT28]

I do not see a problem if you use US passport for your booking just show the same I.D. when boarding

[lisiamc]

Make sure they use e-docs. If they try to be kind and send you paper docs, luggage tags, etc., it could be expensive (and slow) to get it sent on to the UK if they send a big folder or binder.

Edited December 22, 2015 by lisiamc

[John Bull]

Cruisers living outside of North America using a North American T/A.

 

Some cruise lines require that a cruiser live in North America (including Canada) in order to book through a North American T/A

Some cruise lines don't require this, so are irrelevant to this reply.

Sorry, I lose track of which cruise lines have this requirement & which cruise lines don't. Perhaps other members can suggest names.

 

Your nationality is irrelevant - if it were it would break racial discrimination laws. It's all about residency in North America.

No problem for, say, a Brit living in North America, but - theoretically at least - not possible for an American living in the UK.

 

Some US T/A's simply ignore the ruling, I don't know what address they use.

 

But by having a US passport, credit card, bank account you're halfway there. And a US mailing address, assuming it's not clearly a PO box number, seems to fulfil the other half.

I think it best that you speak direct to a US T/A or two, and be up-front with them. No need to give them too much personal info at the outset, but broadly they're on your side..

 

Do bear in mind that there are different terms when booking in the US.

- The quoted price does not necessarily include mandatory add-ons such as port fees & taxes - by law these are included in a quote in the UK & elsewhere in the EU. Comparatively trifling sums, but you need to take them into account.

- Your payments don't have the protection of ATOL or ABTA in the event of a problem like the T/A going belly-up or running off with your money. So it's important to pay by credit card in order to get broadly similar financial protection. But whereas it's usual for UK T/A's to charge credit card fees, it's not the norm with US T/A's.

- During the time gap between booking & final payment, if you are paying from UK funds you are at risk from currency exchange fluctuations. You will pay more if sterling weakens against the dollar before final payment, less if it strengthens.

- If you book through a US agency, you can normally cancel penalty-free if you do so before final payment date, whereas in the UK your deposit is forfeit from the moment you hand it over.

 

We booked through a US agency some years ago, very efficient, no problem. But the price gap seems to have narrowed - last time we checked the difference wasn't worth the grief, especially with this relatively-new residency requirement. That was on a late-booking deal, which seem more prevalent in the UK though you do have to shop around.

 

JB :)

Edited December 22, 2015 by John Bull

[chengkp75]

As John says, the US address is the rub. If you have a US address you can use (relative or friend), that can get you your booking. Having never done this, I will say that one possibly small, possibly large problem comes to mind. The US address that you use to book becomes the address of record for the passenger manifest, and when CBP does their screening during your cruise, using this manifest, if they don't show any record of you having lived at the address, it could cause problems when disembarking. Maybe, maybe not.

[LHT28]

The US address that you use to book becomes the address of record for the passenger manifest, and when CBP does their screening during your cruise, using this manifest, if they don't show any record of you having lived at the address, it could cause problems when disembarking. Maybe, maybe not.

Would it be a problem if they are going to the Med ???

[chengkp75]

Would it be a problem if they are going to the Med ???

 

Good catch, most likely not, but I don't know how the EU clears ships (I know they don't require passports, etc) or how they screen passengers for security.

[John Bull]

Good catch, most likely not, but I don't know how the EU clears ships (I know they don't require passports, etc) or how they screen passengers for security.

 

Bring into the UK as many immigrants, drugs & guns as you like.

 

But don't exceed your tobacco allowance for which the penalty is being hung, drawn & quartered and your head on a spike at Traitors' Gate.

 

JB :D

Edited December 22, 2015 by John Bull

[TravelerThom]

Good catch, most likely not, but I don't know how the EU clears ships (I know they don't require passports, etc) or how they screen passengers for security.

Actually the EU requires passports if you are arriving from outside the EU unless you are traveling within the Schengen Zone from one of the four non-EU members of Schengen. If the cruise is entirely within the Schengen Zone (composed of 24 EU countries and 4 non-EU countries [Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Liechtenstein], plus 3 de facto members [Monaco, San Marino and Vatican City while not official members of Schengen, have open borders with Schengen]) it is true that passports are not generally required. If travel involves both the Schengen Zone and non-Schengen EU countries (UK, Ireland, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria and Cyprus) then passports are required for non-EU citizens and proof of citizenship (such as national ID card) for EU citizens.