Biometrics and Princess

[sharkaymon]

I sailed on the regal princess November 12 through November 19. There were massive delays on embarkation day and disembarkation day. Both having to do with getting passengers on and off the ship without the use of biometrics. We were told that CBP (customs and border protection) would not allow Princess to use facial biometrics either on embarkation or Disembarkation.

 

so princess and CBP don’t play well together. Why should the passengers and crew and the longshoreman have to suffer.

 

Is there any other information as to these massive delays?

[ldubs]

Must be situational.  Have not had that problem with Princess in other ports.  

 

If CBP was involved in the embark process then there must have been something happening.   

[JGmf]

5 minutes ago, ldubs said:

Must be situational.  Have not had that problem with Princess in other ports

 

Agreed.  San Pedro (LA) in June was fine.

[Rick&Jeannie]

I was not aware that Princess was experimenting with facial recognition. All you have ever needed to get off/on was your medallion. Customs is a totally different/unrelated process.

[Crown Cruiser]

Port Everglades has been using facial recognition when we go through customs when we debark the ship for a few years now.  Makes the system so fast and simple.

[Rick&Jeannie]

3 minutes ago, Crown Cruiser said:

Port Everglades has been using facial recognition when we go through customs when we debark the ship for a few years now.  Makes the system so fast and simple.

Yes...but that is Customs...not Princess. 

[BlerkOne]

CBD and Carnival use facial recognition in Galveston, AFAIK. Same terminal.

[david63]

1 hour ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

I was not aware that Princess was experimenting with facial recognition. All you have ever needed to get off/on was your medallion. Customs is a totally different/unrelated process.

Princess certainly use facial recognition - albeit not necessarily with embarkation/disembarkation but with the onboard photographers. I was told by one of the photographers that the way in which photos are linked to a passenger/medallion is by facial recognition.

 

So if it is being used there then what is to say that it is not being used elsewhere?

[Cruise Raider]

No info on the delays but perhaps, the system was down.  They’ve used facial recognition on several cruises recently, both out of LA and out of San Francisco.  Quick in and quick out!  I love it!  
Does anybody remember how we had to get up at the crack of dawn on disembarkation day and stand in a long long line to go through immigration?  
 

[memoak]

In Seattle a few months ago I just waved my passport up in the air and they waved me through customs. I am willing to bet it could have been anyone’s passport. No one actually looked at it and I was at least 5 feet away from the officer 

[Stosh68]

3 hours ago, sharkaymon said:

I sailed on the regal princess November 12 through November 19. There were massive delays on embarkation day and disembarkation day. Both having to do with getting passengers on and off the ship without the use of biometrics. We were told that CBP (customs and border protection) would not allow Princess to use facial biometrics either on embarkation or Disembarkation.

 

so princess and CBP don’t play well together. Why should the passengers and crew and the longshoreman have to suffer.

 

Is there any other information as to these massive delays?

 

You were told nonsense by somebody who is either ignorant, or purposely trying to shift the blame from the port/customs itself.   The real reason for the delays was the biometric system was not operational, likely due a technical issue.  All of the delays were 100% customs at this port alone.

 

First, by law Princess has to provide a manifest of passengers ahead of time to CBP, that's why you can no longer walk up the day of the cruise and buy a ticket. 

 

Second, while the manifest of passengers can include your passport number, which obviously will give CBP access to your photo, it doesn't have to.  As anybody who reads the forums knows, the 3rd most popular question behind what should I wear and how much should I tip is "do I need a passport to cruise?  You can cruise cruise with a drivers license/birth certificate.  If CBP wants to get a picture from a driver's license, it has to go through the state of issue, not Princess. 

 

Three, you don't have to even provide Princess with a photo ahead of time if you desire, so Princess may not have a photo to even share, if that even occurs.

 

Fourth, Princess doesn't identify who you are until you are already through passport control and the metal detectors.  That's when you are green lined, and have to scan your medallion with the princess employee to validate your "ticket", or you are directed to the blue line where you will either have a medallion assigned and/or documentation validated/photos taken.

 

"Play nice" between Princess and customs is nonsense.  Princess has to follow federal law, and provide the CBP with what information federal law requires.  CBP is a federal agency, and they are going to follow the law and policies regarding what info they can and can't release to Princess.  Two people who don't get along are not going to change this.

 

If you think all the CBP officers wanted to spend several extra hours, manually photographing and sometimes fingerprinting 3000+ passengers because their boss and some random Princess person don't get along you are sadly mistaken.  Besides, any communication between Princess and CBP happens between Princess corporate and Washington DC, not between somebody at the ship and the port.  If there was a problem between the two, it would be every Princess cruise, and as has already been stated here, people have no problem with CBP and Princess at other ports.

 

Lastly, if the CBP had a problem with Princess, nobody would have been allowed off the ship to begin with.   

 

 

Edited November 20, 2023 by Stosh68

[BlerkOne]

32 minutes ago, Stosh68 said:

 

 

First, by law Princess has to provide a manifest of passengers ahead of time to CBP, that's why you can no longer walk up the day of the cruise and buy a ticket. 

 

 

Princess has to provide a manifest, but can sell cruises the day of. What you can't do is walk up to a ship and say let me on