Open Letter to Celebrity: I'm Extremely Disappointed with how your staff handled our multiracial family at check in.

[Cruise till you drop]

39 minutes ago, mayleeman said:

Everyone who thinks the OP should not complain about this gross violation of Celebrity's own guidance, please remember this thread if you are ever stopped by anyone in authority because they have a "feeling" you might be committing a crime, and are asked to prove you are not. 

I don’t feel that they did that at all.  They were just covering the necessary bases

[tschwa2]

Sorry I commented initially after only reading the first 30 responses.  

 

It is so weird because I've heard about similar situations on SW planes but they all involved children that were too young to have government issued photo id.  Having a passport with the same last name should have been the end of the encounter, barring something like the daughter actively asking for help or seeming like she was drugged.  

[shandryl]

On 12/30/2023 at 8:21 PM, cyntil8ing said:

Ha! Yes, we have last name jokes too. Our’s is Lord! 
 

There are good comedians that can have us all laughing together, but there are also comedians that try to make us laughable. It’s a line some can walk and some can’t. Fortunately and unfortunately, we have run into both.

 

 

I have a very dear friend with the last name Lord. 💗👍

[Loracpin2]

53 minutes ago, Cruise till you drop said:

I agree.  Child is a minor and adopted so I think Celebrity had every right to make sure

 

I originally posted the statement below on Page 1 Response #8.

  

We have 8 Grandchildren. Two are adopted from an Asian country. We have sailed 3 times with our entire Family of 16 and never have our youngest Son and Daughter-in-Law been questioned about the validity of their children!!!!  

[Torfamm]

2 hours ago, Cruise till you drop said:

I agree.  Child is a minor and adopted so I think Celebrity had every right to make sure

If Celebrity wants to institute a policy requiring all adoptive parents to present proof of adoption at check-in, they could I suppose. The problem is that they have no such requirement and port agents asked for documents that are not required nor even something that people would normally travel with.

[vjmatty]

8 hours ago, Cruise till you drop said:

I agree.  Child is a minor and adopted so I think Celebrity had every right to make sure

You think adopted children should be held to a different standard than biological children? That’s not the law in the US. 

[Pushka]

On 12/30/2023 at 9:16 PM, Homosassa said:

Kudos to the shore side staff on being aware of the trafficking issues of children in the day and age and taking the time to be sure that your adopted daughter was truly traveling with parents.

 

I suggest that you avoid this problem in the future by having the adoption papers with you.

You cannot be serious. Thats simply offensive. Another adoptive parent for a mixed race child. 

[momofmab]

I definitely think this experience warrants a complaint to Celebrity and the port.  An apology and an explanation should be satisfactory.  Unless I missed it, OP has not said that they or their daughter spent the entire cruise moping in their stateroom.  If they can perhaps prove that the cruise was completely ruined because of the check in incident, then maybe some compensation could be offered to smooth things over and entice them to rebook with Celebrity.

 

I don't think it was racially motivated in the negative way that people on here are assuming but rather an overreaching attempt by the check in staff to be hyper vigilant about trafficking (they actually told OP that this was the nature of their questioning).  It's no secret that human trafficking in many forms is at an all-time high.  Those battling it on the front lines will likely be able to cite many incidents of creative ways that people traffic.  I don't doubt that they've seen it on cruises.  Cruising is just another way of moving people from one place to another and in some instances, if one books an inside cabin, can be cheaper than flying these days.  There's already been cases of drug smuggling via mass market cruise lines.

 

When going through TSA at an airport, people are randomly pulled aside for further screening.  Are we to consider each of these situations racially motivated if the person pulled aside is not white?

 

Before everyone jumps on me, YES, I think it was overreaching on the part of the employee.  I don't criticize them for asking the questions, but they should have been satisfied with the documentation presented and allowed the family to go on their way. It's unfortunate that the family was subjected to a poorly trained employee.  I hope they were able to put the incident behind them and enjoy their cruise.

 

Consistency in both training and execution across the cruise lines and American cruise ports has to happen in order to prevent extreme situations like this one, but I don't fault the cruise lines (or port employees) for trying to prevent trafficking (and yes, people's comments about all races being vulnerable to trafficking are valid points as well).

Edited January 1 by momofmab

[Essiesmom]

I’ve watched enough episodes of ‘To catch a smuggler’ to know that people aren’t randomly pulled aside in airports for further screening.  They are ‘profiled’ in the the agents are trained to observe suspicious behavior.  And that when they suspect sex trafficking it is usually Asian women, not necessarily minors.  
   Now, I was ‘randomly’ pulled aside for screening once, not long after 9/11, but I realized it was because they needed someone in the group who was not from the Middle East to make it seem as if they were not profiling.  EM

[CruiseRQA]

10 hours ago, the_dylaness said:

 

Sex and human traffickers come in all flavors... 

They probably don't.   There probably is a profile of combinations of people that are more likely to be sex trafficking than other combinations of people.   For example, posters have commented that they have traveled with their mixed race grandchildren and never had an issue.  Well it may be that statistics say that children traveling with adults >60 are not likely to be trafficked and so it would be a waste of resources to examine them more closely.   

[prmssk]

6 minutes ago, CruiseRQA said:

Exactly.   Most here continue to overlook the fact that the guy being targeted is a white guy!

And a minor who was Asian.  Being scrutinized so closely is going to stick with that 17 year old (and unfortunately, it likely won't be the last time).

 

If they truly were worried about human trafficking, they would have also been concerned about the white children with this couple and scrutinized them all.

[Ellaleah]

On 12/30/2023 at 2:22 PM, mphooker said:

I'm the mom of the girl posted about.  It was completely humiliating to my entire family of 6.  They actually out loud asked "Is she adopted?"  She knows she is and she answered to it.  They still made it out like we could not board that ship with her if we didn't have adoption paperwork.  Never in her 17 years have we had to prove that and I've even traveled internationally with her.  

 

But here's the other thing that bothers me...How likely is a sex trafficker going to have a passport AND pay for all this to go on a cruise?  I'd like to know those percentages.  

 

I have read though this thread so far and I agree,”Who traffics a girl and takes her on a cruise?”  Totally crazy thinking!

[TeresaJ]

Wow, this is crazy and Celebrity should be ashamed! I can't believe even though you had all the proper documents and there were no name differences, they accused you of sex trafficking. How horrifying for your daughter and your family. I hope you get an apology from Celebrity!

[deliver42]

Shame on Celebrity for your treatment.

[dleahy4444]

13 hours ago, mayleeman said:

Everyone who thinks the OP should not complain about this gross violation of Celebrity's own guidance, please remember this thread if you are ever stopped by anyone in authority because they have a "feeling" you might be committing a crime, and are asked to prove you are not. 

Well said

[Itchy&Scratchy]

6 minutes ago, vjmatty said:

until they realized their mistake and let the family board with no apology. 

I imagine it may have gone like this:

 

 

[Ferry_Watcher]

In an ideal situation, if the check-in agent still had any concerns after looking at all the passports and seeing that the entire family shared the same last name, she should have just asked the 17 yr old young woman who were the adults she was traveling with.  Once your daughter replied, "my parents", it should have been the end of the story, and the family should have been checked-in and sent off on their cruise.

 

When the parents realized that there was some concern about embarking, the best course of action would be to calmly point out that the daughter is adopted from (China, Korea, or..), and that is clearly shown on her passport (country of birth), "but she is our daughter as the name on her passport indicates, Jessica Qi Hooker.  Jessica also has her DL with her if you want to look at that"

 

If reasoning with the check-in agent didn't work, then I could see it turning into a high stress situation.  At that point remaining calm until a supervisor arrived would have been the best course of action.  @wahooker, I know in one of your posts you mentioned that your 3 sons got involved in the 'discussion' and that you were proud that they stood up for their sister.  Just as an FYI, having 3 upset young men venting towards a 25-30 yr old Hispanic woman is not going to help the situation (even if they are right).

 

As for what things were said aloud.  The folks at the pier probably should have never mentioned 'trafficking'.  IMO, they should have never gone there.

I am not sure if anyone within your group verbally brought up race as a reason why this all was happening, but generally speaking, it automatically puts everyone on the defensive, and tends to shut communication down.

 

I am glad that the rest of your cruise seemingly went well.  I hope the folk at the pier learned from this.  And I wish you a happy New Year.

 

And I am ready for the Mods to shut down this thread.  :  )

 

 

[hopeless holiday booker]

14 minutes ago, CruiseRQA said:

Let's use some common sense here.

 

The port authorities don't know that this group of people is a family.   And as minorities are most at risk

( a simple Google search will confirm), I would hope the authorities charged with detecting this horrid practice would be more cautious about a white man traveling with an Asian teen girl.  

 

As I have repeatedly stated, it does sound like the port authorities handled this very poorly and practice improvement is needed but to simply cry "RACIST!" does not seem appropriate.

Once passports have been seen no questions needed.  

[hopeless holiday booker]

2 minutes ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

In an ideal situation, if the check-in agent still had any concerns after looking at all the passports and seeing that the entire family shared the same last name, she should have just asked the 17 yr old young woman who were the adults she was traveling with.  Once your daughter replied, "my parents", it should have been the end of the story, and the family should have been checked-in and sent off on their cruise.

 

When the parents realized that there was some concern about embarking, the best course of action would be to calmly point out that the daughter is adopted from (China, Korea, or..), and that is clearly shown on her passport (country of birth), "but she is our daughter as the name on her passport indicates, Jessica Qi Hooker.  Jessica also has her DL with her if you want to look at that"

 

If reasoning with the check-in agent didn't work, then I could see it turning into a high stress situation.  At that point remaining calm until a supervisor arrived would have been the best course of action.  @wahooker, I know in one of your posts you mentioned that your 3 sons got involved in the 'discussion' and that you were proud that they stood up for their sister.  Just as an FYI, having 3 upset young men venting towards a 25-30 yr old Hispanic woman is not going to help the situation (even if they are right).

 

As for what things were said aloud.  The folks at the pier probably should have never mentioned 'trafficking'.  IMO, they should have never gone there.

I am not sure if anyone within your group verbally brought up race as a reason why this all was happening, but generally speaking, it automatically puts everyone on the defensive, and tends to shut communication down.

 

I am glad that the rest of your cruise seemingly went well.  I hope the folk at the pier learned from this.  And I wish you a happy New Year.

 

And I am ready for the Mods to shut down this thread.  :  )

 

 

I don't understand why people are looking for reasons why this is not wrong.  Why mention that his daughter is adopted from China, Korea or ...  She might have been adopted from the US. 

[mayleeman]

3 minutes ago, hopeless holiday booker said:

Once passports have been seen no questions needed.  

 

I went to law school just to learn how to say in >100 words what you did in 8! 😉

[Shellyd22]

I agree the only reason they were questioned was because the daughter was of different race and outright accusing the OP may be sex trafficking is unprofessional to put it lightly. To make a child feel as if they are different or not part of a family is sad. For all the people defending the actions due to the risk of sex trafficking….. I’m really getting tired of social media’s view on sex trafficking. Yes, it is a problem in this world. But no, pretty sure chances are a family paying thousands to go an a cruise with their adopted child is not likely involved in a ring. Just like the millennial moms on tiktok claiming they were almost sex trafficked at the local target when I’m reality someone walked down the same aisle as them.. it’s almost insulting to the actual victims of this heinous crime. The family is owed an apology. The website makes it clear what the guidelines are and they should be followed. 

[mayleeman]

8 minutes ago, hopeless holiday booker said:

I don't understand why people are looking for reasons why this is not wrong.  Why mention that his daughter is adopted from China, Korea or ...  She might have been adopted from the US. 

 

There seems to be a growing trend toward making innocent people prove they aren't doing anything wrong. It is scary how many people seem to think that the OP should have had to give a lengthy explanation and essentially justify having the gall to travel as a biracial family without preparing to meet absurd challenges. America really shouldn't be that way.

Edited January 1 by mayleeman

[Itchy&Scratchy]

59 minutes ago, CruiseRQA said:

The port authorities don't know that this group of people is a family. I would hope the authorities charged with detecting this horrid practice would be more cautious about a white man traveling with an Asian teen girl.  

what? OP wasn't a lone white man traveling with an Asian teen girl.

Parents with their 4 kids, all with US passports, traveling as a family. How is that not clear?

 

Port agents understand when we travel as a family of 5: DH, me, our son and my parents. They understand that my parents are a part of my family, even though my parents don't have the same last name as us. How can the port agents not understand that 2 adults and 4 teen/adult kids with the same last name, booked in 3 connecting/adjacent cabins on the same reservation are a family?

Edited January 1 by Itchy&Scratchy

[vjmatty]

55 minutes ago, CruiseRQA said:

Let's use some common sense here.

 

The port authorities don't know that this group of people is a family.   And as minorities are most at risk

( a simple Google search will confirm), I would hope the authorities charged with detecting this horrid practice would be more cautious about a white man traveling with an Asian teen girl.  

 

As I have repeatedly stated, it does sound like the port authorities handled this very poorly and practice improvement is needed but to simply cry "RACIST!" does not seem appropriate.

First of all, they did know it was a family once proper documentation was provided. That should have been the end of the conversation. As for the “caution” argument, don’t make me quote Ben Franklin’s observations about liberty vs safety. 

[Lena11033]

36 minutes ago, mayleeman said:

 

There seems to be a growing trend toward making innocent people prove they aren't doing anything wrong. It is scary how many people seem to think that the OP should have had to give a lengthy explanation and essentially justify having the gall to travel as a biracial family without preparing to meet absurd challenges. America really shouldn't be that way.

 

I haven't had this with ports but multiple times with customs where I've had way more questions than needed as a woman traveling alone, one time even the man say to me 'doesn't my husband mind me traveling alone' like I needed his approval.

I know it's not the same but traveling to the US is the only time I've had these questions. But yes it seems more on the person traveling to prove they are innocent. But arguing doesn't get you anywhere, I just have to shut up and take the questions. As much as I don't like print outs I take a lot of print outs with me to prove my travel intentions.