Casino Free cruise Recipient can't join European Cruise due to Passport issue

[time391]

I hope someone on here can assist

 

A family member, who we gave money for the Cruise, through the Casino at Sea program with NCL booked a Western Mediterranean cruise several months ago and it's past the deadline for refund.

 

However, unbeknownst to us, the family member has an issue with their US passport and cannot travel to Europe for the Cruise. We are booked to leave Barcelona on May 26th 2024.

 

At the moment, the other 3 members of the cruise's names are already logged into NCL website and our passport documentation is fine, can we still board the ship without the Casino at Sea family member, who had originally received the free cruise certificate?

 

I am wondering if anyone else has ever encountered something like this, since it's an odd situation. We paid for the cruise ourselves, but we took advantage of our family member's Casino benefit to receive the free Balcony room. We know that there will be losses now from Hotel and airline tickets for the one member who cannot travel to Europe, but we do not want to cancel the entire trip on account of one person's documentation issues. We do not mind losing some money from a lack of refund, but we're hoping not to lose the entire $10K with excursions.

 

Thank you for any help in advanced

[Maanio]

Just fix the passport lmao

[time391]

5 minutes ago, Maanio said:

Just fix the passport lmao

The person has issues (IRS related stuff we didn't know about). Feel free to laugh considering they love gambling, but we got hooked into this mess due to the discount and already paid up our portions.

 

Maybe it's a cautionary tale for folks to avoid taking trips with family members and have control over booking in their own hands, but cruising is expensive and discounts are hard to find.

Edited May 3 by time391

[Maanio]

Then I would suggest calling ncl or mailing Katty Byrd.

[Russiamomm]

I believe the CAS member granted the cruise has to go.  If the rest of the group shows up without the CAS member you could all be denied boarding.

 

I’m afraid I’m not understanding the passport issue.  Is it a valid passport?  The ship is boarding in Europe.  Is it an issue that the name is flagged and he won’t be allowed to fly out of the US?  I’m afraid I’m skeptical.  I wasn’t aware that this would happen for a tax issue, unless there are some kind of criminal charges pending.  A civil tax issue should have no effect on traveling outside the US.   But I’m certainly not an expert in this area.  It just seems odd.

 

The first step should be to talk with CAS.  If your names are on the reservation they should talk to you.  They may well tell you that the primary traveler has to check in with you.  In the meantime, I would cancel any excursions and other extras on the ship that you’ve paid for and see what can be done about hotel and air. 
 

Just my two cents, but something isn’t adding up here.  

[goldmom]

I would also suggest calling CAS.  Maybe they will let you take over the reservation.  Possibly they may charge you an additional amount to cover the cost of the discount they gave the family member.  If that's the case, it might be worth the additional cost rather than lose everything.

 

I'm assuming that you don't have trip insurance.

[BirdTravels]

9 hours ago, time391 said:

I hope someone on here can assist

 

A family member, who we gave money for the Cruise, through the Casino at Sea program with NCL booked a Western Mediterranean cruise several months ago and it's past the deadline for refund.

 

However, unbeknownst to us, the family member has an issue with their US passport and cannot travel to Europe for the Cruise. We are booked to leave Barcelona on May 26th 2024.

 

At the moment, the other 3 members of the cruise's names are already logged into NCL website and our passport documentation is fine, can we still board the ship without the Casino at Sea family member, who had originally received the free cruise certificate?

 

I am wondering if anyone else has ever encountered something like this, since it's an odd situation. We paid for the cruise ourselves, but we took advantage of our family member's Casino benefit to receive the free Balcony room. We know that there will be losses now from Hotel and airline tickets for the one member who cannot travel to Europe, but we do not want to cancel the entire trip on account of one person's documentation issues. We do not mind losing some money from a lack of refund, but we're hoping not to lose the entire $10K with excursions.

 

Thank you for any help in advanced

The CAS member has to travel. If not, you will be charged full retail price for the cruise. If the CAS member is not traveling, you should either switch the reservation to a regular booking or cancel and rebook. 

[MCMC100]

3 hours ago, Russiamomm said:

I’m afraid I’m skeptical.  I wasn’t aware that this would happen for a tax issue, unless there are some kind of criminal charges pending.  A civil tax issue should have no effect on traveling outside the US.

IRS can have the State Dept revoke or deny a passport application/renewal if you have a tax delinquency of $52k or more. Until you pay the tax or enter into an approved repayment plan you can be prevented from traveling outside the US. 

[Russiamomm]

20 minutes ago, MCMC100 said:

IRS can have the State Dept revoke or deny a passport application/renewal if you have a tax delinquency of $52k or more. Until you pay the tax or enter into an approved repayment plan you can be prevented from traveling outside the US. 

Thanks for this.  I wasn’t aware.  Learn something new every day.  😃

[fredflint]

You can have your passport withheld:

Most importantly, there are several legal reasons a passport application could get denied.

If you owe money on child support, you’re ineligible for a passport, even if you fill everything out correctly. All money has to be paid through the appropriate state agency before you can submit the application.

Another financial aspect comes with a defaulted loans. If you’ve failed to make payments on a loan from the Department of State you would need to pay it off before sending in your application.

Certain court orders, being convicted of a felony, or if you’re wanted on an arrest warrant, can also result in a passport denial. A convicted felon you would also need to check with their parole office before applying for a passport.

 

Passports and Seriously Delinquent Tax Debt

 

If the Secretary of the Treasury informs us that you have seriously delinquent tax debt, we cannot issue a U.S. passport to you. In addition, we may revoke your current U.S. passport. Seriously delinquent tax debt is your unpaid, legally enforceable federal tax debt (includes interest and penalties).

If you are overseas, you may be eligible for a limited-validity passport which can be used for direct return to the United States.

Contact the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to resolve your debt before applying for a passport. If you do not resolve your tax issues before applying for a passport, your application will be delayed or denied.

If you have seriously delinquent tax debt and have already applied for a new U.S. passport, we cannot issue a new passport to you until you have resolved your tax issues with the IRS. 

 

Child Support Payments

 

If you owe $2,500 or more in child support, you are not eligible to receive a U.S. passport.

Pay your child support arrears to the appropriate state child support enforcement agency before applying for your passport.

 

If You've Already Applied for your Passport

 

1. Make arrangements to pay your child support arrears with the appropriate state child support enforcement agency.
2. The state agency reports to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that you've made acceptable payment arrangements.
3. HHS removes your name from their list and reports this to us. This may take 2-3 weeks.
4. We verify that HHS removed your name.
5. We process your passport application.

[time391]

12 hours ago, MCMC100 said:

IRS can have the State Dept revoke or deny a passport application/renewal if you have a tax delinquency of $52k or more. Until you pay the tax or enter into an approved repayment plan you can be prevented from traveling outside the US. 

Yes, they owe $96K to the IRS due to interest and principal from 2020. It was a windfall gambling winnings that they gained in January before the pandemic, but they used it all during that period. They were fighting the IRS, claiming that the money belonged to them and they shouldn't have to pay. It's not how income taxes work, but stubborn willful ignorance is a personality flaw. Short of paying off $96K via installment plan (Which I wouldn't contribute to as its their own obstinacy that led to it), nothing can be done to eliminate the passport block.

 

As for CAS, we would need to cancel the trip entirely, since we are not the Casino cruise certificate holder. However, we can't get the Balcony room back if we do that. As you may have noticed by looking at May 26th, there are no more Balcony rooms for that cruise. It's a cruise nearing full capacity. 

 

I've traveled with NCL before on my own dime and I honestly could have afforded regular price for a balcony room if I had booked six months ago on my own, but the cheap option from my relative was too good to ignore.

[SomewhereGirl]

I'm baffled by why anyone would think they could travel on a free cruise without the CAS member, whatever the reason.  The free or discounted rooms are not a reward.  CAS gives those out expecting you'll gamble as much on the next cruise.  If it was possible to cruise without the CAS member, everyone would do it.

[itsnotjustme]

If you will not be cruising, take these steps ASAP: Most are obvious, but perhaps not the gratuities.

- Cancel all excursions - they should be refunded before cancelling the cruise

- Cancel the Free at Sea drink package and meals and get back the pre-paid gratuities, also B4.

- Cancel hotels (if allowed)

- Cancel the airlines

- Then tell NCL (The Free CAS Cruise recipient likely need to do this.)

 

$10K sounds like a lot if the balcony stateroom was free.  Is much of that airfare?  Any recourse with the airline?  Did you purchase trip insurance - and would your situation be covered under your policy?

 

And it must have been a nice win to owe $96K!  I presume this has already been reduced for same year losses.

 

.

[UKstages]

2 hours ago, itsnotjustme said:

And it must have been a nice win to owe $96K! 

 

as somebody who spends an inordinate amount of time in casinos on land and sea, i can tell you that this is most likely not the case. most tax liability is based on what i call "phantom income." people see that you've "won" $2200 or $6000 or whatever and they like to congratulate you. that's very nice, but i always tell them, "the machine shows what i won... it doesn't show what i lost." 

 

every year, i come out 4K or so down or 4K or so ahead. (most years, it's 4K down.) it's entertainment and you shouldn't be gambling with the rent money. but there are several things that make gambling a losing proposition... and it isn't just the house odds, which are almost never in your favor.

 

the first is that the tax policy regarding casino payouts hasn't been adjusted since 1977! 

 

so, when you hit a jackpot of just $1200 or more, you're issued a W2-G documenting the event for the IRS. that may have been just fine in 1977, when the highest denomination on most slot machines was 25 cents and payouts above a thousand dollars were rare. today, most busy casinos have winners of $1200 or more thousands of times every month. if you're playing $1 or $5 video poker (or a slot machine), you can get six or seven handpays in a single two hour session... and finish with a loss. a W2-G just means that the casino paid you $1200 or more. it doesn't mean you've "won" a great deal of money.

 

the second thing is that, while the IRS allows you to deduct losses (up to the full extent of your winnings), some states do not. there have been several very active years when i had tax liability at the state level, even though i was a net loser that year.

 

it can be an expensive hobby.

 

in any case, a good portion of that 96K is most likely interest and penalties for failure to pay taxes. the person who owes it most likely ignored notices from the IRS asking for payment or for an explanation. it's also possible that the person really did have an exceptionally large win, didn't have any taxes withheld, and was unable to pay the bill. it's also possible that the taxpayer is disputing the amount (although that wouldn't  prevent a passport's validity or ability to travel, if they're in discussion with the tax authorities). i once "owed" 57K, but i disputed it. it was indeed an error, but it took nearly three years for them to clear it.

[itsnotjustme]

9 minutes ago, UKstages said:

this is most likely not the case. most tax liability is based on what i call "phantom income."

 

10 minutes ago, UKstages said:

a good portion of that 96K is most likely interest and penalties for failure to pay taxes.

I copy all that you state.  My point was the W-2G generating event(s) must have been big, not that the player won money overall. I actually presume where the winning went is back to gambling losses.   

[UKstages]

3 minutes ago, itsnotjustme said:

My point was the W-2G generating event(s) must have been big...

 

not necessarily. one of my central points is that a paperwork generating event occurs when you win as little as $1200.

 

without interest and penalties, tax liability of 96K would have to have come from 400K or more in winnings, assuming it all happened in the same year. or it could simply have been from accumulated interest and penalties on a much smaller amount over several years. short of a lottery win or a win on a WAP slot machine like megabucks, there just aren't that many ordinary casino wins above 20K or so.

 

there is actually a proposal in front of the IRS right now to raise the threshold to 5K, submitted by two representatives from nevada. the IRS has said they are likely to implement that change and actually suggested raising it to 6K. (of course, you owe taxes on all winnings, not just on winnings for which you've been issued a W2-G. but that's between most people and their accountants. the IRS actually gets terribly confused when you claim gambling income that hasn't been officially reported.)

[SKCruiser007]

If you have transfers already paid for with NCL, you should try to cancel them today, if it's not already too late. Transfers have to be cancelled at least 21 days before the embarkation date, I believe.

[Always Cruising]

I broke my leg and was unable to cruise 1.5 years ago (CAS had booked my 2 cruises).  I called my CAS rep, explained that friends still wanted to go on the 2 cruises, and they recalculated what they would need to pay.  One group downgraded from haven to a balcony, and they other went from 2 bedroom Haven to Haven spa room.  The balcony people didn't have to pay anymore, but the spa Haven did have to pay a bit.  I contributed my payment to their cruises, 'cuz I felt guilty (& jealous that I couldn't go! 😉)

[phillygwm]

On 5/3/2024 at 12:37 AM, time391 said:

At the moment, the other 3 members of the cruise's names are already logged into NCL website and our passport documentation is fine, can we still board the ship without the Casino at Sea family member, who had originally received the free cruise certificate?

 

I am wondering if anyone else has ever encountered something like this, since it's an odd situation. We paid for the cruise ourselves, but we took advantage of our family member's Casino benefit to receive the free Balcony room. We know that there will be losses now from Hotel and airline tickets for the one member who cannot travel to Europe, but we do not want to cancel the entire trip on account of one person's documentation issues. We do not mind losing some money from a lack of refund, but we're hoping not to lose the entire $10K with excursions.

 

So to clarify, you were staying in the CAS guest's cabin?  

 

I've had others travel with me, but on their own reservations.  My cruise was "free".  Because my friends booked through my CAS rep, they got a 10% discount.  But if they were in my cabin theirs would have been free as well (plus admin fee, taxes/fees, gratuities, etc.)

 

I don't know what kind of discount OP got for you -- they may have gotten a better or worse deal than I did based on their play -- but it's best to call CAS ASAP to see what your options are.  If nothing else, they can quote what your incremental cost would be and what your options are.

[CruisingSince1982]

On 5/3/2024 at 12:37 AM, time391 said:

I hope someone on here can assist

 

A family member, who we gave money for the Cruise, through the Casino at Sea program with NCL booked a Western Mediterranean cruise several months ago and it's past the deadline for refund.

 

However, unbeknownst to us, the family member has an issue with their US passport and cannot travel to Europe for the Cruise. We are booked to leave Barcelona on May 26th 2024.

 

At the moment, the other 3 members of the cruise's names are already logged into NCL website and our passport documentation is fine, can we still board the ship without the Casino at Sea family member, who had originally received the free cruise certificate?

 

I am wondering if anyone else has ever encountered something like this, since it's an odd situation. We paid for the cruise ourselves, but we took advantage of our family member's Casino benefit to receive the free Balcony room. We know that there will be losses now from Hotel and airline tickets for the one member who cannot travel to Europe, but we do not want to cancel the entire trip on account of one person's documentation issues. We do not mind losing some money from a lack of refund, but we're hoping not to lose the entire $10K with excursions.

 

Thank you for any help in advanced

 

Yes, you can board. DO NOT cancel that passenger that is having an issue. There is no rule that everyone must board together. Get there when you get there and board. The missing passenger will eventually be a no show. If you cancel that passenger, you will have an issue. EDITED - just realized it was CAS. I did not catch that, sorry. Best you can do is to call CAS and ask, but I don't think they will let you board. 😞

Edited May 6 by CruisingSince1982

[nimbex1970]

Because this is booked by CAS, you have to call them, not NCL.  You will lose your discount, which shouldn't be more than 10%.Oops, forgot that the price may have gone up. They will re-price your room, you should not lose it.

Edited May 7 by nimbex1970

[phillygwm]

2 hours ago, nimbex1970 said:

Because this is booked by CAS, you have to call them, not NCL.  You will lose your discount, which shouldn't be more than 10%.

UNLESS they're all in the same cabin.  In that case, the second person would be have the same discount as the CAS guest.  Not sure how 3 and 4 work in that instance.

[UKstages]

just to clarify, CAS is NCL.

 

when you call "CAS," you are in fact calling NCL. it's just a different set of agents who are theoretically trained to handle casino bookings. but they are NCL employees, just as the "regular" cruise consultants are and they work out of the florida or arizona contact center or their florida or arizona home offices, just as "regular" NCL agents do.

[phillygwm]

48 minutes ago, UKstages said:

just to clarify, CAS is NCL.

 

Absolutely, but if you have a CAS booking, the "regular" NCL agents want nothing to do with you, even for seemingly irrelevant things like restaurant reservations, excursions, etc.  That used to be a PITA because CAS wait times were (are?) horrible.  Now I just email my rep and she gets back to me in due course.