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Essential Papers in Cruise ships


Essential Papers in Cruise ships

Any authority looking at airline tickets, boarding passes and passports will examine names carefully. TSA and other security authorities often require that key papers (e.g., airline tickets, passports) precisely reflect your full name. This applies to all persons in your travel group, e.g., spouse, children (toddlers perhaps excepted). It starts by making sure that whoever books your cruise (and any associated airline tickets) accurately enters each full name on reservations and later-generated tickets. Passports/Visas (See Passport for details.) Unless your ship's itinerary is confined to your home country (not often), you must prepare for a cruise as you would for any other international trip, to include passports, perhaps visas. Many countries to be visited may levy few or no visa requirements on day-visitors via cruise ship. But, check with the cruise line (through your agent if used) well ahead of time. Some lines will arrange needed visas for scheduled port visits, but also check specifically for visa requirements if you have an international flight itinerary.
  • The cruise-line will often insist that your passport have more than six months before it expires as of the date your cruise starts. They may just be echoing requirements of countries the ship will visit, e.g., many that require visas will not issue any under passports with less time.
  • Lacking such a passport, or any needed visa, you risk being denied boarding on embarkation day...without refund or other compensation. You may also not be covered by travel insurance purchased.
  • Very occasionally, port officials in certain countries will require review of all passenger passports before clearing the ship for passengers to go ashore. If so, they often join the ship a few days in-advance, and the ship will announce a day or so before the port visit that the staff needs to gather all passports for inspection. Before you leave home, make machine or photo color copies of at least the primary, facing pages of each passport...per details in the above linked article. Use the passports when instructed by authorities, e.g., going through airport, airline or customs and immigration processing, processing for initial ship's embarkation. Take them with you on the rare occasion needed ashore per ship's announcements. Otherwise, once on-board, leave them in your cabin's safe and take the copies ashore instead, along with government-issued photo identification, e.g., driver's license. Boarding Passes and Tickets Once booked, you need to promptly go to your cruise line's web site to "register". (Immigration authorities require that any ship leaving their jurisdiction have personal data of all passengers at least 3 or more days before cruise departure, but don't wait that long. Your agent or the line may have to mail these papers to you.) There (using your booking number), complete all details about all people cruising in your group. Data needed will include full names, addresses, phone numbers, social security numbers (or the equivalent for other countries), passport details, emergency contact names and phone numbers, how you want your shipboard account established/paid (see "Embarkation" below). Once registered, the site will often allow you to print your boarding passes if within 60 days or so of the cruise. Others may mail them to you as noted above. You may get one set listing all persons in your group, or a set for each person. Each may also include the cruise contract and boarding instructions and times. If you've paid for flights or airport-to-port transfers, you should also find vouchers or flight tickets (or Internet links to them for printing at home). If you don't have these key papers in-hand in some usable form at least three weeks before your cruise, notify your agent/cruise line immediately. Each person will need his/her boarding pass and passport to be processed on-board. Cruise-line Luggage Tags Tags showing your name, cruise ship, cruise date/identity/number and cabin number are essential to ensure your large luggage reaches your cabin.
  • Some lines will send you durable tags in-advance, to attach at least to your large luggage. If so, they'll often come with your boarding passes and vouchers for pre-paid transfers.
  • Others will offer tags for you on-line. If so, print them...yes, they'll be on printer paper. Then fold each as indicated into a narrow strip, and reinforce it with transparent package sealing tape. When you're ready to attach one, wrap it around a luggage handle, information showing, and then staple multiple times or apply strong tape at the overlapping ends.
  • If you make your own flight arrangements, you'll have to get yourself and all bags to the port/cruise terminal. You can wait to attach the cruise-line tags as you claim them at the end of your flight, but do so before your bags reach the port if possible. If you have none, porters at the terminal can create tags using your boarding pass data.
  • If you have arranged services from the cruise-line to transfer your checked luggage from the end of your flight to the ship, you need to attach the cruise tags as you check the luggage to begin flying. Before you leave the air terminal at the port city's airport, get confirmation from any welcoming cruise-line staff about transfers and any responsibilities you have, e.g., if flying internationally, you may have to claim your bags to go through customs and immigration processing before re-checking them into the cruise line luggage system.
  • Other Essential Papers
  • If travel is international, take no more prescription medications than you'll need on your trip...with convincing documentation that they belong to you and are necessary, e.g., labeled bottles with your name, copy of the doctor's prescription. If any contains a controlled/narcotic ingredient, make absolutely sure you will not violate any law of any country you'll enter...even as a through cruise or flight passenger, e.g., as needed, have the country's written permission to carry the meds within its borders. Otherwise, the consequences in a few countries can be severe, e.g., immediate confiscation, arrest, possible prison.
  • Avoid paying duty on what you already own. See Proof of What You Already Own
  • If you have purchased travel insurance, take at least a summary of the policy coverage and how to contact the insurer for help from wherever you will go on the trip.

  • The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Cruise ships


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    Cruise ships Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.

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