Cutieredhead107 Posted June 11, 2022 Report Share Posted June 11, 2022 Hi all- quick question regarding the disembarkation process and the merits of carrying a passport. We disembarked Freedom of the Seas yesterday morning in Miami. Short 4-night cruise to Cococay and Nassau. Luckily, my family and I all had passports. That allowed us to bypass the very long line for the passengers who only had ID and birth certificates. My question is this: Are they using facial recognition software? They never looked at our passports- only asked if we had them, before telling us we could go to the other lane that had absolutely no people in it. They took our pictures, and then we walked right out of the terminal to catch a cab to the airport. However, the line for people w/only IDs and birth certificates was incredibly long. We were just surprised that nobody wanted to actually look at them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpeedNoodles Posted June 11, 2022 Report Share Posted June 11, 2022 Yes, they use facial recognition in Miami, and it is one of the best benefits of sailing with a passport. Moby Dick, WAAAYTOOO, The Fox and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wordell1 Posted June 11, 2022 Report Share Posted June 11, 2022 3 hours ago, Cutieredhead107 said: Hi all- quick question regarding the disembarkation process and the merits of carrying a passport. We disembarked Freedom of the Seas yesterday morning in Miami. Short 4-night cruise to Cococay and Nassau. Luckily, my family and I all had passports. That allowed us to bypass the very long line for the passengers who only had ID and birth certificates. My question is this: Are they using facial recognition software? They never looked at our passports- only asked if we had them, before telling us we could go to the other lane that had absolutely no people in it. They took our pictures, and then we walked right out of the terminal to catch a cab to the airport. However, the line for people w/only IDs and birth certificates was incredibly long. We were just surprised that nobody wanted to actually look at them. All of your passport information is already submitted by Royal to the immigration personnel at the port before you depart. There have been reports on this site where people were flagged for spending certain amounts onboard for jewelry (and needed to pay a duty tax). For most, they do not check closely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrznTxn Posted June 11, 2022 Report Share Posted June 11, 2022 On our last cruise three weeks ago in Galveston there was an issue with the facial recognition software and it was not working. The port folks told us it was an issue with an update that Meta (Facebook) made and it rendered the facial recognition useless. Not sure if that was the actual cause but that is what they told us and they were not happy. Sure hope it is working again on our cruise in a week. Thankfully we never travel without our passports so we went to the short line. Moby Dick 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinJ Posted June 11, 2022 Report Share Posted June 11, 2022 Getting flagged for customs can be a real pain. My wife bought some Art on our last cruise, since it was on my credit card I got flagged at disembarkation. They don't tell you it's for customs, they told me it was a random security check and to follow the ships officer he'll get you right through. Yeah, right through to the customs office where they asked me to show receipts for what was purchased. Meanwhile my wife and son had already left and gone to the car in the parking garage so I'm left calling and texting trying to get her to find the receipts and get them to me. Got it all worked out but be aware if you make and large purchases, and I have no idea what the trip point is, make sure the person whose card got used has the receipts with them. BTW I did see people writing checks to customs. BrianB and WAAAYTOOO 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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