So many people cruising without passports on Independence this morning

[CanHardlyWait]

14 hours ago, Bowen said:

It's so nuts that so many people get bothered by something that affects them not at all. 

I'm not bothered by crazy. Just hate to see people put energy into nothing.

[Bowen]

24 minutes ago, CanHardlyWait said:

I'm not bothered by crazy. Just hate to see people put energy into nothing.

Agreed.

[TXcruzer]

8 hours ago, Bowen said:

Your facts aren't facts at all, though. The original design of facial scanners was to collect (COLLECT) biometric data from foreign nationals, not compare, not snap a shot then immediately delete. Do you think the entire programming was changed because you check a box that says you're an American Citizen and thus that data will not be collected from you? Also, as to your claim that the pictures are immediately deleted, this is false, even by TSAs own verbiage. The pictures are deleted, but kept on the RAM until actually deleted, which normally happens every 24 hours OR after the unit has been powered down for 30 minutes, BUT pictures may be kept if they can be useful to make the whole recognition software more reliable. So, believe what you want to believe, I'm going to let my family believe what they want to believe. If there's one thing I learned in the past three years it's that there's a whole lot I don't know, and I'm not going to dismiss it when other people have opinions that I might think are wild. And I'm still going to be walking through the facial scanning section of customs, but I'm certainly NOT going to be judging anyone for a fool if they decide against it.

I never said pictures were immediately deleted, and I am not judging anyones decisions

[SDK]

It could also be related to the difficulty in obtaining US passports in a timely manner. Mine expired during COVID when I had no current or near future plans to travel. My renewal application was received on 5/10 with a posted 10-13 week processing time. Apparently they are overloaded and receive upwards of 400,000 passport applications per week.

[RCIfan1912]

I will say this delay in processing or issuing passports is really unacceptable. I just read a story about it. Glad ours are up to date for a long while now. 

[Matt]

9 hours ago, SDK said:

t could also be related to the difficulty in obtaining US passports in a timely manner.

It certainly could have some effect, but I think as @AshleyDillo pointed out, short cruises attract a lot more first timers and they tend not to have passports.

[Steve B]

Even though I didn't pay for the expedited processing for my passport and passport card, I got my renewal back in about a month. My mom, who sent hers off a few weeks before I sent mine in, is still waiting. Guess I somehow got lucky and moved to the front of the line somehow....

 

[JasonOasis]

23 hours ago, RCIfan1912 said:

I will say this delay in processing or issuing passports is really unacceptable. I just read a story about it. Glad ours are up to date for a long while now. 

At the airline I work for we are advising our pilots and flight attendants they should apply to renew their passports at least 9 months before they expire.  We are hearing it is taking 6-9 months to process and/or issue passports. 

I personally would encourage anyone with a cruise coming up next year if you haven't checked to see when your passport expires, if you are an individual who doesn't use their passport all that often I would strongly encourage you to go find your passport, check the expiration date.  If it is expiring early next year and you either have a cruise already planned or are planning or even thinking of planning a cruise get you renewal application in now.  This problem with passport processing continues to get worse and worse with no end in sight for the time being.

[WAAAYTOOO]

On 7/8/2023 at 5:22 AM, need2cruz said:

I'd love to hear how disembarking with the BC goes.  This will be our 1st time in Tampa w/ some of our travel party not having passports.  We're a party of 8 but the 3 minors don't have a passport.

Just disembarked this morning and it could not have been quicker or easier.  No separate line for BC.  Dan and I went to the same agent; he, with his passport and me with my BC +drivers license.  Barely even slowed down as we walked past.

I will add….both the embarkation and disembarkation from Serenade (Tampa) were amazing !  We were at the front of both lines both getting on and off the ship.  This is primarily a function of being EARLY.  We were the first GenPop to get on the ship when boarding and the first in GenPop to disembark.  The on/off processes are very organized and timely.  I can’t say enough about the efficiency of the terminal folks at Tampa.  I thought Port Canaveral had their s**t together but Tampa was even better.  So pleased with everything at Tampa.

[Snotarni]

I'm using my BC this weekend on Indy...  I just got notification that my Passport Renewal is done, but not sure when I'll get it (Friday afternoon seems about perfect   )  So I'll see how it goes.  My son used his BC on Indy on our Memorial Day weekend cruise... no issues, maybe a 5 minute extra wait then what we had zipping thru the passport lines.  Exciting times ahead...  

[ScottD]

On 7/7/2023 at 9:16 PM, SpeedNoodles said:

On my last sailing (Navigator group cruise) the passport line was queued about 40 people deep, while there was absolutely nobody in the birth certificate queues (3 agents, no passengers).

This was my experience in February leaving Oasis in Miami. We walked right up to the Birth Certificate agent, and the Passport line was easily 50 deep. We were out side in maybe a minute, and that extra few seconds was only because I asked if they needed the marriage license to compare with my wifes birth certificate, and he said "nope-you're travelling together and your last names match- I can figure out that her name changed because you are married..all good to go"  

Also to my theory on why Americans travel with no Passport and the rest of the world all seem to have one: Two reasons.... one is because Americans can travel thousands of miles within our own country, and travel on things like closed loop cruises, without needing a passport. Europeans tend to have passports because the countries are so small, you need one to get anywhere within a few hundred miles in any direction. 

Reason number 2: MONEY. It's a big expense it you don't travel regularly, and when you do travel, its cruising and you don't NEED one. For a family of four or 5, you are talking about 4 or 500 bucks plus extra if you need it expedited, after dropping 3 grand on a cruise, a few hundred on flights and hotels... that's a big addition for something that you don't officially need. 

[teddy]

1 hour ago, ScottD said:

Also to my theory on why Americans travel with no Passport and the rest of the world all seem to have one: Two reasons.... one is because Americans can travel thousands of miles within our own country, and travel on things like closed loop cruises, without needing a passport. Europeans tend to have passports because the countries are so small, you need one to get anywhere within a few hundred miles in any direction. 

I agree. My international travels (other than Canada) were while I was active duty.   I never got a passport until we started needing one to get back in the US from Canada (a post 9-11 development I believe), and then it was just the passport card.  I got a passport book prior to our first cruise since we were flying and our state was behind on Real ID licenses (not that in mattered, in hindsight).  For years, my wife traveled with her Canadian birth certificate and US residency card until she found out that the cost to get naturalized was going up.  She holds dual now and can travel on either a US or Canadian passport.

I grew up in a small, isolated Maine/Quebec border town.  Crossing the line meant the customs/immigration agent waved as you drove by since you knew each other.

 

[Ray]

2 hours ago, ScottD said:

 Europeans tend to have passports because the countries are so small, you need one to get anywhere within a few hundred miles in any direction. 

 

Not true! 

Member countries of the EU plus a few other countries that are on the approved list ( basically most of mainland Europe) can travel to and from each others countries with only an ID card. 

I would say the reason Europeans have passports is so we can travel to places we need them such as the US, Australia, Africa, Caribbean etc. 

[Southern Waters]

On 7/8/2023 at 9:15 AM, Bowen said:

It's very fast, we have a split every time, and without fail the passport lines are slower than the BC lines coming back from Galveston. We sailed in September, January, and April, part of the family used the BC line each time, they were through before the rest of us each time.

I sailed from Galveston in 2018 with BC; embarkation and debark took about an hour each.  I sailed from there this past October with a passport.  Embarkation took  15-20 mins and we barely slowed down on debarkation.  I don't know how the process went for BC only, didn't notice.  Granted, the whole process has been streamlined since Covid but the staff at Galveston were awesome!

Speaking of passport application wait times, I have a friend that has been waiting since March 28 for her renewed passport.  My first-time application in Feb 2020 only took 5 weeks.  Needless to say, I'm glad I don't need to renew for 6+ years!

[PL8SWPR]

On 7/8/2023 at 10:13 AM, Bowen said:

Today's delusions are tomorrows FOIA admissions. You do you, my family can do what they want, it's nothing to you. Just stop being rude.

 

It's crazy that despite all the evidence to the contrary, that people still believe that the US government would never think to misuse the means to collect data or the data that they've collected through legitimate reasons.  I'm probably not as serious about my privacy as I could be, but understand and respect those that are much more cautious than I even if it's done just on principle alone.

[RCIfan1912]

3 hours ago, PL8SWPR said:

 

It's crazy that despite all the evidence to the contrary, that people still believe that the US government would never think to misuse the means to collect data or the data that they've collected through legitimate reasons.  I'm probably not as serious about my privacy as I could be, but understand and respect those that are much more cautious than I even if it's done just on principle alone.

Yeah, I'm sure the government is doing something sinister with the info from your passport. Paranoia is both hilarious and scary at the same time. 

[Xaa]

11 minutes ago, RCIfan1912 said:

Yeah, I'm sure the government is doing something sinister with the info from your passport. Paranoia is both hilarious and scary at the same time. 

They certainly can and I expect at some point they might so I get hesitancy around the facial recognition if it were not for the week just spent on a cruise ship being filmed almost the entire time as well as general cameras positioned throughout the terminal and customs area.  When you've given thousands of pictures of your face freely in the same time period, balking at one more seems like a weird line.  But to each their own.  I'm sure I have lines that others might see as peculiar.

[Jolly Ogre]

55 minutes ago, RCIfan1912 said:

Yeah, I'm sure the government is doing something sinister with the info from your passport. Paranoia is both hilarious and scary at the same time. 

Well as someone who has been in the military, they already have my fingerprints and many photos and other documents with much more detail than I even have told my wife about.

I think that those that are concerned with the facial recognition that customs are using are giving the government to much credit as to what ever nefarious plotting they may be doing.

Similar to those that think the moon landing was fake, it would be harder to fake it than actually go to the moon. There is way to much data collected every day to do anything with it. They are only looking for those that are on the radar. If you are not a wanted criminal, terrorist or have connections to them, then there is no need to worry.  

[tingtang]

23 hours ago, RCIfan1912 said:

Yeah, I'm sure the government is doing something sinister with the info from your passport. Paranoia is both hilarious and scary at the same time. 

Just because I'm paranoid, that doesn't mean they aren't out to get me!  

 

 

J/K LOL  

[Lakegirl1805]

My husband does not fly so we just applied for the US Passport Card. Will we be able to use the Passport Line? In our past cruises we used our BC in 2004.

Cruising on the Wonder  March  09,2025

 

thank you  

[need2cruz]

3 hours ago, Lakegirl1805 said:

My husband does not fly so we just applied for the US Passport Card. Will we be able to use the Passport Line? In our past cruises we used our BC in 2004.

Cruising on the Wonder  March  09,2025

 

thank you  

yes

[SewerUrchin43]

This is my Wife and I second cruise ( and we are on the Independence lol) and we are using our BC and license because the first time we cruised last year we weren’t sure what to expect or even if we would like cruising so we didn’t want to “waste” money on passports. This time we moved up our vacation plans and our passports won’t be processed in time because of all the lag in processing.