Carnival Cruise Line shares clear rules on passports
The cruise line has a policy on passports and exactly when you need them and when you don't.
April Fools' Day creates a level of chaos that adds to an internet already filled with misinfomation.
Many people have questions about what documents are required in order to go on a cruise. Putting incorrect information out there about people needing passports, visas, or other documents can cause a level of panic.
Related: Carnival Cruise Line begs passengers to follow key cabin rule
No cruise line controls what documents are needed. A company can make recommendations, but at the end of the day, your required documents are set by the country you leave from and return to, as well as countries you are visiting.
It can certainly be challenging, as the general requirement of having an original birth certificate and state-issued license for a closed-loop cruise (a cruise leaving from and returning to the same U.S. port) occasionally has exceptions.
As cruisers, it's important to look to your cruise line (and not the internet) to know if your cruise requires a passport, a visa, or some other document.
It is, of course, always best to have a passport, but Carnival Brand Ambassador John Heald fully explained his cruise line's policy in a recent Facebook video post.
Carnival Cruise Line shares final word on passports
Transcript:
Good morning. Yes, it's me. 6:30 in the morning here in the airport lounge. My flight is delayed already, but it doesn't matter.
Look, this is what I fly in — don't I look fabulous? Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, wherever you're watching this. I hope you're taking great care of yourselves and of each other. So, today, I'm flying to Miami on British Airways.
Delayed flight, did I mention delayed? I think I might turn into Mr. Glitterknickers and demand a solid gold plastic plane on a stick and an upgrade to first class. What do you think?
Anyway, I just checked my passport and I have to get a new passport at the end of this year. But the reason I'm talking about passports in this three-minute video is that yesterday, I was asked many, many times if it was true that we would be requiring passports for everybody starting on the first of June this year.
That was an April Fool again. God, you know, I know April Fools' is fun, but there were so many that I had to tell you that wasn't true. And one of them is that we will not require passports.
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Carnival did not change its passport rules
Ignore what that was on a certain page. Again, obviously, we recommend people have passports, but if you're on a regular Caribbean cruise or an Alaskan cruise, you don't need a passport.
We will, of course, have all the information on our website about the specific cruises, maybe going to Colombia or Cleveland, where you do require a passport.
I also get asked a lot about the Real ID. And let me tell you everything I understand about Real ID. That's it, that's all I understand.
Anyway, on our website, there is all the information about Real ID. It really is something that I have to learn more and educate myself more about. So I'm flying to Miami today.
You don't need a passport; we've covered that. I also wanted to show you something. Look, this is my breakfast.
A lot of people ask me why we have beans on the buffet line. I said buffet, buffet line on the Lido deck. Well, we don't just have American guests.
We have a lot of British guests sailing with us, a lot of Canadian guests as well. And they love baked beans at breakfast. And that is my breakfast.
And I'm going to love, love those beans. Now the person sitting next to me is probably going to have a completely separate view on whether he or she loves the fact that I've had baked beans. Because as my late father used to say, beans, beans, the more you eat, the more you fart.
And I probably shouldn't have said that. Anyway, I'm looking forward to showing you around Carnival Sunrise on Saturday and Carnival Celebration on Sunday. And I wish you were here, although you probably don't.
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