Passengers on any cruise that travels outside the U.S. (including the Caribbean, Canada and Mexico) are required to have a valid passport.(Photo: Patrick Semansky AP)
A cruise ship is akin to a secure building open 24 hours a day. So naturally, there are security rules and regulations that need to be followed. You can't get aboard a cruise ship these days without proper documentation, especially in a post-9/11 environment where the possibility of a terrorist attack is something cruise lines take very seriously and have even planned for. Once you're onboard, as a passenger you'll be briefed on what to do in the event of an emergency — even one not quite as serious as the Costa Concordia disaster in 2012. There are also requirements when you go ashore in foreign countries and rules that need to be followed when you're welcomed back to the U.S. Ignoring any of this can mean hassles, if not danger.
Cruise Documents:
No more than a week before your cruise (typically a month before) you'll either receive your printed cruise documents in the mail —including your air ticket and transfers if you booked through the cruise line — or be directed to print all that online. The number of documents you will receive varies; consult your line's website to make sure you got everything you need. If you're missing anything, contact your line or travel agent immediately. You'll run into major delays at the pier if you don't have your boarding documents — don't forget them!
Note: To comply with
Department of Homeland Security regulations that require them to submit passenger manifests, most lines are now requiring passengers to complete a form online (name, address, and passport information) at least 3 days prior to sailing. If you don't do this you'll not only encounter hassles at the pier, but may be denied boarding.
Required ID, Passports & Visas:
To board any cruise that travels outside the U.S. (including to the Caribbean, Mexico, or Canada) passengers are required to have proof of citizenship. The easiest form of ID is a passport; if you don't have one, get one. For information on obtaining one in the U.S., consult the
U.S. State Department. If you already have a passport, note that most lines require that it have 6 months of validity left on it after you complete your trip (some ports of call require that as well in order for you to disembark).
That said, if you're sailing out of a U.S. port and your cruise begins and ends in the same port — and you are cruising to the Caribbean, Bahamas, Mexican Riviera, or Bermuda — you can get away with just a government-issued birth certificate or original Naturalization Certificate, plus a government-issued photo ID (such as a driver's license). Passengers who are not U.S. citizens, but live in the U.S. also need to bring their alien card.
Read the rules for your specific sailing carefully and well in advance so you can obtain the necessary papers. For any trips involving international air travel, you will definitely need a passport and, in some cases, a visa as well. Some places that require Americans to have a visa include Australia, Turkey, China, India, and many countries in the Middle East (be aware that some of the latter will deny visas to anyone who has an Israeli stamp of entry on their passport). If you have any questions about needing a visa when visiting a specific overseas port, consult your cruise line and/or travel agent well in advance, as it can take time to apply for one. To eliminate hassle, it's a good idea to work with a visa service such as
VisaHQ. Yes, they charge a fee, but it's worth it when you're dealing with an application that's downright complicated (such as that for Russia or Brazil) and that won't be approved if you mess anything up.
If you are traveling with kids there may be additional documentation requirements, depending on the region you're sailing in. For instance, if one parent brings a child into Canada, they need to have a notarized letter from the other parent saying that's okay.
Security Details:
All the cruise lines have dedicated security forces that function as police on the ship. They monitor everything that comes onboard (passengers, crew, luggage, supplies), searching for banned items such as weapons and drugs. But their job goes beyond that. They are called on to do everything from break up fights to investigate robberies and even more serious crimes, and are trained in counter-?terrorism measures too.
Writing the security plans are highly trained experts, including former Navy SEALs and former FBI officials. As you board your ship, the person checking your ID likely has a police or military security background — some ships even employ Nepalese Gurkha fighters as security personnel. In addition, ship officers are trained to react to takeover attempts. The U.S. Coast Guard maintains a safety zone around the ship while dock and as it's leaving port.
In response to some highly publicized cases of missing persons on ships, the Cruise Vessel Security & Safety Act (link launches PDF) signed by President Obama in 2010 requires cruise lines operating in the U.S. to take various safety measures shipboard, including immediately reporting serious crimes (including rapes) and missing persons to U.S. authorities and properly collecting evidence. The United Nations'
International Maritime Organization (IMO) is developing similar guidelines.
Security at the Pier:
All passengers go through security before getting onboard the ship and again when boarding at each port of call. This includes putting your hand luggage on a belt to be x-rayed and walking through a metal detector (like you'd find at the airport, though you don't have to take off your shoes).
Most lines digitally photograph passengers as part of the check-in process, so they can ID you every time you get on or off the ship — the system also allows them to know who is onboard at any given time.
In the terminal, you may notice dogs, and they are there mostly to screen luggage for drugs (there have been isolated incidents of cruise ships used for drug smuggling). Naturally, the cruise lines don't like to reveal too many details of their security methods.
Many cruise lines ban passengers from bringing their own alcohol onboard and will remove bottles from your hand or checked luggage (you'll get them back at the end of the cruise). This includes any booze you might buy at a port of call. Screeners are also looking for weapons and any other banned items (check the cruise line's website for specifics).
U.S. Customs:
Customs regulations vary wildly among countries. Those flying to and cruising out of international destinations will have all sorts of customs and immigration rigmarole to go through; check your destination's Customs website for specifics. For those cruising out of the U.S. and returning to the U.S. (including San Juan, Puerto Rico), you'll need to clear Customs at the end of your cruise.
Here's the skinny: The cruise lines usually distribute Customs forms towards the end of your trip. You need to fill out a form ID-ing yourself (one form per family), declaring how much you spent abroad on stuff that you're bringing back into the U.S. Do keep receipts for anything you declare on your form to be on the safe side.
The process of clearing Customs at ports is typically easy and painless — you hand off your form and walk through. But there are restrictions on what you can bring in:
The standard duty-free allowance is $800 per person ($1,600 for goods bought in the U.S. Virgin Islands). If you spend more you need to declare it and pay duty. Alcohol is limited to 1 liter per adult. Cigarettes are limited to 1 carton per adult. Cigars are limited to 100 total (no Cubans, or you face stiff fines if you're caught with them). Fresh fruit and vegetables (including those from the ship), plants, and most meat and meat products are banned.
Don't try to pull a fast one on Customs. You can get into all sorts of trouble, including sizeable fines, if you break the rules. For specific restrictions consult the
U.S. Customs Service.
Cruise Safety Tips:
Traditionally safety-at-sea issues have included an occasional hurricane, fire, gastrointestinal illness, and theft. But 2012's deadly Costa Concordia accident off the coast of Italy has been embedded in many brains — the image of the 3,780-passenger Italian ship on its side shown on TV screens everywhere. Modern cruise ships are not supposed to hit rocks and sink.
A fire aboard the Carnival Triumph this year that knocked out power – and left passengers and crew stranded at sea without such basic services as toilets – has led to a number of changes at that cruise line, including the addition of back-up generators on all of that line's two dozen ships. But the fact that Carnival had to spend $300 million to make improvements has some people shaking their heads – including Washington lawmakers pushing for tougher standards.
Does the incident mean cruising isn't safe? The reality is between the time the Titanic went down in the Atlantic in 1912, causing the deaths of more than 1,500 people, and the Concordia incident, in which 32 passengers and crew perished, very few people have died or been injured on cruise ships. In fact, accidents of any kind on cruise ships are extremely rare. No one was injured on Triumph.
That said, one of your friends or relatives or co-workers will likely ask as you plan your cruise if cruising is safe. You can reassure them by citing the statistic that 17.2 million people safely cruised on North American cruise lines in 2012. And you might mention that the industry, after the Concordia incident, promptly adopted new safety measures — including requiring passenger safety drills before every ship leaves port.
You can also reassure yourself by climbing aboard ship knowing some important safety considerations.
Steps for Staying Safe:
- Read the back of your cabin door. Here you'll find the route to your assigned muster station (the place you go if there's a ship-wide emergency and you may need to abandon ship).
- Memorize your muster station, indicated by a big letter (A, B, etc.) on the back of your cabin door and also printed on the lifejackets in your closet (and sometimes on your keycard too).
- Watch the safety video on your in-cabin TV. Attend the mandatory safety drill and actually listen (this is not the time to joke around and snap photos of your pals in their orange lifejackets).
- If you're not required to bring your lifejacket to the drill, try it on in your cabin and make sure it fits.
- If you have kids, make sure your cabin is equipped with an appropriate infant or child lifejacket.
- If there is an emergency, stay calm. Listen carefully to instructions and act accordingly.
Register your name:
If you are traveling overseas, before you leave home register with the
Smart Traveler Enrollment Program, a free and service operated by the U.S. State Department. This will allow government officials to assist you in the event of an emergency.
Follow Fire Safety Rules:
The biggest concern on cruise ships is not crashing into rocks or icebergs, but fire. Rules established by the
International Maritime Organization require smoke detectors, sprinklers, and other fire safety measures on cruise ships.
If you smell smoke, alert a crew member immediately. In the rare cases when there is a fire it's typically isolated to the engine room. Thanks to onboard fire squads (three to five firefighting teams on large ships) and advanced firefighting equipment, fires rarely pose a threat to passengers. But if a ship's engines get knocked out — again a rare occurrence — it could disrupt your itinerary. The Concordia's sister ship Allegra, for example, suffered a fire that left it dead in the water off the Seychelles in February 2012.
Passengers need to play their part too, smoking only in designated areas, disposing of cigarettes properly (fires have been caused by passengers throwing butts over the side of ships), and not doing things like trying to make your cabin look sexy by lighting candles.
Stay Vigilant:
You're on vacation — woohoo! But just because you're in the mood for some R&R doesn't mean you can totally let your guard down. Cruise ships, especially the larger ones, are essentially floating towns. As at home, you'll want to avoid risky behavior such as consuming large amounts of alcohol or letting strangers into your cabin. Be mindful of your own safety. Always lock your cabin door. If you have valuables, keep them in the safe. If you are the victim of a crime, alert the ship's security officer immediately.
Brief the Kids:
Make sure to review safety procedures with your kids. Talk to younger kids about the danger of climbing on railing. Talk to both younger and older kids about strangers. Again, they need to use the same caution they would at home.
Be Aware in Rough Seas:
Modern cruise ships are fast enough to outrun hurricanes, but occasionally ships encounter rough seas, sometimes for no visible reason whatsoever. If your ship is rockin' and rollin', you can do yourself a favor — and avoid injury — by not wearing high heels, holding on to handrails, and avoiding open deck areas. If your captain comes on the ships PA system with additional advice, you're wise to listen. Very occasionally that advice will be to stay in your cabin — in which case your crew will deliver meals (for those with iron stomachs who still feel like eating). Oh, and don't even think about re-enacting the famous "hang over the railing" scene from Titanic, even in the best of weather.
Stay Healthy:
Cruise ships are often unfairly blamed for the gastrointestinal disease norovirus. The reality is, you can also get the stomach bug — which causes nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea—in many large-scale settings, from hotels to schools. Ships are often associated with it because cruise lines are uniquely required to report outbreaks to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) as part of a
Vessel Sanitation Program.
The virus is spread through hand-to-hand contact and by touching surfaces handled by someone who hasn't washed their hands. To avoid noro, become best friends with the convenient stations dispensing antibacterial gel near food areas shipboard, and be sure to wash your hands every chance you get, especially before you eat.
-- Fran Golden is a former travel editor of the Boston Herald. She's lived in both Boston and the 'burbs, and even though she's since moved on from the Hub she keeps close ties to her favorite city. Follow Fran at getawaywithfran.com.
{ "js_modules": [{"name": "expandable-photo"}], "assetid": "2127629", "aws": "travel/cruises/experience_cruise", "aws_id": "travel_cruises_experience_cruise", "blogname": "", "byline":"Fran Golden", "contenttype": "story pages ", "seotitle": "Documentation-security", "seotitletag": "Cruise 101: Documentation & Security", "ssts": "experience/cruise/cruise-101", "taxonomykeywords":"U.S. Coast Guard,San Juan,Boston,Italy,Fran,U.S. Navy SEALs,Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation", "templatename": "stories/default", "topic":"us-coast-guard,san-juan,boston,italy,fran,us-navy-seals,centers-for-disease-control-and-prevention,us-federal-bureau-of-investigation", "videoincluded":"no", "basePageType":"story" }
iPhone, iPad and Mac are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc.
