Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Senate Moves Forward on Immigration Bill - 6/26/2013 - By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS | US supreme court rules against Doma and Prop 8 in victory for gay couples - video | Pierluisi believes in fair and reasonable decision of the U.S. Supreme Court




» US supreme court rules against Doma and Prop 8 in victory for gay couples - video
26/06/13 18:26 from World news: World news + Video | guardian.co.uk
Gay rights activists celebrate following a landmark decision by the supreme court to throw out a federal law that discriminated against same-sex couples in the US 

Pierluisi factotum believes fair and reasonable decision of the U.S. Supreme - The New Day

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June 26, 2013
24:28

Pierluisi factotum believes fair and reasonable decision of the U.S. Supreme

Today, the U.S. highest court Declared unconstitutional federal law defines marriage as a junction Between man and woman

Pierluisi has no objection to the decision of the Federal Supreme. (File / GFR Media)
BY ELNUEVODIA.COM
WASHINGTON - Resident Commissioner in Washington and president of the New Progressive Party (PNP), Pedro Pierluisi, today Considered reasonable decision the United States Supreme Court That Declared unconstitutional the federal law defining marriage only as a junction Between a woman and to men.
As the effect of the decision is to leave the definition of marriage in the hands of the states and territories, "I have no objection to the decision of the Supreme Court," said Pierluisi.
"From now on, the federal government marriages Recognize Between persons of the same gender in the states in Which They are legally valid, que I think is fair and reasonable," I added.
On Monday, Pierluisi said "ell ​​Should federal government allow states and territories set their own policy on the matter of marriage and in Puerto Rico I think marriage Should REMAIN Between a man and a woman."

Comic-Con 2013: Lionsgate Will Bring ‘The Hunger Games: Catching Fire’ and ‘I, Frankenstein’ | Latino-Review.com

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hungergames-catchingfire-featurette
Lionsgate announced today that Fandango Chief Correspondent Dave Karger will moderate a panel on Saturday, July 20th at the San Diego Comic-Con, featuring talent and exclusive footage from two of the studio’s upcoming films THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE (opening November 22, 2013, the film stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth) and I, FRANKENSTEIN (opening January 24, 2014, the film stars Aaron Eckhart, Yvonne Strahovski and Bill Nighy).  Talent from both films will be in attendance for the panel during which the studio will debut an exclusive new trailer for THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE and never-before-seen footage from I, FRANKENSTEIN.
Starting today, moviegoers will have the chance to submit questions for panel participants through the films’ Facebook pages (www.facebook.com/thehungergamesmovie and www.facebook.com/ifrankensteinmovie) and Fandango’s Facebook page (www.facebook.com/fandango) using the hashtags #CatchingFireComicCon and #IFrankensteinComicCon. Answers to select questions will be posted on those Facebook pages.
 Stay connected for SDCC updates related to these two Lionsgate films using and searching for the hashtags #CatchingFireComicCon and #IFrankensteinComicCon.

epa - european pressphoto agency: García Padilla: Los puertorriqueños no quieren ser un estado de EE.UU.

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García Padilla: Los puertorriqueños no quieren ser un estado de EE.UU.
Santander (España), 26 jun (EFE).- El gobernador de Puerto Rico, Alejandro García Padilla, aseguró hoy en España que "los puertorriqueños no quieren ser un estado de EE.UU.", ya que son "una nación y no una provincia de otra".
"Queremos seguir siendo puertorriqueños, que hemos decidido de forma voluntaria tener una relación de ciudadanía y afecto con EE.UU., pero no vamos a dejar de ser puertorriqueños y latinoamericanos", insistió García.
El gobernador del Puerto Rico se expresó así en declaraciones a Efe antes de participar en el XII Encuentro Santander-América Latina, y en relación a la posibilidad de que el país sea un estado más de EE.UU.
Al respecto, García Padilla explicó que tanto EE.UU. como Puerto Rico han rechazado esa posibilidad, ya "que la solicitud de anexión volvió a perder".
"Los puertorriqueños no quieren ser un estado de EE.UU. Somos puertorriqueños, somos una nación, no provincia de otra y queremos seguir siendo puertorriqueños", reiteró.

Analysis: Puerto Rico - a vacation oasis overrun with high debt

Coast Guard district commander bids farewell - MiamiHerald.com

» Coast Guard district commander bids farewell - MiamiHerald.com
25/06/13 17:30 from crime rates puerto rico - Google News
Coast Guard district commander bids farewell MiamiHerald.com Puerto Rico is currently experiencing cocaine-induced violent crime at an appalling rate . To help out, we shifted significant resources and last year saw a tenfold increase in c..

PRISM infecta Rusia con el miedo a una ciberguerra · Global Voices en Español | PRISM Infects Russia with Cyberwar Scare · Global Voices

PRISM infecta Rusia con el miedo a una ciberguerra · Global Voices en Español

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Prepárate. Llega la ciberguerra.
Desde que hace unas semanas el mundo supo de PRISM, un amplio programa secreto de vigilancia electrónica, los funcionarios rusos muestran una renovada preocupación sobre la posibilidad de que las redes sociales extranjeras representen una amenaza para la seguridad nacional. Al día siguiente de conocerse las noticias sobre el programa estadounidense, el 7 de junio de 2013, el viceprimer ministro Dmitri Rogozin dijo [ru] a los periodistas que sitios web como Facebook y Twitter son elementos de una gran campaña estadounidense contra Rusia:
Через них идет мощнейшая манипуляция общественным мнением, ведь всякие “лайки” и прочие кнопки, которые вы там нажимаете, моментально вводят вас в определенные группы, которые потом анализируются, систематизируются. […] Тем самым увеличивается количество тех людей, которые начинают получать специальную контентную информацию, подрывающую авторитет власти и ценности государства. […]
A través de ellas [las redes sociales estadounidenses] existe una poderosa manipulación de la opinión pública —efectivamente, cada «me gusta», cada «clic» te envía instantáneamente a cierto grupo que después se analiza y clasifica. (…) Al hacerlo, es creciente el número de personas que comienzan a recibir contenidos especiales que socavan la autoridad y el valor del estado. (…)
Dmitri Rogozin, como embajador ruso ante la OTAN y enviado especial para la defensa antimisiles, 29 de junio de 2011. Foto de Security & Defence Agenda, CC 2.0.
Dmitri Rogozin, como embajador ruso ante la OTAN y enviado especial para la defensa antimisiles, 29 de junio de 2011. Foto de Security & Defence Agenda, CC 2.0.
El 11 de junio, en una carta [ru] a Rogozin y otras figuras de la seguridad, Ilya Kostunov, diputado de la Duma, pidió una legislación más restrictiva para la actividad en Internet de los funcionarios, basándose en que habitualmente los burócratas discuten o mencionan secretos del gobierno en comunicaciones alojadas en sitios web estadounidenses (concretamente en Gmail, servicio de correo electrónico de Google). En una conversación [ru] en Twitter, Kostunov debatió la posible implementación de sus propuestas, mostrando cierto desacuerdo sobre la necesidad de leyes adicionales y sobre la forma adecuada de clasificar como delito la publicación de material secreto en un servidor web extranjero.
Petr Pervushkin, experto en comunicaciones, argumentó [ru] que durante siete años ya existió en el gobierno ruso una red virtual cerrada para las comunicaciones privadas, aunque otro usuario de Twitter redujo esa cifra [ru] a unos cuatro años. Aleksandr Luchin, funcionario del partido Rusia Justa, señaló que ya hay leyes que prohíben discutir secretos de estado en sitios web como Google y Facebook, pero reconoció [ru] que no han servido para imponer sanciones. Luchin propuso vincular estas infracciones al código penal que castiga la revelación de secretos de estado (aunque no especificó [ru] si estaba pensando en el artículo 283 o en el 284, que amenazan con penas de prisión de hasta cuatro y tres años, respectivamente), mientras que Kostinov defendía equiparar este comportamiento con la traición (artículo 275), que conlleva una pena de hasta veinte años de prisión (este intento de clasificar el delito como traición hizo que el periodista Leo Mirani, de <a href="http://qz.com" rel="nofollow">qz.com</a>, declarase [ru], quizás exageradamente, que Rusia «intensifica su guerra contra las redes sociales»).
A su vez, Anton Nosik, bloguero y gurú de la RuNet sostiene [ru] que la administración de la cadena rechazó emitir su reciente aparición en OTR, el nuevo canal público de televisión ruso, porque durante la grabación criticó los comentarios de Rogozin sobre la supuesta ciberguerra estadounidense contra Rusia. Nosik participó en un episodio del programa «La red social», respondiendo a una serie de preguntas relacionadas con la RuNet que comenzó con una sobre las afirmaciones de Rogozin. Tras cuatro días de silencio después de la visita al estudio, Nosik recurrió a LiveJournal por segunda vez para comentar [ru] la extraña ausencia de su intervención en la web oficial [ru] de OTR:
Как я и предполагал, моё интервью […] не попал ни в их загадочный эфир, ни даже на сайт. Потому что, как выясняется, для этого супернезависимого телеканала неприкасаемыми фигурами являются не только Путин и Собянин, но и вице-премьер Рогозин. Самое время Общественному телевидению открывать программы про кошечек, собачек и кулинарию.
Como esperaba, mi entrevista (…) no ha aparecido en ninguna parte del misterioso archivo [de la cadena], ni siquiera en su sitio web. Porque resulta que para esta cadena superindependiente, las figuras intocables no se limitan a Putin y Sobyanin, sino que también incluyen al viceprimer ministro Rogozin. Para eso, OTR podria emitir programas de gatitos, perritos y cocina.
Nosik no suele responder a los cientos de comentarios de los lectores que siguen sus publicaciones en el blog, pero uno de ellos provocó una reacción, al acusar [ru] a Nosik de adoptar una postura «poco apropiada para la televisión», argumentando que atacó a Rogozin muy al principio del programa, sin «matices» y sin establecer primero el contexto de sus críticas. Nosik contestó [ru] diciendo que nunca se ha encontrado esos problemas en los cientos de entrevistas que ha concedido a otros canales de televisión a lo largo de los últimos veinte años.
Aunque es cierto que ORT aún tiene que emitir o publicar en su sitio web la intervención de Nosik, su entrevista de 30 minutos puede verse en el canal oficial de ORT en YouTube (ver arriba). Los problemas de la cadena con Nosik coinciden en la misma semana con otro escándalo de censura [ru] que afecta a un episodio no emitidos de «La red social», en el que los presentadores Vladislav Sorokin y Ekaterina Voronina se mofaban del reciente divorcio de Vladimir Putin, haciendo público elfalso perfil para citas [en] en <a href="http://mashable.com" rel="nofollow">mashable.com</a> del ahora soltero jefe de estado ruso. Cuando la cadena declinó emitir el episodio «por razones técnicas» [ru], Sorokin y Voronina anunciaron en Facebook [ru] que dimitirían del programa a final del mes.
La imagen de miniatura usada en este post es de Kevin Rothrock, 
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PRISM Infects Russia with Cyberwar Scare · Global Voices

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Brace yourself. The cyberwar is coming.
Since last week, when the world learned about PRISM, a vast and secret American electronic surveillance program, Russian state officials have expressed renewed concerns about foreign social networks posing a national security threat. One day after news of the U.S. program broke, on June 7, 2013, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin told [ru] reporters that websites like Facebook and Twitter are elements of a larger American campaign against Russia:
Через них идет мощнейшая манипуляция общественным мнением, ведь всякие “лайки” и прочие кнопки, которые вы там нажимаете, моментально вводят вас в определенные группы, которые потом анализируются, систематизируются. […] Тем самым увеличивается количество тех людей, которые начинают получать специальную контентную информацию, подрывающую авторитет власти и ценности государства. […]
Through them [American social networks], there’s a powerful, ongoing manipulation of public opinion—indeed, every “like” and every click instantly lands you in a certain group, which is then analyzed and classified. […] In doing so, rising is the number of people, who start receiving special content that undermines the authority and value of the state. […]
Dmitry Rogozin, as Russian Ambassador to NATO and Special Envoy on missile defense, 29 June 2011, photo by Security & Defence Agenda, CC 2.0.
Dmitry Rogozin, as Russian Ambassador to NATO and Special Envoy on missile defense, 29 June 2011, photo by Security & Defence Agenda, CC 2.0.
Just yesterday, June 11, in a letter [ru] to Rogozin and other security figures, Duma deputy Ilya Kostunov called for tighter regulations on state officials’ Internet activity, based on the worry that Russian bureaucrats commonly discuss or upload government secrets in communications hosted on American websites (namely, Google’s email service, Gmail). In an exchange [ru] on Twitter, Kostunov discussed the possible implementation of his proposed regulations, running into some disagreement about the need for additional legislation and the proper criminal classification of uploading secret materials to a foreign Web host.
Communications expert Petr Pervushkin argued [ru] that a closed virtual network for private communications has already existed in the Russian government for seven years, though another Twitter user put that figure [ru] closer to four years. Just Russia party functionary Aleksandr Luchin noted that rules are already in place to forbid discussing state secrets on Internet sites like Google and Facebook, but acknowledged [ru] that regulations fail to set penalties. Luchin proposed tying such infractions to the criminal codes against disclosing state secrets (though he didn't specify [ru] if he had in mind Article 283 or 284, which threaten maximum imprisonment up to four and three years, respectively), whereas Kostunov has advocated equating such behavior with treason (article 275), which carries a prison sentence up to twenty years. (This push for classifying the offense under treason prompted <a href="http://qz.com" rel="nofollow">qz.com</a> reporter Leo Mirani to declare, perhaps hyperbolically, that Russia is “stepping up its war on social networks.”)
Meanwhile, blogger and RuNet guru Anton Nosik claims [ru] that station management refused to air his recent appearance on OTR, Russia’s all-new public broadcasting television channel, when during the recording he criticized Rogozin’s comments about the supposed American cyberwar against Russia. Nosik took part in an episode of the show “The Social Network,” answering a series of RuNet-related questions that began with one about Rogozin's remarks. After four days of silence following his visit to the studio, Nosik took to LiveJournal for a second time to discuss [ru] the curious absence from OTR's official website [ru] of his appearance:
Как я и предполагал, моё интервью […] не попал ни в их загадочный эфир, ни даже на сайт. Потому что, как выясняется, для этого супернезависимого телеканала неприкасаемыми фигурами являются не только Путин и Собянин, но и вице-премьер Рогозин. Самое время Общественному телевидению открывать программы про кошечек, собачек и кулинарию.
As I expected, my interview […] has appeared nowhere in [the station’s] mysterious feed, or even on the website. Because, it turns out, for this super-independent TV channel, the untouchable figures aren’t limited to Putin and Sobyanin, but even include Deputy Prime Minister Rogozin. OTR might as well launch shows about kitties, doggies, and cooking.
Nosik doesn’t often respond to the hundreds of reader comments that follow his blog posts, but one audience member did provoke a reaction, when he accused [ru] Nosik of adopting an approach “inappropriate to television,” arguing that he attacked Rogozin too early in the broadcast, without “nuance” or first establishing the context of his criticism. Nosik wrote back [ru] to say that he’s never encountered such problems in the hundreds of interviews he’s granted to other TV channels over the past twenty years.
While it’s true that OTR has yet to air or even post to its website Nosik’s segment, his thirteen-minute interview is accessible on OTR’s official YouTube channel (see above). The station’s troubles with Nosik come the same week as another censorship scandal [ru] surrounding a different unaired episode of “The Social Network,” wherein hosts Vladislav Sorokin and Ekaterina Voronina poked fun at Vladimir Putin’s recent divorce, sharing mashable.com’s faux dating profile for Russia’s now-single head-of-state. When the station declined to telecast the episode “for technical reasons” [ru], Sorokin and Voronina announced on Facebook [ru] that they would resign from the show at the end of the month.
The thumbnail image used in this post is by Kevin Rothrock, 
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Brazil is thriving, so what gives?

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Esperanza's 2013 National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast and Conference to feature Acclaimed Evangelical Musical Artists and Celebrities

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WASHINGTONMay 31, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On June 18-20, 2013, Esperanza, one of the country's most prominent Hispanic organizations, will host its Hispanic Prayer Breakfast and Conference featuring many of today's most renowned Evangelical musicians and celebrities.
This year's entertainers include:
  • Marcos Witt (National Prayer Breakfast emcee) – Five-time Latin Grammy award-winning singer | Christian pastor
  • Daniel Calveti – Singer | Latin Grammy Awards nominee | Two-time nominee for Best Songwriter of the Year by Premios Arpa
  • Christine D'Clario – 2012 Dove Award nominated artist
  • Myrka Dellanos – Author and journalist | Spokesperson to "Yo Soy Segundo"
  • Jaime Jorge – Internationally acclaimed violinist
  • Jessica – Gospel singer
  • Julissa – Singer | Dove Awards nominee
  • Tony Plana – Actor for hit TV series "24," "Ugly Betty," and "Desperate Housewives" | Spokesperson, Comprehensive Immigration Reform
  • Others
Rev. Luis Cortes, Jr., president and CEO of Esperanza, said, "I believe that music brings people together and closer to their faith -- which is why I'm so pleased that our conference will feature so many of today's most popular Gospel artists. We will worship together, pray together, and act together."
The biannual conference, one of the largest gatherings of Hispanic clergy, community leaders and activists in the nation, will focus on immigration reform, housing, hunger and nutrition, education, and other fundamental issues. Invited guests include the President of the United States, Democratic and Republican elected officials, national corporate, academic, and faith leaders from across the nation, and others. 
Other confirmed speakers include: Chair of the Republican National Committee, Reince Priebus; Chair of the Democratic National Committee, Debbie Wasserman Schultz; Archbishop of San Juan,Robert Octavio Gonzalez Nieves; and many others.
The Conference will take place on Tues. and Wed., June 18-19 at the Capital Hilton, 1001 16th St NW, Washington, DC, 20036, beginning at 12:30 p.m. On Wed., June 19, check-in and breakfast will begin at 8 a.m., with Capitol Hill briefings and congressional visits to follow. The Esperanza Partners & Awards Dinner will take place on Wednesday from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. 
On Thursday, June 20, the conference will move to the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium, 1301 Constitution Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20240, with check-in beginning at 6:00 a.m. and the official 2013 National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast beginning at 7:00 a.m. A prayer room will be open throughout the conference. For detailed scheduling information, visit:
To learn more or register, visit: esperanzanhpb.com. Full 3-day ticket price is $285. For the Prayer Breakfast only on Thursday, June 20, 2013, tickets are $165. Please note special registration directions at bottom of registration form.
SOURCE Esperanza
RELATED LINKS

http://www.esperanza.us
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This Map shows how America compares to the rest of the world on gay rights

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Click to enlarge. (Max Fisher/Washington Post)
Click to enlarge. (Max Fisher/Washington Post)
The Supreme Court just issued two landmark rulings on rights for same-sex couples in the United States. First, it struck down the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act that denied federal benefits to same-sex couples. And, second, it declined to overrule the California state Supreme Court’s earlier decision upholding the state’s same-sex civil unions.
Both rulings are a big step forward for American same-sex couples and advocates of greater LGBT rights. But how does the United States compare with the rest of the world on gay rights? The short answer is that same-sex marriage rights are weaker in the United States than they are in much of the Western world. But the longer answer is more complicated and quite revealing.
The map at the top of this page shows where same-sex marriages and civil unions are legal. It also shows countries on the opposite end of the gay rights spectrum: where laws criminalize homosexuality or, in a few extreme cases, allow the state to sentence homosexuals to death.
Where gay marriage is legal: Mostly Europe, some interesting outliers
The list of countries that grant full gay marriage rights is pretty short: 14 countries in all.
Most of those are in Western Europe: France, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Belgium and the Netherlands. They’re joined by two other Western countries: New Zealand and Canada. Also on the list is South Africa, famous for its progressive (but politically controversial) gay rights laws. And in South America, perhaps the most gay-friendly part of the world outside of Europe, both Argentina and Uruguay allow gay marriage. Brazil also looks like it might be on the verge.
Those countries are joined by 12 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. That’s actually pretty significant. It means that, even though most of the United States does not allow same-sex marriage, the country as a whole grants those rights to a relatively huge number of people. In all, 56.9 million Americans live in the states with same-sex marriage rights. That’s the population of Italy, which does not allow even same-sex unions.
Where civil unions are legal: Europe, South America, the U.S.
This legal middle-ground seems to be most popular in Central Europe and South America, as well as the United States. The rights granted to civil union partnerships vary widely between countries; they tend to be strongest in the United States and weakest in Central Europe.
Same-sex civil unions or some version are legal in 13 European countries, including Germany and the United Kingdom. Some of Europe’s civil union rights, such as in Slovenia and Hungary, are quite weak compared to those in other countries. It’s also permitted in three Latin countries: Brazil, Colombia and Ecuador. That’s it; not a long list.
The eight U.S. states that permit civil unions have a combined population of 78.7 million people. That’s about as many people as live in Iran or Turkey.
The U.S. grants a huge number of people same-sex union rights
This is part of what makes today’s Supreme Court decisions such a big deal. The court appears to have affirmed the rights of some 135.6 million Americans, who live in states that have passed such measures, to access same-sex marriages or civil unions.
That’s a huge number, roughly the same as the populations of Japan or Russia, neither of which permits same-sex unions.
It’s a reminder that, even if the United States is in aggregate behind many Western European countries on gay-marriage rights, it still grants those rights to way more people than does any one Western European country.
Homosexuality criminalized in 76 countries
A 2011 United Nations report found that dozens of countries have and enforce laws that criminalize private homosexual acts, a staggering number. That’s far, far more countries than allow same-sex unions (although many of those countries are quite small so the number of people effected is not as disproportionate). Most of them are in Africa and the Middle East, although they’re joined by some Caribbean and Southeast Asian nations.
Five of those 76 countries include laws permitting the state to hand out the death penalty for homosexuality: Mauritania, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Iran.
I’ve included this information on the above map to convey that, even as some parts of the world are progressing rapidly on a key area of gay rights, other parts are still so hostile to the issue that simply being a member of this social class is considered a serious crime.
Popular attitudes toward homosexuality tend to be overwhelmingly negative in these regions.
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Cruise 101: Documentation & Security

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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.
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