Cruise lines denied boarding to these passengers. Here’s how to avoid the same fate

Picture it: You arrive at the cruise port, and the ship is right there waiting for you to board. Soon you’ll be sitting on your cabin’s balcony, sipping a tropical drink as you sail away.

Or maybe you won’t.

Unfortunately, a sad scene repeats every day in cruise terminals around the world. Instead of being welcomed aboard, some excited passengers are denied boarding.

As a consumer advocate, I regularly receive requests for help from bewildered cruise passengers turned away at the port. With just a little planning, the following would-be passengers could have easily avoided their fate.

Learn from these four cautionary tales, so you don’t lose your next vacation — and the money you spent on it.

Denied boarding for not having proof of vaccination

Erin Beztilny came down with COVID-19 very early in the pandemic. Shortly after recovering, she came down with a variant and never ended up illness-free for long enough to be vaccinated. She and her husband stayed home for the bulk of three years.

When vaccine restrictions were lifted for most of the world, they wanted to travel again.

Working with an agent at the Alberta Motor Association, the couple booked a 14-night cruise from New Zealand to Australia on Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Spirit. They would fly Air Canada nonstop from Vancouver International Airport (YVR) to Auckland Airport (AKL), where the cruise would begin.

“We chose NCL because other cruise lines still required passengers to have had the vaccine,” Beztilny told me. “Because of my bouts with COVID, I had never had the vaccine.”

She says her AMA travel agent checked with NCL and confirmed she could board the cruise unvaccinated.

“It was so exciting to finally start traveling again,” Beztilny explained. “I was giddy, booking cruise excursions, dinners and spa appointments. I just knew this was going to be an unforgettable trip.”

And it would be an unforgettable trip … but for all the wrong reasons.

NCL: ‘We cannot allow you to board the vessel’

A few weeks later, the unvaccinated couple arrived in New Zealand after a 16-hour flight. But as soon as they stepped into the check-in area at the cruise terminal, things went downhill fast.

“The NCL agent asked me for my vaccination card and I told her I didn’t have one,” Beztilny recalled. “She walked away and then returned with a supervisor and a denied boarding card.”

The supervisor explained that although New Zealand didn’t require a vaccination card, Australia still did. Without the required document, Beztilny was not permitted to board the ship. Even worse? The denied boarding card clarified that NCL intended to keep the money the couple paid for the cruise.

In tears, Beztilny called her agent back in Canada, whose only advice was to return home. That evening, they were on a nonstop flight back to Vancouver, completely deflated.

The good news for these cruise ship passengers

In March 2023, when this couple was denied boarding, NCL’s website had incorrect vaccination information about cruises to Australia. Beztilny’s agent made a mistake relying on that erroneous guidance when she advised the couple they were clear to cruise.

Those two external errors, combined with Beztilny’s oversight in not checking vaccine requirements herself, led the couple on a $10,000, 72-hour, 15,000-mile travel nightmare.

Most denied boarding cases do not end on a positive note, but for the Beztilnys, there was good news.

I contacted NCL on their behalf, pointing out that they would not have booked the trip if the correct vaccination information had been posted on the cruise line’s website.

Ultimately, NCL agreed with my reasoning and issued the couple a full future cruise credit. When all COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, the Beztilnys took that dream cruise.

While COVID-19 vaccinations are no longer required for travelers, cruise passengers should always check health and safety information for all destinations on their itinerary. Depending on where you are going, you may need other vaccines or preventative medications.

The U.S. Department of State can provide you with up-to-date requirements and recommendations for every country you’ll be visiting during your cruise.

This research should be done well in advance of your sailing, since many vaccines must be administered some time before they become protective. Or, as with the COVID-19 vaccine, you may need more than one dose.

Travelers should also be aware that their personal medical condition may necessitate vaccines, shots or other preventative medications, even if those interventions aren’t a strict requirement. It is always wise to consult with your doctor prior to international adventures.

No visa for India leads to deportation and a missed Viking cruise

In many ways, octogenarians Thomas and Jane Entenza’s experience was worse than the Beztilnys’.

The Entenzas spent $28,000 on a self-described bucket-list Viking cruise through the Bay of Bengal. A few days before the ship was set to sail, they flew from Jacksonville, Florida, to New Delhi. They intended to explore that city a few days before boarding the luxurious Viking Mars.

Unfortunately, the couple never made it further than Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL).

After the arduous 20-hour journey to New Delhi, they stepped up to the immigration window without the visas they didn’t know were required. The distraught couple was denied entry to India and detained to await deportation.

A few hours later, immigration officers put the couple on another flight headed right back to the United States. It was a devastating turn of events for the exhausted husband and wife.

Cruise passengers must know and possess their required documentation

When Entenza asked me if I could help, Viking had already rejected his refund request.

Like every other major cruise line, Viking’s terms and conditions (PDF link) explain that it is always the passenger’s ultimate responsibility to know what documents they need to successfully navigate their entire itinerary: “It is your responsibility to ensure that you have all necessary documents to participate in the cruise or tour(s) purchased, and neither VRC nor the Carrier accepts responsibility for obtaining required visas or for advising passengers of visa or other immigration requirements.”

Unfortunately, cruise passengers often overlook potential visa requirements for foreign destinations.

Entenza told me that he had relied on his Viking cruise consultant to advise him of the documents he and his wife needed for the trip.

That was a mistake. A cruise consultant is not an official source to learn what documentation you need to travel.

Some good news from Viking

But despite Viking’s policy, the Entenzas’ cruise consultant had given the couple incomplete entry requirements guidance.

This cruise consultant advised the couple that a visa was required for Sri Lanka, giving them the impression that they did not need any other visas for the cruise.

Because the cruise consultant gave his clients partial information that ultimately led them to miss the $28,000 cruise, I contacted Viking on their behalf. I suggested that the cruise line’s own representative bore some responsibility for this fiasco.

Viking agreed with me and evenly split the responsibility between the Entenzas and the cruise line. In the end, the couple received a bit more than $14,000 in future cruise credits and a harsh lesson about what happens if you try to enter a country without the required documentation.

Reliable, official sources of information about what you need to cruise

Cruise passengers should never rely on one source to determine what documents they need. Contrary to popular belief, the cruise line isn’t the place to go to get official information.

The top sources to get entry and transit requirements are:

• The U.S. State Department: The U.S. State Department website maintains a page for every country worldwide where you can learn about entry requirements, including health and safety risks, as well as vaccinations needed. There is even a page dedicated to cruise ship passengers.
• Timatic: Access this free tool, created by the International Air Transport Association, through individual airlines or sites like Seats.aero to get personalized entry requirements for all destinations on your itinerary, including health and safety rules. You provide all of your information (passport, itinerary, purpose and length of visit), and it will tell you exactly what you must have to successfully complete your trip. Timatic is updated dozens of times per day with new data.
• Consulate of the countries you’re traveling to: Visiting the website of the consulate of the countries on your itinerary will give you further clarity about what you need for entry.
• VisaCentral: Travelers should never overlook the possibility of needing a visa for entry or transit to any country on their itinerary. VisaCentral offers a free, simple tool that you can use to check whether any of your destinations require a visa.

Too pregnant to cruise

Last December, Marissa Vacca and her husband were looking forward to their cruise aboard Celebrity Reflection with their young daughter.

It would be their first cruise ever and the family’s last vacation as a trio. Vacca was well into the third trimester of her pregnancy when the group arrived in Fort Lauderdale the day before embarkation.

That evening, Vacca was casually reviewing their cruise documents when she came across a section that made her heart drop.

Under the section titled “Fitness to Travel, Denial of Boarding,” it read (PDF link): “Any Passenger who will enter the 24th week of pregnancy by the beginning of, or at any time during their cruise or CruiseTour agrees not to book the cruise or board the Vessel or Transport under any circumstances.”

At that moment, Vacca was 29 weeks pregnant.

Cruise passengers entering their 24th week of pregnancy will be denied boarding

Vacca says she immediately called Celebrity Cruises and spoke to a sympathetic cruise consultant.

“She told me that I might still be able to board the ship,” Vacca told me. “So we went down to the pier at our scheduled time.”

Despite the agent’s somewhat encouraging suggestion, Vacca could not take the cruise. She had already filled out the passenger information form and indicated her stage of pregnancy. And even if she hadn’t, she was visibly pregnant, and across the cruise industry, the 24-week rule is inflexible.

So the family gathered their suitcases and, instead of boarding the ship, went back to the airport.

Read your cruise contract and prevent denial of boarding

Vacca had booked the cruise on her own through the Celebrity Cruises website. Because she had never cruised before, she was unfamiliar with the 24-week cutoff for pregnant passengers — a rule shared by every major cruise line.

I contacted Celebrity Cruises on Vacca’s behalf to see if there was any chance of a future cruise credit for the family.

Unfortunately, the answer was “no.” When passengers are denied boarding because they’re not “fit to travel,” the ticket contract makes it clear: There will be no cruise, no refund and no future credit.

Waiting to read through the ticket contract until the night before the cruise was an oversight that caused this family to miss their vacation and lose the money spent on it.

Whether you’re a first-time or a seasoned cruise ship passenger, it is always wise to familiarize yourself with your contract.

Plenty of valuable information is contained in that document, some of which is crucial. But you must read it long before you show up at the pier.

Arriving too late to board the ship

One of the most common reasons cruise ship passengers get denied boarding is showing up too late at the port. Just last week, John Heald, Carnival Cruise Line’s brand ambassador, told his Facebook group about a couple who got stuck in traffic on the way to Port Canaveral, Florida. They arrived 10 minutes after the final call for Carnival Glory, and the terminal was closed.

The would-be passengers thought that because the ship was still in the port, Carnival employees just needed to reopen the door and let them in. They were incensed when that didn’t happen and the vessel sailed away without them.

They sent their complaint to Heald and asked him who to contact about their “full refund” since Carnival employees had abandoned and stranded them at the pier.

The Department of Homeland Security’s 60-minute passenger rule

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security requires that cruise lines provide a final passenger manifest 60 minutes before departure. After boarding is closed and that list is filed, no more passengers can join the cruise. That is nonnegotiable.

These two passengers were not denied boarding by mistake; they had missed the final call for the cruise.

While sympathetic to their plight, Heald explained that passengers must always be on time at the port. If that doesn’t happen and they miss the boat, the cruise line doesn’t provide a refund.

This policy is not unique to Carnival. It is an industrywide standard part of every major cruise line’s contract of carriage.

Although these Carnival passengers were sure they missed their cruise “through no fault of our own,” it was ultimately their responsibility to arrive on time. They didn’t, and so they missed their cruise and lost their money.

Travel insurance or travel protection

Heald offered that Carnival’s Vacation Protection could have helped these passengers avoid the financial loss of their missed cruise. The cancel-for-any-reason part of that plan allows customers to cancel right up until the ship’s departure and receive a 75% future cruise credit.

Traditional travel insurance might cover a flight or traffic delay-related cruise cancellation. But before assuming you’re protected, it is crucial to confirm the named perils (events that are covered) of your policy.

Bottom line

Being denied boarding your cruise can be an embarrassing and traumatic experience with heavy financial repercussions.

Before you enter the penalty phase of your next cruise:

• Read your cruise contract: It’s a lengthy document, but most of what you need to know to avoid being denied boarding your cruise is in it.
• Do your research: The Department of State’s page for cruise passengers is a great place to start.
• Always plan to arrive at your embarkation city a day early: Many cruise passengers never consider what will happen if their flight is delayed or they hit traffic on the way to the port … until it happens to them. Always work at least a one-day buffer into your cruise vacation, so you won’t have to worry about arriving too late at the port. Keep in mind the Department of Homeland Security’s 60-minute manifest rule.
• Consider using a professional travel advisor: If you’re unfamiliar with cruising or have a particularly complicated itinerary, an experienced travel advisor can be an invaluable resource. The American Society of Travel Advisors’ VeriVacation site has a search feature for experts specializing in cruise travel.

The good news is that, if you follow those steps, you will virtually guarantee that you won’t be rejected at the pier. Happy cruising!

If you have a problem with a cruise line, airline, car rental agency or credit card company, send your complaint to ombudsman@thepointsguy.com and I’ll be happy to investigate and help you, too, if I can.