Israeli passport stamp gets couple jettisoned from cruise
From the Washington Post comes the story of an American couple from Vienna, Virginia whose cruise was ruined when Costa Cruises kicked them off the ship in Malta on day 3 of their 7-day trip, prior to a stop in Libya.
The reason? A passport stamp denoting a previous visit to Israel, which makes the passport's holder persona non grata in certain Islamic countries, including Libya.
As far as Costa's responsibility, we don't think its reasonable to expect them to grill their passengers at the time of booking about everything that might possibly impact their immigration status at ports of call.
But, we still can't imagine what the ship's staff was thinking with their response once the problem did become clear. Why couldn't these passengers have simply stayed on the ship while it was docked in Libya? If the Libyans objected to that solution, then why wouldn't Costa arrange for the couple to overnight in a hotel in Malta and catch up with the ship at its next port of call after Libya?
It seems Costa's executives agree that a better solution should have been found by the shipboard staff, as Costa is now covering the couple's extra expenses and delivering a full refund.
What lesson can be learned here? If you're an American traveling to unusual areas of the world, invest the time in advance to read the U.S. State Department's Consular Information Sheets. Libya's prominently mentions this Israeli passport-stamp restriction, for example.
The reason? A passport stamp denoting a previous visit to Israel, which makes the passport's holder persona non grata in certain Islamic countries, including Libya.
As far as Costa's responsibility, we don't think its reasonable to expect them to grill their passengers at the time of booking about everything that might possibly impact their immigration status at ports of call.
But, we still can't imagine what the ship's staff was thinking with their response once the problem did become clear. Why couldn't these passengers have simply stayed on the ship while it was docked in Libya? If the Libyans objected to that solution, then why wouldn't Costa arrange for the couple to overnight in a hotel in Malta and catch up with the ship at its next port of call after Libya?
It seems Costa's executives agree that a better solution should have been found by the shipboard staff, as Costa is now covering the couple's extra expenses and delivering a full refund.
What lesson can be learned here? If you're an American traveling to unusual areas of the world, invest the time in advance to read the U.S. State Department's Consular Information Sheets. Libya's prominently mentions this Israeli passport-stamp restriction, for example.
Labels: Passport Requirements
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