Princess launches cruise eTickets

Some cruise lines have dipped a toe into the water of e-ticketing in the past, for example allowing last-minute buyers to have a version of their cruise tickets electronically delivered. But Princess Cruises just announced that they're the first to make a complete switch to e-ticketing, and doing away with the thick, expensive-to-mail, easy-to-lose document booklets so familiar to cruise passengers.

The whole concept of a "cruise ticket" seems antiquated, anyway. Especially with today's security requirements, the cruise lines know exactly who's supposed to be on board, they check your ID when you arrive at the pier, so who needs tickets? Many people may have already forgotten the concept of a "real" travel ticket, like an old-style printed airline ticket, where the actual paper document had value: it could be traded for refunds, and, if lost, you were out the purchase price. Those are 99% long-gone.

Princess "eTickets" will give cruise passengers round-the-clock access to their cruise details as well as the capability to print their own boarding passes. Princess claims that their new program will provide the earliest cruise documents in the industry, with documents available up to 75 days prior to sailing.

The "eTicket" program will begin fleetwide for most sailing departing on or after November 17, 2006. Initially, the program will apply to North American passengers only. Travelers without Internet access can receive their documents from their travel agent, who presumably will just go online and print them.

Princess Cruises, a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation, operates 17 ships, which cruise the Caribbean, Alaska, Mexico, Europe, and around the world.