Can Felons Go on a Cruise | Compulsory Documents For Felons

As a past convict you might be pondering over, “Can felons go on a cruise?” What’s wrong with a cruise vacation when you’ve served your time? Well, there is nothing wrong with an outlaw enjoying out on the sea.

To be blunt, 

Yes, felons can go on a cruise with the required documentation. However, cruising as a convict, even with the desired papers, depends on the ports in your itinerary. So, you might need help to cruise to certain harbors.

Let’s dive into the sea and aid you in finding out what a felon can do to enjoy cruising!

Can Felons Cruise?

Yes, felons can cruise most of the time. But they might need credentials like visas, passports, passport cards, national IDs or birth certificates. Even if they have these papers, they might not be able to visit outlaw-restricted ports.

So, based on the past criminal record of a convict, they might not be cruising at all. The best practice in such a scenario is always asking your cruise line. 

With millions of cruisers yearly, can anyone say no one with a dark past sailed on? Most felons can travel anywhere by land or sea.

Types of Cruises a Felon Can or Can’t Take

There are two main categories depending on the itinerary.

Closed Loop Cruises

Felons can take closed-loop cruises as they don’t involve any additional ports.

A closed loop means the cruise will start at one point and end its journey simultaneously. So, your itinerary will involve a few harbors and end at the country port you sailed from.

Your destination will be the same throughout your voyage. Thus, in closed-loop cruises, the ship starts from the port and ends up in the same harbor. You will roam about on the sea and arrive where you started. 

Open Loop Cruises

Felons can or can’t cruise on this category of cruises. To clarify, if open-loop cruises involve felon-restricted country ports, then no convict on board.

Open-loop cruises involve embarking on ports from different countries. In these types of cruises, you’ll sail across and even dock on harbors of various nations.

So, entering a certain country means abiding by the state laws. Some countries might not allow an outlaw inside their territory, while others might require additional documentation.

Felon Restricted Ports

Countries where US felons can’t travel include Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom and New Zealand. 

The strictest country for outlaws to cruise into is Canada. A person with these past criminal records can never enter Canadian territory.

• Driving while intoxicated (DWI), driving while drunk (DUI), or any negligent driving
• Drug possession, all forms of theft and all other types of felony

If you’re into cruising, don’t worry, as there are hundreds of more harbors to embark on.

Requirements of Cruising as a Felons

Prerequisites for cruising can include passports, passport cards or even visas. 

#1 Passports

To begin with the pre-cruising demands, you’re not directly asked for your passport to cruise. But there are several instances where a passport becomes essential. 

These situations include;

#2 Visas

Some of the countries in your cruising route might require visas for entry. So, always ask your cruise line beforehand, as visa processing can take months. 

Most of the cruise lines, like Royal Caribbean, have visa requirements. Even sailing on one of Carnival’s wildest ships needs a visa. 

You also inquire about visa demands from your travel advisor, consulates, or foreign embassies. Some specific nations might not be asking for visas, but they might have other needs like a passport.   

A passport with some blank pages for stamping and more than 6-month expiry left from your return day is sufficient.

#3 Passport Cards

As a felon, you might not get your hands on a passport due to a legal predicament. What can you do in such a scenario? Why not look for a passport card if your cruise line accepts it?

A passport card is a wallet-sized passport book substitute acceptable only in some countries.

You can use this pass to travel by land or sea. Like the book version, its validity date must be six months after you disembark.

In contrast to most countries, a passport card is invalid in Europe. 

Can’t Felons Stay on the Cruise

You might think, “Why not stay on the cruise throughout the journey?” This way, you can avoid the demand for documentation even at felon-restricted ports. 

To be straightforward, whether you stay on a cruise or not it doesn’t concern the cruise line. An outlaw can try to escape from the port. You may try to run from the place where your ship embarked. 

So, to avoid such situations, papers are essential. The local authorities of any harbour can also ask for legal documentation like a passport from you. Apprehension and deportation is the only outcome of illegal activity during the cruise adventure. 

Should Felons Go Cruising?

The answer to this question is simple: felons have every right to enjoy cruising just like normal people. Most of the time, they would have paid their debt to society. 

So, convicts can and should cruise if they want to. However, they should have every demanded legal document lined up.

Pre-Cruising Considerations for Outlaws

As discussed before, all cruisers, whether felons or not, should inquire about requirements from their cruise lines. Your travel agent or you calling foreign embassies can help out. 

This way, you’ll know if you can cruise to begin with or not. Sometimes, the ship line management gives you a go. While you might’ve paid for your cruising, you can find that you can’t cruise afterwards. 

Thus, you can waste your money in this situation as you might not get refunded. So, always prepare your passport, passport card or Visa if required to avoid conflict.

Wrap Up

A felon can go on a cruise and embark on their sea voyage. However, they must fulfill the essentials for cruising as an outlaw. They can and sometimes can’t go cruising, depending on the itinerary.

Past convicts can cruise if the restricted ports are not in their sailing route. They might require legal travel papers or documentation to get on board. 

We hope this article helped you to start your wholesome cruising adventure! 

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