Carnival's newest ship, CARNIVAL SPLENDOR, recently departed Miami on January 31 for some South American cruises. She will eventually arrive in Los Angeles (Long Beach) to begin Mexican Riviera cruising in March 2009.

Of the roughly 2,800 passengers, over 100 were denied boarding because they did not have the required  Brazilian visas. Several of those were able to obtain them at the Brazilian embassy and catch up with the ship in Barbados, the first port of call. There were, however, others who could not and ended up losing their cruise investment. Insurance does not cover instances when policy holders fail to obtain proper travel documentation.

It's very important that travelers always read the fine print of their cruise documents. On Carnival's web site under "Travel Documentation" it reads:  Proper travel documentation is required at embarkation and throughout the cruise. Even though a guest has completed registration using FUNPASS, it is still the responsibility of the guest to bring all required travel documents. Guest should check with their travel agent and/or government authority to determine the travel documents necessary for each port of call. Any guest without proper documents will not be allowed to board the vessel and no refund of the cruise fare will be issued. Carnival assumes no responsibility for advising guests of immigration requirements.

A very informative website (http://www.zvs.com/aboutus.aspx) gives travelers much needed information to insure that travel snafu's found on the recent SPLENDOR sailing doesn't happen to them.

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