Carnival Cruise Line Speeds Up Disembarkation Customs Times at Homeports

Carnival Cruise Line is expanding its use of facial biometric technology at several of its U.S. homeports, speeding up the U.S. Customs and Border Protection process during disembarkation. Across the homeports where facial biometrics is used, the debarkation process has been sped up by an average of 30%.

Nine of Carnival's 14 U.S. homeports are using this streamlined technology including Miami, Port Canaveral, Tampa, Jacksonville, New York, Baltimore, Mobile, Galveston, and Long Beach.

"Expanding this technology at our U.S. homeports ensures we're going everything we can to make the debarkation process as simple as possible for our guests," said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. "Thanks to our partnership with CBP, these technology solutions make the process more efficient, while giving guests a sense of safety and security, knowing their information is protected."

The enhanced process is simple. Guests debarking their ship at the end of a closed loop cruise pause at a kiosk with a camera and take a photo. Within seconds, the image is biometrically compared to their passport or visa photo to verify the guest's identify with over 98% accuracy. Guests can then simply exit the building.

U.S. travelers and select foreign nationals who prefer to opt out of the facial biometric process can request a manual document check from a CBP officer.