In 2008, I had a cruise booked to Alaska departing from Vancouver. My friend and I flew into Vancouver and were going to spend the night there before departing on the ship and traveling to Alaska. However, I was denied entry into Canada because of an old criminal record; three non-person felonies from the late 1980's. I was devastated; I had no idea that something that old could affect my chances of getting into Canada.

I am now looking at a cruise that departs New Orleans and makes stops in Mexico, Honduras and Belize. My friend says that unless you are going to spend the night visiting a country, the passport always stays on the ship. So how does that work? Would I have a problem going to these countries because of convictions that are over 20 years old?

Thank-you.

I can't help with your question (though I don't think the trip you mention should be a problem) but if you don't get a response here, try on the Thorntree forum. Happy trails!
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntre...spa?forumID=12

For day trip off a cruise ship odds are you will be ok

Your felony convictions X 3 will show every time

your passport is scanned will give you difficulty

everytime this is done Canada is the worst a

simple misdemeanor DUI can get u denied entry from the US.

Check with your cruise line and post up on

cruisecritic.com forums for more precise info.

Definitely check with your cruise line. They will scan your passport when you board the ship initially, so anything may come up at that point and that is where you may have the issues. We just recently were on a Carribbean cruise and only needed our passport in Puerto Rico - which I thought was strange. But we also went to St Kitts and St Martin. They never scanned the passports there.

Good luck and have fun!!

Thank-you.