Carnival Cruise Line reaches milestone with customs biometrics

Carnival Cruise Line said facial-recognition technology has now been used by 3 million disembarking guests going through customs at Carnival’s homeports.

The technology is the same used throughout the fleet during embarkation, according to Carnival. The line had expanded its use, partnering with U.S. Customs and Border Protection to use the biometric technology during debarkation.

New York is the latest homeport to come online in recent weeks with the introduction of the Carnival Venezia.

Carnival and the CBP implemented the technology in Jacksonville in March, completing the rollout at Carnival’s Florida homeports. Today, nine of Carnival’s 14 homeports use the technology in partnership with the federal agency. Those homeports are Miami, Port Canaveral, Tampa, Jacksonville, New York, Baltimore, Mobile, Galveston and Long Beach. 

Carnival said the facial-recognition tech makes debarkations 30% faster. Guests pause at a kiosk that takes a photo of them, which is then biometrically compared to their passport or visa photo to verify their identity. The line said the technology is 98% accurate. 

Guests who prefer to opt out can request that an officer manually check their travel documents. 

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