Carnival has issued a reminder to travel partners and agents to be aware of international sanctions laws and not to book trips for passengers residing in certain geographic areas. The cruise line must comply with applicable laws in the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union.
In turn, the travel agent books a cruise with Carnival Cruise Line. All cruise lines under Carnival Corporation The cruise lines involved must also comply with these laws.
“In response to the stricter sanctions laws passed following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, all Carnival brands previously implemented a policy to no longer sell cruises to guests residing in Russia, Belarus, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and the Zaporizhia region of Ukraine, including through any travel agent partners.” Email reminder read.
On February 24, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine. At that time, Cruise lines quickly began canceling visits to Russian ports – Access has not yet resumed due to ongoing tensions.
The United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union have all imposed financial sanctions on Russia and its associated regions. In the United States, these sanctions are handled by the Office of Counterterrorism and Financial Intelligence under the U.S. Treasury Department. Office of Foreign Assets Control.
These economic sanctions are intended to have a direct impact on the economy of the Russian Federation with the aim of undermining the war effort and other aggressive actions.
Cruising may seem like a relatively harmless transaction, unrelated to weapons, training, or other directly offensive activities, but it’s important to remember that cruising supports local retailers, hotels, restaurants, tour operators, guides, and more, even outside designated ports of call.
This alert applies to all cruise lines under the Carnival Cruise Line umbrella, including Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, Costa Cruises, Cunard Line, P&O Cruises, P&O Cruises Australia and Seabourn.
The alert also covers other regions currently under economic sanctions. These include Cuba, North Korea, Iran, Syria and the Crimea region of Ukraine.
“You will need to continue to ensure that you do not accept bookings from guests from any of the restricted countries,” the email clarified.
“We would like to reiterate the importance of ensuring accurate guest details are entered into our reservation system; in particular, we ask that you collect full details of each guest’s residential address when making a reservation and enter these accurately into our reservation system.”
Travel partners and tour operators working with Carnival Corporation are also obliged to ensure that adequate technical measures are in place to prevent guests in these restricted areas from making reservations through online portals or websites.
Also read: How Russia’s invasion of Ukraine affects the cruise industry
All finance and legal departments, individual agents, and client-facing staff need to be aware of the restrictions so everyone is in compliance.
What penalties are possible?
Carnival’s email did not detail what penalties might be imposed if travel partners book guests from restricted areas.
However, the U.S. Treasury Department stipulates “Any person who violates, attempts to violate, conspires to violate, or causes a violation may be subject to a civil penalty of up to $250,000 or twice the amount of the underlying transaction.” Applicable restrictions.
If such transactions are discovered, Carnival may also cancel its partnership with the agent or impose financial penalties or deduct commissions, but such penalties have not yet been confirmed.
Fortunately, Carnival Corporation Bookings for various brands hit record highs, and inventory continues to risethere is no reason for travel agency partners to consider violating sanctions as there are many other opportunities to bring great cruise vacations to eager travelers.
