Carnival Cruise Line has introduced its facial recognition technology at Carnival Sunshine’s new Virginia homeport, Norfolk. The new technology, which was implemented in Norfolk on Monday, February 24, 2025, has expedited the debarkation process in each port where it has been previously introduced.
Without facial recognition technology, each debarking guest has their documentation examined and verified by a customs and border protection agent before leaving the cruise terminal. With the technology, guests with United States passports allow a camera to compare their image to an established database which confirms their identity. While the verification process through customs and border protection only takes 2-3 minutes, facial recognition only takes about 30 seconds. When a ship is disembarking thousands of guests, the time difference is significant. Even though guests without a passport will still need to speak with an agent to disembark, that line will be shorter, also saving time. This technology also allows the cruise line to move up ship departure times by 30 minutes permitting guests to “choose fun” sooner.
Carnival Cruise Line Ambassador John Heald made this announcement on his social media page, “Yesterday ( February 24th) we added facial technology debarkation for guests cruising on the Carnival Sunshine from Norfolk, Virginia. This means we have successfully rolled out this technology in Miami, Tampa, Port Canaveral, Jacksonville, New Orleans, Galveston, Long Beach, New York, Baltimore and Mobile. It really does help get guests who have a passport to be able to proceed quickly through the debarkation process.”
While most of the comments from Heald’s followers were positive regarding the facial recognition technology, there were some who believe Carnival Cruise Line is trying to force its passengers to get a passport. However, Carnival, nor any other cruise line, requires its guests to have passports. The need for a passport depends on a ship’s itinerary, and almost all closed-loop cruises do not require a passport.