New Check-in Requirements

New check-in requirements have been announced:
"Starting Feb. 18, cruise ships sailing from U.S. ports will be required to transmit passenger and crew manifests to Customs and Border Protection no later than 60 minutes before sailing.
That means passengers must be checked in and on board at least one hour prior to departure. However, some lines are setting earlier times to ensure compliance".

Most companies already urge customers to submit required identification data such as birthdate, nationality and passport or identification document number after they make final payment and well in advance of sailing, by completing online forms.

Like airline tickets, cruise tickets are going the way of e-docs. By completing the guest documentation form online, you avoid having to complete these forms at the pier and can print out your boarding pass as well.

In my opinion, the e-doc process is good except for the problem with luggage tags. Luggage tags printed on regular paper are not useful. Passengers will have to wait until the luggage is at the pier and then request regular luggage tags from the porters that handled the luggage.