David was denied entry to his cruise for a baffling reason – could it happen to you?

• David flew from England to Australia for a cruise just to be turned away as the customs agents at the Overseas Passenger Terminal decided that his passport was too damaged to travel.
• David and his wife weren’t able to board the cruise and flew home early.
• Different countries have different standards for what constitutes passport damage.

David Hornsby, a 78-year-old from Southampton, flew the massive 17,000 kilometres from the United Kingdom to Sydney just to be denied boarding his cruise for a bizarre reason. 

Despite his passport being deemed as passable by border security to enter and leave Australia, immigration officers told Hornsby that his passport was too damaged for him to embark on his Cunard cruise.

He and his wife were shocked after being turned away by customs agents at the Overseas Passenger Terminal due to a problem with the exact same document he had presented without issue at the airport only hours before.

He told This Is Oxford Shire: “We were absolutely staggered.

“We arrived at the cruise terminal, went to check in as usual, having already dropped our luggage off, and they looked at my passport and then called somebody over, and then took it away.

“My wife was cleared for boarding, but they said there was damage on my passport, which there wasn’t.”

Hornsby described the damage as “about a centre” of loose stitching.

However, he and his wife were told they wouldn’t be able to cruise, and had to wait several hours to receive their luggage and then fork out $1500 for early flights home.

They had no issues with Hornsby’s passport when flying home.

“I’m absolutely amazed at Cunard’s attitude, we flew back without the slightest problem.

“It’s a disgusting treatment. The passport was fully legal.”

The cruise line has refused to offer any kind of refund and told Hornsby that they won’t be sending him any further communications.

Hornsby continues to seek a refund, compensation or replacement cruise.

Passport damage standards

One possible reason for the incident and other incidents such as this one is that different countries have different standards for what constitutes a damaged passport. 

This means that situations where a passport may be acceptable in some countries and ports, but not in others, are possible.

For example, as outlined below, Cunard notes that the cruise was going to Indonesia, who have very strict passport rules.

In fact, Indonesia have recently issued a warning that they won’t accept passports with even minor damage, such as water damage or rips in pages. 

Smart Traveller says: “Indonesian authorities have strict standards for damaged passports, and travellers have been refused entry into Indonesia with a damaged passport. Water damage, minor tears or rips to the pages can be considered damaged.”

In fact, even Australia has a higher standard than the UK does. 

The Australian passport office says: “You should replace your passport if it has more than reasonable wear and tear. Even minor passport damage can stop you from travelling. Damage that might require you to replace your passport includes water damage, unofficial markings on the data page, missing visa pages or tears.”

However, the UK passport standard for damage isn’t as strict; they will generally only consider a passport damaged if some of the details can’t be read, or if any pages are ripped or missing. 

Therefore, the customs agents at the terminal were likely the Indonesian standard for damaged passports.

Cunard statement

Cunard shared in a statement: “We were very sorry to learn that Mr and Mrs Hornsby were unable to board Queen Elizabeth in Australia and appreciate how disappointed they would have been.

“Our understanding is that Mr and Mrs Hornsby were refused embarkation to the ship by immigration officials at the international cruise terminal due to a damaged passport.

“The planned voyage included a port call to Indonesia, where they have strict standards for damaged passports. Unfortunately, the actions of foreign immigration authorities are outside of our control, and any associated costs should be directed to the guests’ travel insurers.

“We appreciate this is not the outcome that Mr and Mrs Hornsby would have wanted, but this set of circumstances is not one Cunard can take responsibility for.”