I booked a cruise for a group cruise we are going on in santorini for a wedding weekend. I received an email from the cruise company in response saying thank you for your payment we now need your full names, passport numbers and ethnicities. Is that normal for a company to ask? Just struck me as odd. Thanks.
-Pete
Full names, nationalities and passport numbers; yes. that is perfectly normal.
Many countries (USA and most of Europe) require airlines on international routes to supply this information for all arriving passengers to the authorities at the destination, and the airlines always ask it when booking a ticket. Ships (cruise, ferry) sailing from one country to another are covered by the same requirement.
Asking for ethnicity is not normal and I would object. To start with it is subjective, and it is racist. Personally, I would be awkward and answer "Human Being", or "don't know".
I'm going to bet it's a translation issue of some kind. If they don't ask for nationality or residency, then that's what they're looking for. If they ask for either plus ethnicity, that'd be really odd -- try 'purple' and let them make of it what they will.
Chris pretty well summed up the rest.
What the airlines actually ask for is the passport issuing country and passport number because they need to know if it is British passport No, 123456, French passport No. 123456 or Upper Volta passport No. 123456. It is your nationality, not your residence, which defines if you need a visa.
