CoyoteDreemurr

Thank you for sharing this, that was funny. I remember when I was on the Regal last year and they blew the horn. What a pleasant surprise! I was not expecting the Love Boat! 

Thanks a lot! I think this might help us. Btw, my mom might end up getting a lawyer and court order to solve this, since this is all just a bunch of hooey and she should have been able to get her BC and go on the cruise. I mean, it's just a first name. One of the forms said something about a court order, too. 

My mom's still trying to get her documents. Once she does and once we save up some money, we want to book a Royal Caribbean cruise. They seem to have more stuff that somebody like me would like. I loved the Princess cruise, though. Despite their customer service on their phone line being absolutely disgusting. 

I wrote a review! If anybody's interested, here it is:

https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=653133

I'm on the ship!!

5 hours ago, brillohead said:

The highlighted part is the part I was remembering -- she wants her birth certificate in her PREFERRED name to match her current documents.

Doesn't say that she can't still get her ORIGINAL birth certificate.... just that she can't get her PREFERRED birth certificate without a legal name change.

They wouldn't give her a new BC because literally everything has the new spelling on it. I think the baptismal certificate is the only thing we have with the old one on it, not including the old BC. 

12 hours ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

 soooo, I guess mom doesn't want to use her original BC for this cruise, like PP said in post #153?

 

 

 

She lost her original BC, which she was able to use on her first 3 cruises. She was on a Carnival cruise when she was about 18-19 years old. I'm assuming she needed it for that cruise. The last 2 cruises were both Princess cruises. 

So I found out for sure (probably), I'm going on the cruise with my dad. Just thought I should update. I'll post pictures if there's a place to do so here. 

On 3/8/2019 at 8:19 PM, Essiesmom said:

Just curious, and slightly sideways to the topic...But how is her name spelled on your birth certificate?  EM

I believe it has the new spelling. 

My mom's actually going to take a road trip to our capital to try and fix this nightmare. Hopefully that does something...

1 hour ago, Shmoo here said:

Actually, the "political system" didn't ruin your trip.  It's more of your making, actually your mother's making, in not checking that everyone's ID stuff was proper some time ago, plus it seems she was pretty insistent that she wasn't interested in doing an actual, legal, name change to make things right.

 

 

 

I should have figured that...I tend to ruin things.

Oh lord, the update I didn't want. We got letters today saying they need MORE STUFF. Not to mention it's stuff we already filled out. I feel like all hope is lost. I don't really even want to go anymore. So thanks a lot to this political system, you ruined my trip. 

Oh, this ever changing story. My mom ended up getting the "additional info" that was requested, which was proof that she used the new spelling before 18. She overnighted the old social security statements to the Secretary of State and should be getting a birth certificate in the mail very soon! She'll go to the city to get a passport in a day after she gets the certificate. 

2 hours ago, Shmoo here said:

I don't understand this.  What was the "reschedule" for?  A different cruise?  

It was the exact same cruise, but at a later date. Same ship, same ports, same everything. 

On 2/22/2019 at 9:01 AM, breezy_carol said:

OP, how did your mother's appointment go Tuesday?

 

Not good. She got no help from them at all. She went to the courthouse she used to work at, too. Nothing. Then, she called Princess. She almost got a reschedule for July 20th. But, it was "too close to the sail date." So, she tried to cancel, which they charge $1700 at this point. She refused to give them any more money then we already have. She told my dad to "just take me," so all the money won't go down the toilet. What a shame. This was supposed to be for their 25th anniversary. If we can't do anything else for her, my dad and I basically have no choice but to go ourselves. It won't be as fun without her, though. 

In our state, all you have to do to become a notary is fill out the application and send that with a copy of a driver's license or state ID. The license or ID is the proof of state citizenship. 

I have another update! My mom just made an appointment for the passport division of our representative's office! She'll be going there on Tuesday. By the way, she got on her other cruises with her birth certificate. They were both over 20 years ago. The problem was, she couldn't find her original birth certificate, so she went to get a new one and was denied. This office might be able to get her a passport without a birth certificate, as she is a notary public and may be able to use that certificate to prove her citizenship. 

All 3 of us were born in the US, to clarify that. I just find it ridiculous that she can't get a birth certificate without getting a legal name change. She was born with one spelling, but everything uses another spelling ever since she was in 4th grade. It's still the same name, just spelled different. 

I have an update. My mom just contacted or is just about to contact our Secretary of State. I hope that works!

To clarify, all 3 of us are US citizens. 

Thank you so much, everybody! This should help us a lot! We had a friend get a hold of our congressman, but we haven't heard anything back yet. I'll start looking for an immigration lawyer. If all else fails, maybe we could try and get an Enhanced Driver's License or Nexus Card? Those are allowed for this cruise. All of my mom's stuff except for the old birth certificate had her new spelling on it. They're making her get a legal change, which could take months, to get a proper new birth certificate. As a last resort, my dad said he'd contact Princess Cruises directly. We may have a slight chance with that, as they have cruised with them twice before. 

So, my parents and I have a Caribbean cruise booked for March 24-31 on the Regal Princess. But, my mom was denied a passport because she didn't have a birth certificate. She was also denied a birth certificate because of a different spelling of her name. How ridiculous. My dad and I both have our passports. But, what will we do about my mom? How can she get on the cruise if she can't get either document? Please help me!