Travel Documents- PLEASE HELP

[brady1439]

Hello,

My wife and I are booked on the Carnival Pride, leaving Baltimore this Sunday, 9/13/09. We both applied for our passports at similar times and I have gotten mine, but hers hasn't arrived yet. She sent her birth-certificate away to get the passport, so that is gone as well. Since we only have 2 business days before we cruise, we are starting to panic. Is there anything else we can use for travel that would be somewhat easy to come by? Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[Toto2Kansas]

You have to have a birth certificate and picture ID or passport, there are no other forms of ID that will allow you to board the ship.

Did you call about her passport and see if it has been held up for some reason? Is there anyway to get another certified copy of her birth certificate overnighted to you?

 

Years ago we both applied on the same day, in two different cities, and both received them back on the same day. I definitely would have been in panic mode long before two days before we were to board the ship.

 

Good luck on this, I hope the next two days bring good news. Remember also, if you have travel insurance, it doesn't cover something like this, so I will honestly keep my fingers crossed for you.

 

For others, this is a good lesson learned that you always plan ahead and don't wait until it could mean the difference between cruising or staying home. :(

[shof515]

Try calling up the department of state and talk to them. Maybe they can email you or express mail you something

[greatam]

Call your Congressman or Senator IMMEDIATELY if the passport agency cannot tell you where the passport is.

 

And you may want to apply IMMEDIATELY for an "overnight" BC, which may or may not be available, depending on the policy of the office of records in the birth state. I have used Vitalchek with good success for employees that needed "instant" passports. Some states came back in two days, most 3-5 (which won't work in your case). http://www.vitalchek.com/

 

Good luck.

[paul929207]

Request another official copy of your biirth ertificate. Pay whatever is necessary to get it by Saturday.

[HarpHarp]

You can check the status of her application at this link

 

http://travel.state.gov/passport/passport_1738.html

 

If something happened to her app and since you are in Maryland, could she get to DC on Thursday or Friday? The State Dept will do this by appointment especially if she should have had hers already You need to follow up with the State Dept anyhow in case it was stolen. People have been known to steal them right out of mail boxes.

 

It may be easier to get a passport than a certified copy of her birth certificate, depending on where she was born and how close you are to DC.

 

Good Luck

[Luckyroot]

When did yours arrive? When we got ours a couple years ago, 3 came in on one day and the 4th came in a day (or 2?) later. If yours just arrived today, hopefully hers will arrive tomorrow.

 

But as others have posted, I wouldn't waste a moment getting a new certified copy of the birth certificate.

 

Good luck and hopefully you get this resolved tomorrow and can RELAX and get ready to cruise!

[Toto2Kansas]

Anxious to hear what happened with this. Did the passport arrive, were you able to get a copy of the BC to take along, or are you going to have to cancel this sailing and take the loss?

[patseacruiser]

I hate when they don't come back to tell us what happened - like the aunt and uncle missing story.

[StillPooh]

[jocap]

DID IT COME?

There's been a thread on the P&O page where a burglar stole their passport on the Sunday as they were preparing to cruise on the Friday. We've lived every heart-breaking moment until the replacement on Wed, and they're now on the high seas.

SO- are they going?- jocap.

[StillPooh]

This is the worst cliffhanger thread ever! :(

 

Brady, you have to come back and tell us what happened!

[beachchick]

I'm willing to wait for a report on what happened until after they return from their cruise. I don't know about everyone else, but I'm generally much too busy the day or two before a trip to visit even my favorite websites.

 

For now I send my best wishes and happy thoughts for them to have no problems with the ID (and especially that the passport arrived at the last minute) and a wonderful cruise.

 

beachchick