Whti document?

[TPCRUISER2]

Does anyone know about this? My friends are asking me about this. They only have birth certificates and drivers license. Do they need anything else for a cruise on the veendam to bermuda?

[gregdude]

Very bad idea to travel anywhere outside the US without a valid passport. If you were injured or became ill in Bermuda you would not be able to renter the US without a passport.

[fann1sh]

Please take a look at this link:

 

 

http://www.getyouhome.gov/html/eng_map.html

 

 

It's possible to cruise on a closed loop itinerary like Veendam's without a passport.

 

If an emergency happened, you would not be able to fly home from Bermuda without a passport. You would be stuck until you could get one processed - several days.

 

Americans are the only nationality in the world with a widespread aversion to getting a passport. What's the big deal? It costs $100, is good for 10 years, and the paperwork and turnaround time are both easy.

 

P.S. - have your friends make sure their birth certificate is an official, raised seal state issued one, and not just a hospital certificate of live birth.

[broberts]

Does anyone know about this? My friends are asking me about this. They only have birth certificates and drivers license. Do they need anything else for a cruise on the veendam to bermuda?

 

If they choose not to cruise with a passport make sure that the "birth certificate" they have is an acceptable one. For example, "birth certificates" issued by hospitals are not acceptable.

[Vic The Parrot]

Americans are the only nationality in the world with a widespread aversion to getting a passport. What's the big deal? It costs $100, is good for 10 years, and the paperwork and turnaround time are both easy.

 

 

 

 

I agree with you.

 

Don't understand why it becomes a big issue on applying for one. It's strange, huh?

 

 

I, for one, looked forward to getting my first passport! ;) :)

Even renewing my current one still had that "magic" that means I'm going somewhere. ;)

[UKBayern]

I agree with you.

 

Don't understand why it becomes a big issue on applying for one. It's strange, huh?

 

 

I, for one, looked forward to getting my first passport! ;) :)

Even renewing my current one still had that "magic" that means I'm going somewhere. ;)

 

Did you know that almost 80% of all Americans do not have a passport? For a modern, first world country that is exceptional.

[LSEA]

Did you know that almost 80% of all Americans do not have a passport? For a modern, first world country that is exceptional.

 

Yes, it is. Although being able to travel 2,000 ++ miles and not leave the country could be some explanation.

 

I would not be comfortable traveling outside of the country without a passport.

[imsulin]

Did you know that almost 80% of all Americans do not have a passport? For a modern, first world country that is exceptional.

 

Amen!~ It's also ridiculous. JMO.

[ocntscha]

Americans are the only nationality in the world with a widespread aversion to getting a passport. What's the big deal? It costs $100, is good for 10 years, and the paperwork and turnaround time are both easy.

Speaking only for myself, I haven't gotten passports for my family of four because its $400 I don't need to spend. It gets me nothing. Ok, its gets me a teeny bit of insurance in the event of some medical emergency I can fly back quicker. Maybe. Life is all about balancing risk. I see the risk of some emergency requiring medivac to the United States as extremely small. My family are all in good health. Plus, I find it hard to believe that in a true life threatening medical emergency the Coast Guard or whomever would really make a fuss about the evacuee having a birth certificate and drivers license but not a passport.

[broberts]

Speaking only for myself, I haven't gotten passports for my family of four because its $400 I don't need to spend. It gets me nothing. Ok, its gets me a teeny bit of insurance in the event of some medical emergency I can fly back quicker. Maybe. Life is all about balancing risk. I see the risk of some emergency requiring medivac to the United States as extremely small. My family are all in good health. Plus, I find it hard to believe that in a true life threatening medical emergency the Coast Guard or whomever would really make a fuss about the evacuee having a birth certificate and drivers license but not a passport.

 

I wonder if you buy travel and travel-medical insurance?

 

While the risk of requiring your passports may be small, the cost incurred should they be needed is relatively high. Likely exceeding the $400 "insurance" cost by an order of magnitude.

 

As to your assumption about the "Coast Guard or whomever", I would like like to think this is so. However, I never assume reasonableness from others, especially bureaucrats. Even a small bump in the road in a situation like this might cause a critical delay, however small.

 

What I just don't understand is the thinking that passports are only for emergency situations. To me not carrying a passport on foreign soil is somewhat akin to driving without carrying your driver's license. Sure it can be done and sure the chance that you will need it are very small. None the less it's not a smart thing to do.

[GXmanDC]

Speaking only for myself, I haven't gotten passports for my family of four because its $400 I don't need to spend. It gets me nothing. Ok, its gets me a teeny bit of insurance in the event of some medical emergency I can fly back quicker. Maybe. Life is all about balancing risk. I see the risk of some emergency requiring medivac to the United States as extremely small. My family are all in good health. Plus, I find it hard to believe that in a true life threatening medical emergency the Coast Guard or whomever would really make a fuss about the evacuee having a birth certificate and drivers license but not a passport.

 

During the "true life threatening emergency" you will be treated by the closest medical facility in whatever country you are in. The problem arises after the emergency is over and you try to get home. The airline won't let you board a US bound flight without a US Passport or valid visa for non-US citizens. Now you are making a trip to the US consulate to get a passport. The chances that something like this will happen are slim, but I'm not a gambling man.

[fann1sh]

Speaking only for myself, I haven't gotten passports for my family of four because its $400 I don't need to spend. It gets me nothing. Ok, its gets me a teeny bit of insurance in the event of some medical emergency I can fly back quicker. Maybe. Life is all about balancing risk. I see the risk of some emergency requiring medivac to the United States as extremely small. My family are all in good health. Plus, I find it hard to believe that in a true life threatening medical emergency the Coast Guard or whomever would really make a fuss about the evacuee having a birth certificate and drivers license but not a passport.

 

 

There is no polite way to say this: you're wrong.

 

The money doesn't get you nothing: it gets you the only internationally acknowledged form of identification. That passport is worth its weight in gold in untold travel circumstances.

 

If you have that emergency, the $400 will seem cheap. You will not be able to travel, you will not get on a plane, you will not have your application for passport expedited and you WILL have to spend days (and it can be more than a week) waiting to get your passport.

 

Do some research, and read what other travellers had to endure when they made the same assumptions you did.

 

Please understand - I'm not attacking you. I'm concerned about your misconceptions, and hope more reading will change your mind.

[sapper1]

There is no polite way to say this: you're wrong.

 

The money doesn't get you nothing: it gets you the only internationally acknowledged form of identification. That passport is worth its weight in gold in untold travel circumstances.

 

If you have that emergency, the $400 will seem cheap. You will not be able to travel, you will not get on a plane, you will not have your application for passport expedited and you WILL have to spend days (and it can be more than a week) waiting to get your passport.

 

Do some research, and read what other travellers had to endure when they made the same assumptions you did.

 

Please understand - I'm not attacking you. I'm concerned about your misconceptions, and hope more reading will change your mind.

I second your remarks. Nobody plans to have an emergency but they happen. What if something happened to a family member back home and you had to get back ASAP---Without a passport it isn't going to happen.

Things happen fast in this troubled world and if the US were to react to a developing situatiion while you were away by closing its borders temporarily to anyone who wasn't a citizen, your driver's licence does not prove citizenship and your birth certificate would not exactly have a current, or any, photo on it.

 

I always carried a passport to the US long before it was required because it was proof of my guaranteed right to enter back into Canada.

[YXU AC*SE]

I always carried a passport to the US long before it was required because it was proof of my guaranteed right to enter back into Canada.

 

It is also proof of citizenship for obtaining consular assistance from your home country abroad. In the case of being arrested, it may not be relevant to the consular official providing you with assistance, but with the gaoler who is holding you.

 

http://untreaty.un.org/ilc/texts/instruments/english/conventions/9_2_1963.pdf

 

Scott.

[sapper1]

It is also proof of citizenship for obtaining consular assistance from your home country abroad. In the case of being arrested, it may not be relevant to the consular official providing you with assistance, but with the gaoler who is holding you.

 

http://untreaty.un.org/ilc/texts/instruments/english/conventions/9_2_1963.pdf

 

Scott.

Not that I plan on being arrested, but if I am, I will be prepared with my passport. :)

 

Seriously, you have a good point. You see situations on TV where there is some sort of crisis or catastrophe and countries send in ships or planes to repatriate their nationals. You would have to show a passport to prove you were entitled to evacuation by your country.

[Vic The Parrot]

And, you'll need a passport if you want to get on a plane.

 

 

It's the sign o the times.

 

 

 

To the OP:

 

 

When are your friends sailing?

 

Since the Bermuda season for HAL doesn't begin til late April, they have plenty of time to get passports ... even if they elect expedited service.

[Vic The Parrot]

The airline won't let you board a US bound flight without a US Passport or valid visa for non-US citizens.

 

 

 

Oops

 

 

Just noticed you stated that.

Sorry Steve ;)

[sail7seas]

:confused: Why would anyone planning on travel outside the U.S. not get a passport?

 

In this day and age, there is no good answer to this.

 

If you need to save a bit longer to afford the $ 70 or whatever it now costs, then it's a good idea to wait until you have saved enough to get a passport for each traveling member of your family.

 

 

IMO.............