Confused about passports

[tonijmccann]

I'm confused about passports. Some people are saying I need them, some are saying I don't.

 

We're on the Carnival Liberty (4/9/11) going from Miami to Grand Cayman, Ocho Rios, and Cozumel. Do we need passports?

 

I'm getting married on the cruise ship, so I really don't want to have anything mess up! :P

[uppitycats]

I'm confused about passports. Some people are saying I need them, some are saying I don't.

 

We're on the Carnival Liberty (4/9/11) going from Miami to Grand Cayman, Ocho Rios, and Cozumel. Do we need passports?

 

I'm getting married on the cruise ship, so I really don't want to have anything mess up! :P

 

 

As of right now, you don't need a passport to travel to those ports from the US, assuming your cruise starts and ends at the same port. You WILL need 2 forms of identification -- your certified birth certificate, and a state-issued picture ID (think "driver's license").

 

There's no way to know for certain if the rules will be the same by the time of your cruise, though. And a passport certainly expedites any other travel (like by air) should you want or need to fly somewhere.

[matj2000]

You don't need them, but people on here will give you grief if you don't have one. Going on & on of its importance.

Just make sure you have the correct idenification need as per the cruise line.

[cb at sea]

You DL and BC are all that you need for that cruise.

[AF-1]

While you don't need a passport; here are a few reasons why you may. Last year my sister in law took the New England cruise. she left from Boston went up into Canada and Nova Scotia. The ship could not return to Boston due to gale force winds, so they had to go to another port; also, if you have to receive any type of emergency medical treatment where you have to be evacuated off the ship or have to stay in a foreign country to receive treatment; you will need your passport. this is only my opinion and don't know all the answers.

[sail7seas]

In this day and age, best advise you can get is if you wish to travel outside the U.S., get a passport.

 

Save yourself the stress, angyst and confusion.

A Passport is the universally accepted means of Identification.

Save up for your trip a bit longer and invest in a passport....... it's good for ten years.

[barante]

You can do it with a birth certificate, but you need to have the original. Too much hassle. Just get a passport. If you don't have proper documentation, you will not be allowed to board. No one will listen to sob stories. Your insurance will not cover your failure to have proper papers.

[cherylandtk]

The rule will not change by the time of your wedding either. It took 6 1/2 years to change after 9/11, and there are no pending legislative modifications. No 'next phases' or other 'eventually' on the horizon. While I would always recommend travelling with a passport, it is not required for your cruise.

[fann1sh]

And I'm one of the ones who go on and on that Matj2000 refers to.

 

How stupid am I? Very dumb indeed...until something bad happens, then people come here to cry:

 

Missed the ship, had an accident ashore, cost $$$ because no passport, and how DARE the U.S. Embassy not issue them one immediately!

 

Go ahead, Matj2000, roll the dice....know that bad things only happen to other people...refuse to get off the ship in places that require passports (who wants to see a place that requires a passport of a U.S. citizen anyway?)

 

"Can I get away with it if I don't dress up for formal night?" is one thing.

 

"Can I get away with it if I don't have a passport?" is something else.

 

Enough of the rant. Apologies to the posters who posted while I was typing, and were more cool headed about the facts.

 

Tonijmccann, here's the site that has the info you need:

 

http://www.getyouhome.gov/html/lang_eng/eng_sa.html

 

Look at "Special Groups" and "Closed Loop Cruises". No passport required for your cruised loop cruise.

 

However, you will also see the following:

 

"Please be aware that you may still be required to present a passport to enter the foreign countries your cruise ship is visiting."

 

As Uppitycats points out, right now, none of those islands require passports to get off the ship. However....I agree with Uppitycats that things can change fast, for unexpected reasons. While Cherylandtk is an expert about passports, remember how Mexican travellers got slapped with special passport requirements with no warning during the H1N1 outbreak?

 

I'll be sharing a cabin with "mother of the bride" (actually, the bride's late mother's sister) on a Liberty wedding cruise January 1, 2011. She's insisted the bride and her new family all get passports, because you never know what will happen....and the cost of passports is so relatively cheap, compared to that wedding!

[njhorseman]

You can do it with a birth certificate, but you need to have the original. Too much hassle. Just get a passport. If you don't have proper documentation, you will not be allowed to board. No one will listen to sob stories. Your insurance will not cover your failure to have proper papers.

 

No...you need the original or a certified copy of the birth certificate, and it's usually very easy to get a certified copy...often you can order one using the Internet. And, guess what. You need the same original or certified copy of that birth certificate to get a passport. So, using to your reasoning it would also be "too much hassle" to get a passport...in fact even a bigger hassle because there's the additional paperweork, etc. required to apply for a passport.

 

There is zero chance of the OP, assuming US citizenship, being denied boarding for the cruise in question with a birth certificate and drivers license.

[cherylandtk]

While Cherylandtk is an expert about passports, remember how Mexican travellers got slapped with special passport requirements with no warning during the H1N1 outbreak?

Well...actually, no I don't recall any special passport requirements for US citizens during this time. :confused: Could you please clarify what special passport requirements you are referring to? Thanks.

[DonnaK]

All that's required for your cruise is a certified birth certificate and your drivers license (or other photo ID).

 

The only reason you might need a passport is if you need to fly home midcruise (like if you have an accident or a medical emergency).

 

Since your cruise is in April 2011, you have plenty of time to get a passport. It's definitely worth the investment.

[fann1sh]

Well...actually, no I don't recall any special passport requirements for US citizens during this time. :confused: Could you please clarify what special passport requirements you are referring to? Thanks.

 

Hi...unfortunately, I don't remember exactly which forum to search, and my own posts can only be searched back to March 2010.

 

My recollection is Mexican nationals (not U.S. nationals) had travel document trouble during the May 2009 H1N1 outbreak. I also recall Canada slapping extra travel document requirements on a (WHTI) Caribbean country for political reasons. No, neither of those things affected U.S. citizens.

 

I agree lasting changes take forever to implement, but panic changes happen in a "crisis" (ie., embarrassing news cycle).

 

IIRC, there are reasons you need to be on top of this subject.

 

But for most U.S. citizens it's easy and cheap ($100 for 10 years) to get a passport. Only U.S. citizens seem to have this passport aversion while still wishing to travel.

 

Half of my family and most of my friends are U.S. citizens. I've butted my head against this aversion and made headway with some. One friend had a chilling problem - a dumb Canadian land border guard let her into Canada without a passport shortly after the 2009 policy change. But the U.S. side wouldn't let her back into Michigan. She was detained. It was ugly.

 

So, if I rant here, it's because I've seen/heard things go bad.

[cherylandtk]

Thanks Patricia,

I just wanted to make sure I had not lost my mind or something. Whew, glad to know my memory and recall are not totally shot. :D

 

I recall the dustup between Canada and Mexico and the two week notice, that was...messy. I understand how you feel about using passports and do not take issue with your opinion. In fact, I personally agree and advise to take passports when asked for my opinion.

 

But, I also try, as you know, to give the facts about passport rules and usage when asked on these boards. Those often seem to get skewed and blown out of any semblance to the actual laws, regulations and practices. ('You won't be able to get off the ship in that port', 'Belize and Roatan are not part of the Western Hemisphere', and my personal favorite, modified processing contiguous countries and adjacent islands limits being applicable to US citizens).

 

While certain crises theoretically could impact rules on what/how US citizens need to provide proof of their citizenship to the US, I believe those odds to be so low as to be miniscule, particularly when using the 9/11 attack as a benchmark. When making a personal choice to use passports(or not) those are valid points for individual, fact-based, informed decisions.

[fann1sh]

You give 24K gold info on this board about this issue, Cherylandtk. No one else who posts here gets it right the way you do. Don't know what these boards would do without you to calm things down, lay out the facts, and dismiss rumours with no substance.

 

As you correctly point out, for 99.9%, things go smooth as silk. But the exceptions are real, and since I cross the border weekly, I've personally heard and seen some of them in secondary inspection; as well as those incidents which really happened to family/friends (not "my friend's cousin's sister in law..." urban legends).

 

So, when I vent my opinion to get a passport "just in case", it's not *just* hot air and bossiness.

[dot73]

Please don't flame me - I am a Canadian and just asking this question out of curiosity. :confused:

 

Why are Americans so reluctant to get a passport? The price of your passport is a bargain as it is good for ten years. Our passports, at roughly the same price, are only good for five years and most Canadians wouldn't think of leaving Canada without one.

 

My advice to anyone who travels outside the US or Canada, take a passport with you. Most likely everything will go smoothly and you won't need it, but why take a chance. You know Murphy's Law ...

[Bakincakes]

Please don't flame me - I am a Canadian and just asking this question out of curiosity. :confused:

 

Why are Americans so reluctant to get a passport? The price of your passport is a bargain as it is good for ten years. Our passports, at roughly the same price, are only good for five years and most Canadians wouldn't think of leaving Canada without one.

 

My advice to anyone who travels outside the US or Canada, take a passport with you. Most likely everything will go smoothly and you won't need it, but why take a chance. You know Murphy's Law ...

 

 

I'm betting monetary...for a family of four it is a big chunck of change. People should do them gradually if that is the case. Do two a year...or it could just be laziness..don't want to bother if all they need is a BC to get where they want to go.

[Taxguy77]

In this day and age, best advise you can get is if you wish to travel outside the U.S., get a passport.

 

Save yourself the stress, angyst and confusion.

A Passport is the universally accepted means of Identification.

Save up for your trip a bit longer and invest in a passport....... it's good for ten years.

 

OP is getting married on the cruise. Will there be a name change? How would that affect status? Also any air travel involved , airlines have new requirements.

[colomom]

OP is getting married on the cruise. Will there be a name change? How would that affect status? Also any air travel involved , airlines have new requirements.

 

As far as the airlines go: the name change is not instantaneous. Our marriage license had a place to indicate that I would be taking my husband's last name but I didn't actually do any of the necessary paperwork (contact social security, change driver's license, notify credit cards, etc. etc. etc.) until weeks after our wedding.

 

But, I wonder if you would have to buy a brand new passport?

 

ETA: question answered (http://travel.state.gov/passport/forms/ds5504/ds5504_2663.html) as long as you submit the paperwork within 90 days there is no fee and you don't even need to get new pictures.

[sail7seas]

You CAN'T do any name change paperwork until after your name changes. :D

 

Until you have actually married, you have to do everything in maiden name.

Until the marriage occurs, there isn't a new name but I'm sure no one needed me to point that out. :o

 

[Langley Cruisers]

...but I'm sure no one needed me to point that out. :o

 

Awww... we all still need ya. ;):D

[njhorseman]

Please don't flame me - I am a Canadian and just asking this question out of curiosity. :confused:

 

Why are Americans so reluctant to get a passport? The price of your passport is a bargain as it is good for ten years. Our passports, at roughly the same price, are only good for five years and most Canadians wouldn't think of leaving Canada without one.

 

My advice to anyone who travels outside the US or Canada, take a passport with you. Most likely everything will go smoothly and you won't need it, but why take a chance. You know Murphy's Law ...

 

I think you have to understand the history. As US citizens, we never needed passports to travel to Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, the Bahamas and the Caribbean Islands. Then, in response to concerns about terrorism after 9/11, our own government, not the governments of the other countries, imposed new requirements on our own citizens, which doesn't make a heck of a lot of sense to a lot of people.

[kitty9]

Please don't flame me - I am a Canadian and just asking this question out of curiosity. :confused:

 

Why are Americans so reluctant to get a passport? The price of your passport is a bargain as it is good for ten years. Our passports, at roughly the same price, are only good for five years and most Canadians wouldn't think of leaving Canada without one.

 

My advice to anyone who travels outside the US or Canada, take a passport with you. Most likely everything will go smoothly and you won't need it, but why take a chance. You know Murphy's Law ...

 

There are a lot of reasons. You have some who don't blink an eye to spend thousands on a cruise and more than a few hundred on the bar bill, but they won't part with the cash for a passport.

 

There are others who are conspiracy theorists who think if you get a passport, you're giving up some kind of freedom---I don't get that excuse, but I know a lot who won't get a passport for that reason.

 

Then there are those who don't realize they need one. I saw one couple who were trying to board a plane for England and were very surprised to learn they needed a passport.

 

Finally, like another poster said, laziness. It does take a bit of work to get a passport and some just don't want to bother.

[Shorex]

Here's the conundrum: there is a large number of cruisers who refuse to get a passport unless they absolutely must in order to take their cruise. There is another group who, whether or not a passport is required for their cruise, insists on having their passport in their possession every moment while in port, even when just swimming on some Caribbean beach. Neither group understands the other. :rolleyes:

[matj2000]

See what I mean????