What to do when you forget your passport...

[midwestsunshine]

We were scheduled to leave on the Jewel from Fort Lauderdale on Jan 23.

We live near Dayton, Ohio and if you recall that was the weekend of the big stormstorm threatening the Midwest and the East.

 

I wasn't too concerned since we planned to leave at 5:45am the day before the cruise. We even decided to get a motel room close to the airport so we wouldn't have to deal with any potential icy roads in the middle of the night.

My daughter dropped off my DH and I at the motel and I put in the wake-up call for 3:15am. At 10pm the phone rings. My daughter received a call at our house informing us that our flight was cancelled as well as all flights that morning out of Dayton. The only flight that had going to Ft Lauderdale (thru Atlanta) wasn't until 5:55pm Sat. Not knowing what the weather was going to be like we decided it would be in our best interest to drive to Atlanta (9 hour drive) and catch the plane to FLL from there. At midnight we rented the car and started our journey south. (Yes, we did stop for a 4 hour nap along the way).

 

We were about 4 hours out of Atlanta when for some reason I decided to check the passports. There weren't in my document holder!!! I quickly retraced my steps of the day before. I knew I had packed the passports.

Oh no, I took the passports out to scan them so I would have a copy in case they were lost or stolen. I safely put the copies in another suitcase.

I left the passports on the scanner!!

 

Okay- to make a long story short. I made calls to both RCI and to Immigration. I could not reach a "live" person in Immigration (it was the weekend). RCI said they could not let us on the ship without a passport or birth certificate since that was an immigration rule. We decided we couldn't take the chance of being denied boarding and looked to how we could get the passports sent to us.

Federal Express has a very expensive 24 hour service but couldn't pick them up until the next morning and couldn't absolutely guarentee delivery in time.

 

Thanks to my brother-in-law we found out that Delta (Delta-Dash) has will ship on their airlines if you take the package to their cargo area. There was a direct flight from Cincinnati to FLL on Sunday morning. My daughter was able to take the passports to the Cincinnati Airport where they were put on the 9:30am flight. We picked them up at FLL about 12:40p and were on the Jewel by 1:30p. It was the best $71 I ever spent. The representative at Delta-Dash said they ship passports to FLL about twice a week so I guess I'm not the only forgetful person around.

 

Lessons learned:

- Physically check that you have your passports (tickets, etc)

- Plan to arrive the day before. We would have been out of luck if we traveled the same day.

- Carry you cell phone with you. It was invaluable to us.

 

The cruise on the Jewel was wonderful. I'm just happy we were able to make it.

[hstrybuf]

Wow! That could so easily have been the end of your plans to cruise. Thanks for the excellent info about Delta. I'm almost anal when it comes to having those passports and leaving a day early.

[sailor moon]

Wow! Talk about having a heart attack :). So glad you figured out a solution. I have learned so much from this board.

[bobbie0253]

Wow! We were on the same sailing :) It was a GREAT cruise.

 

We once (Grand Princess cruise) brought my sons backpack with all his homework with us on a cruise. We got to our pre-cruise hotel, popped the trunk and there was his backpack. UGH. It was after buisness hours and a Saturday. We had to wait for a Staples to open so we could UPS, next day ,the homework and text books on Sunday. It took my son about a week to speak to me after we got home. He still hasn't forgiven me for it though.....LOL

 

Glad everthying worked out for you. We really had great weather for that cruise afer the chaos of the snowstorm.

 

Bobbie

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

Wow that is one story! It would have given me a heart attack...good thing your "womens intuition" kicked in, you checked and got it in time. Glad it had a happy ending! Your lessons learned are very good points to remember and live by!;)

 

 

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[PhoenixCruiser]

Oh my....glad your story had a happy ending and you were able to enjoy your cruise :D :D

 

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[AngelaC]

If I forgot my passport, I think I was just break down and cry. We have no family here and neither my friends nor my neighbors have a house key. I think I'll put my passport in my luggage now for my cruise in March.

 

Angela

[chotton]

Do not put your passport in any luggage that you are going to check with the airline. If the airline looses your luggage you will never get on the ship and Delta-Dash wont be able to help you.

 

When we go on cruises we always use our passports for ID when we check-in at the airport. This is a sure way of knowing we have them.

[quiltingandcruising]

I have to tell you that is my biggest fear. So what I always do is I carry all the passport - Mine, DH, DS, & DD and then the kids carry birth cert and DL and my DH carries my birth cert and DL. That way if something is lost or stolen we have a second set to get on the ship or off.

 

When my sister-in-law went to mexico 2 years ago they almost did not let her back into the county because she could not find her Birth Cert. Her husband finally found hers.

[Sheffie]

What stories! :eek: I will be sure to TRIPLE check before I leave. So glad everything worked out well for everyone.

 

Michelle

[just4kixx]

OMG!!!!!:eek: I'm sure I would have gone through every available emotion in that 24 hour period that I would have NEEDED that cruise just to collect myself!

 

So glad it worked out for you, and that the Delta flight was able to take off as scheduled!

 

Definitely $71. well spent! Glad your BIL was a wealth of knowledge that day!:)

 

I'm sure you have taught most of us something new today!;)

A

[skybaby]

I don't remember where we were going on vacation - probably Disney World- but we went to the airport the night before and spend the night at an area hotel because we had a very early flight the next morning and my DD was a toddler. We got on the shuttle bus to go to the airport and on the way, I discovered I did not have my Driver's License. Of course my DD was freaking out. I called my mother who drove my DL to the airport!

[jjbawoods]

We were scheduled to go on a cruise RCI Vision of the Seas Sept 11, 2014. We flew from Tucson on the 10th arriving Fort Lauderdale at 9 pm. During our flight from DFW to Fort Lauderdale I realized I forgot our passports. My wife was very upset because online every post said Royal Caribbean would not let you on. Two and half hours later we landed in Fort Lauderdale and I called the Crown and Anchor Society to see if there was any options. They told us no we could not board and they would cancel our cruise and return only the taxes but not the cruise fare. I told them no I would try and get our passports sent out, of course there was no way that late to get them early the next day.

 

Our kids were staying with my mother so we called them and had them scan and email copies of our birth certificates and passports even though Royal Caribbean said both had to be originals. We went to the pier around noon to see if the copies would work with our driver licenses, prepared to be turned away. When we got there the first person said there would be no problem then we went through security, at this point was wife was crying thinking we would not get on. The staff was great, hugging and taking us to the front of line and said no problem copies are fine. We got on the ship and had a great time. After the cruise we had no problem with customs either. It was a closed loop cruise so the birth certificate and DL was an option.

 

I wanted to post this so people who forget there passport and can get a copy of their birth certificate faxed or emailed to them have hope.

[FLACRUISER99]

We were scheduled to go on a cruise RCI Vision of the Seas Sept 11, 2014. We flew from Tucson on the 10th arriving Fort Lauderdale at 9 pm. During our flight from DFW to Fort Lauderdale I realized I forgot our passports. My wife was very upset because online every post said Royal Caribbean would not let you on. Two and half hours later we landed in Fort Lauderdale and I called the Crown and Anchor Society to see if there was any options. They told us no we could not board and they would cancel our cruise and return only the taxes but not the cruise fare. I told them no I would try and get our passports sent out, of course there was no way that late to get them early the next day.

 

Our kids were staying with my mother so we called them and had them scan and email copies of our birth certificates and passports even though Royal Caribbean said both had to be originals. We went to the pier around noon to see if the copies would work with our driver licenses, prepared to be turned away. When we got there the first person said there would be no problem then we went through security, at this point was wife was crying thinking we would not get on. The staff was great, hugging and taking us to the front of line and said no problem copies are fine. We got on the ship and had a great time. After the cruise we had no problem with customs either. It was a closed loop cruise so the birth certificate and DL was an option.

 

I wanted to post this so people who forget there passport and can get a copy of their birth certificate faxed or emailed to them have hope.

I think you were lucky. Might not happen next time.:eek:

[nelblu]

We have a passport holder that has enough compartments for our driver licenses, a dedicated credit card and health cards. They hang around our necks when we leave the house and easily maneuvered when we go thru security. On board, the entire package goes in the safe.