Passports?

[LindaJo]

I am cruising on the Island Princess to Hawaii in October, are passports necessary as we are not leaving the country?

 

Linda

[prophotogirl]

Your Birth Certificate will be fine since you are only making a "4 hour service stop" in Mexico before returning to the US.

[giustot]

If you have passports you should take them. Technically, you are leaving the US when you stop in Mexico, even if you don't get off the ship. You will have to go through immigration when you return. A passport will speed up the process. Tom.

[BillMcAnally]

Having your passport is definitely a plus. We went on the Hawaii cruise on the Island Princess in September and returned in Oct. We had our passports and because we thought, like you, that we hadn't been out of the country, my wife packed them in our luggage that was picked up the night before disembarking. When we got to immergration they wanted to see our passports. We had a heck of a time, holding up the people behind us. They called out the uniform officers that talked to us. Drivers licence was not accepted. Luckily I had made photo copies of our passports which we carried in our wallets in case we ever lost or had them stolen. With these they did finally let us pass.

[Pam in CA]

Bill is correct. Because of the Jones Act, your cruise has technically been out of the country and is treated as such when you disembark. It's the same procedure as if you've been to a foreign country. A birth certificate and photo ID will suffice but again, like any other cruise, it's a heck of a lot easier and faster if you have a passport.

[kking0002]

Take you passports. They ask to see them when you go through immigration.

[Quacker]

When we came off the Diamond after our Mexico Cruise they had one line for US Passport people and one for other forms of ID. Out passport line moved several times faster they the other. If you have it - TAKE IT. Quack