Passports and sickness

[bdoss2640]

Okay so I am confused..My child has Epilepsy and is stable for now..We are cruising in Dec..and I was not planning on getting them passports but if she has a really bad seizure and needed to be flown to a hospital in state could she without a passport..and would a passport card work..HElP bc now I am paniced

[Langoustine]

I would get her a passport. My understanding is that a passport card will not allow her to fly.

[kitty9]

Passport cards are useless for air travel. Get the passport because it just makes things easier. I know when we had to have mom medically evacuated off a Celebrity ship, when the plane landed at a private airport in Ft Lauderdale, a US Customs agent boarded the jet and looked at our passports before we could take mom off the jet and into the ambulance.

[6rugrats]

She would need a passport to fly, and so would whoever went back to the states with her. A passport card would be useless to board a plane. I don't know why one bad seizure would require a return to the states, but I am not really sure what you mean by that.

 

If she has a medical problem that the ship can't deal with, they will off load you and you'll have to go to the local hospital. You'd be responsible for the medical expenses, lodging, etc., and your return to the states. If you need a medical evacuation that can run into many thousands of dollars.

 

i hope you purchased travel insurance for this trip.

[Woodmnky]

Although I understand that the expense can be great, it would be beneficial to have passports. You still have time to get them. Unsure of who all is traveling with you, but if you at least bought passports for 1 adult and your child with epilepsy that way one adult and the child could at least get back to the States quickly.

[Boo's Mom]

Okay so I am confused..My child has Epilepsy and is stable for now..We are cruising in Dec..and I was not planning on getting them passports but if she has a really bad seizure and needed to be flown to a hospital in state could she without a passport..and would a passport card work..HElP bc now I am paniced

 

Don't panic.

 

Assuming that you are a USA resident, you have plenty of time to get a passport.

 

And yes, I would highly recommend that you get them.

[uppitycats]

Okay so I am confused..My child has Epilepsy and is stable for now..We are cruising in Dec..and I was not planning on getting them passports but if she has a really bad seizure and needed to be flown to a hospital in state could she without a passport..and would a passport card work..HElP bc now I am paniced

 

Just to confirm what the others said -- no need to panic, there's plenty of time to get a passport (turn-around time is about 3-4 weeks). And the passport card is only good for land travel and some other very specific circumstances. So she'd need a passport, as well as you. Travel insurance would be a good option too -- but if you're already booked your cruise and haven't gotten it (insurance for pre-existing conditions), it might be too late! You might want to check with your travel agent about that.

 

Have a great cruise!