Get a Spare Birth Certificate for Cruising.....

[sail7seas]

For those who still refuse to get a Passport at least get a spare birth certificate if at all possible.

 

Time and again we read someone is ready to cruise and can't find their birth certificate. For most of us, it is so easy to have a spare copy I wouldn't dream of not having a spare for DH and myself.

 

We have had passports for years and always travel with them but years ago, I called City Hall in the city where we were born, asked the fee (it was very inexpensive) for new original birth certificates (though I had ours safely in placein our house), sent a letter and a check and a week later had a spare for each of us. I store the spares in a different place than the first ones I have.

 

Think about a 'back up plan' so you don't have this panic attack when it is time to cruise..... or better yet......

 

Have Both.

Have Passport AND Birth Certificate.

 

Just a suggestion. I so hate when I hear people in a frenzy with their cruise days away and they don't know if they will be permitted to board. When we all learn???

[Lov2Cruisseee!!!!]

great idea..can someone tell me how much it is to get a passport now and how long does it take?

[Langley Cruisers]

Have Both.

Have Passport AND Birth Certificate.

 

If a person gets a passport, they will already have their birth certificate. :)

[sail7seas]

Yes, of course. But you have to send that passport for renewal every 10 (really 9 1/2) years. It's good to have birth certificate as back up. We are on our third or maybe it's fourth passport but I am very careful, as I said, to have original birth certificates at my fingertips.

 

I don't have to tear my hair out the days before a cruise worrying where to find our ID.

[Colorado Kat]

If you do get a spare birth certificate, it would be great to store it someplace totally different. Such as a bank safe deposit box, or a relative's house. Fires do happen from time to time.

[dobiemom]

Have Both.

Have Passport AND Birth Certificate.

 

Just a suggestion. I so hate when I hear people in a frenzy with their cruise days away and they don't know if they will be permitted to board. When we all learn???

 

If you do get a spare birth certificate, it would be great to store it someplace totally different. Such as a bank safe deposit box, or a relative's house. Fires do happen from time to time.

Excellent ideas, thanks!

[Keith1010]

great idea..can someone tell me how much it is to get a passport now and how long does it take?

 

A new USA passport is $165.00 and lasts for 10 years.

 

Processing times range from 4 to 6 weeks and 2 to 3 weeks for those expedited. Sometimes the intervals are less than this. This is just an average.

 

Keith

[Keith1010]

For those who still refuse to get a Passport at least get a spare birth certificate if at all possible.

 

Time and again we read someone is ready to cruise and can't find their birth certificate. For most of us, it is so easy to have a spare copy I wouldn't dream of not having a spare for DH and myself.

 

We have had passports for years and always travel with them but years ago, I called City Hall in the city where we were born, asked the fee (it was very inexpensive) for new original birth certificates (though I had ours safely in placein our house), sent a letter and a check and a week later had a spare for each of us. I store the spares in a different place than the first ones I have.

 

Think about a 'back up plan' so you don't have this panic attack when it is time to cruise..... or better yet......

 

Have Both.

Have Passport AND Birth Certificate.

 

Just a suggestion. I so hate when I hear people in a frenzy with their cruise days away and they don't know if they will be permitted to board. When we all learn???

 

Always good to have spare birth certificates. When our kids were born we ordered three for each of them and likewise we have gotten extra ones for us. Often you can do this via the internet in many localities.

 

For those who cruise I continue to recommend a passport just in case they have to return home by air due to an emergency.

 

Keith

[sail7seas]

I fully agree, Keith. We wouldn't dream of traveling without a passport, however, no matter it is now 10 years post 9-11 some people do not agree with us. :rolleyes: :D

[Keith1010]

I fully agree, Keith. We wouldn't dream of traveling without a passport, however, no matter it is now 10 years post 9-11 some people do not agree with us. :rolleyes: :D

 

I agree with you as well. We are in synch.

 

Keith

[sherilyn70]

Think about a 'back up plan' so you don't have this panic attack when it is time to cruise..... or better yet......

 

Have Both.

Have Passport AND Birth Certificate.

 

Just a suggestion. I so hate when I hear people in a frenzy with their cruise days away and they don't know if they will be permitted to board. When we all learn???

 

We did the same thing last cruise... I had our birth certificates plus our passports with us.

[sherilyn70]

I fully agree, Keith. We wouldn't dream of traveling without a passport, however, no matter it is now 10 years post 9-11 some people do not agree with us. :rolleyes: :D

 

Same here... first cruise I took was just on my birth certificate. It was rather short notice and I didn't know if I'd ever want to cruise again so I went without. I went ahead and planned on a passport the last time we cruised and now I realize I have the freedom to do anything I want for vacation and might consider just booking a 7 day vacation in Barbabos or go visit friends in the UK, Mexico, Sweden or Australia if I so desire. I'm not sure why I didn't do it sooner. :)

[PennyAgain]

Some of us who were born prior to the 1950's on US military bases have a really difficult time getting copies of our birth certificates as the originals were all stored in the same place (St. Louis I think) and that building had a fire.

 

When I finally got mine it had the wrong birthdate!

 

Fortunately I was able to find some older relatives who remembered me as an infant and what season of the year it was. Took a lot of doing but I finally got an official birth certificate with the correct date.

 

I used that to get my first passport.

 

I would hate to think that someone in the same situation is planning to get a birth certificate for a cruise at the last minute.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Back in the early 70's we were on a land tour -- a couple in our party had their passports stolen. They had copies of their passports back at the hotel. They went to the US Embassy with those copies -- and were issued new passports within a couple of days -- Rome, Italy.

 

Since then, each time we renew our passports I make color copies of them and take them with us -- just to be on the safe side.

[wrp96]

Since then, each time we renew our passports I make color copies of them and take them with us -- just to be on the safe side.

 

I do that, but I also have my passport scanned into an online document account.