Passport Requirements

[miss_rach]

Thinking about a family cruise next year and trying to find out if passports are required. My sister and her family (5 total) don't travel outside the country; ever, so spending a ton of $ for passports might be a waste. They don't cruise either, this would be the 1st and due to where they live and finances last for some time. So I'm trying to find out if it's a MUST. I know when we come back from all the daily Island trips we only have to show our carnival ID cards.

 

Thanx for any info you all can provide!

[1025cruise]

If it is a closed loop roundtrip cruise, then a birth certificate and photo id will be sufficient. However, if there is any emergency that would require a flight home, you will need a passport.

[paul929207]

If it is a closed loop roundtrip cruise, then a birth certificate and photo id will be sufficient. However, if there is any emergency that would require a flight home, you will need a passport.

Just to add to the above, this is the rule for US citizens

[Keith1010]

We need to be careful on definition here.

 

Yes, if they are USA citizens and are beginning and ending cruise in the same USA port and visiting say the Caribbean they do not need a passport. However, if they were starting and ending in the USA and visiting say Europe they do need a Passport.

 

Also in the case of the Caribbean should there be an emergency whereby they have to leave the ship and fly back to the USA a passport would be required for the flight.

 

Keith

[donaldsc]

Where is the cruise going to?

 

DON

[Warm Breezes]

Thinking about a family cruise next year and trying to find out if passports are required. My sister and her family (5 total) don't travel outside the country; ever, so spending a ton of $ for passports might be a waste. They don't cruise either, this would be the 1st and due to where they live and finances last for some time. So I'm trying to find out if it's a MUST. I know when we come back from all the daily Island trips we only have to show our carnival ID cards.

 

Thanx for any info you all can provide!

 

Passports are not a MUST if:

 

1. It is a closed-loop cruise going to/from the same US Port.

2. They are US Citizens.

 

Having said this, they will need Certified Birth Certificates issued by the governments department of vital statistics not the hospital. You can get these through vitalcheck.com if you are not sure you have the correct ones and if 16 or older you need a valid government issued photo ID (ie drivers license).

 

The chances of needing a passport in the case of an emergency in order to fly home are extremely small on a closed loop cruise and varies depending on your personal circumstances. We each must weigh those risks with the cost when making the decision to get passports or not. You will not, however, be left stranded in a foreign port. Emergency passports and/or waivers can be issued by our government if needed in emergency circumstances. My family has sailed 9 times without passports without any issues.

[dwjoe]

Check with your cruise line as well - a few lines impose a passport requirement over and above government requirements.

[Warm Breezes]

Check with your cruise line as well - a few lines impose a passport requirement over and above government requirements.

She stated Carnival in her OP....if that is the case then what I posted holds true.

[miss_rach]

Cruise is going to be a 5 - 7 day out of one of the ports here in FL down in to the Caribbean.

 

So it looks like a passport IS NOT required. I got it about the emergency flight or missing the departure from a port but besides that one IS NOT required

[Shmoo here]

Cruise is going to be a 5 - 7 day out of one of the ports here in FL down in to the Caribbean.

 

So it looks like a passport IS NOT required. I got it about the emergency flight or missing the departure from a port but besides that one IS NOT required

 

The minimum requirement for US citizens on a closed loop cruise (beginning and ending in the same US port) is a CERTIFIED birth certificate and (for those 16 and over) a government issued photo ID.

[njhorseman]

The minimum requirement for US citizens on a closed loop cruise (beginning and ending in the same US port) is a CERTIFIED birth certificate and (for those 16 and over) a government issued photo ID.

 

The regulations do not use the word "certified".

 

The exact wording in the regulation for the necessary document is: "either an original or a copy of his or her birth certificate".

 

In practice the birth certificate has to have been issued by the government agency...either state, city or county, where you were born. Hospital-issued birth certificates are not official documents and are not acceptable.

[Shmoo here]

The regulations do not use the word "certified".

 

The exact wording in the regulation for the necessary document is: "either an original or a copy of his or her birth certificate".

 

In practice the birth certificate has to have been issued by the government agency...either state, city or county, where you were born. Hospital-issued birth certificates are not official documents and are not acceptable.

 

Yes, but it goes on to say:

 

U.S. Citizens on closed-loop cruises will be able to enter or depart the country on the cruise with proof of citizenship, such as an original or copy of his or her birth certificate (issued by the Vital Records Department in the state where he or she was born) and, if 16 or older, a government issued photo ID. If the child is a newborn and the actual birth certificate has not arrived from the Vital Records Department, we will accept a Hospital issued birth certificate. The United States does not require you to have a passport. (A Consular report of Birth Abroad issued by the Department of State or a Certificate of Naturalization is also acceptable.)

https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/1139/kw/closed%20loop

 

So, while the word certified isn't there, it has to be an official document, not just a photocopy that someone may have made.

[njhorseman]

Yes, but it goes on to say:

 

U.S. Citizens on closed-loop cruises will be able to enter or depart the country on the cruise with proof of citizenship, such as an original or copy of his or her birth certificate (issued by the Vital Records Department in the state where he or she was born) and, if 16 or older, a government issued photo ID. If the child is a newborn and the actual birth certificate has not arrived from the Vital Records Department, we will accept a Hospital issued birth certificate. The United States does not require you to have a passport. (A Consular report of Birth Abroad issued by the Department of State or a Certificate of Naturalization is also acceptable.)

https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/1139/kw/closed%20loop

 

So, while the word certified isn't there, it has to be an official document, not just a photocopy that someone may have made.

 

You're wrong...a copy is clearly allowed, not only by the words I quoted earlier (which are directly from the official published regulations at 22 CFR § 53.2 (b)(2)) , but also the word "copy" is right there in the explanation you just posted. Read the words from your post above I've highlighted in black: "such as an original or copy of his or her birth certificate ".

 

Certainly the word "certified", which is what you claimed was required in your original post is nowhere to be found in the regulations. "Certified" is nothing but a Cruise Critic "urban legend" that is nowhere to be found in the regulations.

[sparks1093]

Yes, but it goes on to say:

 

U.S. Citizens on closed-loop cruises will be able to enter or depart the country on the cruise with proof of citizenship, such as an original or copy of his or her birth certificate (issued by the Vital Records Department in the state where he or she was born) and, if 16 or older, a government issued photo ID. If the child is a newborn and the actual birth certificate has not arrived from the Vital Records Department, we will accept a Hospital issued birth certificate. The United States does not require you to have a passport. (A Consular report of Birth Abroad issued by the Department of State or a Certificate of Naturalization is also acceptable.)

https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/1139/kw/closed%20loop

 

 

So, while the word certified isn't there, it has to be an official document, not just a photocopy that someone may have made.

 

I traveled with a photocopy in October with no problems. Yes, it is best to travel with the original if you can but a photocopy does work.

[sparks1093]

You're wrong...a copy is clearly allowed, not only by the words I quoted earlier (which are directly from the official published regulations at 22 CFR § 53.2 (b)(2)) , but also the word "copy" is right there in the explanation you just posted. Read the words from your post above I've highlighted in black: "such as an original or copy of his or her birth certificate ".

 

Certainly the word "certified", which is what you claimed was required in your original post is nowhere to be found in the regulations. "Certified" is nothing but a Cruise Critic "urban legend" that is nowhere to be found in the regulations.

 

Exactly. In fact, if one were to find a copy of the regulations as originally proposed the word "certified" was part of them, but by the time the final regulations were passed it had been deleted (I doubt that this is where the urban legend came from though because there aren't many who have read the regulations, proposed or final).

[cherylandtk]

Urban legends and CFR phrasing history aside, many of the Cruiseline requirements DO state "certified" copies are a requirement. Certified is also a requirement when applying for a passport, so that is what many people presume is the government standard.

[sparks1093]

Urban legends and CFR phrasing history aside, many of the Cruiseline requirements DO state "certified" copies are a requirement. Certified is also a requirement when applying for a passport, so that is what many people presume is the government standard.

 

If DHS required a certified copy than they would have said so in the CFR (they would have had to say so, actually in order to enforce it). Just because people (and cruise lines) read into it doesn't change it.

[cherylandtk]

Not disagreeing with you Sparks as to what the reg says, just pointing out that the cruiselines are allowed to impose more stringent requirements than the government does. Carnival allows pax to board with photocopies of a government issued BC. Princess, Royal and NCL do not. (although they may choose to defer to an ICE agent at the port.)

 

It would be a disservice to the OP to imply that all pax can travel with just a photocopy, even though it is allowed by the DHS and the regs.

 

And FWIW, I did go back and check the Federal Register listings from 2001-2006, the word "certified" was never listed in the proposed CFR rule change. It was always just 'copy' or 'suitable copy'.

[sparks1093]

Not disagreeing with you Sparks as to what the reg says, just pointing out that the cruiselines are allowed to impose more stringent requirements than the government does. Carnival allows pax to board with photocopies of a government issued BC. Princess, Royal and NCL do not. (although they may choose to defer to an ICE agent at the port.)

 

It would be a disservice to the OP to imply that all pax can travel with just a photocopy, even though it is allowed by the DHS and the regs.

 

And FWIW, I did go back and check the Federal Register listings from 2001-2006, the word "certified" was never listed in the proposed CFR rule change. It was always just 'copy' or 'suitable copy'.

 

It's from the proposed rules in 2007 and if I linked it correctly here's the link: https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2007/06/26/07-3104/documents-required-for-travelers-departing-from-or-arriving-in-the-united-states-at-sea-and-land#p-255

[njhorseman]

Not disagreeing with you Sparks as to what the reg says, just pointing out that the cruiselines are allowed to impose more stringent requirements than the government does. Carnival allows pax to board with photocopies of a government issued BC. Princess, Royal and NCL do not. (although they may choose to defer to an ICE agent at the port.)

 

It would be a disservice to the OP to imply that all pax can travel with just a photocopy, even though it is allowed by the DHS and the regs.

 

And FWIW, I did go back and check the Federal Register listings from 2001-2006, the word "certified" was never listed in the proposed CFR rule change. It was always just 'copy' or 'suitable copy'.

 

If you can believe a cable television special made about the Oasis of the Seas, Royal Caribbean actually accepted a copy of a birth certificate faxed to the port by a family member when a passenger forgot to bring theirs.

 

AFAIK it's the ship's captain (or realistically the ship's officer delegated that responsibility) to determine whether a particular document is acceptable upon embarkation, not anyone from DHS (and it's not ICE anyway...they're the investigative arm of DHS concerned with smuggling, human trafficking and illegal immigration...it's CBP that does the normal processing of people and cargo at ports). DHS would only step in on the back end...if they determine when passengers reenter the country that the cruise line has not been following the rules. The cruise line would then have their feet held to the fire and presumably could be fined.

[RNRcruisers]

I interpreted "copy" to mean an official copy from the state of birth, as in, if you have lost your actual original. But you need an official stamped one for other stuff so I would think most people have that anyway. We have been on 9 cruises, including one with our kids, and never had a passport until this year. It was never an issue although I admit it was easier for us this year with our passports. Just simpler to hand over one document.

[slidergirl]

If you can believe a cable television special made about the Oasis of the Seas, Royal Caribbean actually accepted a copy of a birth certificate faxed to the port by a family member when a passenger forgot to bring theirs.

 

AFAIK it's the ship's captain (or realistically the ship's officer delegated that responsibility) to determine whether a particular document is acceptable upon embarkation, not anyone from DHS (and it's not ICE anyway...they're the investigative arm of DHS concerned with smuggling, human trafficking and illegal immigration...it's CBP that does the normal processing of people and cargo at ports). DHS would only step in on the back end...if they determine when passengers reenter the country that the cruise line has not been following the rules. The cruise line would then have their feet held to the fire and presumably could be fined.

 

If it is like the airlines, the cruiseline will be fined if they allow someone without the proper documentation to board. Even with a closed-loop trip, they would be held to the same standards.

 

As for the "copy" deal, I also take it to be the copy must be an official one, from your birth state's department of vital statistics or equivalent department. That's what you have to have for a passport, an original or a copy issued by the government.

Just because we have some anectodal information about people being able to skirt the official copy and just have a photocopy, it doesn't mean that it will work for everyone. Play it safe and order that official copy! You'll need it when you step out of the closed-loop "kiddie pool" and into the larger world of cruising anywhere you want, where you will need your passport ;)

[sparks1093]

If it is like the airlines, the cruiseline will be fined if they allow someone without the proper documentation to board. Even with a closed-loop trip, they would be held to the same standards.

 

As for the "copy" deal, I also take it to be the copy must be an official one, from your birth state's department of vital statistics or equivalent department. That's what you have to have for a passport, an original or a copy issued by the government.

Just because we have some anectodal information about people being able to skirt the official copy and just have a photocopy, it doesn't mean that it will work for everyone. Play it safe and order that official copy! You'll need it when you step out of the closed-loop "kiddie pool" and into the larger world of cruising anywhere you want, where you will need your passport ;)

 

The only way that the DHS regulations make sense when they say "original or copy" is if one interprets "original" as the document one receives from the state and "copy" means a copy of that document. The reason that I presented a copy when I sailed was to prove that it wouldn't be an issue.

 

Yes, it is best to bring the original, but it is also important to keep in mind that a copy will also work- somone grabs the expired passport instead of their current one, a faxed birth certificate saves their cruise; someone loses their documentation on the way to the port and the electronic copy of the birth certificate on their laptop printed at the port saves their cruise. It is always best to know all of the alternatives that are available.

[njhorseman]

I interpreted "copy" to mean an official copy from the state of birth, as in, if you have lost your actual original. But you need an official stamped one for other stuff so I would think most people have that anyway. We have been on 9 cruises, including one with our kids, and never had a passport until this year. It was never an issue although I admit it was easier for us this year with our passports. Just simpler to hand over one document.

 

If it is like the airlines, the cruiseline will be fined if they allow someone without the proper documentation to board. Even with a closed-loop trip, they would be held to the same standards.

 

As for the "copy" deal, I also take it to be the copy must be an official one, from your birth state's department of vital statistics or equivalent department. That's what you have to have for a passport, an original or a copy issued by the government.

Just because we have some anectodal information about people being able to skirt the official copy and just have a photocopy, it doesn't mean that it will work for everyone. Play it safe and order that official copy! You'll need it when you step out of the closed-loop "kiddie pool" and into the larger world of cruising anywhere you want, where you will need your passport ;)

 

We are not just talking about anecdotal evidence. On its website, Carnival uses the words " Original or suitable quality copy of a Birth Certificate (Issued by a government agency: state/county/city)".

 

In this thread (and others), poster sparks1093 has reported he has used a photocopy of his BC on Carnival.

 

The only reasonable interpretation of the DHS regulation's wording is that "copy" means photocopy(or even a faxed copy). If it did not, the word would be superfluous. Please note that the State Department's passport rules require a "certified copy" (a certified copy is what you get when you order a BC from your local government agency), while the DHS regulation does not...and in fact DHS removed the word "certified" from its proposed regulation prior to finalization, which clearly means that "copy" is intended to mean "copy" as we commonly understand it in everyday usage.

 

FYI, I'm not advocating using a photocopy...there's too much risk of the cruise line not accepting it...and some definitely won't, but that doesn't change the fact that the DHS regulation permits an ordinary photocopy, and some cruise lines will also do so.