Passport for 3 year old

[madisonsteel]

Going on the Enchantment of the seas and taking my daughter who will be almost 4 when we sail. Should I go ahead and get her a passport like my husband and I or do most people just do birth certificate for kids? Thanks for any advice

[Clarea]

Going on the Enchantment of the seas and taking my daughter who will be almost 4 when we sail. Should I go ahead and get her a passport like my husband and I or do most people just do birth certificate for kids? Thanks for any advice

It's your choice, a birth certificate will suffice for that cruise. Chances are you will be OK, but if anything did come up that would require flying back to the US, then you would have to jump through some hoops before they would let someone without a passport on the plane.

[sharktums]

Get the passport. You never know what could happen on that cruise plus for the next five years it will be good.

[setsail]

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/customersupport/faq/details.do?pagename=frequently_asked_questions&pnav=5&pnav=2&faqType=faq&faqSubjectId=329&faqSubjectName=Cruise+Documents&faqId=2814

 

You should do whatever meets the needs of your family and the regulations

Edited April 7, 2014 by setsail

[Host Faith]

We got a passport for our (then) 10-month old for our cruise in January. Mostly for ease of travel and peace of mind. If you think you might cruise or travel with her a bit over the next 5 years, I think it's worth it.

[readytolose]

If you are from the USA you can just use a birth certificate. If you plan on doing more trips with her in the next few years then go ahead and spring for the passport. If you really don't see many vacations in the next few years then I would save the money and spend it on something else!

[cruizinawayinva]

We get our kids a passport so we don't have to worry about flying back if something did happen by chance. My oldest was on his first cruise at 18 months and my youngest 16 months and got a passport for both.

[westvalleywood]

We are sailing this May with our 2 year-old. We got a passport for him, but we are also planning to travel to Argentina next year.

My advice, get a passport, it's cheap insurance and just might motivate you to use it again :-)

 

 

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[madisonsteel]

Ok passport seems like the best idea I didn't even think about flying back if necessary that is a great point. Thanks everyone!

[Seatravelers]

Goddaughters first cruise at 8 months. They got her a passport even though it was not necessary. You just never know what can happen and better safe than sorry, even if it is a pain to go through the paperwork, picture, etc...JMHO

[The Grumpus]

We got our daughter a passport when she was one and it's good for five years. We needed it to travel to Nassau but I would have got her one for a cruise as well. It's one less thing to worry about if for some reason we get stuck on a non-US island.

 

It going to look funny though when she's 5 and traveling with a passport showing a 1-yr old on it.

Edited April 7, 2014 by The Grumpus

[lmares1968]

My granddaughter was born in Okinawa. Her passport picture was taken as a newborn. She's 5 going on 6 now, and it just seems so much easier to have a passport, although I know it's not necessary.;)

[Lynn the Cruiser]

My 18 month old grandson has a passport but he had also gone to the Caymen Islands a month before his cruise. I think it is much easier with a passport, especially if you plan to travel.

[ryano]

Im all for Passports for everyone who travels outside the US. With that said, are we really to believe there would be a siginifcant hold up if the two parents had a valid Passport but the child only had a birth certificate and they had to fly back to the US for some unknown reason?

 

Dont flame me. Its an honest question that I truly dont know. Again, Im all for Passports.

[Carolla5501]

Im all for Passports for everyone who travels outside the US. With that said, are we really to believe there would be a siginifcant hold up if the two parents had a valid Passport but the child only had a birth certificate and they had to fly back to the US for some unknown reason?

 

Dont flame me. Its an honest question that I truly dont know. Again, Im all for Passports.

 

Yes it will be a HUGE hassle. For a lot of reasons including the fact that they will want to verify that is YOUR child. Then you will still have to get a passport. There's no way to get past immigration without one. No "free baby" rule. sorry!

 

The Immigration in Atlanta is run by folks who seemed determined to prove that most of us are sneaking back in on illegal passports anyway LOL!

Edited April 7, 2014 by Carolla5501

[Merion_Mom]

Yes it will be a HUGE hassle. For a lot of reasons including the fact that they will want to verify that is YOUR child. Then you will still have to get a passport. There's no way to get past immigration without one. No "free baby" rule. sorry!

 

The Immigration in Atlanta is run by folks who seemed determined to prove that most of us are sneaking back in on illegal passports anyway LOL!

 

"free baby" LOL!!!!!! :D

[LovesCruising]

We got a passport for our (then) 10-month old for our cruise in January. Mostly for ease of travel and peace of mind. If you think you might cruise or travel with her a bit over the next 5 years, I think it's worth it.

 

Grandson got his first passport at 6 months!

[LissyTx]

Ok, so we were going to just travel with her birth certificate, but this thread has made me rethink it.

 

Any tips to get the picture?

 

She's only 5.5 months now and very squirmy - I think it might be hard to get a picture where she's looking at the camera in the right proportions, etc. (We're cruising when she's 7 months.)

 

Thanks!

Melissa

[jlrn366419]

Ok, so we were going to just travel with her birth certificate, but this thread has made me rethink it.

 

 

 

Any tips to get the picture?

 

 

 

She's only 5.5 months now and very squirmy - I think it might be hard to get a picture where she's looking at the camera in the right proportions, etc. (We're cruising when she's 7 months.)

 

 

 

Thanks!

 

Melissa

 

 

Take her to a place that does passport photos instead of trying it on your own. Usually only costs $6-$10 for the 2 photos.

 

 

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[Mom.to.2]

Definitely take the baby somewhere that does passport photos. We get ours at our local AAA. Our Walgreens does them too.

 

While most people on this thread have gotten their children passports (including myself) my impression is that most parents do NOT get passports for their children.

[Ambiverol]

We just got our first 'little guy' a passport for his upcoming Allure cruise. He's just squeaking by the early mark for a RCI cruise (6 mos.).

 

We chose to get the passport. He doesn't "need" it, but it is great peace of mind for any unsuspecting problems that may arise.

 

Getting medevac'ed off of the ship is extreme. It is more likely that we will be in the position to fly home early from a port if he becomes seriously ill. I'd hate to have an unexpected delay in that situation. It is cheap insurance.

 

The passport is good for five years. We could not get a good pic at home, and took him to the local drug store (2 months old) to get a proper pic. It worked out great, and we are happy to have got the passport. The pic looked like a baby mugshot!

 

You can legally do the birth cert. method or passport, but it was a "no brainer" for us.

 

Best Wishes!

[mollyeilis]

Im all for Passports for everyone who travels outside the US. With that said, are we really to believe there would be a siginifcant hold up if the two parents had a valid Passport but the child only had a birth certificate and they had to fly back to the US for some unknown reason?

 

Dont flame me. Its an honest question that I truly dont know. Again, Im all for Passports.

 

No way to know how long it would take. Doesn't seem like it would be much fun, even if it were a 30 minute delay (which it wouldn't be), if you had an emergency bad enough to fly home immediately.

 

 

 

Ok, so we were going to just travel with her birth certificate, but this thread has made me rethink it.

 

Any tips to get the picture?

 

She's only 5.5 months now and very squirmy - I think it might be hard to get a picture where she's looking at the camera in the right proportions, etc. (We're cruising when she's 7 months.)

 

Thanks!

Melissa

 

 

There are hints on the passport site. But I would just take the baby to AAA or a passport place that does photos.

[erin327]

When we got our oldest her first passport she was only a month or so old. We took her to a place that does passport photos, but they still had no idea how to do hers since she couldn't hold her head up yet. The pictures they ended up getting had my hands in them too. None of us thought that would work. We ended up going to another place that does passport photos. They knew just how to do it! I had brought a plain white blanket to use as the background thinking maybe we could somehow put it behind her in the car seat for the photo. They just had us lay the white blanket on the floor and lay her on it. Then the photographer stood over her and took the picture worked great. So if the first passport photo place you try doesn't know how to deal with babies, try another.