Need help! Passport question for Divina Caribbean out of Miami

[AmoMondo]

My passport expired and I just never had the need to get it renewed. $130 for a passport is a good deal of money, at least to me it is. My girlfriend hasn't left the country ever, so she obviously never had the need for one. For us to both get them, would be over $300 with fees. That's almost half of what we paid for the entire cruise. I won't miss the ship, and no emergency will get me to leave my vacation early :D

 

Well I truly hope you are correct. To say that no emergency will get me to leave the ship early may not be within your control. Yes, you can chose not to return home early because a loved one is seriously I'll or at death's door. However what if the person is you or your partner? Anyone can have an accident onboard or ashore. Anyone can take seriously I'll or just need a minor OP immediately. Ship has a hospital that will deal with minor stuff but they decide, not the passenger, if they get to stay onboard or are shipped ashore for treatment. None of us want these things to happen, nor do we plan for them to happen, but they do happen from time to time.

 

It's like those who travel without insurance because nothing is going to happen to them. Most of the time it doesn't, but the time it does, boy donthey suffer financially for it. Costs more than years worth of premiums for insurance would have cost.

 

We all have different attitudes towards the risks we take. Mine is different from yours. Then again I can't travel at all without a passport and I travel a lot. The costs of that and insurance are just part and parcel of the cost of travelling for me.

Edited November 4, 2014 by AmoMondo

[mikesteg]

I've been aware of this for sometime for US citizens. What I don't understand is why anyone would want to leave their country without a passport even if they can on a closed loop cruise. The absolute nightmare that must occur should some kind of emergency require you to leave the ship doesn't bear thinking about. How exactly do you get home? What of you miss the ship?

 

We are Americans! Who would dare to make it difficult to get back home? Except, of course, Homeland Security. :D

 

Are US passports so expensive or hard to get that people choose to travel without them?

 

They can be a bit difficult because the United States Postal Service is typically the location where we have to go to submit. It took 4 trips to get passport apps submitted for our twins just months after they were born, in the same county of the same state, etc. About as easy as it can get, but the USPS in Texas seemed to go out of it's way to make things difficult. Really odd since they make a fortune from it, with the $25 fee for every application.

 

Documentation requirements are quite strict, as the should be, but given some time and a bit of effort they are easy to manage for most people.

 

I think passports are relatively cheap for what they provide. My kids and I are coming due for renewal. Until a person reaches 16, they cannot actually renew and must submit a new application in person at an office. That means it will be $105 for a 5 year passport (x2 for our twins). Mine will be $110 for a 10 year renewal, but would be $135 for a new app. Renewals (for adults) can be done via mail and are a piece of cake.

 

That said, it's understandable that someone who is going on a cruise for the first time wouldn't want to spend $500 for a family of 4, not knowing if they'll every use the passports again. Only recently have we needed meaningful ID to go into Canada, and probably the same for Mexico. It's not the same situation an across the pond, where a passport is a given.

 

Of course, this has been going on for 13 years now. It's long past time to make passports a requirement for any international travel for U.S. citizens. If that reduces the interest in cruising, and prices go lower, than is a burden that I'm willing to bear. :D

[JohnLocke2012]

Well I truly hope you are correct. To say that no emergency will get me to leave the ship early may not be within your control. Yes, you can chose not to return home early because a loved one is seriously I'll or at death's door. However what if the person is you or your partner? Anyone can have an accident onboard or ashore. Anyone can take seriously I'll or just need a minor OP immediately. Ship has a hospital that will deal with minor stuff but they decide, not the passenger, if they get to stay onboard or are shipped ashore for treatment. None of us want these things to happen, nor do we plan for them to happen, but they do happen from time to time.

 

It's like those who travel without insurance because nothing is going to happen to them. Most of the time it doesn't, but the time it does, boy donthey suffer financially for it. Costs more than years worth of premiums for insurance would have cost.

 

We all have different attitudes towards the risks we take. Mine is different from yours. Then again I can't travel at all without a passport and I travel a lot. The costs of that and insurance are just part and parcel of the cost of travelling for me.

 

I don't travel very much, and when I do, it's never international travel with the exception of cruises. It wouldn't pay for me to get one, but I can understand those who do travel with one for the piece of mind.

[anamarieus]

Neither mine nor my mans birth certificate have raised seals but they have watermarks. To my knpwlesge they dont do raised seals all that often anymore.