Passport not needed, right?

[njhorseman]

It's a no brainer if you want a picture form of ID for a young child

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

There are other forms of ID available, such as school IDs, and in many places the local sheriff's office or other agency such as the department of motor vehicles issues photo IDs for residents of their county or state. Here's one example :

 

http://www.alleganyco.com/sheriff/other/Photo%20ID.pdf

 

and another one, for anyone residing in NY State, issued by the DMV:

 

http://dmv.ny.gov/id-card/bget-non-driver-id-card-ndid

 

Again...it's not a no-brainer, it's only your preference.

Edited February 8, 2015 by njhorseman

[AEckhardt]

Some people can't get passports... Just saying..

[CptSticky]

....and all you people are saying is I'm american, I don't use a passport, I don't have travel insurance, and take only shipsexcursions.......

 

Well, you know that a ship can leave early???

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=4589

..... 450 cruisers were stranded in San Juan on Sunday when port authorities ordered Carnival and Royal Caribbean vessels to leave early to avoid Hurricane Irene.

 

.......I guess a lot of them had a lot of fun trying to go home again.....:rolleyes:

 

That why "everyone" in Europe uses passports when we travel......:o

I remember that incident well. Only the Royal passengers had trouble getting home, Carnival offered to fly all non passport-ed passengers to Miami and all passengers with a passport to the next island. Oh, wait, maybe that just proved your point:eek:

Royal however tried to not do the right thing for a week. After blow back here on CC and other places, they finally relented. Reason that I remember it so well.... The next year we were sitting in San Juan and were told due to a hurricane, the Serenade would not be coming to pick us up:eek: Turned out OK. The storm blew out and the ship showed up but major stress for 24 hours.

Yes, we travel with a passport and immunizations.

[JVilleGal]

What's wrong with some of you people....Do what ever you are comfortable with! If traveling closed loop cruises with out passports is your thing fine. For most of you that will be just perfect, for a few others not so wonderful.

 

I like the option to cruise and travel to other places in the world, so you bet I am going to have a passport. I am a U.S. Citizen and believe it is a privilege to have a US Passport. I have a Global Entry also as it saves a couple hours when flying home.

 

Folks you have the privilege of being able to carry a US passport that many others in the world would give almost anything for that opportunity! Our world is not as safe and secure as we once thought it was. I do not want to find myself or my family stuck in some backwater Caribbean country waiting for pencil pushers to drag their heels getting my family paperwork in order to fly home.

 

My rant is over, I will take advantage of the privledge and protection of carrying a U.S. Passport.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

That is the ONLY way to go....passport might be expensive.. but the cost could be more if stranded somewhere....

 

How many times has that happened to you on your previous 20 cruises?

 

I haven't had the need for the passport in 29 cruises.

 

Yes it can happen but the odds are slim.:)

 

Bill

[patch62]

How many times has that happened to you on your previous 20 cruises?

 

I haven't had the need for the passport in 29 cruises.

 

Yes it can happen but the odds are slim.:)

 

Bill

 

Has not happend.. and don't want that to happen....we like to be prepared.. for anything... for us it is just a good security measure...just saying....

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Has not happend.. and don't want that to happen....we like to be prepared.. for anything... for us it is just a good security measure...just saying....

 

Glad you are prepared and feel secure.:)

 

I too have a passport but the op has a choice whether to get passport renewed or not to save money.

 

Odds are on there side.

 

Bill

[sparks1093]

I remember that incident well. Only the Royal passengers had trouble getting home, Carnival offered to fly all non passport-ed passengers to Miami and all passengers with a passport to the next island. Oh, wait, maybe that just proved your point:eek:

Royal however tried to not do the right thing for a week. After blow back here on CC and other places, they finally relented. Reason that I remember it so well.... The next year we were sitting in San Juan and were told due to a hurricane, the Serenade would not be coming to pick us up:eek: Turned out OK. The storm blew out and the ship showed up but major stress for 24 hours.

Yes, we travel with a passport and immunizations.

 

Those on CCL that didn't have a passport received reimbursement for their cruise and airfare home. They missed the cruise, but that's not the end of the world (personally I would have made lemonade out of the lemons and spent some time on the beautiful island of Puerto Rico). Again, it's a small risk and in this case easily avoided by arriving at the port of departure a day early.

[sparks1093]

What's wrong with some of you people....Do what ever you are comfortable with! If traveling closed loop cruises with out passports is your thing fine. For most of you that will be just perfect, for a few others not so wonderful.

 

I like the option to cruise and travel to other places in the world, so you bet I am going to have a passport. I am a U.S. Citizen and believe it is a privilege to have a US Passport. I have a Global Entry also as it saves a couple hours when flying home.

 

Folks you have the privilege of being able to carry a US passport that many others in the world would give almost anything for that opportunity! Our world is not as safe and secure as we once thought it was. I do not want to find myself or my family stuck in some backwater Caribbean country waiting for pencil pushers to drag their heels getting my family paperwork in order to fly home.

 

My rant is over, I will take advantage of the privledge and protection of carrying a U.S. Passport.

 

It is a privilege to carry a US passport and if one has the wherewithal it does open up doors. I am glad that we are finally at a point in our life where we need a passport, I have been looking forward to this day for some time. With all of the traveling that I've done in my life I've never had the need for one before and am actually excited about it. But when we started cruising our future cruise plans were way up in the air and we didn't see any international air travel in our future for some time (if ever), so after weighing the pros and cons we decided to wait until the day when we could plan travel other than a closed loop cruise.

 

And to kind of finish out the patriotic theme we saw a bald eagle flying over the road on the way to apply for our passports. I loved the symbolism :D (it's not like we see a bald eagle every day here in Vermont).

Edited February 8, 2015 by sparks1093

[newmexicoNita]

How many times has that happened to you on your previous 20 cruises?

 

I haven't had the need for the passport in 29 cruises.

 

Yes it can happen but the odds are slim.:)

 

Bill

 

Odds are slim, but for the cost of $13 a year it is worth the money. The odds of your house burning down or even having a fire are probably slimmer, but you still carry insurance I would guess. Yes, this is still a decision everyone has to make on their own, just like travel insurance, but I would rather throw my money away than end up with a bill that would wipe us out. We had a friend at church that had this happen. He had to be air lifted, from his cruise, had no insurance and ended up with a $35,000 bill. Our daughters mother in law, on the other hand had to be air lifted (again from a ship) and had insurance. See, it does happen.

[titangas]

....and all you people are saying is I'm american, I don't use a passport, I don't have travel insurance, and take only shipsexcursions.......

That why "everyone" in Europe uses passports when we travel......:o

 

All you are saying is I am European and I am a pompous ass.

 

Comparing travel in Europe and the Western Hemisphere is like comparing apples and oranges.

 

But even when traveling in Europe, I keep my passport locked up in my hotel safe, unless required to carry it like in Italy.

 

All many of us are saying it is pointless to carry for domestic travel, and the chance of needing it in port on a closed loop cruise is probably way less than 1%.

 

It is a valuable document and makes life a lot easier in many ways. That still doesn't mean I need to take unnecessary risks with it,

[ColinIllinois]

I honestly believe that if someone started a thread here saying "Puppies are cute" some of you would find an argument against it.

 

Whatever your personal preference is, fine. Who cares? No need to convince others. Worry about yourselves. :D

[SeaCookie94]

I honestly believe that if someone started a thread here saying "Puppies are cute" some of you would find an argument against it.

 

 

I actually lol'd at that [emoji81] you're so right. Tensions run high when discussing anything on CC. I love this website lol.

[waxing witch]

I honestly believe that if someone started a thread here saying "Puppies are cute" some of you would find an argument against it.

 

Whatever your personal preference is, fine. Who cares? No need to convince others. Worry about yourselves. :D

 

+1. kittens are cuter.

[sparks1093]

I honestly believe that if someone started a thread here saying "Puppies are cute" some of you would find an argument against it.

 

Whatever your personal preference is, fine. Who cares? No need to convince others. Worry about yourselves. :D

 

If someone is making a decision about something they deserve to hear all sides in order to make an informed decision. That's the only reason that I participate in these threads. Doesn't matter to me what they decide.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Odds are slim, but for the cost of $13 a year it is worth the money. The odds of your house burning down or even having a fire are probably slimmer, but you still carry insurance I would guess. Yes, this is still a decision everyone has to make on their own, just like travel insurance, but I would rather throw my money away than end up with a bill that would wipe us out. We had a friend at church that had this happen. He had to be air lifted, from his cruise, had no insurance and ended up with a $35,000 bill. Our daughters mother in law, on the other hand had to be air lifted (again from a ship) and had insurance. See, it does happen.

 

Yes it does happen , I agree.

 

As long as the person debating on whether to get a passport or not knows the risk it is up to them to weigh the odds and make an informed decision.:)

 

Oh and the cost is not $13 a year. It is $130 in one year. While it averages out to $13 a year unfortunately they don't have a payment plan or else there probably wouldn't be any decision to make as it would be a no brainer.

 

Bill

[lfk60]

No, I can't say with 100% certainty that I won't need it but I don't need to say it with 100% certainty, I am okay with 99% certainty. It would need to be something very catastrophic in order for me to return home and the odds of that happening are very slight, so slight that I am comfortable not having a passport. Everyone's comfort level is different and that is perfectly fine.

 

This conversation makes me think of a recent mishap a ship had in St. Marten. Issue with engine, couldn't sail back with passengers until issues were corrected. They (the cruise line) made arrangements to fly passengers back. Those without passports had problems.

 

You never know! :)

[S.S.Oceanlover]

This conversation makes me think of a recent mishap a ship had in St. Marten. Issue with engine, couldn't sail back with passengers until issues were corrected. They (the cruise line) made arrangements to fly passengers back. Those without passports had problems.

 

You never know! :)

 

Exactly what problems did they incur?

 

The state department waived the passport rule for those without passports and the pax without passports flew home with everybody else.

 

Bill

[sparks1093]

This conversation makes me think of a recent mishap a ship had in St. Marten. Issue with engine, couldn't sail back with passengers until issues were corrected. They (the cruise line) made arrangements to fly passengers back. Those without passports had problems.

 

You never know! :)

 

I was waiting for someone to mention this incident too. What really happened is that those without a passport were issued letters from CBP and they were able to board the same flights as those with passports. Not problems at all.

[JVilleGal]

I don't believe when dealing with a boat load of people there is a big issue as the govt and Cruiseline make arrangements. It when there is a family emergency, Johnny or Mom breaks a leg and gets left in Aruba but dad has 2 other kids with them on the ship and no one has passports...this is a typical scenario.

[sparks1093]

I don't believe when dealing with a boat load of people there is a big issue as the govt and Cruiseline make arrangements. It when there is a family emergency, Johnny or Mom breaks a leg and gets left in Aruba but dad has 2 other kids with them on the ship and no one has passports...this is a typical scenario.

 

And the State Department will still get them home. Yes, there will be a delay (how much of a delay depends on the individual facts and circumstances) and if anyone is concerned with the delay the obvious thing to do is get a passport. If the delay isn't an overriding concern than choosing not to get a passport is an option.

[perkydebrajean]

We were on a cruise in December and one of the people on our roll call ended up debarking in Aruba and flying back to the states because he had developed pneumonia.

 

So you just never know what might happen.

[CptSticky]

I honestly believe that if someone started a thread here saying "Puppies are cute" some of you would find an argument against it.

 

Whatever your personal preference is, fine. Who cares? No need to convince others. Worry about yourselves. :D

This thread would be much more polite if it was stipulated that all non-passport holders must maintain a certain dress code and auto tip. Let me see, I may have left something out. Oh yeah, they have to be non smokers/vapor's and only sail on my favorite cruise line.

[quercus alba]

This thread would be much more polite if it was stipulated that all non-passport holders must maintain a certain dress code and auto tip. Let me see, I may have left something out*. Oh yeah, they have to be non smokers/vapor's and only sail on my favorite cruise line.

 

*Maybe the part about removing their items from deck chairs within 15 minutes of non-occupancy? :p