Panicking!! No ID

[cruisin'pta]

Hello friends. My cruise leaves in 10 days (I'm heading to New Orleans a couple of days before that.) My passport is current, so that's good. The problem is my ID. It says I need a government issued ID that is current. Mine unfortunately expired Wednesday (darn birthday). The drivers license office website where I renewed says it will take 3 weeks to receive it. The paper one I printed has no photo id on it (my past ones had a pic). I am going up to the DMV on Monday... Needless to say I am freaking out.. So my drivers license is current just no photo.

 

Any advice or inside info that can help??

[garlinn]

As long as you have a current passport you will be fine. The photo ID is to go along with your birth certificate if you do not have a passport.

 

The only problem is that you will need to cary your passport with you when you go ashore in case they ask for an ID when you return to port.

[oceansandseas]

On any of my cruises, unless you need a Visa for a country, a current passport that is valid until 6 months after you return home is sufficient. Some countries it is only 2 months, but the cruise line still wants 6 months.

 

This has been my experience.

 

 

 

o

[DogLover]

Federal documentation trumps State ... in other words, you don't even need to worry about the Driver License if your Passport is current. Passports are issued by the U.S. State Department, a government agency.

 

No need to panic ... just use your passport for every ID requirement - it is valid for air travel and any cruise travel as long as you have at least 6 months prior to the expiration.

 

Have fun & enjoy!

[Langley Cruisers]

You are panicking for no reason. I understand what you are saying, though. I renewed my DL right before our Med cruise and the temporary one had no picture, obviously. I just used my passport, which trumps any other kind of ID anyway.

 

No worries!

[cruisin'pta]

Thank you for the responses. Ive been going by the carnival website that said I need a passport and current id. So that is what I was going by.. I'm already packing because I'm so excited. I just want to prevent any hiccups!!

[Langley Cruisers]

I'm already packing because I'm so excited. I just want to prevent any hiccups!!

 

There won't be any because of this. You have a passport and that's the best kind of ID. Have fun! Where are you cruising?

[Illyria]

Most of the time I don't even bring my DL when traveling to Europe, I only bring the passport (unless, of course, I plan on renting a car, which is almost never).

[cruisin'pta]

We are going to Progresso and Cozumel. Yippee!!

[sparks1093]

Passport is all you need but if you need a photo ID to return to the port area you'll need to take it ashore with you. Sometimes the cruise lines don't write their FAQs as clearly as they can.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Since you have a passport, you will be fine.

Have a great cruise.

[paul929207]

In some ports the tell you to carry a photo ID off the ship. Many people use their DL for this rather than risk losing the passport ashore. However, the passport is fine for this.

 

You are good to go.

[cb at sea]

That little slip of paper makes your DL legal again...it shows you've renewed and the actual card is on it's way.

[navybankerteacher]

The passport is all you ever need to board a cruise. For ports where the line says you should bring a photo ID, I have found that in many cases no one actually asks to see it - and if they do, they do not seem to look at it closely enough to see expiration date -- it always seems to be a case of waving you by.

[kelkel2]

Your passport trumps your DL every time. Unless you actually are driving...

If all you need it for is proof of ID than you can always take your passport along and use it as your ID.

[Floridiana]

We only use our passport as an id. If we plan to rent a car, we also take our dl. In many ports, the passport stays in the cabin's safe and we only take the ship card ashore. The ship tells us in writing if the passport is necessary in a port. On several cruises, the ship kept the passport. In China, the ship gave us color copies of our main passport page. All of this information is communicated on the ship, NO Worries! You don't have to know beforehand what the procedures are in various countries as long as you have your passport when embarking.

[Host Walt]

... The problem is my ID. It says I need a government issued ID that is current...

 

As the US Passport is a government issued ID, it meets the requirement. A driver license isn't required if you have a current US Passport.

Edited July 11, 2015 by Host Walt

[rockdoctor]

Relax. On all my overseas travels, I have never needed my drivers license. Except when I rented a car. Passport is all you need.

[notentirelynormal]

Not quite the same thing ....

 

Heck, one time my mom had her passport stolen in PR. Had it when we boarded the ship but we got off to shop at the little store there. When it got time to go through Customs and Immigration at the end of the cruise it was a no show. Well, what to do. We explained to the guy what had happened. So, the two pieces of ID that she used to enter the country were her California DL and her Costco credit card with her picture on it. Funniest thing ever.

 

I also don't take my DL unless I plan to drive a car.

[cruisin'pta]

Yall are awesome! Thank you so much for easing my mind!!

[Keith1010]

Have a great cruise.

 

Keith

[sparks1093]

Not quite the same thing ....

 

Heck, one time my mom had her passport stolen in PR. Had it when we boarded the ship but we got off to shop at the little store there. When it got time to go through Customs and Immigration at the end of the cruise it was a no show. Well, what to do. We explained to the guy what had happened. So, the two pieces of ID that she used to enter the country were her California DL and her Costco credit card with her picture on it. Funniest thing ever.

 

I also don't take my DL unless I plan to drive a car.

 

One of the reasons that DW and I have decided to keep our Enhanced Drivers Licenses current.

[sparks1093]

Yall are awesome! Thank you so much for easing my mind!!

 

You are welcome!

Edited July 12, 2015 by sparks1093

[notentirelynormal]

Sparks 1093: One of the reasons that DW and I have decided to keep our Enhanced Drivers Licenses current.

 

This was a long time ago. Long before the enhanced DL. Still it was a lifesaver the guy took it.

 

On one of our first cruises I had safely put away my "US green card". Come time to end the cruise and I couldn't find it. I looked everywhere. I went to lost and found - everywhere - repeatedly! The biggest issue was that I was currently living back in Canada and hadn't let the US know I was moving back for a few years and I didn't want to lose my US status. I had used my P.O. Box in a border town (Blaine, WA) as my address for the cruise. The guy says, well just go to the guys right there and let them know. It will be easy. Ya, they'd know in a heartbeat. Then he put it into his system. I was in crocodile tears thinking I would lose my US status. We are back checking out doing a last room check and guess what. I found it. Yup, right where I left it. OMG! Get out of my way people. Young people, old people - smack them to the right, then the left... hurry must make it back to the guys before they finish up. Whew! I made it.

Edited July 13, 2015 by notentirelynormal

[cruisin'pta]

Sparks 1093: One of the reasons that DW and I have decided to keep our Enhanced Drivers Licenses current.

 

This was a long time ago. Long before the enhanced DL. Still it was a lifesaver the guy took it.

 

On one of our first cruises I had safely put away my "US green card". Come time to end the cruise and I couldn't find it. I looked everywhere. I went to lost and found - everywhere - repeatedly! The biggest issue was that I was currently living back in Canada and hadn't let the US know I was moving back for a few years and I didn't want to lose my US status. I had used my P.O. Box in a border town (Blaine, WA) as my address for the cruise. The guy says, well just go to the guys right there and let them know. It will be easy. Ya, they'd know in a heartbeat. Then he put it into his system. I was in crocodile tears thinking I would lose my US status. We are back checking out doing a last room check and guess what. I found it. Yup, right where I left it. OMG! Get out of my way people. Young people, old people - smack them to the right, then the left... hurry must make it back to the guys before they finish up. Whew! I made it.

 

 

 

LOL!! That's a great story!!