Boarding without a passport

[Reijo]

Question for anyone who has used this method........My grandson's passport has still not come in for our 10/11 cruise. According to some wonderful people on this website, I discovered that an 18 yr old can sail with a certified birth certificate and DL. Has anyone done this? Is the procedure the same? You just show DL and birth cert anytime they ask for a passport. Also show it as you leave ship? This is all new to me, I thought you had to have a passport. Also, RCCL website says "original" birth cert which is impossible. I'm assuming they mean CERTIFIED, with a raised stamp. Rather scary to try the unknown!

[Clarea]

Question for anyone who has used this method........My grandson's passport has still not come in for our 10/11 cruise. According to some wonderful people on this website, I discovered that an 18 yr old can sail with a certified birth certificate and DL. Has anyone done this? Is the procedure the same? You just show DL and birth cert anytime they ask for a passport. Also show it as you leave ship? This is all new to me, I thought you had to have a passport. Also, RCCL website says "original" birth cert which is impossible. I'm assuming they mean CERTIFIED, with a raised stamp. Rather scary to try the unknown!

You only need to show the BC when you check in. Once you have the SeaPass card, you would only need that and possibly the DL to board the ship at certain ports.

[flowers44]

You still have plenty of time for the passport to come for the cruise. You can go online and check the progress of the passport to see when it will be mailed to you.

 

You are right. They mean a "Certified" birth certificate which has the raised state seal on it. Some states don't have the raised seal but it must be the birth certificate that came from the state your grandson was born in, not the "birth notice" that you sometimes receive from the hospital. He must also have a state issued picture ID such as his driver's license. When you check in at the port to board the ship, the cruise employee will ask to see his ID. He then show her the two pieces of ID that he has. You can make a closed circuit cruise, leaving and coming back to the same port, with just those two pieces of ID. When you get to Bermuda, he will need picture ID, his license, and his ship card to get back onto the ship. He will not need his birth certificate.

 

We traveled to Bermuda two years ago with 15 people. About half of them had passports, the rest traveled with the two forms of ID with no trouble. But as I said at the start, you have plenty of time for the passport to come back before you leave. Good luck and enjoy Bermuda.

[njmomof2]

On any closed loop cruise from a US port, any US citizen can travel with a birth certificate and picture ID. They don't need to be 18 to do it.

 

You do have time before your cruise to get the passport. If not make sure he has the BC issued by either the State, the County or the municipality where he was born (not the hospital one). Along with his DL, he'll be fine.

 

We just cruised out of PC with one of our travelers (aged 17) using her BC and DL. Took a couple of extra minutes during check in but that was it. Once on board, her BC went into the safe, and she used her SeaPass card (and her DL when we went into port).

 

Have a wonderful time.

[cruisinderek]

One side note, If he was born in California, They have a short form BC and a long form. When I tried to use the short form I was told they could not use it, Thankfully I had the long form also.

[Janet524]

Be sure that the birth certificate has a RAISED STATE SEAL.

[Capt_BJ]

go to the passport web site and check status and unless it says 'in the mail'

 

sign up for the e-mail alerts which I found to be WAY more timely than the general web status.

 

E-mail alert told me our passports were in the mail and we saw them 2 days later ... on line status said they were 'processing' for another two weeks!

[mollyeilis]

Be sure that the birth certificate has a RAISED STATE SEAL.

 

Unless, of course, your state's seal isn't raised. Like in WA. Where it's a flat, swirly colored, stamp.

[Reijo]

Thanks to all for your response. We will get the certified (raised seal) birth certificate hopefully this week. Will never hurt to have a second one but I'm still hoping the passport comes in. Two came within 4 weeks, this one had transposed number and 8 weeks later still hasn't come even after info was overnighted to them. Hopefully the poster that said you had to have the passport 6 months before cruising is wrong. (I believe that's what their post said). Sounds like many said within a short time of receiving them.

 

Again, I can always depend on you guys to answer questions.

[cb at sea]

If it's a "closed loop" cruise, you do NOT need a passport. A BC and DL is perfectly fine..and cheaper!!

[billsgal]

Reno, perhaps the poster meant to say a passport has to have at least six months left before the expiration date if you use it to cruise. While that may be the case in some countries, we have been with folks who had four months left out of the ten year expiration date, and they had no problem entering or leaving.

 

Just make sure you have a government issued photo ID available with the certified birth certificate and he will be fine.

 

Kids between 16 And 18 without a passport need a government issued photo ID, and a school ID with a picture will suffice, along with the certified birth certificate,.

[cruisinfanatic]

be sure that the birth certificate has a raised state seal.

no, no, no

It does not have to have raised seal!

Edited September 22, 2015 by SeaUs