Passports... to get or not to get??

[seashell185]

Hello, my husband, myself and our two kids (both under 16) are planning a first time cruise this November! We have booked a 3 day cruise with Royal Caribbean (Majesty of the Seas). I know passports are not required because we are leaving from and coming back to Port Canaveral, but I'm still undecided as to whether we should travel without the passports and just use the birth certificates and ID's? I'm curious to know others who have traveled without passports and your experiences? Thank you!!

[taglovestocruise]

Seems like a waste of money for a single 3 day trip if won't be using them in the future, you could get passport cards for about $150 for the family which are valid for where your going.. I'm sure others will chime in with a warning about any travel without a passport, and others will tell you to beware of a three day cruise as they are considered a booze cruise.. happy cruising

[bethco]

If you do feel that you will not need them for the next few years to go out of the country, I would not get them just a 3 day cruise to the Bahamas. But go ahead and make sure that you can lay on hands on everybody's birth certificates - the official government issued ones, not the hospital ones. Do this while there is still time to order replacements from the counties where everybody was born.

[seashell185]

Thank you both for the advice!!

 

 

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[Grandma Dazzles]

Tough question! I would never travel without a passport, but I have always traveled a great deal, born in Europe, naturalized citizen, etc., so a passport has always been part of my life. For such a short cruise I would not bother, just make sure that all your documents are in order; official seals, etc.

 

Should you enjoy your cruise and plan more travel in the future, I would suggest getting passports. They cost approximately $100 but are good for 10 years. You could stagger the purchase if you are thinking of costs involved.

 

More and more countries are requiring them, even for cruising; and should you ever fly to or from a destination you would need a passport.

 

Enjoy your first cruise and welcome to CC.

[Shorex]

I am a great proponent of having passports, however, for a three day cruise I wouldn't bother. Passports for kids under 16 are valid for only 5 years.

 

Yes, if you need to fly home on day 2 of the cruise from Mexico or whatever, it will be a PIA to get the proper docs to fly. Totally your decision - there's no right or wrong, just personal risk tolerance.

[Warm Breezes]

Both DH and I and both of our kids have sailed multiple times with just our BC and DL with absolutely no issues. DH & I have passports now for other risk factors. Our kids just went on their 11th cruise without them this past May...again with no issues. In fact the Customs guy when we were getting off the ship spent more time with my passport asking me if I had lost a lot of weight (I have lost 55 pounds since we first got it)...he didn't even look at their birth certificates.

[headhunterke]

Passports in cases like this are like insurance: they're unnecessary and too expensive if you don't need them but invaluable when you'll have to rely on them since they can save you from a lot of (extra) troubles and stress.

 

Just my two cents.

[FlyerTalker]

Although the economics are different for childrens passports, I prefer to look at them on an amortized basis. Good for ten years, which means the annual cost is less than two "umbrella drinks" on board. Absolute rock-solid ID, needed for international air travel (including Mexico and Canada) and proof of citizenship.

 

Plus, if you see airfare roundtrip to Europe for under $200 (which is happening lately) or to Asia for about $450 (also ongoing), you can take that impulse trip of a lifetime.

[GUT2407]

Personally I'm in the get camp, for pretty much the reasons outlined above.

[sparks1093]

Do you have to spend $600 for a 3 day cruise? Probably not. What are your future travel plans? If you aren't planning on any other foreign travel for a while and you can't just jet off at the spur of the moment then it's probably prudent to wait until that time comes. Since I have made this decision (on a 4 day cruise for a family of 7) I know exactly what I would do- I would wait to get the passports until I actually needed them for the type of travel I was doing.

[BlueRiband]

A couple of points to add to the above: booking names must match those on birth certificates. If you book under a married name then you must have a "bridge" document that links your maiden and married names.

 

We're also assuming that everyone was born in a US state. Anybody born abroad also needs a US "Consular Record of Birth Abroad". Some time ago we had a poster who was livid over being denied boarding. He was born in a German hospital to US military parents and showed up with just his German birth certificate.

 

Bethco offered excellent advice - make sure you can find all that documentation now. It can take weeks to get replacements. We get posts from time to time where somebody thought they knew where those BCs were.

[sparks1093]

A couple of points to add to the above: booking names must match those on birth certificates. If you book under a married name then you must have a "bridge" document that links your maiden and married names.

 

We're also assuming that everyone was born in a US state. Anybody born abroad also needs a US "Consular Record of Birth Abroad". Some time ago we had a poster who was livid over being denied boarding. He was born in a German hospital to US military parents and showed up with just his German birth certificate.

 

Bethco offered excellent advice - make sure you can find all that documentation now. It can take weeks to get replacements. We get posts from time to time where somebody thought they knew where those BCs were.

 

Names on the booking should match the ID and if the names on the ID and birth certificate don't match then a bridging document may be required (always best to have it of course but it is not a requirement).

[Magnum60]

The world is in turmoil. Being able to identify your family and yourself to any legitimate governmental authority (using a passport) strikes me as being a valuable bit of insurance - regardless of what you think your future travel plans might be. Don't be penny wise and pound foolish because if you get detained [for any reason] in any country without a passport you'll wish you had spent the money.

Bite the bullet and get those passports - just in case.

[cb at sea]

We have never felt a need for a passport, as we have no plans to go somewhere where they are required! It's an additional expense we don't feel is worth it for a short Caribbean cruise....assuming you're an American!