Passport HELP from my fellow HAL cruisers

[zqvol]

1 hour ago, YCPProf said:

 . . .

Zqvol - it expires in May 2019.

 

 . . .

 

Really appreciate everyone's help, and also appreciate all the other info that I read on the boards.

 

 

 

 

OP has no passport issues for this cruise. It may be necessary to renew for his February trip but he is fine for the cruise.

[drowelf]

I travel extensively for business and over the years I've had to do fast passport renewals twice. The first time I had to get a passport for business travel within 72 hours. At the time I lived in Northern Virginia and took my application and documentation to the DC Passport Center. Left the center with my passport. 

 

Next time was around 2013 and I used one of the expediter services to get it done. Paid quiet a bit (business expense) but got it completed in less than 96 hours (including NextDay Mail to/from Chicago).  

 

Just make sure you have the documentation that your leaving the country in the near term. 

[Brindlebury]

I did an expedited renewal last October at the passport office in New York. It did cost a bit extra, somewhere between $60-$85, I believe.  And I had to bring proof that I was traveling within the next two weeks.  The turnaround was 24hours and I had the new one the following afternoon. 

Good luck!

[Boytjie]

19 hours ago, razzinger said:

I am not an expert, but if you are just going on a 7 day or so cruise from FLL and returning to FLL, you don't need a passport; a drivers license will do as long as you don't plan on flying internationally. More info on your trip will help others help you.

I have been on 8 cruises and do not have a passport.

 

Unless your drivers license is an Enhance Drivers License (only theses states issue them: Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Vermont  and Washington), you also need a birth certificated.

 

EDL's are valid for proof of citizenship.

[Boytjie]

15 hours ago, Vic The Parrot said:

Oh, ok.

I always used my passport whenever I flew, even for domestic flights. Never had the courage to try checking in for a flight with my driver's licence.   😨

The only time I use a passport to check in at an airport is if I am flying internationally. In the US I have always used my drivers license (for the last couple of years it has been and EDL).

[razzinger]

26 minutes ago, Boytjie said:

 

Unless your drivers license is an Enhance Drivers License (only theses states issue them: Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Vermont  and Washington), you also need a birth certificated.

 

EDL's are valid for proof of citizenship.

Sorry that is incorrect info. I suggest anyone with concerns confirm with HAL, too many on these forums put out incorrect info. 

[Fouremco]

4 minutes ago, razzinger said:

Sorry that is incorrect info.

Which part of Boylie's post do you think is incorrect?

 

[razzinger]

6 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

Which part of Boylie's post do you think is incorrect?

 

I am wrong. Since I have my passport card, I do not need both. Forgive my hardheaded me!
 

 

 

Edited January 4, 2019 by razzinger
I was wrong!

[swin26]

I had to do this at the Philadelphia passport office about 20 years ago.  I had my passport a few hours later.  I went to the office in the morning and picked it up later that afternoon.  It was an expensive trip as I had to fly in from Pittsburgh.  It was for a work trip to Europe.  Since then, I always renew my passport a year before the expiration date.  

[Fouremco]

7 minutes ago, razzinger said:

Providing a copy of your birth certificate if you do not have an EDL. EDL law will not go into effect until Oct 1 of 2019, and could be pushed back farther due  to states like Virginia that have not upgraded their licenses to the new National standard.

From HAL's Know Before You Go document:

 

U.S. citizens on closed-loop cruises: U.S. citizens on cruises in the Western Hemisphere that originate and terminate in the same U.S. port are required to have proof of citizenship such as a valid U.S. passport or a government issued birth certificate combined with a government issued photo I.D. Other approved proof of citizenship documents such as a passport card, an enhanced driver’s license (EDL) or certificate of naturalization along with a government-issued photo ID are also acceptable. A passport is still the preferred document.

 

This provides no indication that a non-EDL drivers license is sufficient proof of citizenship, even on a closed-loop cruise.

[PRProf]

THANKS EVERYONE!!

 

The good news - it only took 20 minutes in and out at the Philly office this morning. The so-so news - I can't pick it up until next Tuesday, but that's plenty of time before I leave on Thursday to head south.

 

I'm good to go for another 10 years, albeit with a horrible photo!

Once again thanks...and happy sailing everyone.

[fatcat04]

16 minutes ago, YCPProf said:

THANKS EVERYONE!!

 

The good news - it only took 20 minutes in and out at the Philly office this morning. The so-so news - I can't pick it up until next Tuesday, but that's plenty of time before I leave on Thursday to head south.

 

I'm good to go for another 10 years, albeit with a horrible photo!

Once again thanks...and happy sailing everyone.

Good! Excellent news.

Lol. Our newest passport photos are a few steps below mugshot quality. 

[Boytjie]

1 hour ago, razzinger said:

I am wrong. Since I have my passport card, I do not need both. Forgive my hardheaded me!
 

 

 

 

OK.

 

Just be aware that if you need to fly back early from a cruise and you are not in US territory, you will not be able to fly with that passport card. Your passport card is worth as much as my EDL.

[iflyrc5]

2 hours ago, Boytjie said:

 

Unless your drivers license is an Enhance Drivers License (only theses states issue them: Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Vermont  and Washington), you also need a birth certificated.

 

EDL's are valid for proof of citizenship.

We have had the enhanced drivers license in Indiana for several years.  We did ours the last time we renewed.  It has a Gold star in the corner to indicate it is one of the enhanced licenses.

[3rdGenCunarder]

1 hour ago, YCPProf said:

THANKS EVERYONE!!

 

The good news - it only took 20 minutes in and out at the Philly office this morning. The so-so news - I can't pick it up until next Tuesday, but that's plenty of time before I leave on Thursday to head south.

 

I'm good to go for another 10 years, albeit with a horrible photo!

Once again thanks...and happy sailing everyone.

That's good news!

 

And, hey, most passport photos are horrible. For some reason, mine is orange--I look like an Oompa Loopa! And the photo I sent in wasn't orange, so I guess it's something to do with the way they print it. 

 

[I like vacation]

FYI

 

"As of October 10, 2018, 37 states, territories, and the District of Columbia have been determined by DHS as compliant with all REAL ID requirements."

 

https://www.dhs.gov/real-id

 

[Iggysue]

I got caught last summer and didn't realize my passport expired just 6 days before I was to travel to Europe on business.  Discovery made on a Sunday; closest passport office that would do expedited passports was Seattle, but no appointments available.  I was forced to pay an expediting company (found online) big bucks to walk my documents into the Philly office and push through a renewal.  So I went on a Sunday morning to Walgreens to get a (bad) passport photo, and overnighted everything including my expired passport document to the on online expediting company.  I picked one that had a lot of good reviews and prayed a lot.  Good news is, they got it done and I had my new passport in hand 72 hours later.  Hey - it only cost me about $650 (expensive lesson), but I am good for 10 years.  My passport photo makes me look very ANGRY (maybe cause all I could think was, "six hundred and fifty dollars ...?")  I considered getting new pics taken and having it re-issued, but decided to keep it as a reminder.

[Shmoo here]

2 minutes ago, Iggysue said:

closest passport office that would do expedited passports was Seattle, but no appointments available.  I was forced to pay an expediting company (found online) big bucks to walk my documents into the Philly office

Many of the passport issuing offices allow walk ups, just have to get there before the doors open.  As long as you have the proper documents (especially one showing your departure is within 2 weeks) they will process, even without an appointment.

[TAD2005]

There was a post on CC a few weeks ago (and made headlines in the news) about 2 women that got a gift of a 3-day cruise to the Bahamas on RCI.   They only had birth certificates and driver's licenses.  While docked in the Bahamas, one woman got seriously ill and went to the ship's hospital.  They decided her problem was too severe for them to treat, so they stabilized her and sent her to a Bahamian hospital.   The Bahamian hospital wanted $2000 paid before they would treat her.  She had to borrow money from friends to get admitted.   The hospital determined that she was too sick to travel, and the ship was leaving.  The cruise line would not allow the woman back on the ship, even with a signed waiver, due to liability issues.   The ship left, and both women were stuck in Nassau without any health insurance that was valid outside the US, and no passports.   After the woman was stable enough to travel, they had to go to a US embassy to get emergency passports issued and arrange for a very expensive, one-way flight back home.  Even for a quickie 3-day to the Bahamas, Murphy's Law can strike and an unexpected illness can ruin your whole day.  If you leave the US for any reason, have a passport with you.  The cruise lines don't like to mention these types of potential problems on their websites, because it would cut into their sales.   They want cruising to be as simple as a drive to the beach.  And 99% of the time it is.  But is a $110 passport, valid for 10 years, worth that kind of worry ?   Some people say "I'm young and healthy, nothing like that will happen to me".   A 10 year old kid on a cruise with their parents developed an appendicitis and all 3 had to leave the ship, mid-cruise, with no passports.  

[Turtles06]

38 minutes ago, TAD2005 said:

If you leave the US for any reason, have a passport with you.

 

I totally agree.

[Fouremco]

4 hours ago, TAD2005 said:

If you leave the US for any reason, have a passport with you.

 

3 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

 

I totally agree.

I agree entirely, although I'd modify that to say that if you enter any foreign country, have a passport with you. When going ashore, I never leave my passport locked away in my cabin safe. 

[Charles4515]

On 1/4/2019 at 2:00 PM, iflyrc5 said:

We have had the enhanced drivers license in Indiana for several years.  We did ours the last time we renewed.  It has a Gold star in the corner to indicate it is one of the enhanced licenses.

 

You don't have an enhanced drivers license. You have a Real ID drivers license. That is what the star indicates. They are not the same thing. EDLs are only issued in a few states and Indiana is not one of them. 

Edited January 6, 2019 by Charles4515

[Turtles06]

4 hours ago, TAD2005 said:

 If you leave the US for any reason, have a passport with you.  

 

3 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

 

I totally agree.

 

6 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

 

I agree entirely, although I'd modify that to say that if you enter any foreign country, have a passport with you. When going ashore, I never leave my passport locked away in my cabin safe. 

 

Well, I'm glad we agree on taking the passport out of the U.S.; I guess we'll part company on whether to leave the passport in the safe.  🙂

 

For us, it just really depends on where we are, and our evaluation of the various factors that go into that decision. 

Edited January 6, 2019 by Turtles06

[Fouremco]

3 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

 

 

 

Well, I'm glad we agree on taking the passport out of the U.S.; I guess we'll part company on whether to leave the passport in the safe.  🙂

 

For us, it just really depends on where we are, and our evaluation of the various factors that go into that decision. 

I lived in Europe (pre-EU) for a number of years and I travelled internationally for over sixty years before taking my first cruise, so carrying my passport (in a secure manner) is second nature. Cruising, particularly in the Caribbean, allows for greater easy of entry to other countries, but old habits die hard. 

[Charles4515]

I agree entirely, although I'd modify that to say that if you enter any foreign country, have a passport with you. When going ashore, I never leave my passport locked away in my cabin safe. 

 

I always leave it in the safe when going ashore except in a country that requires it. (Russia). On several cruises the cruise line collected our passport and held it. No reason at all to have it with me when going to the beach in the Caribbean. Taking it would actually be silly going to a beach.

 

 

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