Marriage Certificate / travel docs

[EastTNcruisin']

I'm don't yet have a passport and will be bringing my birth certificate. I think I read somewhere that I should also bring my marriage certificate because the name on my birth certificate does not match my driver's license. Can anyone elaborate on this please?

 

Thanks!

 

Sailing on the Triumph, Feb 25, 2006!

Bethany

[habby]

I'm don't yet have a passport and will be bringing my birth certificate. I think I read somewhere that I should also bring my marriage certificate because the name on my birth certificate does not match my driver's license. Can anyone elaborate on this please?

 

Thanks!

 

Sailing on the Triumph' date=' Feb 25, 2006!

Bethany

 

I've taken a copy of our marriage license, just to be on the safe side, but no one has ever asked for it.

[caprcorn28]

The only time that I brought my marriage certificate was on my honeymoon cruise cuz my cruise was in my married name and my photo id was in my maiden name. Otherwise I haven't brought it.

If it would make you feel more secure to have it, just in case, I say go for it. Doesn't take up a lot of room! But more than likely you won't need it as long as your photo id and cruise reservation name matches!

[hstrybuf]

I've taken a copy of our marriage license, just to be on the safe side, but no one has ever asked for it.

 

Same here. Now that I have a passport I need neither the BC nor the marriage license.

[Cotton]

Bethany, cruiselines recognize the fact that probably 90% of women passengers don't have the same last name as on their birth certificate.

 

All they check for is that your last name on the cruise documents matches the last name on your photo ID.

 

If they required marriage licenses, it would be asked for, and nowhere in any Carnival information are marriage licenses mentioned at all. :)

[gkrebs]

carnival might not mention it anywhere, but the INS folks can sure ask for it if they want. Better to be safe then sorry if traveling without a passport.

[CruzVinnieCruz]

Just make sure your birth certificate is the one with the raised seal and not one that is from the hospital.

[Cotton]

Just make sure your birth certificate is the one with the raised seal and not one that is from the hospital.

 

It must be a state-issued birth certificate, BUT many states have started using the 'state watermark' paper, and have eliminated the raised seal.:)

[jcanino]

If they required marriage licenses, it would be asked for, and nowhere in any Carnival information are marriage licenses mentioned at all. :)

 

Cotton, this is cut and pasted right from Carnival's web site.

 

"Guest names on travel documents (passport, Alien Resident Card, birth certificate, etc.) must be identical to those on the cruise and airline tickets. Otherwise, proof of name change (e.g., a marriage license) OR a valid driver’s license (or government-issued photo ID) must be presented. "

 

In 2004, it was suggested on their web site that you bring a marriage license to show proof of name change. I know that because I have it cut and pasted into letters to my passengers. Now, they say ML OR DL.

[Cotton]

Well, duh me, Joe - Thx for keeping me on my toes, friend.:)

[jcanino]

Well, duh me, Joe - Thx for keeping me on my toes, friend.:)

 

I know that I can comment on your posts and you won't be offended if I correct you. Other people I am not so sure about. ;)

[Cotton]

:) You read me like a book. I never mind admitting when I'm mistaken, and I learn new 'stuff' every day. I'll never know half what you know about the cruising industry. I just wish you would post MORE often.

[gkrebs]

Joe,

 

One last thing for my wife to try and find "again." Since we just moved, maybe I should keep my license and see what they say when my wife gives them her license from one state and mine from another LOL

 

Thanks

[cherylandtk]

Gary, Your wife's DL with her married name is sufficient for proof of name change. The rules Joe posted above say ML OR DL. Now as to why you apparently live in different states....at least they are both US states.

[jcanino]

The rules Joe posted above say ML OR DL.

 

Exactly. Everyone in my office suggest taking the ML if they do not have a passport. Even after warning clients that someone could ask for proof how their name changed, we had two seperate instances where clients were denied boarding a flight to the Caribbean using a DL and BC. Both times the couples were forced to go home, find the ML and go back to take a later flight. It is always better to be safe than sorry.

[jeanne_stein]

Do you think a photocopy of a marriage license would be good enough without bringing the actual license?

 

TIA!

[cherylandtk]

Say Joe, that is interesting news about being denied flight boarding. I know we mostly talk about cruises on here, but good to know that airlines are sometimes being more particular. I find that particularly ironic since the ML is not required for passport applications. Do you suppose all these 'Do I need a ...' questions will still be around after the passport requirement starts at the end of the year, except in a new format: "to get a passport, do I need a...."

[enchantress13]

I am getting married on the conquest, my BC says my maiden name, DL states married name from 1st marriage. After wedding neither of which will match?? So do I need to bring my marriage liscense from my 1st marriage, BC and DL??? OOHHH now I am confused!!! :eek:

[jcanino]

Do you think a photocopy of a marriage license would be good enough without bringing the actual license?

 

I would say, why not but I'm not the person asking to see it possibly.

[jcanino]

I find that particularly ironic since the ML is not required for passport applications. Do you suppose all these 'Do I need a ...' questions will still be around after the passport requirement starts at the end of the year, except in a new format: "to get a passport, do I need a...."

 

We never had this problem before 9/11. Airline and cruise personnel looked at a woman's BC and DL and if the first name matched and the DOB matched, everything was good. Then, they wanted to know why the last names were different (DUH!) and how you went from one name to another. Personally, I think the security is good but some people go overboard in doing there job.

 

I'm sure there will still be the "what do I need" questions. I am not sure about other states, but I know that in CT, town/city halls issue both wallet size BC's as well as full size ones. When applying for a PP for a child, the last I knew, you were required to present the full size BC as it showed who the mother and father are.

[jcanino]

I am getting married on the conquest, my BC says my maiden name, DL states married name from 1st marriage. After wedding neither of which will match?? So do I need to bring my marriage liscense from my 1st marriage, BC and DL??? OOHHH now I am confused!!! :eek:

 

Yes it does sound confusing. I have a client whose wife was divorced previously. Two of their three kids have the last name of their father, the first husband. When the two clients got married, her marriage license had her first husband's names. Now when she travels, she takes the BC, divorce decree and her new marriage license along with her DL for photo ID. She has never been asked for the ML or the divorce papers but she is too paranoid to travel without them.

[D4]

Yes, this has happened before 9/11.

 

In July of 2001, we were going on an Alaskan cruise out of Seattle. The US Immigration people made a surprise appearance at embarkation and they took over the checking of documents and were much stricter than the cruise line workers. They wanted photo ids of kids under 16 (which has never been needed), notarized letters from any absent parents, and all sorts of things. It was chaos. We flew into Seattle 3-4 days early to see the sights and start our cruise relaxed, but it was SO stressful. It wasn't the cruise line's fault, although they said they'd phone all their next week's passengers.

 

By the way, if you're denied boarding for not having the correct documentation, you don't get any money back.

 

So yes, I say bring the marriage license (a notarized one, not a photocopy)

 

We promised ourselves that we'd apply for passports for our whole family when we returned and that's what we did. Two months later 9/11 happened.