Passport for a Toddler

[J0Y0US]

On 6/4/2022 at 1:18 PM, LeeW said:

While you can get a passport it is expensive and only good for five years.  Unless family plans on doing several air trips out of country it really isn't worth the hassle.  Not needed for cruise trips.

 

Did you see those recent issues of ships breaking down or running in to things? Having the passport means you can be flown home more easily.

 

I will say though one thing with a CoCo visit is that you won't be left behind so no worries with that possible hiccup.

 

Its dead easy to get a passport. Print out the paper, fill it out, go to a local post office that does passports (schedule the time) and they will take the picture and send the paperwork off for you. There is no real "hassle" and if you prefer hit up a Walgreens for the picture ahead of time.

[J0Y0US]

1 hour ago, Joseph2017China said:

Because if you were "stuck" in the Bahamas without a passport, you can take a boat back to the USA. Meaning, and simple terms, a passport is not needed and if you are stuck you are not.  There is no 100% reason why you need a passport.

 

And there is no 100% reason not to just get a passport unless you are dead set on never having the child leave the US ever again in the next 5 years except for this 2 day cruise.

[topnole]

5 minutes ago, J0Y0US said:

 

And there is no 100% reason not to just get a passport unless you are dead set on never having the child leave the US ever again in the next 5 years except for this 2 day cruise.

Other than they are expensive and more than likely won’t get used unless the family does global traveling beyond closed loop cruises out of the US.  We got a passport for my daughter before she was one because we did a Transatlantic.  Never used it again and they expire after 5 years (not 10). It wasn’t a waste, because we had to have it for the flight to Europe.  But it did add $100++ to the trip and it did eat up a solid amount of time and energy to get done.  I would not do it until it was needed.  You aren’t going to get stuck somewhere on a cruise just because you only have a BC for the kids.  If that was the case, the govt would require passports.  

[Joseph2017China]

26 minutes ago, J0Y0US said:

 

And there is no 100% reason not to just get a passport unless you are dead set on never having the child leave the US ever again in the next 5 years except for this 2 day cruise.

My kids never had a passport until they were 16 and 18. They were on at least 8 cruises.

[J0Y0US]

16 minutes ago, topnole said:

But it did add $100++ to the trip and it did eat up a solid amount of time and energy to get done.

 

Again you print out the passport form, fill it out, bring the birth certificate, and schedule a time at the post office.

 

I don't understand why people keep saying "solid amount of time". You are talking about like 10 mins to print, fill out the form, and schedule time at post office. Then maybe 30 mins if there is a line when you show up at the post office for your scheduled time.

 

Yes its like $120. I suppose if thats the biggest obstacle then I can see passing on getting a passport.

 

21 minutes ago, topnole said:

 You aren’t going to get stuck somewhere on a cruise just because you only have a BC for the kids.  If that was the case, the govt would require passports.  

 

Yes you can get stuck and people have just recently when the NCL ship ran aground I think it was last month. Yes you eventually will get home (its not like you are there permanently) but it is a extra hoop to jump through and possibly waiting period waiting on the US Government to approve a flight without a passport or the cruise line lining up ship transportation.

 

 

4 minutes ago, Joseph2017China said:

My kids never had a passport until they were 16 and 18. They were on at least 8 cruises.

 

Thats fine you can do it I never said you couldn't. The amount of effort to getting a passport is fairly minimal when dealing with kids though. That is what I was outlining along with the potential issue of being stuck in a foreign country looking to align transportation back to the US.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

31 minutes ago, J0Y0US said:

Again you print out the passport form, fill it out, bring the birth certificate, and schedule a time at the post office.

 

I don't understand why people keep saying "solid amount of time". You are talking about like 10 mins to print, fill out the form, and schedule time at post office. Then maybe 30 mins if there is a line when you show up at the post office for your scheduled time.

both parents must be present with the kiddo. And last time we were in that line for several hours - many families with multiple kids.... That was right before the pandemic. That particular post office did not do appointments - a live line only, while other post offices didn't have any appointments available for months.

[topnole]

32 minutes ago, J0Y0US said:

 

Again you print out the passport form, fill it out, bring the birth certificate, and schedule a time at the post office.

 

I don't understand why people keep saying "solid amount of time". You are talking about like 10 mins to print, fill out the form, and schedule time at post office. Then maybe 30 mins if there is a line when you show up at the post office for your scheduled time.

 

Yes its like $120. I suppose if thats the biggest obstacle then I can see passing on getting a passport.

 

 

Yes you can get stuck and people have just recently when the NCL ship ran aground I think it was last month. Yes you eventually will get home (its not like you are there permanently) but it is a extra hoop to jump through and possibly waiting period waiting on the US Government to approve a flight without a passport or the cruise line lining up ship transportation.

 

 

 

Thats fine you can do it I never said you couldn't. The amount of effort to getting a passport is fairly minimal when dealing with kids though. That is what I was outlining along with the potential issue of being stuck in a foreign country looking to align transportation back to the US.

We had to submit our passport paperwork at a different place a few years ago.  Maybe it has changed.  Also, we had to go elsewhere to get a passport picture.  If you think any of this is somehow easy with a 1 or 2

year old you are kidding yourself.  Add to this the increased difficulty for people who have multiple kids with multiple schedules.  Add to this some parents both have M-F business hours jobs.  Not saying it takes a Herculean effort, but the alternative is do nothing and you still have all the required documentation to take a closed loop cruise.  With 3 kids you are talking near $500 for passports that aren’t required.  
 

Basically, for some a Passport isn’t worth the hassle.  I’ll deal with the inconvenience in the highly unlikely event that it happens.  For 99.9% of folks they would never need a passport on a closed loop cruise.  I’ve probably been on near a 100 cruises and never come close to needing one.  

 

[mjkacmom]

22 hours ago, topnole said:

We had to submit our passport paperwork at a different place a few years ago.  Maybe it has changed.  Also, we had to go elsewhere to get a passport picture.  If you think any of this is somehow easy with a 1 or 2

year old you are kidding yourself.  Add to this the increased difficulty for people who have multiple kids with multiple schedules.  Add to this some parents both have M-F business hours jobs.  Not saying it takes a Herculean effort, but the alternative is do nothing and you still have all the required documentation to take a closed loop cruise.  With 3 kids you are talking near $500 for passports that aren’t required.  
 

Basically, for some a Passport isn’t worth the hassle.  I’ll deal with the inconvenience in the highly unlikely event that it happens.  For 99.9% of folks they would never need a passport on a closed loop cruise.  I’ve probably been on near a 100 cruises and never come close to needing one.  

 

Our 5 kids were 4, 4, 6, 9 and 11 on our first cruise. We did get passports, what a huge PITA. During business hours, no appointments, my husband had to take off work, went to cvs first for pictures. Very expensive, 3 night cruise, the next time any went overseas they were all expired. Now it takes months to get an appointment here. Fortunately they are now all adults with a 10 year passport that can be renewed easily by mail. 

[topnole]

4 minutes ago, mjkacmom said:

Our 5 kids were 4, 4, 6, 9 and 11 on our first cruise. We did get passports, what a huge PITA. During business hours, no appointments, my husband had to take off work, went to cvs first for pictures. Very expensive, 3 night cruise, the next time any went overseas they were all expired. Now it takes months to get an appointment here. Fortunately they are now all adults with a 10 year passport that can be renewed easily by mail. 

My goodness.  I won’t complain in my head about the work it takes with three.  Haaaa.  
 

Yep, passport’s really aren’t needed if US based cruises are all one is planning.  I would get them and do a euro trip if is wasn’t so difficult to plan with Covid restrictions.  Sadly, for the time being, that is not something I’ll consider with kids.  I’m guessing many of the more adventurous parents are scaling back too.  For now we will stick to domestic trips and US based cruises for our out of country adventures. 
 

 

[Joseph2017China]

Just thinking a family of four, will cost $540.00 or more depending on prices of pictures to go on a 3 day trip for fun.  Now that $540.00 is not required and you really don't know if you will ever go again.  It's a pretty hefty amount if you don't actually need it.

[Joseph2017China]

21 minutes ago, topnole said:

My goodness.  I won’t complain in my head about the work it takes with three.  Haaaa.  
 

Yep, passport’s really aren’t needed if US based cruises are all one is planning.  I would get them and do a euro trip if is wasn’t so difficult to plan with Covid restrictions.  Sadly, for the time being, that is not something I’ll consider with kids.  I’m guessing many of the more adventurous parents are scaling back too.  For now we will stick to domestic trips and US based cruises for our out of country adventures. 
 

 

Just a correction, international trips are not difficult.  The only thing that is difficult, but more annoying than difficult is getting a covid test to fly home.  But many countries make that extremely easy, and cheap

 

[broberts]

On 6/5/2022 at 6:44 AM, GerryjG said:

Wow I was not expecting so many informative responses , For this short trip I will use his birth certificate plus the letter from parents. If we go on any longer journeys in the future, we will look into a passport card for him. 

 

A simple letter from the parents may not be enough. See https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/what-family-legal-documents-do-i-need-to-board

 

Also, despite the short duration it would be prudent to have written authorization to make medical decisions for the child.

 

[topnole]

24 minutes ago, Joseph2017China said:

Just a correction, international trips are not difficult.  The only thing that is difficult, but more annoying than difficult is getting a covid test to fly home.  But many countries make that extremely easy, and cheap

 

With several kids it is certainly more difficult imo.  I wouldn’t do it without scenario planning for things like a quarantine situation (which I wouldn’t do if it was just me and the wife). Way to much Covid going on and the risk of transmission on flights is certainly there.  It isn’t hard to find accommodations quickly for 1-2 people.  And it isn’t hard for adults to hunker down for a few days.  Finding accommodations for a family isn’t always so easy.  And hunkering down for several days in a hotel room with three kids and finding food, while a pay hundreds of dollars per night, no thanks.  It is stuff like this that would keep me from doing it.  At least on a cruise you get a credit for lost days and food and drinks provided.  
 

Also, with little ones it is much more difficult to assess their health.  Older kids know when something isn’t right and can generally describe it or know what is wrong.  Little ones just cry and you have to figure it out.  So having to figure out the medical treatment side would be a huge PITA if they got Covid and needed medical attention.  
 

Traveling with young kids is already hard enough, and I’ve flown to and around Europe with a baby.  I’ve also traveled in the US many times now with all three of my kids.  I know the extra work it takes in the best of times.  I’ll pass on flying somewhere international until things normalize a bit more.  It’s sad, because I miss Europe tremendously.  

[DCPIV]

On 6/6/2022 at 9:14 AM, J0Y0US said:

Its dead easy to get a passport. Print out the paper, fill it out, go to a local post office that does passports (schedule the time) and they will take the picture and send the paperwork off for you. There is no real "hassle" and if you prefer hit up a Walgreens for the picture ahead of time.

 

It's not anywhere nearly that easy to get a passport for a child under 16.  As mentioned, there are all sorts of other requirements that create orders of magnitude more difficultly.  Shoot, if nothing else, it's nearly impossible to get that appointment (and the line is around the block if you don't have one).  I recall going through all that for our kids when we were heading for Europe (and again for the renewal while they still were under 16), and it was moving Heaven and Earth.

 

There's no way in the world I'd do it for a cruise where a birth certificate was good enough.

[ATSEAMYLIFE]

On 6/4/2022 at 2:29 PM, Joseph2017China said:

 From Florida, if something were to happen, you can charter a boat to the USA, for cheaper than flying.  

Charter a boat from the Caribbean to FL for a sick or injured person?  Surely you jest!   

[ATSEAMYLIFE]

On 6/6/2022 at 5:35 AM, Joseph2017China said:

Because if you were "stuck" in the Bahamas without a passport, you can take a boat back to the USA. Meaning, and simple terms, a passport is not needed and if you are stuck you are not.  There is no 100% reason why you need a passport.

You never need a US passport to re-enter the USA if a US citizen.  The hard part is getting to USA soil.  Once you get here it's easy.  The 100% reason to get a passport is it's the law for international travel (except for some cruises).  Why do people find it so hard to just get a passport and be done with it?  

[hollionthebeach]

 

10 hours ago, DCPIV said:

 

It's not anywhere nearly that easy to get a passport for a child under 16.  As mentioned, there are all sorts of other requirements that create orders of magnitude more difficultly.  Shoot, if nothing else, it's nearly impossible to get that appointment (and the line is around the block if you don't have one).  I recall going through all that for our kids when we were heading for Europe (and again for the renewal while they still were under 16), and it was moving Heaven and Earth.

 

There's no way in the world I'd do it for a cruise where a birth certificate was good enough.

Just submitted my 2 yr old for her passport in May. It took a few mins to go online and get the appt within 2 weeks (on a Saturday). I filled out the form and gathered my documents. On the morning of the appt, we loaded

went to go the PO  where we walked in, submitted the docs, got her pic taken and paid the dues. I would say all and all it was under 1 hr to get her passport. It’s not really that hard.