Passport book and card?? Do you have both?

[helene109]

I have had a Passport card for years and when we did our first NCL last month I didn’t see it listed anywhere on their site. We have done Carnival a few times and have had no problems. We have another NCL booked for April.

Have our Passport appointment today. How many of you have the book and card? Just wondering if I am going to miss my card. Thanks!

[BenDover]

I have the book and would definitely recommend that over the card.

I also purchased a passport cover that has a place for my COVID vaccine card.

[helene109]

6 minutes ago, BenDover said:

I have the book and would definitely recommend that over the card.

I also purchased a passport cover that has a place for my COVID vaccine card.

Did you get the cover on Amazon? Thanks 

[CruizinSusan70]

31 minutes ago, helene109 said:

Did you get the cover on Amazon? Thanks 

We got covers as well and got them on ebay for a great price.  Amazon is a pain at times because of the 25.00 minimum for free shipping.  EDIT...Just looked and I got them for under 4 bucks each and they came from the US as well.

Edited September 23, 2022 by CruizinSusan70

[sanger727]

I've always had the book. Never had the card. I didn't personally see any purpose to the card. It's only good for land borders and cruising. Most international trips I take involve flying. When I'm in port I just take my driver's license as ID. 

 

Norwegian does accept the passport card. Not sure if that was your only reason to get a book.

Norwegian Cruises: Passports (norwegianvoyages.com) 

[helene109]

2 minutes ago, sanger727 said:

I've always had the book. Never had the card. I didn't personally see any purpose to the card. It's only good for land borders and cruising. Most international trips I take involve flying. When I'm in port I just take my driver's license as ID. 

 

Norwegian does accept the passport card. Not sure if that was your only reason to get a book.

Norwegian Cruises: Passports (norwegianvoyages.com) 

Ok thanks I couldn’t find it on their site and when I called they wouldn’t confirm the card. I guess I would just feel better having the book. Thanks again!

[cruiseny4life]

When we went on a cruise, and subsequent family road trips to Canada, my grandma got the card as she was not going to be flying internationally or going anywhere the card wasn't accepted. 

I've had the book since I was a teenager and will continue getting that. Perhaps when I'm old and gray I'll get the card, but for now I want to be able to travel anywhere. 

 

I don't see any reason you would miss the card, except that putting it in your wallet/purse is more practical than a book. 

[hallux]

@cruiseny4life or just get a NYS Enhanced Driver License, I see you're in NY.  Similar rigmarole as getting a passport card at a lower cost and it gives you almost identical access.  I could cruise on my NY EDL if I wanted to, no BC needed with it, but I like having the protection in case I need to debark in a foreign country and fly home for some reason.

[njhorseman]

1 hour ago, helene109 said:

I have had a Passport card for years and when we did our first NCL last month I didn’t see it listed anywhere on their site. We have done Carnival a few times and have had no problems. We have another NCL booked for April.

Have our Passport appointment today. How many of you have the book and card? Just wondering if I am going to miss my card. Thanks!

We have both passports and passport cards. We got the passport card this year with our new passports primarily to avoid going through the hassle of getting REAL ID drivers licenses, which will be required for domestic flights next year if the requirements are not postponed once again.

 

NCL does indirectly mention passport cards on its documentation page by referencing the acceptability of WHTI-compliant documents.

A Valid Passport...

or 

WHTI (Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative)-compliant documents (click here to for more information.)

[ChiefMateJRK]

37 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

I don't see any reason you would miss the card, except that putting it in your wallet/purse is more practical than a book. 

I think this is pretty much it.  We've always just gotten both.  It's nice to leave the book in the room safe and slip the card into my lanyard holder along with my NCL card.  Plus, if I were to ever lose one, I have the other as a backup.

[EvanBedar]

50 minutes ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

We got covers as well and got them on ebay for a great price. 

I personally became done with Ebay about 6 years ago.  Waaaaay to cozy with PayPal, one of the least secure and most invasive pay systems around.

[helene109]

5 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

I think this is pretty much it.  We've always just gotten both.  It's nice to leave the book in the room safe and slip the card into my lanyard holder along with my NCL card.  Plus, if I were to ever lose one, I have the other as a backup.

Great point! I really like having that card in my wallet too!

[JamieLogical]

I had the card first. Got it for a land-crossing trip into Mexico as, while the US accepts enhanced NYS licenses for land border crossings, Mexico officially did not. Most of the time, crossing into Mexico, they won't even check your passport/ID, but that can do random checks and at the time they did not accept an NYS enhanced license. Anyway, once I started cruising, I went ahead and got a full passport book. Even though I didn't need it for the cruises themselves, if there was any reason I needed to fly home internationally (like injured/sick while in a foreign country), then you need the full book. Now my card and my book have different expiration dates, so I have to decide whether to renew the card on its own when the time comes or just stick with the book.

[cruiseny4life]

1 hour ago, hallux said:

@cruiseny4life or just get a NYS Enhanced Driver License, I see you're in NY.  Similar rigmarole as getting a passport card at a lower cost and it gives you almost identical access.  I could cruise on my NY EDL if I wanted to, no BC needed with it, but I like having the protection in case I need to debark in a foreign country and fly home for some reason.

That's true! I do have the NYS Enhanced Driver License as well. It makes for business a lot easier than taking my passport. I didn't realize I could cruise with it, but for the reasons you mentioned, I think I'll continue taking my passport. 

Thanks for the tip! 

[hallux]

19 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

I didn't realize I could cruise with it

Certainly can!

From https://dmv.ny.gov/driver-license/get-enhanced-driver-license-edl

An Enhanced license (permit, or non-driver ID) is a New York State DMV issued document that you can use instead of a passport to return to the US by land or sea from Canada, Mexico and some countries in the Caribbean. New York's EDL is compliant with the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI).

[graphicguy]

2 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

When we went on a cruise, and subsequent family road trips to Canada, my grandma got the card as she was not going to be flying internationally or going anywhere the card wasn't accepted. 

I've had the book since I was a teenager and will continue getting that. Perhaps when I'm old and gray I'll get the card, but for now I want to be able to travel anywhere. 

 

I don't see any reason you would miss the card, except that putting it in your wallet/purse is more practical than a book. 

Exactly my reasoning for carrying a Passport card in my wallet, and having my Passport in my luggage.  I don't carry my passport (book) when I'm on excursions.  If something freaky happened while I was in a foreign port (miss the ship, incapacitated due to an accident, have some sort of legal issue, etc), off the ship, I would want to have a way to physically prove my citizenship to get back home.

 

 

[Shine]

I have both also...specifically got the passport card for cruises...take it off the ship, leave the passport book in the safe!

[Hearthosesteeldrumsplayin]

Interesting thoughts about having both book and card.  I always travel with the book and have both a photocopy in my travel documents and a picture on my phone.  While I can't use them specifically to travel, I can use them to help replace if my book should be lost/stolen.  Now I also have a Global Entry card.  Not even sure what I am supposed to do with that, as it is supposedly coded on my passport.

[pbenjamin]

I've had a passport (never heard it called a book until this thread) since the 70's.  Somewhere along the way the card became available and when renewal time came around I checked the box for the card and paid a little more.  It was useful at the time since the backwards state that I live in had not decided whether or how to participate in the enhanced drivers license deal.  It's a handy piece of ID and doesn't take up much space in my wallet.

[phillygwm]

I only have the book but I did spring for a Global Entry card.  That counts as a Real ID, but also gets you pre-check most of the time and makes returning from international travel (at airports) sooo much easier.  

[BirdTravels]

A passport card has limited use and is a waste of money. If you get stuck in a foreign port, it is not valid to fly home or fly to your next port. Stick with a book. 

[ChiefMateJRK]

31 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

A passport card has limited use and is a waste of money. If you get stuck in a foreign port, it is not valid to fly home or fly to your next port. Stick with a book. 

As several have suggested, this is not necessarily an "either/or" situation.  The added card does have utility for some of us (as has been described) and is no more a "waste of money" then some of the many other things cruise related that people report spending money for.  Should we talk about priority embarkation fees?  LOL. 🤣

[CruizinSusan70]

7 hours ago, EvanBedar said:

I personally became done with Ebay about 6 years ago.  Waaaaay to cozy with PayPal, one of the least secure and most invasive pay systems around.

No problem.  Buy them on Amazon and add something else to reach the 25.00 threshold.

[LGinPA]

7 hours ago, njhorseman said:

We have both passports and passport cards. We got the passport card this year with our new passports primarily to avoid going through the hassle of getting REAL ID drivers licenses, which will be required for domestic flights next year if the requirements are not postponed once again.

 

 

Ditto this.  Here in PA we were supposed to need a Real ID a couple of years ago. So when our passports came up for renewal we got both the book and card. So until our drivers licenses come up for renewal we'll use our passport card for domestic flights.

[njhorseman]

1 hour ago, BirdTravels said:

A passport card has limited use and is a waste of money. If you get stuck in a foreign port, it is not valid to fly home or fly to your next port. Stick with a book. 

Getting the card in addition to the book isn't a waste of money in my home state, NJ.

Anyone who has had the pleasure of conducting business at a NJ Motor Vehicles Commission office would say that paying the additional fee for a passport card instead of waiting on line for hours to get a REAL ID drivers license is the best $30 they've spent in recent memory.

Actually you're not even spending an additional $30 because a NJ REAL ID license cost $11 more than a standard drivers license so the passport card plus a standard drivers license only costs $19 more than a REAL ID license. 

For that matter a passport card is good for 10 years but a NJ drivers license has to be renewed every four years, so the cost comparison is even better over time...three standard drivers license fees plus a passport card is cheaper than three REAL ID license fees.