Experienced cruiser makes a DUMB mistake (how can you forget your passports??)

[Jingerwoppy]

We use packing lists. 

[Julma]

I too consider myself a seasoned traveler.  I one time forgot my carryon.  Put it down to grab the trash and away I went.  Put the car in park in Boston Logan's parking lot and it dawned on me.  I was tagging along on a business trip my husband was taking, so he had to go.  Called my parents and asked if they would drive to my house, grab bag, then to airport.  Everything had to go perfectly for me to still make my flight.  It was 6PM on a Friday.  They had to drive 40 miles to Logan with no traffic.  HAHAHAHA.  It happened.  My dad said he had never seen anything like it.  The Mass Pike was a ghost town.  I won't make that mistake again.  Fast forward to a couple of months ago, my daughter was cruising out of Boston and grabbed her old passport.  Let's just say, my husband and I were able to save the day for her as my parents did for me.  I've learned something from your experience...to have a photo of my BC on my phone.  Thanks for that.

[marci22]

On 12/22/2022 at 3:58 PM, reallyitsmema said:

In our house, we have a rule that the car doesn't leave the driveway until the passports are physically produced in the car.  My son used to roll his eyes at me every time I would pull them out of the passport holder in the car and verify we had the right ones, not the expired ones but it works for us! 

I do the same. They have to take them out and show me before we leave the driveway.

[marci22]

On 12/22/2022 at 7:13 PM, Merion_Mom said:

I am just gobsmacked that they will accept a photograph of a birth certificate.

I am going to have everyone in my family take a phone picture of their bc as backup.

[Kruizin'Kath]

I will be taking photos of our BC very soon! Bless your Mom for saving the day!

 

On another note (and not trying to hijack the thread), last cruise in the fall, I packed ALL my clothes and had to leave the ship in my night dress! We cruise/travel at least twice a year and have more than 30 cruises under our belts. I was so focused on not letting the empty clothes hangars rattle all night by tying them together with my sweater, I doubled checked that clean under clothes and DL's jeans were on the shelves and put the suitcases in the hall for collection. Luckily i had said sweater to wear and rummaged through the suitcase as soon as we retrieved it and changed in the restroom! I'm quite sure that will never happen again!! I know, I know ..... never say never!

 

Happy New Year, all! Cheers to being human!! 🥂

[danoconnl]

So I'm not sure if its been said, but I think you could have gotten on because of the facial recognition that they have in Miami.  My wife took my MIL on a cruise last june and my MIL didn't pack her passport, she didn't think she needed it, she wasn't leaving the country, just getting on a ship.  I had put her passport in and done all the pre planning for her.  So I get a desperate call late the night before, run to her house, find her BC and make copies of that and her passport and send to her.  Well, they were never checked, Miami I guess uses facial recognition and they waved her thru.  Not sure if she was lucky or it was the facial recognition that saved her. 

[Merion_Mom]

1 hour ago, danoconnl said:

So I'm not sure if its been said, but I think you could have gotten on because of the facial recognition that they have in Miami.  My wife took my MIL on a cruise last june and my MIL didn't pack her passport, she didn't think she needed it, she wasn't leaving the country, just getting on a ship.  I had put her passport in and done all the pre planning for her.  So I get a desperate call late the night before, run to her house, find her BC and make copies of that and her passport and send to her.  Well, they were never checked, Miami I guess uses facial recognition and they waved her thru.  Not sure if she was lucky or it was the facial recognition that saved her. 

Facial recognition is used at disembarkation. Not when checking in at the terminal.

[sgmn]

On 12/23/2022 at 1:12 AM, soremekun said:

It's great to read your mother reached the wonderful age of 95 years old..... and knows how to send a picture via text.  So awesome.

My thoughts exactly. I could never get my mum in her 80s to figure how to work a simple mobile phone, let alone take a picture of a document and sent it to you in a text. Well done to your mum 

[logan25]

On 12/22/2022 at 1:09 PM, ajtaylor29 said:

i don't know what WHTI means.....? But, i told her we had those and she said nope. Has to be a birth certificate.

 

I can specifically say a Passport Card served me well when my book passport had not been returned in time to board Mariner for a closed loop voyage three years ago.

[Ocean Boy]

I'm not cruising for another month but when I get home tonight I will check my passport, which was renewed last year, to make SURE it is not expired and put it in my backpack. I will then take a picture of my birth certificate for my phone and put a copy in my email just in case the phone is uncooperative upon checkin.

[Ocean Boy]

5 hours ago, sgmn said:

My thoughts exactly. I could never get my mum in her 80s to figure how to work a simple mobile phone, let alone take a picture of a document and sent it to you in a text. Well done to your mum 

My mother and your mother would seem to have a lot in common. Though my mother was quite good at making calls on her flip phone until AT&T deactivated is 3G service.😄

[nelblu]

11 hours ago, danoconnl said:

So I'm not sure if its been said, but I think you could have gotten on because of the facial recognition that they have in Miami.  My wife took my MIL on a cruise last june and my MIL didn't pack her passport, she didn't think she needed it, she wasn't leaving the country, just getting on a ship.  I had put her passport in and done all the pre planning for her.  So I get a desperate call late the night before, run to her house, find her BC and make copies of that and her passport and send to her.  Well, they were never checked, Miami I guess uses facial recognition and they waved her thru.  Not sure if she was lucky or it was the facial recognition that saved her. 

Sailed from Miami in early December and no facial recognition on embarking.  However, that may be right around the corner as I read an article that Facial Recognition is being tested at multiple airports by the TSA.  I see no reason as to not being able to apply to cruise ship boarding.

 

TSA is adding face recognition at big airports. Here’s how to opt out. - The Washington Post

[ButterflyGirly]

On 12/22/2022 at 2:54 PM, superduper123 said:

So glad it worked out for you! I can't imagine going throught that. My stress and anxiety would have been off the charts!  😬

I had stress and anxiety reading the post!  So glad all worked out for the OP and mom deserves a bouquet of flowers!

[MsOne]

Yikes, I think I forgot these details about what's acceptable since I have my passport and use our son's birth certificate. I will need to make sure the "new to cruising" people traveling with us have everyone's birth certificates because I know they don't have passports!

 

And like everyone else, I LOVE this story! Yes, you can count on mom 🥰

Reminds me of my baby shower a thousand years ago where my sisters asked me for contact info for my friends and I emailed them a list with names, phone numbers, emails over a month before the baby shower. On the day of the shower, I overheard them arguing in the corner about who was supposed to invite which friends. Everyone there was family my mom invited, mainly the "old crowd" just happy to be out of the house for the day lol. I was telling a friend about it (and why she learned of it after the fact), and her response -- We can always depend on mom, can't we!!!

 

Still rings so true -- again, LOVE this story 💝

[MsOne]

On 12/23/2022 at 7:06 AM, midwife1021 said:

I’m thinking a file of birth certificate photos stored on the laptop might be on my list for preparations next time. 

That's a good idea...now that I think about it, I have ours in an online "cloud" as well...might also be in my email. I think you even bringing up the idea will now jog my memory that I have them easily accessible as long as I can access internet.

[Cruising89143]

Wow, glad that it all worked out. Very stressful way to kick off a vacation. Mom to the rescue. 🙂

[BND]

17 hours ago, Merion_Mom said:

Facial recognition is used at disembarkation. Not when checking in at the terminal.

That's the first thing I thought when I read that post.  The facial recognition machines are only in the terminal as you exit the ship, not where you check in.  

[Biker19]

13 minutes ago, BND said:

The facial recognition machines are only in the terminal as you exit the ship, not where you check in.  

Not sure if other ports had it, but pre-COVID in Bayonne, they had facial recognition to help the check in staff. As you walked by the unit, it prompted the check in person about 30 ft ahead and pulled up your details. That's when 10 min from car to ship was a normal thing.

[BallFour4]

Here in Galveston this happens for a small number on every cruise. They are sent to what's called Escalation, and then the scramble is on for someone to send a copy of the BC via email. They embarkation staff will verify, check the photo ID, help the traveler print off a copy and hello vacation.

 

 A couple of cruises back I read about a great idea about scanning your passport, photo ID, BC and cruise documents. I have done that and saved them to one PDF then emailed it to myself and my wife, and stored it my virtual drive.

 

 Hope your vacation was great!

 

..

[BND]

32 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Not sure if other ports had it, but pre-COVID in Bayonne, they had facial recognition to help the check in staff. As you walked by the unit, it prompted the check in person about 30 ft ahead and pulled up your details. That's when 10 min from car to ship was a normal thing.

Haven't been out of Bayonne in 4 years, but have been out of PC twice in the last 13 months and only saw them near Customs booths.

[Biker19]

27 minutes ago, BND said:

Haven't been out of Bayonne in 4 years, but have been out of PC twice in the last 13 months and only saw them near Customs booths.

The entry ones at Bayonne I described were removed pre-COVID. With the COVID check in protocols, even sorta back to normal now, it’s just not possible to do what was happening in Bayonne back then. 

[radiojw]

On 12/22/2022 at 9:56 AM, klfrodo said:

Wait. Isn't a Global Entry card WHTI compliant?

They absolutely are. The lady could've picked SENTRI as identification and it would've worked (SENTRI logo on back of GE card)

 

[radiojw]

On 12/23/2022 at 1:03 PM, Ferry_Watcher said:

And a foreign tech worker living and working in the US who travels frequently internationally could also have a Global Entry card.  We still would not accept the Global Entry Card from that person as a stand alone form of identity/proof of citizenship. The foreign passenger would need a valid passport.  A US born citizen could use a birth certificate, an Enhanced Driver's License (not Real ID, which is different), or passport for a closed loop cruise.   If we get into the weeds for other accepted forms of travel ID, there are NEXUS cards, SENTRI cards and Tribal Cards - all generally acceptable for closed loop cruises.

As someone who checks-in passengers, we are trained on all this.  If there are questions, it goes to a supervisor, maybe two levels up.  Sometimes its the ship documentation office who is usually behind the counter with us, who makes the final decision.

 

 

FYI, as this is a closed loop cruise, the Global Entry card would've been fine. Only US Citizens, Green Card holders, and Mexican citizens can get a physical Global Entry card. 

 

Everybody else gets global entry perks but no card (meaning entry via GE by airside only).

 

 

Source: my wife is Indian on a visa and enrolled in GE.

 

 

To the original poster, I'm glad that you got to your cruise -- but it was a waste of time making you find other documentation, and unfortunately, the person at the "special desk" needs better training. Next time, try to check in with your Global Entry cards as citizenship proof by selecting "SENTRI" upon check-in 🙂

 

 

 

OH -- and for the avid cruisers, be sure to request a 'passport card' on next passport renewal. This will give you a nice card to carry in your wallet that allows for land/sea border crossings.

Edited December 29, 2022 by radiojw

[Jasukkie]

When did they stop accepting DL for closed loop cruises? I thought that was still okay on Royal. 

 

Remember that amazing thread from a while back of a guy who was able to board using a picture of an expired driver's license? 

[BND]

10 hours ago, Jasukkie said:

When did they stop accepting DL for closed loop cruises? I thought that was still okay on Royal. 

 

Remember that amazing thread from a while back of a guy who was able to board using a picture of an expired driver's license? 

You have to have a BC to go with that DL.  DL's do not prove/show citizenship.  And, only for US citizens out of the US on closed loop cruises.

Edited December 29, 2022 by BND