Birth certificate

[Thad409]

Weve always used our Birth certificates for boarding instead of a passport, is that still an option for boarding, we haven't cruised since pre covid . Thanks for any help.  

[Purvis1231]

Yes, on most Carnival cruises leaving from a US port and returning to the same port. 

[Thad409]

Just found it on CCL, Thanks for the reply.

 

"Also acceptable for cruise travel (for cruises that begin and end in a U.S port), U.S. citizens can show proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate  issued by a government agency and accompanied by government-issued photo identification. If the cruise includes air travel to or from Canada, a valid, unexpired U.S. passport is required. Guests who have committed or been convicted of a crime may not be allowed into Canada - for more information,"

[hurricane0226]

4 minutes ago, Thad409 said:

Just found it on CCL, Thanks for the reply.

 

"Also acceptable for cruise travel (for cruises that begin and end in a U.S port), U.S. citizens can show proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate  issued by a government agency and accompanied by government-issued photo identification. If the cruise includes air travel to or from Canada, a valid, unexpired U.S. passport is required. Guests who have committed or been convicted of a crime may not be allowed into Canada - for more information,"

Remember, if you use a Birth Certificate, you have to use a different line when you disembark,

it takes a little bit longer.

[sparks1093]

9 hours ago, hurricane0226 said:

Remember, if you use a Birth Certificate, you have to use a different line when you disembark,

it takes a little bit longer.

This varies by port and it is not universal. 

[Ferry_Watcher]

At Seattle's Pier 91 (Alaska cruises), everyone uses the same line.  Passports are faster!

[ZoeyVictoria]

Along with the birth certificate, don’t forget to bring any name change documents (marriage certificate, divorce decree, death certificate).  I just used a b/c for the first time (passport renewal was delayed) and did not take those documents. Had a scary few minutes when I thought I would not be allowed to sail. 

[Caps_Shield]

33 minutes ago, ZoeyVictoria said:

Along with the birth certificate, don’t forget to bring any name change documents (marriage certificate, divorce decree, death certificate).  I just used a b/c for the first time (passport renewal was delayed) and did not take those documents. Had a scary few minutes when I thought I would not be allowed to sail. 

Death Certificate?? We have dead people boarding cruises now?  I live in Chicago I thought they only voted 🤣!

[dallasdan]

We have used BC for 19 of our 20 cruises.  Never once was my wife asked for our marriage license.  

[Buckeyefrank100]

14 hours ago, hurricane0226 said:

Remember, if you use a Birth Certificate, you have to use a different line when you disembark,

it takes a little bit longer.

Not a true statement at all.  Some ports do have different lines and some do not.  We have done both and never had an issue or delay getting off a ship.  If it takes a little longer... it's like 2 seconds.

[dbrucern]

1 minute ago, Buckeyefrank100 said:

Not a true statement at all.  Some ports do have different lines and some do not.  We have done both and never had an issue or delay getting off a ship.  If it takes a little longer... it's like 2 seconds.

Then you should have been on our MG sailing last month over 1000 in the BC line with only two women working immigration. There were some very happy cruisers

[Sailin_Pirate]

31 minutes ago, dallasdan said:

We have used BC for 19 of our 20 cruises.  Never once was my wife asked for our marriage license.  

 

If the name on the paperwork provided matched she wouldn't be asked.

 

The marriage paper is for name bridging if you are asked for it. There are posts here with people saying they have been asked to "bridge" for whatever reasons.

[ZoeyVictoria]

41 minutes ago, dallasdan said:

We have used BC for 19 of our 20 cruises.  Never once was my wife asked for our marriage license.  

84 cruises with a passport, just this one with a b/c and I was asked immediately. It was a Royal Caribbean cruise out of Miami very recently   The only reason I got on the ship is because I had applied for a passport renewal through their new (and defective) online program, so I still had my old passport. I had it with me, and when the clerk at the terminal saw it, she told me to use that. I told her it was void, and she insisted it was not void because it didn’t have a hole punched in it. 
 

I did use the b/c to disembark and it took a very long time to get through the line. 

Edited April 6, 2023 by ZoeyVictoria

[jsglow]

18 minutes ago, Sailin_Pirate said:

 

If the name on the paperwork provided matched she wouldn't be asked.

 

The marriage paper is for name bridging if you are asked for it. There are posts here with people saying they have been asked to "bridge" for whatever reasons.

Where I've heard folks run into this as a problem is on honeymoon cruises.  Book in one name, docs in another type stuff.  More paperwork is always better. I would think this is especially true with minor children.  Always make it easy for @Ferry_Watcher. Her job is to get you onboard but there's limits.

[jsglow]

21 minutes ago, ZoeyVictoria said:

84 cruises with a passport, just this one with a b/c and I was asked immediately. It was a Royal Caribbean cruise out of Miami very recently   The only reason I got on the ship is because I had applied for a passport renewal through their new (and defective) online program, so I still had my old passport. I had it with me, and when the clerk at the terminal saw it, she told me to use that. I told her it was void, and she insisted it was not void because it didn’t have a hole punched in it. 
 

I did use the b/c to disembark and it took a very long time to get through the line. 

This is a perfect example of the ignorance that CAN be a problem with part-time shoreside employees that are simply inadequately trained.  You are 100% correct.  That Passport was VOID. Any reading of the State Department website will clearly indicate that.  In your case the clerk's ignorance benefited you but it's a lesson for all.  Make their job routine and easy and your embarkation/disembarkation will be easy.

 

I've also read that there's plenty of bugs associated with the online.  We'll do the traditional 'mail in' next year.

Edited April 6, 2023 by jsglow

[volfan22701]

1 hour ago, dallasdan said:

We have used BC for 19 of our 20 cruises.  Never once was my wife asked for our marriage license.  

 

same here for first 13 cruises. then we got our passports. they understand married women have different last names from their birth certificate.

[ZoeyVictoria]

3 minutes ago, jsglow said:

This is a perfect example of the ignorance that CAN be a problem with part-time shoreside employees that are simply inadequately trained.  You are 100% correct.  That Passport was VOID. Any reading of the State Department website will clearly indicate that.  In your case the clerk's ignorance benefited you but it's a lesson for all.  Make their job routine and easy and your embarkation/disembarkation will be easy.

 

I've also read that there's plenty of bugs associated with the online.  We'll do the traditional 'mail in' next year.

A supervisor would have been called to make a final determination if she hadn’t insisted on using the passport. I took it with me as a second form of photo i.d.  Hopefully the supervisor would have known that if I had a 9.5 year old passport,  surely the State Department would have verified my identification in the past. I don’t think the clerk’s motive was to avoid the interaction with a supervisor, I believe she was just uninformed but positive she knew everything. 
 

 

 

[ZoeyVictoria]

6 minutes ago, volfan22701 said:

 

same here for first 13 cruises. then we got our passports. they understand married women have different last names from their birth certificate.

My last name is not the same as my SO/travel partner’s name. That may have been a contributing factor. 

[Thad409]

14 minutes ago, TreyB said:

 

Curious as to why you wouldn't just get a passport?  It's easy to apply, relatively inexpensive, and you're good for 10 years. 🤷‍♂️

Just really no rhyme or reason we were always able to use our birth certificates, we've been on 6 cruises now and that's what we've always used I'm not opposed to getting one., I've done the math and you're right it's not that expensive we have a family of six and I think it was going to be roughly around $890 or so which is cheap for the Peace of mind, we may end up getting them

[dallasdan]

In my opinion if you are only going on cruises for international travel there is no need for the extra expense of getting a passport.  We finally got one after 19 cruises because we went out of the county on a trip that wasn't a cruise and want to do Europe in the next year.  As far as disembarking, we never had a delay and sometimes we made through the lines faster than our friends with passports.  

[Illbcruzn4life]

1 hour ago, ZoeyVictoria said:

84 cruises with a passport, just this one with a b/c and I was asked immediately. It was a Royal Caribbean cruise out of Miami very recently   The only reason I got on the ship is because I had applied for a passport renewal through their new (and defective) online program, so I still had my old passport. I had it with me, and when the clerk at the terminal saw it, she told me to use that. I told her it was void, and she insisted it was not void because it didn’t have a hole punched in it. 
 

I did use the b/c to disembark and it took a very long time to get through the line. 

are you saying the passport was expired or it had less than 6 months left on it?

[jsglow]

8 minutes ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

are you saying the passport was expired or it had less than 6 months left on it?

It's irrelevant.  As soon as one submits a renewal via the Online Portal, the 'old' Passport is immediately deactivated and invalid.  Historically that took the physical form of a hole punch when the old one gets returned as part of the renewal using the mail. Obviously using that renewal technique, your old Passport accompanies your form and check and you lose possession during the process.

 

Bottom line.... There's no valid Passport (your old one) once the renewal process is initiated.  You can't bridge the 6-8 week process using the old one simply by doing it through the portal.

[ZoeyVictoria]

13 minutes ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

are you saying the passport was expired or it had less than 6 months left on it?

There were five months left on it. The passport was void because I applied for renewal through their new and problematic online system.  It was void as soon as I submitted the application, but still in my possession (they do not ask for it to be turned in or mailed to them). It looked like a valid passport and the clerk did not believe me when I said it was void.

 

There were only five months left on it because I applied for a renewal back in January, with plenty of time based on their projected 5-9 week timeline.  I still do not have the new passport. 

[Illbcruzn4life]

36 minutes ago, jsglow said:

It's irrelevant.  As soon as one submits a renewal via the Online Portal, the 'old' Passport is immediately deactivated and invalid.  Historically that took the physical form of a hole punch when the old one gets returned as part of the renewal using the mail. Obviously using that renewal technique, your old Passport accompanies your form and check and you lose possession during the process.

 

Bottom line.... There's no valid Passport (your old one) once the renewal process is initiated.  You can't bridge the 6-8 week process using the old one simply by doing it through the portal.

Thanks for that info. It's a good thing the person at the port let her cruise with it.🙂

[jsglow]

10 minutes ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

Thanks for that info. It's a good thing the person at the port let her cruise with it.🙂

Yeah, I don't know how well that little 'problem' has been publicized.  It would be awful to show up at the port and be screwed.  We're going to need to do Passport renewals immediately after a cruise next winter because we'll be traveling to countries in late '24 that require the six month window and we'd be mere days short.  We're going to use the tried and true 'mail, actual forms/pics, check' method.  In fact we'll have that all teed up and ready to go before we depart for our January 14 nighter mailing the day after we get back home.

Edited April 6, 2023 by jsglow