Birth certificates... Can i do this?

[TheLargeFamily]

I'm sliding 8 birth certificates into plastic sleeves as some are getting worn. Will I need to remove the paper certificate from the plastic sleeve at checkin? If so, I am gonna hold off. 

[Homosassa]

If you don't have to remove them at check in, there is a good possibility you will need to remove them at Immigration coming back into the country.

 

Put them in some type of sleeve where the documents are easily removable to be check for validity. 

[sparks1093]

It will be up to the person examining the document, whether at check in or at Customs when returning. If they can clearly read them then they may not ask for them to be taken out. FWIW I've never had Customs look that closely at the documents upon return (all passengers are pre-cleared through a multitude of databases while the cruise is ongoing), so any checks upon return are minimal. (Another thing you can do is make copies of them and use them at check in and when clearing Customs and keep the originals in the plastic sleeves in the rare event they may be asked for. Copies are perfectly legitimate though for a closed loop cruise so I would be greatly surprised if they were asked for.)

Edited March 5 by sparks1093

[slavigne5577]

I do this as it's just easier for us to carry and not worry about rain or spills. We leave from New Orleans, it's a toss up as to if we are asked to remove them from plastic sheet protector. Mostly we don't have to. 11 cruises and only asked maybe three times.

[Bill Miller]

This is just me saying, but......

After 11 closed loop cruises... maybe it's time to consider growing up and getting a passport.

If you must leave the ship for medical reasons or other problems in a foreign country your going to have expensive problems getting back to the USA.

But heck, what do I know? Your lucks been running great for 11 cruises.

[TheLargeFamily]

6 minutes ago, Bill Miller said:

This is just me saying, but......

After 11 closed loop cruises... maybe it's time to consider growing up and getting a passport.

If you must leave the ship for medical reasons or other problems in a foreign country your going to have expensive problems getting back to the USA.

But heck, what do I know? Your lucks been running great for 11 cruises.

Actually this is the first time we've ever done this with birth certificates. This is the first time we've traveled post covid and everyone's passports expired during that time except for one of my kids. But yes, after birthing six children I should probably think about growing up LOL 🤔😂😘

[Illbcruzn4life]

2 hours ago, TheLargeFamily said:

Actually this is the first time we've ever done this with birth certificates. This is the first time we've traveled post covid and everyone's passports expired during that time except for one of my kids. But yes, after birthing six children I should probably think about growing up LOL 🤔😂😘

OUCH!

[171510Cook]

I strongly, STRONGLY recommend getting a new passport. Not only will a passport solve all your issues here, it is a Federal ID. It's the only identification you have to provide for taxes, job applications, voting, and anything else that requires ID. Once you have one, renewal is every 10 years and super easy. Assuming Covid doesn't happen again I suppose. FedEx Office will do passport photos, which provides a bunch of location options. 

[Ferry_Watcher]

From the point of view of someone who checks in passengers, I have mixed feelings about this.

 

I think from a check-in agent's perspective, it would be more efficient if each plastic sleeve held one person's birth certificate, and on the flip side the same person's boarding pass.  At least in Seattle, Carnival passengers must present their citizenship document (passport or birth certificate), along with their Carnival boarding pass before they are allowed to enter the terminal building.  I would hand each family member their own sleeve containing their BC and their boarding pass, except if the child was truly young.  If everyone has their own documents, I think the check-in process would go smoothly and quickly.

 

What you don't want to have is all the birth certificates in one section of your binder, and the boarding passes in another, and other paper work in a third area.  And then when you are asked for it, you are juggling the binder, your purse, yours and maybe a kid's carry on, and when you click open the three ring binder, everything falls out.  Then it takes 5 minutes to gather and sort everything.  I have seen it before...

 

So do your sleeve idea with the BC and boarding pass, but have it out and ready as you head toward the terminal building.  Trust the family members to be responsible for holding their own sleeve at check-in, will help with the check-in line flow.  Also, gather yourselves by stateroom at check-in - that will help as well.

 

Good luck.

[sprint180]

1. I imagine you will have to take them out at some point.  One of our families are using bc's for Alaska trip.  That is what they are doing.  I really just posted to say, have a great trip!
2.  

[sparks1093]

14 hours ago, Bill Miller said:

This is just me saying, but......

After 11 closed loop cruises... maybe it's time to consider growing up and getting a passport.

If you must leave the ship for medical reasons or other problems in a foreign country your going to have expensive problems getting back to the USA.

But heck, what do I know? Your lucks been running great for 11 cruises.

If you have to leave the ship for any reason you'll still have expensive problems getting back to the US even with a passport. There are provisions in the regulations that allow for the waiver of the passport requirement for emergencies, so all one really faces is a bit of a delay while things are sorted out with the authorities (and such sorting takes place between the cruise line and the authorities).

 

Whether you agree with it or not US citizens have the right to travel without a passport in certain circumstances and belittling them for their choice isn't cool (you may not have intended to belittle anyone with the phrase "consider growing up" but it reads that way). Every traveler should choose the documentation that meets their individual travel needs and that varies by person. 

[sparks1093]

10 hours ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

From the point of view of someone who checks in passengers, I have mixed feelings about this.

 

I think from a check-in agent's perspective, it would be more efficient if each plastic sleeve held one person's birth certificate, and on the flip side the same person's boarding pass.  At least in Seattle, Carnival passengers must present their citizenship document (passport or birth certificate), along with their Carnival boarding pass before they are allowed to enter the terminal building.  I would hand each family member their own sleeve containing their BC and their boarding pass, except if the child was truly young.  If everyone has their own documents, I think the check-in process would go smoothly and quickly.

 

What you don't want to have is all the birth certificates in one section of your binder, and the boarding passes in another, and other paper work in a third area.  And then when you are asked for it, you are juggling the binder, your purse, yours and maybe a kid's carry on, and when you click open the three ring binder, everything falls out.  Then it takes 5 minutes to gather and sort everything.  I have seen it before...

 

So do your sleeve idea with the BC and boarding pass, but have it out and ready as you head toward the terminal building.  Trust the family members to be responsible for holding their own sleeve at check-in, will help with the check-in line flow.  Also, gather yourselves by stateroom at check-in - that will help as well.

 

Good luck.

Excellent suggestions! 

[lostsoulcruiser]

As an aside and acknowledging this is not to point, renewing your passports allows your family to use the facial recognition station at reentry. On my last cruise, coming back to NOLA, all I did was stand at a specific spot and big brother recognized me from my passport photo.  Quick.  

The cruisers using birth certificates went to a longer line.

 

 

[TheLargeFamily]

59 minutes ago, sparks1093 said:

If you have to leave the ship for any reason you'll still have expensive problems getting back to the US even with a passport. There are provisions in the regulations that allow for the waiver of the passport requirement for emergencies, so all one really faces is a bit of a delay while things are sorted out with the authorities (and such sorting takes place between the cruise line and the authorities).

 

Whether you agree with it or not US citizens have the right to travel without a passport in certain circumstances and belittling them for their choice isn't cool (you may not have intended to belittle anyone with the phrase "consider growing up" but it reads that way). Every traveler should choose the documentation that meets their individual travel needs and that varies by person. 

It's OK! Thanks for your thoughts! ❤️I'd rather travel with passports but it wasn't gonna happen this time. And considering I paid for 8 people to cruise, I almost feel grown up 😂 I'm 3 days from vacation mode so nobody can get me down! 😁

[sparks1093]

8 minutes ago, TheLargeFamily said:

It's OK! Thanks for your thoughts! ❤️I'd rather travel with passports but it wasn't gonna happen this time. And considering I paid for 8 people to cruise, I almost feel grown up 😂 I'm 3 days from vacation mode so nobody can get me down! 😁

I could tell from your first response that the post didn't upset you and I am certain that all of this crossed your mind in the months leading up to the cruise. I do applaud you for your idea of using protective sheets for each birth certificate, that never occurred to me back in the day when we used them for cruising.

[sparks1093]

1 hour ago, lostsoulcruiser said:

As an aside and acknowledging this is not to point, renewing your passports allows your family to use the facial recognition station at reentry. On my last cruise, coming back to NOLA, all I did was stand at a specific spot and big brother recognized me from my passport photo.  Quick.  

The cruisers using birth certificates went to a longer line.

 

 

Yes, having a passport can sometimes get you through Customs quicker when returning from a cruise but we're only talking minutes, not hours and I would be loathe to spend that kind of money only for that limited benefit. I realize that the timing affected this next statement but when we disembarked in NOLA last year DW and I went through the passport line and our travel companions went through the BC line. We all emerged on the other side at the same time. 

[ninjacat123]

14 hours ago, 171510Cook said:

I strongly, STRONGLY recommend getting a new passport. Not only will a passport solve all your issues here, it is a Federal ID. It's the only identification you have to provide for taxes, job applications, voting, and anything else that requires ID. Once you have one, renewal is every 10 years and super easy. Assuming Covid doesn't happen again I suppose. FedEx Office will do passport photos, which provides a bunch of location options. 

Before the age  of 16, passports need to be renewed every 5 years.  After 16,  passports are renewed every ten years.