Passport

[geniseg_2000]

I've been dragging my feet on the passport thing and now it's to late. Everyone (RCC, TA) told me I could board with my state issued ID card and my birth certificate.

 

Can anybody without a passport share their boarding experience? I really don't want to spend the money for something I don't plan to use again.

 

:(

[DonnaK]

Originally, everyone traveling outside the USA was supposed to need a passport by Dec 31, 2005. The deadline has now been extended to 12/31/06

 

 

Assuming you are going to the Caribbean or Bahamas (places that didn't previously require a passport), it won't be a problem at all to board with goverment issued photo ID and your birth certificate whcih documents that you are a US citizen (born in USA)

[negc]

I've been dragging my feet on the passport thing and now it's to late. Everyone (RCC, TA) told me I could board with my state issued ID card and my birth certificate.

 

Can anybody without a passport share their boarding experience? I really don't want to spend the money for something I don't plan to use again.

 

:(

You will be fine as you are if you are sailing this year, but do you really intend never to cruise again or travel out of the country, even to Mexico or Canada? If that is the case, you probably won't ever need to get a passport, but should you decide that you enjoy cruising so much that you want to do so again next year or sometime in the future, or you think that a once in a lifetime, tremendous travel opportunity might come up where you can visit some fantastic travel site in a foreign country, or you might experience a family emergency which would require you to leave the US, please consider getting a passport. They currently cost less than $100 and are good for ten years. Less than $10 a year is a small price to keep all of your travel options open.

[geniseg_2000]

I'm already addicted to cruising and I haven't even left yet. I hope to cruise again but realistically with my budget and small children I'm not sure when I will get the opportunity.

 

Thank you for your replies. That puts my mind at ease :o

[Happy ks]

We've carried passports for a number of years, it seems as though it's a better form of ID than the BC/DL route. But, you really are not required to have one until 12/31/06, so, you'll be safe for now. With a passport, they run it through a scanner, look at you carefully and your on your way. With a BC/DL they are more particular that you have the proper BC, not a hospital issued certificate and one that has a raised seal, or watermark. It has to be issued from the state or county where you were born, photocopies are not acceptable.

 

The biggest difference we have seen has been on disembarkation, the line seems to go quicker for those with passports. You do have to remember, showing ID is for re-entering the USA, not to board the ship and, depending on the level of security at the time you return to the US, you may have quite a wait if they are scrutinizing every one without passports.

 

The reason the ships are so careful with ID is they want to be able to get you off in a timely manner at the end of your cruise.

[anadi]

Just make sure your BC has a raised seal. We are leaving in a week, and luckily checked my husbands. It did not have the raised seal, so I went to the village clerk (he was born in our town) and for $10 they made us a copy with the seal.

[Jeanie821]

Get the passport. I cannot stress this enough. If you have a passport, there will be no question as to whether you can board the ship. I don't have a driver's license - state-issued ID card, but no license - and was afraid that I would be turned away because not everyone recognizes it as a valid ID. Never mind that the state DMV issues the blessed thing.

[zantedeschia]

Get the passport. I cannot stress this enough. If you have a passport, there will be no question as to whether you can board the ship. I don't have a driver's license - state-issued ID card, but no license - and was afraid that I would be turned away because not everyone recognizes it as a valid ID. Never mind that the state DMV issues the blessed thing.

I know, I don't understand why people are so weird about getting a passport. Just get one and you won't have to worry about it again for 10 years and it's a useful document. (My daughter has had a passport since she was 18 months old.)

 

As for a driver's license, state issued ID, yes those are valid forms of ID. What they are *not* is proof of citizenship.

[geniseg_2000]

I don't have a problem getting one I'm just cheap. I want to use my $100 for something else. From what I'm reading it may be used for cab fare away from the port.

 

Well I'm leaving on the 5/12 sailing of the Majesty and my indecisevness is going to cost me extra now.

 

I'm no longer excited about my first cruise :(

[wdisneynut]

I would'nt worry about this at all. Enjoy your first cruise. I tend to agree with you, I to am also Cheap. The extra $200 dollars (for me and my wife) will come in handy for shore excursions. We only cruise about every other year, so why should I pay the goverment for something I don't need this year and I will not use for a couple of years. I will get them when the time comes.

Have a blast on your cruise.

p.s It only took about 4 weeks to get my sons passport this spring. He is traveling with his grandparents to the carribean this summer so I figured it's better to be safe then sorry in his case.

[Treven]

I don't even take my DL on vacation with me; I'm not going to be drivind anything. All I take as an ID is my passport.

 

As a reminder for those sailing late this year without a passport, you must be back in the US by Dec 31, 2006

[Pattis61]

My husband and I are going on our 5th cruise and we do not have passports. We have never had a problem. As far as disembarkation, we have always gotten off the ship without any problem. As a matter of fact, the people beside us in the terminal had passports and they were stopped and we went right through. They may help, but they don't guarantee that you will get off quicker. It's just a matter of who they decide to spot check.

[02bthere]

For exact info on passport requirements, you should go to the State Department website -www.travel.state.gov. Passports are not currently required for air or sea travel returning to the U.S.A. from the Caribbean, Mexico, Bermuda, Canada, Central or South America...yet...but will be required for entering the U.S.A. (not leaving) as of 12/31/2006. As of 12/31/07 they will be required for all entries into the U.S. by land, sea and air. Also, passports (per the website) are not and will not be required for U.S. Possessions and territories (Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands, example). Cost for adult:$97 (6 weeks to get); child under 16- $82. If anyone's going to be traveling during peak seasons, allow at least 8 weeks to get it...express processing is humongous (is that a word?).

[Treven]

Humongous= Muy BIG!!

[HurricaneSally]

Personally, I don't care whether you get a passport or not. I am on my second passport and hope to be around long enough to pay for another one. But cheapness on a cruise drives me nuts.

[zantedeschia]

Personally, I don't care whether you get a passport or not. I am on my second passport and hope to be around long enough to pay for another one. But cheapness on a cruise drives me nuts.

The closer we get to the deadline, the more people are going to whine. That's gonna drive *me* nuts.

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

Personally, I don't care whether you get a passport or not. I am on my second passport and hope to be around long enough to pay for another one. But cheapness on a cruise drives me nuts.

 

 

I'm with you on this one Sally! :eek:

Good luck to all of you who refuse to get a passport until the last minute. :D

 

***

[Treven]

OH!, those will be the ones whinning in mid-Dec when they're told they won't get their passports until late January. (Their cruise departed in late December - without those peoples)!!

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

OH!, those will be the ones whinning in mid-Dec when they're told they won't get their passports until late January. (Their cruise departed in late December - without those peoples)!!

 

Yep......those passengers! :eek: :D

 

 

***

[wdisneynut]

Personally, I don't care whether you get a passport or not. I am on my second passport and hope to be around long enough to pay for another one. But cheapness on a cruise drives me nuts.

 

Why the putdown on "cheapness". Not everybody has a boatload (pun intended) of money to spend, so some of us have to save for a couple of years to take a dream cruise. Sure we could take a cheaper line like carnival, but why should I? The op was just asking if it was ok to cruise this year without a passport.

[Treven]

Yep......those passengers! :eek: :D

 

 

***

No, they weren't "passengers" as they hadn't gotten their passports yet.

[rgnok]

But cheapness on a cruise drives me nuts.

 

The elitist attitude about cruising is what drives me nuts. On topic, my whole family has passports and wouldn't travel out of the country without them, regardless of requirements, but that is our choice.

 

But off topic -- what's wrong with cheapness on a cruise. I know plenty of people will disagree with this, and, like most things, it is all a matter of your perspective, but, in our family, cruising is a cheap vacation (how else do you describe it when a family of 4 can take a 6 night vacation, including an international beach destination, with unlimited food and softdrinks, all tips, tranportation, lodging, etc. for $500 per person, or less than $84 per person per night)? For my family, that is the cheapest 6 night vacation we will take each year, and we will spend more than that for shorter, closer to home trips several times a year -- cruising is cheap, so there is nothing wrong with being cheap on a cruise.

 

Further, getting passports for the first time can add as much as 20% to the cost of a trip -- nothing "cheap" about that!

[Treven]

Actually, on my first cruise, I spent about $100 for the entire week on incidentials; so I know cheap - especially after spending $2k on the cruise itself. Half of that was the "single suppliment".

[zantedeschia]

Something that strikes me is how the OP says they'll never use the passport again. I use mine all the time, everytime someone asks me for a "second ID." (no a credit card IS NOT an ID).

 

PS: it's more fun to show my CHL as a second ID, that one gets some good reactions. :)

[Jeanie821]

Know the feeling. I particularly get a kick out of the reaction when I show my New York City Department of Corrections Religious Volunteer ID. "Why would you go in there if you didn't have to... and you weren't getting paid for it?"

 

Opens up a new dimension of conversation...