What's going on with the Passport situation???

[BlueJacketsFan1]

We were told to apply no less than six months in advance. We played it safe and got our a year in advance. We ran into a problem getting my mother's passport a couple of years ago. The first one got lost in the mail and a second one had to be issued. Good Luck!

[imallset]

we applied for ours beginning of February as we decided at last minute to go on this cruise. At the time we were assured by the postal agency that we had plenty of time (10 weeks). The website HAD been showing that we would receive them on time, but then it kept changing and now it has NO DATE at all. It also is saying dont bother calling unless you are leaving within two weeks. Well I for one am going to call to expedite!

[WCAB]

What is the turn over time to get a copy of your birth certificate. My parents &

sister applied for passport on 03/09/07 for 05/27/07 cruise. They did not expedite and I am really questioning if they will have the passport back. They can use birth certificates, so I am going to encourage them to request a copy now. They were all born in the U.S. between 1920 and 1948.

As an aside my husband thought he had lost his birth certificate and is from Canada. He was going to have to go to a great deal of trouble to get a copy, including having to get a statement from his physician to certify his identity. It was also costly, so depending on where you were born, it might be a little bit of work and time to get a copy of your birth certificate. We were lucky and he found his. This was needed for application of Canandian Social Security, not for travel.

 

Carol

[mattamber]

DON'T BOTHER!! They will just tell you to wait until it is ten days before your trip because they won't expedite before that. I know it's ridiculous, but so is waiting on hold for over an hour and then being told that they won't expedite.

 

I am truly getting annoyed with Government. The White House probably fired all the passport people at the end of 2006 because they keep issuing passports to Democrats.

[caa]

What is the turn over time to get a copy of your birth certificate.

 

It depends. If you can go in person to the registrar in the county where you were born, you can probably get one while you wait. That's how it is here.

 

If you have to send away for it, find the county's website and see what their policies are. In the county where I live, you send a notarized form and they mail your birth certificate in two to three weeks. If you need it faster than that, they recommend you use www.vitalchek.com, which takes about a week to ten days.

[JAM810]

Back on March 3rd, my DH, DS and I applied for our passports at our local library and the library told me they are working on a 6 week lead-time. Then this past Saturday (3/17) I went an applied for my DD passport & the same library told me the lead-time is now 10 weeks. The library confirmed that on 3/5 the passport office received my DH, DS & my application but when I check on line it doesn't say that they are in process. But what I'm trying to get to here is that all four applications included our original birth certificates. So, what happens if I don't get my passport in time and then none of us have a birth certificate?!?!?!? my cruise is only 81 days away. :eek: Gosh, I'm not really sure what to do now because we are 11 weeks from our cruise and birth certificates take some time to get and cost money too. We figured getting the passports were the best idea now because of less paperwork & very soon they are going to be absolutely required for travel. Not sure if anyone else is in this predicament, but I thought I'd throw it out here for discussion. :confused:

[HockeyMom44]

We live in Pembroke pInes Fl. We applied for ours on January Th. The ETA on our passports have changed 3 times already, with them now supposedly arriving 3/25. Oh well, thank goodness we don't sail till June!!

[HockeyMom44]

We live in Pembroke pInes Fl. We applied for ours on January 16Th. The ETA on our passports have changed 3 times already, with them now supposedly arriving 3/25. Oh well, thank goodness we don't sail till June!!

[DebP]

DB and family decided at the last minute to join us April 8 on the Valor. They applied for passports at the very end of February, paid to have them expedited, and all three have arrived. I'm amazed! Wouldn't count on it, but wouldn't rule it out if you have a few months before a cruise.

[marynjason]

you don't need a passport this year to get on the boat but if you need to fly home you'll be chit out of luck with out a passport...No passport no airplane to the USA

 

 

I just sat on hold for 60 minutes waiting for a representative from passports. I was told that it should be here anywhere from the 18-20th of April.. thats a little close! Heres the options call 10 days prior and request it to be expedited..POSSIBLY a fee. or request in writing to cease the application! NO REFUND!!!

They're over loaded. But yet it's our problem?? If they stated 6 weeks then it should be 6 weeks now the time frame is 10- 12 weeks!!! I was soo frustrated with this person and her lack of compassion to the situation. I tried to asked her that in the event they expedite is it guaranteed and will it will it be free? she stated NO GUARANTEE and they have to take a cc number and it's their discretion to not charge the 180.00. I asked if I get new Birth certificates issued for us to board the boat. God forbid we need to fly home for what ever reason would they allow us to board, due to the Passport error in delivery times but that we were in the system..she said NOPE.. she said change your plans!! I couldn't believe what she said I said absolutely not that wasn't a reason to get a refund from the insurance or Carnival.

__________________

[Boozebabe]

If you apply for new birth certificate always get 2 copies. Only costs a couple extra bucks but worth it. They are considered original if they have the raised seal on them. I got 2 copies for each of my sons in case something happens to the ones in their posession I still have one in my safe at home.

[TNtraveler]

They have changed the date for the necessity of passport for U.S. returns several times, most recently in December '06. Currently, a passport is required for all AIR arrivals in the U.S. The date for land and sea arrivals was pushed back to no earlier than 1/1/2008. Thus, for cruisers, the entry requirements have not yet changed for return to the U.S. (though they will next year).

[brneyemomma]

Proper travel documentation is required at embarkation and throughout the cruise. Even though a guest has completed registration using FUNPASS, it is still the responsibility of the guest to bring all required travel documents. Guest should check with their travel agent and/or government authority to determine the travel documents necessary for each port of call. Any guest without proper documents will not be allowed to board the vessel and no refund of the cruise fare will be issued. Carnival assumes no responsibility for advising guests of immigration requirements.

U.S. citizens must present proof of citizenship in the form of a passport (valid or expired for less than 10 years), original birth certificate, state-issued certified copy of a birth certificate from the Department of Health and Vital Statistics, or original Naturalization papers.

Carnival strongly recommends its guests travel with a passport since it will greatly expedite clearance by the Department of Homeland Security.

Important Note for sailings effective 6/1/09:

CRUISE TRAVEL

The U.S. Government will require all of our guests (including U.S. citizens) to be in possession of a valid passport when traveling on any Carnival cruise. Foreign nationals should contact their respective governments to obtain further details.

This requirement will become effective no later than June 1, 2009. Please be aware that this effective date may be moved to an earlier date pending the U.S. Government’s implementation of new identification cards (PASScards) that will provide a less expensive alternative form of documentation.

AIR TRAVEL

Effective January 8, 2007, passports will be required for air travel to or from Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, The Bahamas and Bermuda.

 

 

Just pulled from Carnival's website... It is mandatory for Air Travel....

[dec2007w3boys]

Since they are not required for cruise travel until Jan '08 and most it will most likely be delayed, we have decided not to obtain them.

Honestly, if the passports were required, we wouldn't be cruising. Yes, to us, $500+ is a big deal. That is chunk of money that we would rather use on our summer trip to South Carolina.

 

I do realize that I have an issues if I have to fly back; however, I know i will evuantually get on a plane....

In the event of an emergency, please refer to the state departments website: http://www.travel.state.gov/travel/cbpmc/cbpmc_2225.html

 

Q. What happens to U.S. citizens who attempt to re-enter the country without a passport or an alternative travel card?

Under the law, the new documentation requirements may be waived under certain circumstances. These exceptions include individual cases of unforeseen emergency and individual cases based on “humanitarian or national interest reasons.” In addition, the State Department has processes to assist U.S. citizens overseas to obtain emergency travel documentation for those with lost or stolen passports.

For the general public, people who apply for entry but do not have appropriate documentation will be referred for secondary screening at the port. In secondary, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers will evaluate any evidence of citizenship or identity the individual may have and will verify all information against available databases. However, to prevent delay at the ports of entry, we would encourage all U.S. citizens to obtain the appropriate documents before they travel.

[VentureMan_2000]

I saw all this coming last year and got ours early, while it only took 6 weeks.

 

Procrastinators sometimes have a tough price to pay.

 

 

The Goverment extended the passport requirement another year because of them.

 

No one is going to bother to take the requirement seriously until they hold fast to a date. It's not like the requirement was only announced a short time ago. It was announced 4 or 5 years ago.

 

One other note: I don't think kids are required to have a passport. I think they did away with that requirement. Maybe someone else can confirm.

 

And for the record... I feel people's pain regarding cost. It's not like I had "extra" money around for this.

[JAM810]

Back on March 3rd, my DH, DS and I applied for our passports at our local library and the library told me they are working on a 6 week lead-time. Then this past Saturday (3/17) I went an applied for my DD passport & the same library told me the lead-time is now 10 weeks. The library confirmed that on 3/5 the passport office received my DH, DS & my application but when I check on line it doesn't say that they are in process. But what I'm trying to get to here is that all four applications included our original birth certificates. So, what happens if I don't get my passport in time and then none of us have a birth certificate?!?!?!? my cruise is only 81 days away. :eek: Gosh, I'm not really sure what to do now because we are 11 weeks from our cruise and birth certificates take some time to get and cost money too. We figured getting the passports were the best idea now because of less paperwork & very soon they are going to be absolutely required for travel. Not sure if anyone else is in this predicament, but I thought I'd throw it out here for discussion. :confused:

 

It has been 4 weeks since the US passport dept. received my documentation for my, my DH & DS. Just yesterday, we saw on the US passport website that they are now in process. We had been checking every week since then and it has taken 4 weeks for them to get the information in their system/website. It doesn't state how long it will take now to get them. My cruise is now only 9 weeks away. When I applied for my passports the lead-time was 6 weeks for a passport. :rolleyes: Does that lead-time start now since they entered my information into their system or does the lead-time start from when they 'actually' received my information. :rolleyes: If that is the case, I should have my passports in two weeks, right? I'm anxious to see what happens here & will continue to check their website. In the meantime, I am prepared to go to the local Vital records to purchase new birth certificates. We aren't flying, so we are good there. It seems as though, if some kind of emergency took place during our cruise & we had to fly home, concessions would be made (based upon a previous post in this thread). The saga continues .... :(

[JAM810]

It has been 4 weeks since the US passport dept. received my documentation for my, my DH & DS. Just yesterday, we saw on the US passport website that they are now in process. We had been checking every week since then and it has taken 4 weeks for them to get the information in their system/website. It doesn't state how long it will take now to get them. My cruise is now only 9 weeks away. When I applied for my passports the lead-time was 6 weeks for a passport. :rolleyes: Does that lead-time start now since they entered my information into their system or does the lead-time start from when they 'actually' received my information. :rolleyes: If that is the case, I should have my passports in two weeks, right? I'm anxious to see what happens here & will continue to check their website. In the meantime, I am prepared to go to the local Vital records to purchase new birth certificates. We aren't flying, so we are good there. It seems as though, if some kind of emergency took place during our cruise & we had to fly home, concessions would be made (based upon a previous post in this thread). The saga continues .... :(

 

Still no passports! Two weeks ago my DH went to the Vital Statistics building to order birth certificates for all of us and we got them the next day (via the mail). We want to make sure we have what we need. Our TA has stated that Carnival is recommending passengers to have passports even though it isn't govt. required. They have said that in the event there are any problems and you need to fly; having the passport will alleviate any difficulties in the event of such an emergency. My family and I really do not need the passports because we are driving to the port of NY but in the event of any emergency (as Carnival has recommended) and since the govt. is requiring passports for flying and very soon cruising .... we might as well get them now. It's now 8 weeks since the pffices received my passport info and at that time the lead-time was stated at 6 weeks, so we'll see what happens. 45 days until we set sail!!!! :)

[crystalclean]

paid to expedite in March

received passport in 10 days

Sailed 4/14 !

No Problem !

It looks like lines/times are only going to get worse - start now for 2008 regulations!

[alphakitty]

Since they are not required for cruise travel until Jan '08 and most it will most likely be delayed, we have decided not to obtain them.

Honestly, if the passports were required, we wouldn't be cruising. Yes, to us, $500+ is a big deal. That is chunk of money that we would rather use on our summer trip to South Carolina.

 

I do realize that I have an issues if I have to fly back; however, I know i will evuantually get on a plane....

In the event of an emergency, please refer to the state departments website: http://www.travel.state.gov/travel/cbpmc/cbpmc_2225.html

 

Q. What happens to U.S. citizens who attempt to re-enter the country without a passport or an alternative travel card?

Under the law, the new documentation requirements may be waived under certain circumstances. These exceptions include individual cases of unforeseen emergency and individual cases based on “humanitarian or national interest reasons.” In addition, the State Department has processes to assist U.S. citizens overseas to obtain emergency travel documentation for those with lost or stolen passports.

For the general public, people who apply for entry but do not have appropriate documentation will be referred for secondary screening at the port. In secondary, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers will evaluate any evidence of citizenship or identity the individual may have and will verify all information against available databases. However, to prevent delay at the ports of entry, we would encourage all U.S. citizens to obtain the appropriate documents before they travel.

 

Thank you for posting this! I have to laugh when I read "if you have a problem and need to fly home, you are SOL" IF it were that easy to stay on some islands, many would try to pull it off. It won't be as easy as if you had a passport, but you won't be stuck on an island in the Caribbean forever! LOL

[JAM810]

Thank you for posting this! I have to laugh when I read "if you have a problem and need to fly home, you are SOL" IF it were that easy to stay on some islands, many would try to pull it off. It won't be as easy as if you had a passport, but you won't be stuck on an island in the Caribbean forever! LOL

 

" .... stuck on an island in the Caribbean forever!" that actually doesn't sound like a bad idea LOL!!!! :D

[acwillie]

I don't know if your friend has received the passport yet but I applied for mine back in Jan. I just got mine 4-23. I was a little worried but we dont sail until 5-19.

[gmatthews]

We sail out of Puerto Rico on May 13th from Washington DC. We do not need a passport to travel to Puerto Rico or within the US yet. I have triple checked this with Carnival and the airline.

[arabrab]

My daughter just got her renewal passport 12 weeks to the day from the date of application. (At the time she applied in January, the State Department's website was quoting 6 weeks. :mad: )

 

The day before it arrived I sent email to my sentators expressing my unhappiness with the delays in passport processing, particularly for renewals where the name was the same, the address the same, and the expiring passport was included with the application. Earlier this evening I got a call from a staffer in Sen. Allard's office who'd gotten my email and wanted to see if she could help. Luckily, my daughter's passport had just arrived, so we were ok. The aide said a lot of people are having major troubles with this.

 

If you're getting within three weeks of departure and you still don't have a passport, I'd suggest you call your senator or representative's office and try and speak with the aide that could help get it expedited.

 

The State Department has been trying to put out a lot a feel good news about how much better they're doing on the passport front in the last month, but you couldn't tell it by our experience. I don't know if the lower level folks are misrepresenting the situation to the higher ups, or the higher ups are just outright lying, but the problems are not fixed, and summer travel plans are likely to be messed up for quite a few folks, particularly those who need visas.

[lakefolk]

.. We are sailing in Oct and applying for our passports next month.. I am getting a wee bit nervous about them coming in time.. I wasn't concerned til I saw the above on the Carnival sight..

 

So why the heck are you waiting till next month? why not just do it now and be done with it?

[vacruizer]

Yes, in an emergency, the State Department would get you home somehow even if it were a big pain. But there was a tale here recently of someone who missed the ship and couldn't fly to the next port to catch it since they didn't have a passport.

 

While the date keeps moving, we've all known for a while it's coming. Just apply and get it over with. And apply well ahead of time (think 6 months, not 6 weeks.) Yes, it's an expense, but so is a cruise. I guess I just don't understand the money argument for not applying. I don't want to be harsh, but cruising is a luxury. I, like many, save and cut corners elsewhere to be able to cruise. But in the long haul, if you can afford a cruise, you can afford a passport. If your finances are that strained, maybe you should look at other options for vacation (or take a vacation at home.) We spent many years visiting local, inexpensive attractions because we couldn't afford to travel for vacation.