I just complained to my congressmen . . .

[truecruiser]

[quote name='sa_girl']We have problems this side of the pond as well. I am entitled [I][U]to apply for my British passport[/U][/I] ...[/quote]

[quote name='GoinCruisin']You should just blame it on the US Government :p Everyone else does!!! LOL!!!!
...[/quote]

ROFLMAO!

[the_dylaness]

I am worried that my husband (who DOES have a passport and has for many years, but now needs a renewal) is going to get caught up in this tremendous mess. Is the long waiting period the same for renewals as well as new passports?

[HurricaneSally]

[quote name='woohoo4ue']Believe it or not I didn't know I would need a passport until late last year when I booked my cruise. Since then they have removed the need for a passport to cruise. Since I have no plans of doing any kind of vacationing outside the US besides cruising for the next 5 years technically I still don't NEED a passport RIGHT NOW. I think I did the responsible thing by applying for my passport 7 months in advance. Although I don't need it for my next cruise I'll still be hacked if I don't get it after applying 7 months in advance and being told 10-12 weeks. You're out of line.[/quote]


Not exactly out of line. A friend of mine at work asked me to help her plan a cruise. I told her to get her passport and then we'll plan her cruise. That's the way it should be done, IMHO.

[HurricaneSally]

[quote name='Margarita1time']Not everyone plans on traveling outside the country. Sometimes they find out that they will get an opportunity they never would have dreamed would happen. Those people aren't procrastinating, or irresponsible. My parents are in their 70's and have never traveled outside the US and have never had a passport. I am the only one of their children who has traveled outside the US. I would not call them irresponsible or procrastinators. They just never even thought about a passport. Now they have an opportunity to travel, and have applied for their passports. I expect they won't be leaving the good old US for many, many months. I've already told you about the young man and his wife who are supposed to leave next week for Tahiti, and they've been waiting 5 months for their passports. Yes, our government should have some responsibility for the passport fiasco. BTW- what does the fact that we have over 200k men and women on the front lines have to do with it? We all know that's a MUCH bigger concern than anyone's vacation plans. Duh![/quote]

My dad is 80 and just applied for his first passport in January with no travel plans. He just wants it in case he decides to take a cruise. BTW he received his passport in 12 weeks.

[colette5479]

I guess I'm another one who doesn't understand why people are blaming our government for this. We have been given many warning about this. I know of a lot of TA's who have been stressing this fact to all of their clients. Most of the major travel sites have issued alerts as well. Call me crazy, but I'm not getting the hysteria.

[Ms Belvedere]

Im so glad i got mine a year and half ago it took 6 weeks to get it they spelled my middle name wrong sent it back got it 2 weeks later ..Now in ten years when it expires i will be ahead of all you folks that have waited to the last minute

so once again you will have to wait again :p

 

Hilarious - thanks for the laugh! We knew the price was just going to go up, up, up so we applied earlier. Ours came fast, no waiting, no worries and we're set to travel any time. Sorry about those of you who waited and are now caught up in the back log. Wonder what the price will be to renew 8 years from now?

Ms B

[Mikel1733]

I agree most people who have cruised before knew of the change and had ample time to prepare. What about all the people who just decided "well lets take a cruise this year" and now after purchasing a cruise and airfare are missing trips. The government was caught flat footed on this and have created a real mess. You can put lipstick on this hog if you want....but its still a hog.

[lkva]

my problem is not with waiting. it is the information that is being given by employees. we made an appt to have our passports done first of march. that is the first time we could get in the northern va area. i asked if we had plenty of time for travel for my son for 7/3 they said yes plenty of time and for my self and husband we need for 7/21 cruise. as time got closer for my son's trip in which he needs a visa for. i tried ti call to get info etc.. to be treated rudly and hung up on. also, to be told numerous times after holding for 1hr. or longer that there computers were down and could not help. the response when i did get to talk to someone is that it is in porcessing and they could not help me. so last week i had no choice but to contact my state's senator and congressman to help me with this. finally, after help from my states represenatives he got his passport yesterday. they sent it fedex the only draw back was the passport came and my son who is 18 could not sign for it because he was not 21 and it requires someone 21 or older to sign for it. so had to go pick it up last night. no big deal. as for our passports i had to do the email checking twice before they answered .they e-mailed me tonight and told me it was mailed on 6/12. when i check the status on line it still says processing. my son did not know years ago he would have the chance he has gotten to take a great trip. we really don't need ours to take our cruise. just wanted to have it just in case. my big beef is with the misinformation and how nasty they have been. good luck to everyone.

 

lk

[GoinCruisin]

I agree most people who have cruised before knew of the change and had ample time to prepare. What about all the people who just decided "well lets take a cruise this year" and now after purchasing a cruise and airfare are missing trips. The government was caught flat footed on this and have created a real mess. You can put lipstick on this hog if you want....but its still a hog.

 

 

See, I don't understand this... this isn't a "cruise ship" issue... this has been in the news for years now. This has been front and center on CNN and all the major news outlets... "playing dumb" isn't going to work here... people that didn't know, haven't watched the news since 9/11. If they purchase a CRUISE and AIRFARE without knowing the documentation they would need for entering another country, that is just STUPID... sorry, it is. I would NEVER plop down a bunch of money, knowing I was going to other countries, and not at least CHECK to see what was needed... I find it hard to believe anyone would do that...

[Mikel1733]

See, I don't understand this... this isn't a "cruise ship" issue... this has been in the news for years now. This has been front and center on CNN and all the major news outlets... "playing dumb" isn't going to work here... people that didn't know, haven't watched the news since 9/11. If they purchase a CRUISE and AIRFARE without knowing the documentation they would need for entering another country, that is just STUPID... sorry, it is. I would NEVER plop down a bunch of money, knowing I was going to other countries, and not at least CHECK to see what was needed... I find it hard to believe anyone would do that...

 

So in order to book a cruise and travel you now need to have watched tv news as a prerequisite. So when Carnival sells a cruise do they say.....Well maybe you shouldn't book a cruise 4 months from now because you most likely won't have time to get passports"?

[HurricaneSally]

So in order to book a cruise and travel you now need to have watched tv news as a prerequisite. So when Carnival sells a cruise do they say.....Well maybe you shouldn't book a cruise 4 months from now because you most likely won't have time to get passports"?

 

Why would somebody leave it up to the cruiseline to tell you what you need to travel? That's just plain irresponsible.

[Mikel1733]

Why would somebody leave it up to the cruiseline to tell you what you need to travel? That's just plain irresponsible.

 

How so

[HurricaneSally]

So in order to book a cruise and travel you now need to have watched tv news as a prerequisite. So when Carnival sells a cruise do they say.....Well maybe you shouldn't book a cruise 4 months from now because you most likely won't have time to get passports"?

 

Why would somebody leave it up to the cruiseline to tell you what you need to travel? That's just plain irresponsible.

[Ms Belvedere]

I agree most people who have cruised before knew of the change and had ample time to prepare. What about all the people who just decided "well lets take a cruise this year" and now after purchasing a cruise and airfare are missing trips. The government was caught flat footed on this and have created a real mess. You can put lipstick on this hog if you want....but its still a hog.[/Quote]

See, I don't understand this... this isn't a "cruise ship" issue... this has been in the news for years now. This has been front and center on CNN and all the major news outlets... "playing dumb" isn't going to work here... people that didn't know, haven't watched the news since 9/11. If they purchase a CRUISE and AIRFARE without knowing the documentation they would need for entering another country, that is just STUPID... sorry, it is. I would NEVER plop down a bunch of money, knowing I was going to other countries, and not at least CHECK to see what was needed... I find it hard to believe anyone would do that...

 

So true Lucy, the ones caught flat-footed are the ones who waited. Lack of personal responsibility is the root of the problem and the government is an easy, faceless target.

[HurricaneSally]

Why would somebody leave it up to the cruiseline to tell you what you need to travel? That's just plain irresponsible.

 

We are the only country in the world that doesn't require a passport to travel outside our borders. It's about time we stopped feeling so special.

[nrdsb4]

So in order to book a cruise and travel you now need to have watched tv news as a prerequisite. So when Carnival sells a cruise do they say.....Well maybe you shouldn't book a cruise 4 months from now because you most likely won't have time to get passports"?

 

Absolutely, or pick up a newspaper, or read about national events every few months on the internet, or check travel websites, or destination government web sites, or official US travel web sites, etc...

 

It's been front and center in every news outlet from TV to print to internet for a couple of years now.

[Mikel1733]

So true Lucy, the ones caught flat-footed are the ones who waited. Lack of personal responsibility is the root of the problem and the government is an easy, faceless target.

 

It doesn't affect me in the least...I've had a passport since 1979. If you think the government is doing a good job on this issue then no reasonable mind can convince you otherwise.

[HurricaneSally]

It doesn't affect me in the least...I've had a passport since 1979. If you think the government is doing a good job on this issue then no reasonable mind can convince you otherwise.

 

We never said they were doing a good job. We just said it's not their fault that people waited three or four years after being warned it was going to be required. Everybody waited until the last minute, they could never hire enough people for that circumstance.

[Ms Belvedere]

It doesn't affect me in the least...I've had a passport since 1979. If you think the government is doing a good job on this issue then no reasonable mind can convince you otherwise.

 

I don't remember asking you if you had yours. :p The government is doing the job they can be expected to do under the circumstances of thousands of American citizens who waited to get a document they were told repeatedly that they'd need to travel outside the US. Not a lot of sympathy from me for those who waited, there are other vacations than cruises that can be taken without the need for a passport. :rolleyes:

[GoinCruisin]

So in order to book a cruise and travel you now need to have watched tv news as a prerequisite. So when Carnival sells a cruise do they say.....Well maybe you shouldn't book a cruise 4 months from now because you most likely won't have time to get passports"?

 

No, people should be required to watch the NEWS at least SOME news, to LIVE in this country :p LMAO!! Ignorance isn't an excuse...

 

No, Carnival includes the documentation info on their website, and in their brochures... I'm amazed that anyone would spend a few thousand bucks and not even question the documentation needed to cruise... then again, there were some people that thought puerto rico was an international destination, so nothing surprises me anymore.

[nrdsb4]

Why would somebody leave it up to the cruiseline to tell you what you need to travel? That's just plain irresponsible.

 

How so

 

It has always been the responsibility of the traveler to find out what kind of documentation is needed to travel. It was this way in 1979 just as it is today. Expecting others to do our homework for us is unreasonable. In order to enjoy the priveledge of world travel, we must make inquiries about requirements of both our government as well as the governments of those countries/territories to which we want to travel. Blaming others for our own refusal to do our homework (and it's really not all that hard, especially in today's world) is just flat out wrong.

[Patdmoose]

you can probably find that guy who works out of his car downtown at the corner of 3rd and Vine. For $100 bucks he can get you a Passport, a SS card, a DL, and tickets to the World Series...

[momof4boys]

When we decided to cruise three years ago, I knew I did NOT want to leae my country without a passport. So, all 6 of us applied and got our passports in about 2 & 1/2 weeks.

 

Our friends decided to cruise with us last year and applied for theirs in Dec. 05 and got theirs in 3 weeks. So we are all OK!

 

Last weel I needed to buy stamps so I went to the post office in my suburb of 90,000+ people (and growing by the minute.) A BIG sign said, "We will only be able to take passport applications from June 1-June 8.

 

Just out of curiosity, I asked when they would continue taking applications and the postal worker said that they would let us know when they would resume sometime in SEPTEMBER!!! YIKES!!! :eek:

[GoinCruisin]

We are the only country in the world that doesn't require a passport to travel outside our borders. It's about time we stopped feeling so special.

 

So true... and we are the only country that would have given people 3 years to get one :rolleyes:

[Mikel1733]

you can probably find that guy who works out of his car downtown at the corner of 3rd and Vine. For $100 bucks he can get you a Passport, a SS card, a DL, and tickets to the World Series...

 

U.S. citizens will travel with passports, and meanwhile the rest can just walk across the border.