Passports

[maelisch]

I know that you can get your kids passports, but that you don't have to for cruising since the rule doesn't apply to ships and that birth certificates are fine.

 

I want to know thoughts and opinions on this. I have 4 children and we will be doing a huge family cruise (think 18 of us) in Jan. I'm just wondering how "smart" it would be to save some money.

 

*edited

I'm leaning towards getting my kids passports for the what if's, but my dad (who has been on 4 cruises already) swears it'll be fine just with their birth certificates.

[jerin]

Starting on December 31, 2007, passports will be necessary for sea travel. Given the amount of processing time, now is the time to get those applications in.

 

 

http://www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/toolbox/publications/travel/knowbeforeyougo.ctt/knowbeforeyougo.pdf see page 4

[Terpnut]

I know that you can get your kids passports, but that you don't have to for cruising since the rule doesn't apply to ships and that birth certificates are fine.

 

I want to know thoughts and opinions on this. I have 4 children and we will be doing a huge family cruise (think 18 of us) in Jan. I'm just wondering how "smart" it would be to save some money.

 

*edited

 

I'm leaning towards getting my kids passports for the what if's, but my dad (who has been on 4 cruises already) swears it'll be fine just with their birth certificates.

Your dad has not been keeping up with the times. As the other poster already pointed out, EVERY U.S. citizen (regardless of age) will need a passport to reenter the country next year. This requirement was actually supposed to be implemented last year, but due to ramp-up problems and delays (DHS and State), the timeline was pushed back quite a bit. So don't let your dad confuse you--your kids MUST have their passports if they want to reenter the U.S.! And even if it weren't required, it's just a good idea to have a passport anyhow!

[karenh1127]

The requirement for passports to cruise has been pushed back until June 2008. Until then a bc and id are fine. If you needed it to get back into the states, they would not have extended the deadline. If you go to the carnival website, they post this announcement under document requirements. Now I do think it is a good idea to get them but it is an expense so my dh and I are getting ours but are going to hold off on the kids for a bit. We are sailing in March 08 and they wont be needed.

[dosi]

However should you or one of your children need to fly home from a foreign port you will have to have a passport. I would spend the extra money and get them now, you do not want to be stuck someplace with an ill or injured child and no way of getting them back into the US.

[BethCarp]

I didn't see anything on the passport website about pushing back the date. OP, I wouldn't fool around with it, I would just get the passports. You'll need to get them soon though. I'm going on week 16 waiting for my kids' passports.

[Sgrgirl20]

Here is an article from the department of homeland security http://www.dhs.gov/xnews/releases/pr_1182351923729.shtm stating that the date has been pushed back for sea travel. I understand what Heather is meaning that she doesn't want to buy 4 passports for kids who will probably never use them again. That money could be used for the trip ... right Heather???? (LOL .. she's my sister :D )

[mommyof2]

Because you are going in Jan 08, you should be okay without passports for the kids. We are going in June 08 with 6 kids in our group ages 2.5 - 8 and we are all going to get them for our kids because it COULD be fully implemented by then. And who knows, maybe we'll get a great deal on a trip to Mexico or something in the next 5 years :)

[crusinmama06]

You'll be fine without passports for the kids. We were planning on falling back on that if we couldn't get our pp in time for our May cruise, we didn't need to because they came just in the nick of time (2 days before we left). But at that point I had filled out all of the online boarding info and said that we would be using birth certificates and everything would have been fine.

 

Next month, our group has 6 kids in it and only 2 of those kids (MINE) have passports. The others are using birth certificates and I don't expect any problems.

 

The passport deadline HAS been pushed. It has been discussed here at CC ad nauseum so there is no doubt about that fact.

 

And IF you need to fly back into the country with the kids, I can tell you that in an emergency, that will be the least of your concerns. You won't have a problem getting back. When we had to get back into the country when our youngest had a medical emergency onboard a cruiseship NO ONE even looked at our documents...NO ONE. We were rushed off and away. If you need to fly back, the state department will get you back in.

[OnTheBrink]

Huh! Didn't know about the June 08 thing. Is that fairly new? We, of course, paid for passports for our kids for our March 08 cruise. Oh well!

[crusinmama06]

Huh! Didn't know about the June 08 thing. Is that fairly new? We, of course, paid for passports for our kids for our March 08 cruise. Oh well!

 

 

Yeah it was announced June 07. So it's fairly new. Everytime they get close to a deadline they push it back.

 

Oh well, at least you are prepared. ;)

 

So as it stands now, it says "probably Summer 2008 with 60 days notice" :rolleyes: I am so glad they are setting us straight...lol. Talking about vague.

[merela]

My son's passport application was submitted in mid-April. They said 12 weeks which would mean end of June. It's still being processed.

 

We did have a little bit of delay when we checked in for our flight from LAX to Vancouver because I couldn't use the e-check-in machine (they asked for a passport number). Had I known his new passport would be so late in coming, I would have copied down his old passport data and use that for e-check-in.

 

Anyways, I gave the lady at the airline check-in counter the printout from the passport website saying that my son's passport application was being processed, plus his birth certificate. She took both documents to the back room and came back 10 minutes later. She must have gone inside to confirm something.

 

I submitted both documents again when we check-in at the cruise terminal. A little slow at the check-in, but we had no problem getting on the ship.

 

I believe the June 8 law only applies until September. It's already 16 weeks since the day we submitted his passport application and my son's passport status is still "in process".

 

It's still better to have a passport.

[ShedQueen77]

Sorry, I bet this is a dumb question but here goes....Do children who use just the BC to board also need an ID like an adult would use a driver's license? Just curious because my two youngest do not have any form of ID like that. My son has a school ID but that's about it.

 

TIA :)

[Paleochick]

Here's what I find funny...

 

We are cruising in October. I kind of doubt my kids' passports will be here before we leave, so we'll need their birth certificates. BUT...when we applied for their passports, they kept their birth certificates with the application. They will be mailed back with the darn passports. So, just to be safe, now I need to order new certified copies of their birth certificates. Ugh!

[crusinmama06]

Sorry, I bet this is a dumb question but here goes....Do children who use just the BC to board also need an ID like an adult would use a driver's license? Just curious because my two youngest do not have any form of ID like that. My son has a school ID but that's about it.

 

TIA :)

 

Not a dumb question at all. And nope they don't need any photo ID.

 

And Paleochick I had to do the SAME thing. I sent away the bc...they kept them. Then I ordered replacements which took longer than the average 7-10 days because I think everyone is doing the same thing. So don't wait till the last minute to get backups either.

[ShedQueen77]

Not a dumb question at all. And nope they don't need any photo ID.

 

 

Thanks! :)

[quagmire0]

My question is this:

 

DD will be 5 months old when we leave for our cruise at the end of September (the cruise will roll past that Sept 30th deadline). Assuming that I apply for a passport now (had to wait, took a while to get her SS card), won't the photo that I send them with the application be completely out of date?

 

I'm also guessing that our next trip out of the country as a family won't be for another couple years. So, would I be ok with just using her birth certificate and not wasting the money on a passport?

[crusinmama06]

My question is this:

 

DD will be 5 months old when we leave for our cruise at the end of September (the cruise will roll past that Sept 30th deadline). Assuming that I apply for a passport now (had to wait, took a while to get her SS card), won't the photo that I send them with the application be completely out of date?

 

I'm also guessing that our next trip out of the country as a family won't be for another couple years. So, would I be ok with just using her birth certificate and not wasting the money on a passport?

 

The date was pushed till 2008

 

You are fine THIS year without a passport.

[mom2NnB]

or I should say DH, DS & DD got theirs today. Mine not here yet - is that normal or should I be worried mine was separate? Could it be because of married name versus birth name? Am I stresing over nothing?

 

We applied 4/28 and they arrived today via Fed Ex. They even corrected the mistake we made on DS's. His date of birth is 03/02/96, we inadvertently typed in 03/20/96. I emailed them the correction and it arrived with the correct date - YAY!!!!

[Paleochick]

My question is this:

 

DD will be 5 months old when we leave for our cruise at the end of September (the cruise will roll past that Sept 30th deadline). Assuming that I apply for a passport now (had to wait, took a while to get her SS card), won't the photo that I send them with the application be completely out of date?

 

I'm also guessing that our next trip out of the country as a family won't be for another couple years. So, would I be ok with just using her birth certificate and not wasting the money on a passport?

 

I had some of the same concerns about my baby who we will be cruising with in October. I decided to be cautious and get her a passport. If she gets sick and we get stuck at a hospital in a port, the only way we'll be able to get back to the US is via air...you HAVE to have a passport for that. Chances of that scenario happening are LOW, but I think it's best to be cautious.

[crusinmama06]

I had some of the same concerns about my baby who we will be cruising with in October. I decided to be cautious and get her a passport. If she gets sick and we get stuck at a hospital in a port, the only way we'll be able to get back to the US is via air...you HAVE to have a passport for that. Chances of that scenario happening are LOW, but I think it's best to be cautious.

 

 

Believe me in an emergency situation you WILL get back into the US. I had experience with this and customs didn't even look at our documentation when we were medically evacuated back into the states.

 

Kids and emergencies put everyone on high alert. :(

 

But with that being said, both of my kids DO have passports now.

[larronry]

So I guess it's a good thing I ordered 3 copies of his BC because who knows when I will actually get the passport. LOL And since he doesn't look anything like the picture (he had his first haircut) will they actually accept it? :eek:

 

I decided to go ahead and get the passport because I thought it would just make it easier to go through customs. I don't know if that's the case, but I made my then fiance now husband get a passport for that reason and I'm glad I did since they are more expensive now.

 

But if I had several kids instead of just 1 and wasn't planning on going cruising or out of the country again in the near future I can understand wanting to put it off. If that is not the case then go ahead and get it.

[cherylandtk]

Here is an article from the department of homeland security http://www.dhs.gov/xnews/releases/pr_1182351923729.shtm stating that the date has been pushed back for sea travel. I understand what Heather is meaning that she doesn't want to buy 4 passports for kids who will probably never use them again. That money could be used for the trip ... right Heather???? (LOL .. she's my sister :D )

A little noted outcome of this announcement is that the proposed ruling puts in a PERMANENT exception for US citizens traveling RT from a US port to Canada, Mexico, Caribbean or Bahamas. Those trips will be allowed with just a BC and DL, no passport required.

[crusinmama06]

A little noted outcome of this announcement is that the proposed ruling puts in a PERMANENT exception for US citizens traveling RT from a US port to Canada, Mexico, Caribbean or Bahamas. Those trips will be allowed with just a BC and DL, no passport required.

 

 

Oh yeah sure NOW they suggest that after I already paid $400 for pp. :rolleyes:

[Onessa]

DD's had her passport since she was 8MO. While it is an expense it is not all that terrible. Because she did have it we discovered we:

1. were able to take advantange of a REALLY great deal on tickets to Milan when she was 4.5YO (she STILL talks about that trip) and an excellent deal on a Greek cruise this fall.
   
2. made it through immigration and customs in Vancouver for our AK cruise 20minutes faster (on average both "in" and "out" over two AK trips) than my sister, her DH and DS (but we don't NEED a passport for "Tom"!)
   
3. Used it for "proof of age" several times (I don't know why, but I can find her passport more easily than her BC). And having registered over 1200 kids in our local rec soccer league last year, I can tell you that the volunteers thank you for using the passport - the darned BC's vary in format and legibilty so much!

No, you may not NEED it, but it is something that we've found made our life more convenient and has allowed us to take advantange of some really interesting opportunities.