Help - cannot find passports!!!

[Rick2594]

My wife and I are booked on the Freedom Eastern Caribbean cruise departing on Dec 2nd. We've turned our house upside down but cannot find our passports. We last used them in May when we were on the Majesty. From everything I've read passports are still not required for sea travel. We both have birth certificates and we think they are both long forms. Mine definitely is and my wife believes hers is but it's much smaller than mine.

 

Can someone please let us know if that is all we need. We're still looking and hope to come across our passports but just need to know if we should scramble to try and get our passports replaced. Appreciate all help.

 

Rick

[EchoSix]

If it's any consideration, it took a little over two weeks for me to get a new Passport that arrived in the mail just this past Friday or Saturday.

 

I don't know if you NEED your passports though. Someone else will be able to help.

[Sue L]

My wife and I are booked on the Freedom Eastern Caribbean cruise departing on Dec 2nd. We've turned our house upside down but cannot find our passports. We last used them in May when we were on the Majesty. From everything I've read passports are still not required for sea travel. We both have birth certificates and we think they are both long forms. Mine definitely is and my wife believes hers is but it's much smaller than mine.

 

Can someone please let us know if that is all we need. We're still looking and hope to come across our passports but just need to know if we should scramble to try and get our passports replaced. Appreciate all help.

 

Rick

 

Have you checked the luggage/carryon you used last time? My friend left her passports and stuff right in her carry on thinking that they would be right there the next time she would need it . Well she forgot and like you turned her house upside looking for it. She had told me about the carry on luggage idea at the time and I reminded her. Thank goodness I have a better memory than her.:p

 

But to answer your question yes, birth certificates are still fine as long as they are the state ones and not the cute hospital ones. And a government issued photo ID like your license.

[BLUEICE]

Could you have put them in your safety deposit box???

[san4u2]

I sometimes they get put with the last cruise paper work thinking I will go back and look through everything while I am putting a photo album together.:rolleyes: 5 cruises 1 photo album.... not great odds. But I would call RCCL and ask them if you need passports.

[san4u2]

double post.

[lynnj73]

Right now you only need the birth certificates with the raised seal and your photo id. As someone else said they can't be the "cutesie" ones form the hospital. My brother in law had his passport stolen two weeks before his honeymoon. He had to go to Philadelphia (they live in Lancaster) and stand in line all day but he did get a new passport that day. Good luck!!

[MtnBikerFallDown]

If you do find out that your birth certificate isn't the right kind, you might want to check with your local health department. Here in TN, they can actually print you one out there, on the spot. It's the official, raised seal one that you need.

 

I doubt they do that in every state, but you never know...

 

Good Luck!

 

OH, did you look in your filing cabinet? My husband once put ours in our filing cabinet under "P" for passport. Took me forever to think of that one...

[ccletzgo]

My wife and I are booked on the Freedom Eastern Caribbean cruise departing on Dec 2nd. We've turned our house upside down but cannot find our passports. We last used them in May when we were on the Majesty. From everything I've read passports are still not required for sea travel. We both have birth certificates and we think they are both long forms. Mine definitely is and my wife believes hers is but it's much smaller than mine.

 

Can someone please let us know if that is all we need. We're still looking and hope to come across our passports but just need to know if we should scramble to try and get our passports replaced. Appreciate all help.

 

Rick

 

if they are the birth certificates you used to get your passport, then they are good for you to take on this cruise. Dont stress. You are lucky you are booked within the time that a passport is not an absolute must for cruising out of a U.S. port. My guess, they are together tucked away somewhere safe..:confused: ha ha.. (I am famous for these situations)

[Tranquil Waters]

OH, did you look in your filing cabinet? My husband once put ours in our filing cabinet under "P" for passport. Took me forever to think of that one...

 

What was he thinking???? :eek: "C" for cruise I could understand. Or even "V" for vacation. Men just have a problem with logical thinking.....:D :D :D

[Rick2594]

Thanks for all the posts. I'm the one that handles the filing cabinet and I do have my own "system". What's wrong with "P" for passport? Makes perfect sense to me. We've emptied that cabinet three times and checked all of our luggage. If there's one good thing to come out of this we've spent all day searching, throwing out stuff, and cleaning.

 

We still might try to get replacement passports but great to know we don't need them for this trip.

 

I'm about to go look in the freezer - :o.

[glgolfer]

Just a suggestion. We have a safe that holds all of our important papers. We get the passports out the day before a cruise and put them back the day we return.

We also put any jewelry, credits cards and other items of value in the safe while we're gone.

We do have a large 60", by 24", by 30" safe. We can get a lot of stuff in it. It weighs over 650 pounds.

Somebody could still take it, but they'd have to work at it.

[tex_toby]

It seems every year when the weather starts getting cold and I put my jacket on for the first time of the year, I always reach in my pockets and find something that has been "missing" since the year before when it was cold. If it were me and I applied for a new passport, I would find my original three days after reciving my new one. I am sure you guys put them someplace "safe" so you wouldn't forget where they are. I am constantly guilty of this.

 

tex :cool:

[crusinmama06]

Do NOT try for new passports unless you order backup birth certificates. :eek: That would be awful not to have either one.

 

To answer your original question, YES it is perfectly fine to travel with birth certificates and driver's licenses. Families that cruised with us this year used those (we have our own passports).

 

The passports aren't required until *possibly* summer of 08. The deadline keeps changing.

 

To make sure you have the correct birth certificate, order a backup for $7...

https://www.vitalchek.com/

[MtnBikerFallDown]

Thanks for all the posts. I'm the one that handles the filing cabinet and I do have my own "system". What's wrong with "P" for passport? Makes perfect sense to me.

 

Well, yeah, it made sense, so I never looked there. That would have been entirely too easy! I did look under "D" for document, though. He really gave me a hard time over that one!:D

 

Just a suggestion. We have a safe that holds all of our important papers. We get the passports out the day before a cruise and put them back the day we return.

We also put any jewelry, credits cards and other items of value in the safe while we're gone.

 

I can't remember where I parked my car at Walmart, when I've only been in there for 10 minutes, I never know where my car keys are, and I've been known to put the remote control in the bathroom.:o I want to be you when I grow up!!!! I can't imagine putting something the same place every time and knowing right where it is. That would be soooo cool. Not that I'll ever know...

 

On a side note, we don't cruise until January, and I actually know where my passport is. On top of the microwave. Where else would you put it?! :D

[financialgrl]

As someone else suggested, since you have your passports already, one would guess that the birth certificates were probably the ones that were required in order to get a passport in the first place so my guess is that you'd be oikay with what you have (BTW I was born in PA and their "official" state bc's have very little info on them - - my little cutesy non allowed hospital issued one had more idenitfying information!!). Both nieces coming with me were born in VA - with much more comprehensive information contained on their state issued one).

 

But thanks, your post reminded me how I have been "strongly reminding" my nieces to apply for their passports since we will be going in the summer (they have applied now so that's good). Read your post and thought, "gee better go try to find mine while I am thinking of it - - wouldn't that be embarrassing to not find mine after harrassing them for the last few weeks and us being denied our trip due to ME".

[Raceroc]

Help - cannot find passports!!!

Uh... Check the bottom drawer of the dresser next to the bed in the downstairs spare bedroom.:p :D

[hoosiermarty]

Same thing happened to me. I could not find them anywhere..I turned the place upside down. Finally, we applied for new ones. Then after vacation, I was in the closet moving around some shoe boxes. There was one that was open in the box sitting in the lid. Well, I lifted up the box and there were the passports in the lid under the box. I also put away my good watch my son bought me in India before we went to Puerto Rico for 3 weeks. It was stainless steel with 24 carat gold. Well, never did find it. We even moved out of state this year and I had to pack everything. Still did not find it.

[bethaniesmom]

i once lost my daughters birth certificate for a whole year....we used it to register for softball one year and it got filed away with taxes which were being done at the same time....found it a year later in the tax file folder....of course we had searched everywhere for it!

and we do file passports in the file cabinet under "P"!

 

Beverly

[Rick2594]

We sometimes take a knapsack with us to carry water and snacks when we visit ports. We were checking the luggage pockets for about the fifth time when my wife thought of the knapsack. Of course it was buried in the back of a closet and neither of us thought to ever look there. Sure enough, the passports were in a pocket in the knapsack. Whew!!!!

 

Thanks for all the posts. Guess this was a valuable lesson learned, a bit of a stressful one but a good one. Although my house sure is clean now.

 

Once I found them we decided to order pizza and when I went to pick it up I couldn't find my wallet. Ah, the joys of getting older.

 

Happy cruising - :o

 

Rick

[jillyfish]

Now you can get a good nights sleep tonight!! ;)

[Sue L]

We sometimes take a knapsack with us to carry water and snacks when we visit ports. We were checking the luggage pockets for about the fifth time when my wife thought of the knapsack. Of course it was buried in the back of a closet and neither of us thought to ever look there. Sure enough, the passports were in a pocket in the knapsack. Whew!!!!

 

Thanks for all the posts. Guess this was a valuable lesson learned, a bit of a stressful one but a good one. Although my house sure is clean now.

 

Once I found them we decided to order pizza and when I went to pick it up I couldn't find my wallet. Ah, the joys of getting older.

 

Happy cruising - :o

 

Rick

 

 

 

Woo hoo, I knew they were in a bag you used on your last cruise.;) Have fun and put them some where SAFE!!!!

[reallyitsmema]

I am glad you found them, have a great cruise!!!:)

 

Umm, you didn't happen to find my safe deposit box key in there too, did you??:eek:

[EchoSix]

Once I found them we decided to order pizza and when I went to pick it up I couldn't find my wallet.

 

Rick

 

 

AAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA!!! :D

 

 

Glad you found 'em! :D

[MtnBikerFallDown]

I am super glad you found them. That is one stressful item to lose!

 

Now, for the wallet... did you look under "W" in the filing cabinet? :D