Passport??? If not, why not? [Archive] - Cruise Critic Message Boards

elmorejj

August 9th, 2004, 02:30 PM

Couldn`t imagine not having one! I have carried a passport for about 50 years, first a UK one then an American one. It is the safest and best form of ID and I personally can`t understand why some people resist obtaining one......jean

Vicar

August 9th, 2004, 02:32 PM

Got my first passport when I was in high school for a trip to Italy and Spain. That was more years ago than I care to think about.

Then I got another one about 5 years ago when I went to England. GF has had one almost all her life, (spoiled little rich girl *LOL*)

Though I am certainly not a world traveler by any means, they do make travelling a lot easier, regardless of the destination.

Orcrone

August 9th, 2004, 02:32 PM

Sail, in one word "cost". If it were just me, or me and dw, I'd probably have one now. But the cost of four is just something I'm not willing to spend if I don't have to. We're not at a point in our lives that it crimps our style. It's not like we can go on last minute trips to Europe.

With that said, we still may get them soon as I'm well aware of the possible problems if we have to disembard unexpectedly.

WindyCity

August 9th, 2004, 02:36 PM

Having a passport is the only way to go. Carrying a passport is easier than bringing Birth Certificate, Naturalization Papers, Marriage Certificate.....and it is a bargain - since it is good for 10 years - We don't leave for a cruise without them.

bombero

August 9th, 2004, 02:46 PM

I think you will find in the next few coming years they will be mandatory in order to cruise.. Many Countries and Island governments are getting more and more fussy about who's coming ashore on their land. With all the termoil in the world, who'd blame them.. If you have a family, just get a couple a year to avoid any financial impact on yourself.. You won't be sorry... Bombero

stillfrantic

August 9th, 2004, 02:55 PM

Absolutely, we all have them.

Even going to Canada, while not required, it sure is easier with a passport than a BC.

It is especially great for the children who do occasionally need photo identification. They are not old enough to drive, so this works for SAT's and such.

ekerr19

August 9th, 2004, 03:17 PM

We all have them. Our kids first cruise was from Costa Rica through the canal, they were required. DH & I have had them since our early 20's. Our kids are just about ready to expire and they will be renewed.

The ease of having passports while traveling is worth the expense. Our family breezes through most lines while others are struggling with various documents.

I wish I could keep using my old picture though! :D

Krazy Kruizers

August 9th, 2004, 03:44 PM

:)

Have had them for years, and years, and years.

Would never leave home without them.

:)

elmorejj

August 9th, 2004, 04:06 PM

Esme

August 9th, 2004, 04:14 PM

May I ask how much a U.S. passport costs?

Here in Canada, they are only good for 5 years and the cost is

Adult 16 and up $85.00Cdn = $64.00 US

Children 3-15 $35 = $27US

3 and under $20 = 16 US

Spender - Wow - that's cheap compared to ours.

Spender Nui

August 9th, 2004, 04:20 PM

Just mailed ours for renewal 2 weeks ago. $55 each. This time I used my digital camera and took the pictures myself. It didn't help, they still don't look good.

iluvcruzin

August 9th, 2004, 04:31 PM

I just recieved mine last week. After years of cruising I decided it was about time. Cost was $85US.

jhannah

August 9th, 2004, 04:37 PM

Got ours when we made our first overseas trip, and they've come in very handy for cruising. I agree that it is only a matter of time before they're required.

cactuslady

August 9th, 2004, 04:54 PM

The first thing I did after getting my citizenship was to get a passport. Finally got my first foreign country stamp in it about 18 years later. Doesn't matter -- I've always considered it my most prized possession and a symbol of limitless opportunities.

bombero

August 9th, 2004, 05:14 PM

Good for you Cactuslady... Enjoy your freedom....

The first thing I did after getting my citizenship was to get a passport. Finally got my first foreign country stamp in it about 18 years later. Doesn't matter -- I've always considered it my most prized possession and a symbol of limitless opportunities.

catlib55

August 9th, 2004, 05:17 PM

We have had passports for many years, and our children have also had them. Their first overseas trip was in 1981 when we moved to Izmir, Turkey. Hopefully, they will keep them renewed. We just renewed our youngest daughter's this past March, and it is good for ten years now.
We take them on every trip outside the US that we go on.
Mary Ellen

sail7seas

August 9th, 2004, 05:21 PM

Esme....

For U.S. adults, passports are good for ten years.

I think they may only be good for 5-7 years for children.....I suppose that is because their photo needs redoing as they grow up???

ekerr19

August 9th, 2004, 05:28 PM

Esme....

For U.S. adults, passports are good for ten years.

I think they may only be good for 5-7 years for children.....I suppose that is because their photo needs redoing as they grow up???

Our children's were issued for five years. I think it is due to the photo - my kids do not look at all like their photos, and their passports will expire in 3/2005.

bookworm0911

August 9th, 2004, 05:50 PM

Be serious. With the political situation around the world today I can't imagine traveling without a passport, no matter where I was going. If anything happened or if I needed embassy help to get home, I don't think I'd want to depend on a birth certificate and a drivers license for ID.

I hate to say it, but if the cost of a passport is a problem I think maybe you should rethink an expensive vacation like a cruise and get the passport first. ;)

KSCnCA

August 9th, 2004, 06:07 PM

elmorejj

August 9th, 2004, 06:39 PM

I remember when I obtained my first passport in the UK, you weren`t allowed to smile for the picture, and they had nothing as sofisticated as scanners back in those days!!!.......jean :cool: :cool:

Krazy Kruizers

August 9th, 2004, 06:50 PM

:)

Renewal fees for US passports is $55 and the passport is good for 10 years. That is only $5.50 per year - a very good bargain.

:)

cactuslady

August 9th, 2004, 07:02 PM

So pretty soon we will all be required to have no smile in our passport photo!

Maybe that's because they compare it to your face after you get done with 18 hours of planes and airports. No problem, anyway. My first passport photo made me look like a crazed ax murderer. I once got a drivers license where my eyes had no pupils or irises, just white. :eek:

ger_77

August 9th, 2004, 08:45 PM

In Canada we aren't allowed to smile in passport photos either. That ruling was just brought in at the beginning of this year. And our passports are only good for 5 years ... after a certain age, we really don't look any different, but I think the gov't likes to have the extra $$ in their pockets. Re: the no smiling issue, both DH and I look like corpses with our eyes open - of course, that's usually how we look after the flight home after the cruise anyway! :)

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

jazzsea

August 9th, 2004, 08:53 PM

Please keep this thread or one like it going.

The US and British Virgin Islands may require passports as early as March of next year. That means many of you who don't have passports will need them. The idea of buying one a month for a family is a great one. Don't put it off. Think of how easy it will be for your children to renew later (five years from now) rather than starting from scratch. You won't be sorry.

wild_rose

August 9th, 2004, 09:57 PM

I just heard on the news this morning that the photo scanners for the passport photos have trouble with a smile! So pretty soon we will all be required to have no smile in our passport photo! This was not a joke, I heard it on Good Morning America. Might as well call them mug shots! And how will they decide who is smiling and who is just pleasant looking? :rolleyes: Perhaps they could run them past the CC Board. Poll each photo to see if it passes for no smile then let the dress code police at them!

We're in the process of acquiring new passports, and just received our photos.

According to the new Canadian regulations on the application forms they must be 'black & white', 'no glasses', and 'without expression'!!!!
Mugshots indeed!

Peggy Sue

August 9th, 2004, 10:14 PM

we got our passports years ago when we traveled outside the US. My dad was with US Immigration and he advised...Get a Passport if you're going to leave the country..

Got nice leather cases, keep them in a safe spot, and very easy to travel with. Get through Immigration and custom lines faster too with a passport..

We don't have smiles .. so I guess our passports will pass the new requirements..that's good..we just renewed them last year!

Peggy Sue

Orcrone

August 9th, 2004, 10:19 PM

Orcrone, I understand fully where you are coming from, being the mother of 4 children. When they were small, thank goodness the Air Force paid for them. Why not just buy one at a time, sure would make it easier on your wallet! But do get them.....jean :cool:Jean,

I was thinking that if we went for it we'd do them all at once as we're all cruising next March. I guess we could just get it for one of them. But if we already got it for DW, myself and one DD, we'd probably just bite the bullet and get all four.

Hal said that it wasn't necessary for our cruises. So if it weren't for this board I wouldn't be thinking about it. Maybe I'm just putting my head in the sand or putting off making the decision until it's too late.

ryansmemom

August 9th, 2004, 10:30 PM

Yes, we have our passports. It just makes sense to us because it is the most acceptable form of identification when travelling.

Linda

peaches from georgia

August 9th, 2004, 10:50 PM

Hal said that it wasn't necessary for our cruises. So if it weren't for this board I wouldn't be thinking about it.
Orcrone, I really think you have heard all the arguments pro and con getting passports. If HAL says you will be alright with just birth certificates and picture id's next March, I will presume they know what they are talking about and that the law won't change so that passports will be required before your cruise. If the law does change I believe there would have to be a phase-in period to give people w/out passports enough time to get them.

It really is your decision to make and there is nothing anyone can tell you about passports that you don't already know or haven't heard. :)

Esme

August 10th, 2004, 07:18 AM

We're in the process of acquiring new passports, and just received our photos.

According to the new Canadian regulations on the application forms they must be 'black & white', 'no glasses', and 'without expression'!!!!
Mugshots indeed!

Just looked up the regulations for photos on http://www.ppt.gc.ca/passports/get_photo_specs_e.asp and nowhere on the application does it say black and white photos only, and no glasses. I also checked my passport and I am wearing my prescription glasses.

Standards for acceptable photos

Either black and white or colour photos are acceptable. Photos must be originals, not taken from any existing photo.

Photo must be taken against a plain, uniform white or light coloured background.

The face must be square to the camera with a neutral expression and with the mouth closed.

A full front view of the subject's head and shoulders is required.

Tinted prescription glasses may be worn as long as the eyes are clearly visible.

TedC

August 10th, 2004, 10:09 AM

"Neutral expression" or "without expression"? How will we be able to tell who's using Botox?

jhannah

August 10th, 2004, 11:31 AM

Easy. It looks like their expression was applied with a trowel!

LAFFNVEGAS

August 10th, 2004, 12:33 PM

We got our passports just prior to our first cruise in 2002, we felt it would be safer than carring our birth certificates. Plus we knew we would start traveling more and would need it. I had one when when I was a teen traveling to Europe and Japan, this was DH's first. I now cannot imagine being without it when we cruise.

WNYer

August 26th, 2004, 08:50 AM

lipoppop

August 26th, 2004, 09:01 AM

My passport photo shows me with hair. It is an old photo. When I renew next year I will use another old photo. :cool:

trvlnut

August 26th, 2004, 10:00 AM

Roboat

August 26th, 2004, 10:27 AM

Have any of you taken your own digital photos for your passport? The application says that it must "be printed on thin paper" and "capable of withstanding a mounting temperature of 225 Fahrenheit." If you have successfully used you own digital photos please share any information you think would be helpful. Thanks!
I took passport photos with my digital camera. When I submitted my application (in person) nothing was mentioned. I do not expect any problem, but then again I have not yet received my passport.

Here is info from the State Dept. See section 4 for photo requirements, including a link to info on the use of digital photos.

http://travel.state.gov/passport/get_first_apply.html

Orcrone - I used Birth Certificate last year, but decided to bite the bullet this year because of all the security concerns. I figured with my luck, they'd change the regs a month before my cruise, so I'd have to pay the Expedite fee (additional $70-80!) on top of the passport fee.

But I think Peaches is right - there would most likely be a phase-in period if Passports are made a requirement for the Caribbean.

If anyone wants to take a digital photo and has questions (how to scale to print out correct size, etc.) I may be able to help. jewing2(at)csc.com

Esme

August 26th, 2004, 12:16 PM

Passport is the only way for me. Even on a cruise , you never know if you will have to make an emergency depature. With the passport it makes it easier to deal with customs.

Just a question, if you do travel with a passport, will HAL ask to hold on to it for the duration of the cruise. (This happend to me before (on NCL) and I do not like giving up my passport):confused:

I don't know about Europe, but HAL does NOT hold your passports on Caribbean, Alaska, Canada/NE, or Alaska cruises. A few years ago when the Veendam sailed out of Puerto Rico, we did have to hand in our passports, (never did find out why) but they were returned to us a few days later. We also do not like giving up our passports.

elmorejj

August 26th, 2004, 12:42 PM

On any vacation in Europe, whether cruiseship or land based, they usually hold your passport for a couple of days. I think its so they can check you against Interpols list of wanted (LOL)....jean :cool:

dakrewser

August 26th, 2004, 01:51 PM

Just a question, if you do travel with a passport, will HAL ask to hold on to it for the duration of the cruise. (This happend to me before (on NCL) and I do not like giving up my passport):confused:
That depends more on where your cruising, I think, rather than with whom. In the Mediterranean the line usually has held my passport, but not in Alaska or the Caribbean.

HeatherInFlorida

August 26th, 2004, 02:07 PM

I am always surprised when someone tells me they don't have a passport. I got my first one in 1985 when we were going on a Mediterranean cruise and I had no choice, but now I'm constantly checking to make sure it doesn't expire!

Yet we have one friend who has some kind of a "thing" about getting one and I know it's not about the money. When you consider the cost of the whole cruise, the passport would be a small pittance. Says he has no plans to go out of the country (not counting the Caribbean) and he simply refuses to get one.

Do some people think it's a privacy issue? I have to admit, it baffles me.

And now I just found out that the guy doesn't even have a Birth Certificate!!! He thought he could use his Baptismal Certificate:eek: ! Sure hope there's time for him to get the real thing before our cruise in November.

dakrewser

August 26th, 2004, 02:11 PM

And now I just found out that the guy doesn't even have a Birth Certificate!!! He thought he could use his Baptismal Certificate:eek: ! Sure hope there's time for him to get the real thing before our cruise in November.
Perhaps there's information on his birth certificate (such as his date of birth!) that he doesn't want to share with anyone. My mother-in-law was like that. She'd lied about her age when she was 16 in order to get a job (needed to be 18), and by the time I met her (she was in her late 40's) she believed she was actually 2 years older then she really was! It was only when she turned, as we thought, 65 that the social security office brought her back down to earth! :)

sail7seas

August 26th, 2004, 02:24 PM

Heather....That is strange about that fellow you know. Almost sounds like he has something to hide. Something he is afraid of. Such intrigue.......

HeatherInFlorida

August 26th, 2004, 02:41 PM

de de de de ... de de de de ...(picture Twilight Zone music;) )

Well, it's certainly not a concern about what's on the Birth Certificate because you do need to bring that. But when you file for a passport you do have to fill in a rather long form and maybe he feels it's intrusive.

Some people are just funny about any government forms. They worry about "Big Brother" watching. Me, I could care less. I have absolutely nothing to hide that they'd care about so they can investigate me all they want. In fact they already did when I had to obtain a Secret government clearance when I worked for the M.I.T. Instrumentation Lab during the Apollo I project (okay, now I've dated myself!!!:D ). On the other hand, I was 21 at the time so I hadn't had a lot of time to attach myself to any clandestine group:p !

Randyk47

August 26th, 2004, 02:44 PM

Only a Baptismal Certificate??? :) I'd say that's a very large problem. Back to the passport business......seems like I've always had one. Went to England in the late 40's and I was on my mother's passport. Finally got my own when my father was sent to Africa for 3 years. Since then I've kept one current and almost wore one out when I worked in Germany for 4 years during the 80's. On the other hand, I had a 30 year old secretary here in Texas who had never been out of the county, no I don't mean country...I mean county, her whole life. Guess it's just what you get used to.

ekerr19

August 26th, 2004, 03:00 PM

[/font]

Heather-

We have friends who do not have birth certificates for their children. They were born at home and the couple did not believe in registering their births.

This is a huge problem for them now as their kids are getting to the age of driving (a driver's permit requires 2 forms of ID - including a Social Security # in Colorado) and they can't get a Soc Sec without a birth certificate, they can't a summer job without a Soc Sec # - so no job, no driver's license, no passport (one of the girls wants to go to Europe this fall) and the parents are now tearing their hair out trying to do what should have been done 16-18 years ago!

The parents were very much into the "hippy" scene in the 60's and never believed in any "labeling" for their children... now they sure regret it! :)

Cruiseoften

August 26th, 2004, 06:34 PM

My passport photo shows me with hair. It is an old photo. When I renew next year I will use another old photo. :cool:

HUH??????? Your requirements must be different from ours.

Canadian passports can not be renewed. - Every 5 years we require a new one with a new photograph, dated by the photographer and signed by Doctor, Lawyer or a like Professional, certifying that it's a true likeness.

Like several others here, I'm also an ex-Brit - the European Community Passport is valid for 10 years - mine expires 2007 - don't know if that's renewable (doubt it) so a new picture will be required. For now I'm not concerned :D

HeatherInFlorida

August 26th, 2004, 07:50 PM

HUH??????? Your requirements must be different from ours.

Canadian passports can not be renewed. - Every 5 years we require a new one with a new photograph, dated by the photographer and signed by Doctor, Lawyer or a like Professional, certifying that it's a true likeness.

When we renew here in the U.S. we are also supposed to provide a new photo. It's simply understood and does not have to be dated or authenticated. But if people start using their third grade pictures, the current rules could well be changed. If it's not a good likeness, then it really fails to provide identification.

EKerr, I really feel sorry for those kids! What were their parents thinking? I didn't mean to suggest, though, that our friend didn't get a birth certificate. He simply does not have it. So he has to contact his birthstate to get a new one. I don't know what he would do if none exists. I thought everyone had a birth certificate. Silly me! Dumb again:D