To Passport or Not to Passport

Going on closed loop cruise out of Port Canaveral. Don't currently have passports. It's like $500 for a family of 4 to get them. I can swing it if need be but it just seems like such a racket especially since the kids ones are only good for 5 years and I don't have any plans to otherwise go overseas in the next 10 years.

So, tell me how you do it. Birth certificates and take your chances? Any horror stories about it really taking days and days to get home? And do these passport cards serve any purpose? I think I read they aren't good for air travel. Thanks!

The cards are not good for air travel.

And yes, I have personally dealt with people who were stuck in medical facilities for 5 days in the Caribbean waiting for an emergency passport. And their insurance argued the charges since the extra overseas hospital costs were due to their papwerwork issue. Is it likely? Not at all. Can it happen? Yes.

I would never leave the US without a passport but I understand the logistics and time frame here.

Going on closed loop cruise out of Port Canaveral. Don't currently have passports. It's like $500 for a family of 4 to get them. I can swing it if need be but it just seems like such a racket especially since the kids ones are only good for 5 years and I don't have any plans to otherwise go overseas in the next 10 years.

 

So, tell me how you do it. Birth certificates and take your chances? Any horror stories about it really taking days and days to get home? And do these passport cards serve any purpose? I think I read they aren't good for air travel. Thanks!

Currently, the minimum requirement for US citizens on a closed loop cruise (begins and ends in the same US port) is a birth certificate, and (for those 16 and older) a government-issued photo ID.

Yes, many people have cruised with only those documents.

Yes, you'll find people who won't cruise without a passport.

Yes, passport cards are not good for air travel.

Yes, you take your chances that "something might happen" requiring you to leave the ship and fly home from a foreign port.

Yes, you will be able to do this, but you may have a delay in getting the proper documents to do so.

It's entirely up to your comfort level.

Personally, I travel with a passport.

The ONLY thing a passport card will do is facilitate you getting an emergency passport. It is NOT valid for air travel and will not get you back into the US after a medical emergency.

We travel on passports, but then, we travel. You are making a single trip in 5 years. Worst case--someone in your party has a medical emergency and can't return to the US on the ship. This can happen to anyone. We saw a teenage boy and mother disembarked in Nassau due to a compound fracture. There are laws in place for you to obtain an emergency passport if necessary; the cost is the same as for a regular passport and it MUST be exchanged for a regular one after your return to the US. But you'll have the hassle of contacting the consulate or embassy and obtaining the emergency passport(s) at a time when you are already stressed. The can also delay your return to the US while you are making the arrangements.

Only you can decide if it is worth the cost for a single trip. If bad things happen, you'll wish you'd taken this step in advance. If, like the vast majority of passengers, you return to the US on the ship...you'll have spent money that could otherwise still be in your bank account.

I hear you on the passport cost for a family of four. We got ours and our kids even though theirs are only good for 5 years. Weve only been on closed loop cruises (only two so far) out of PC and really didnt need them but it gave me that extra comfort IF something could go wrong. Did I really need it? not really since our birth certificates would've gotten us on the ship. I'm glad we did as we ended up booking a Med cruise when we were on our last DCL cruise this past sept. Now we are set since we already had passports. Plus we figured if we had passports, we would travel more which has actually happened since we arent restricted (unless financially :-P ) unless we go to an area that requires visas.

We have been on 8 cruises and no passports just birth certificates. Maybe we should be nervous but we just are not. We are also turned off by the five year window on the kids' passports. For context, we also do not do trip insurance and consider that stuff a complete rip off. So we are comfortable with a certain level of risk- everyone is different on that.

I travel extensively for work so always have a passport on me. I wouldn't waste the money on a PP card unless you live near the CA or MX border and think you'll use it to drive across. I use mine as ID at the airport when flying domestically or other times when I don't want to show my license (there is no home address on the PP card). We were in a similar predicament (husband and I have passports but the kids didn't). We got them for the kids and then didn't take the planned trip. I'm just not a fan of carrying around your birth certificate (lost my son's original and then had to replace it...). I would at least have passports for the adults. If you plan to travel more in the next 10 years you'll be happy you have them with all the changes coming.

WE always use BC and DL....no problems. Of course, we haven't had to get home from any port. If you're healthy and keep track of time so you don't miss the ship, the odds are good you won't have to, either.

WE always use BC and DL....no problems. Of course, we haven't had to get home from any port. If you're healthy and keep track of time so you don't miss the ship, the odds are good you won't have to, either.

Yeah, that's not always a given. I know of at least one "healthy" child that was medically evacuated off the Wonder in Cabo with appendicitis. Can't predict that. Or accidents. Lots of people doing excursion/activities that they're not physically prepared for. Slipping on a wet deck.

Are the odds in favor on not needing to leave the ship early and fly home from a foreign port, yes. But it does happen. Whether you get a passport or not is really up to your risk/comfort level.

Whenever I leave the country, even on closed loop cruises, I take my passport with me. I would disagree with one comment on purchasing a passport being a "racket." It is required documentation when coming back into America from a foreign land. If, for some strange reason, the ship can't make it back to port and you are forced to fly back into the U.S., you will find it a little difficult to get home.

Please excuse the analogy, but I think of a passport like a condom - better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it.

We have been on 8 cruises and no passports just birth certificates. Maybe we should be nervous but we just are not. We are also turned off by the five year window on the kids' passports. For context, we also do not do trip insurance and consider that stuff a complete rip off. So we are comfortable with a certain level of risk- everyone is different on that.

I'm with you, and my family is in the same position. I'm maybe not as comfortable with the risk as you, but I do understand it's the decision I've made.

You don't mention whether you have trip insurance or not. If you don't have trip insurance I would purchase that over the passports.

IMO you shouldn't leave the country without a passport. If you NEED a passport that means something bad has happened, most likely a medical emergency (or you missed the ship). Ask yourself if while dealing with a serious injury to a family member if you would like to also have to locate and get to a consulate or embassy and get emergency passports for your entire family?

As others have said it's not likely but it's possible. No one ever plans to get into an accident or have a sudden medical emergency, if you are comfortable with the risk then that's fine, but since you stated the $500 is a stretch imagine tens of thousands of dollars in the event of a medical emergency and possible evacuation from the ship, thus my comment on trip insurance.

You are well within the policy to travel on a birth certificate and ID on closed loop cruises and most insurance policies cover getting you home, I would imagine (but you should verify) that they would cover the costs in getting an emergency passports for the family.

In the end, I think it should be required to have passports and travel insurance when booking a cruise. Again, just my 2 cents, YMMV.