Purchase Passport or No

I vote yes to passports. You might want to venture beyond the Bahamas, and it's peace of mind when you leave the USA.

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I have to politely disagree with you. All the passport card information says that it's applicable for land and sea crossings only. It has no special value for air travel. Airlines only prohibit you from boarding without a passport because if you aren't accepted upon landing they have to take you back. If you can prove you are a US citizen via a birth certificate and the cruise manifest showing you don't have permission to stay on the island; they will get you off the island one way or another. I don't think the passport card has any more value than the birth certificate driver's license method for air travel.

We'll have to agree to disagree then. I included a thread from here on cruise critic where a stranded couple was able to get home on passport cards. And there are other similar stories if you care to google. Whereas a birth certificate can be completely unique looking depending on who issued it and a foreign government would probably not accept it as verification of anything much less even know what its used for or if its legit.

Back to the card, it is issued by the US State Department, is Real ID compliant, has an RFID chip in it, has a holographic seal and a photo of you plus the word "passport" printed on it. Assuming you also have a DL and a few credit cards on you...odds are very high you'll get home. I would not personally say that with only a birth certificate. IMO, that is an unnecessary risk. A full passport is the way to go but I would not travel with only a birth certificate even on a closed loop cruise. I do a ton of international travel, primarily by air and I never leave home without my passport card for emergencies.

Bottom line - OP is the only one who can gauge how much of a risk tolerance they are willing to take. Hundreds of thousands of cruisers thru the years have traveled using only their BC and a gubmint issued ID without issues. I have a passport for international travel and I also buy travel insurance and advocate both but don't begrudge anyone their choice to legally cruise with neither as long as they understand the risks

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No begrudging here. OP asked for advice and I gave mine. That's kind of what these forums are for.

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Bottom line - OP is the only one who can gauge how much of a risk tolerance they are willing to take. Hundreds of thousands of cruisers thru the years have traveled using only their BC and a gubmint issued ID without issues. I have a passport for international travel and I also buy travel insurance and advocate both but don't begrudge anyone their choice to legally cruise with neither as long as they understand the risks

 

 

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This.

I have to politely disagree with you. All the passport card information says that it's applicable for land and sea crossings only. It has no special value for air travel. Airlines only prohibit you from boarding without a passport because if you aren't accepted upon landing they have to take you back. If you can prove you are a US citizen via a birth certificate and the cruise manifest showing you don't have permission to stay on the island; they will get you off the island one way or another. I don't think the passport card has any more value than the birth certificate driver's license method for air travel.

 

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If airlines are required to take you back why did Tom Hanks spend so many years in the airport:'). If anything they may face a fine but if a cruise ship passenger gets left on an island without a State Department presence allowing them to return to the US is the easiest way to get them home. Their ID and citizenship has already been verified by CBP and when they land they would be taken to secondary inspection to verify someone hasn't taken their place in some Hitchcockian scheme to sneak into the country (and there are far easier ways of sneaking into the country).

A passport card does have the advantage of having all of your citizenship verified and in one place and CBP has access to that information which in an emergency would make it easier to clear someone. Yes, in a perfect world people will always return home with the required documentation but it doesn't always happen that way. The Canadian border is 8 miles from my door and once or twice a year someone will return from Canada without their documentation which was lost or stolen. After they have been verified they are allowed to enter the US to return home.

It makes any travel easier. Just saying.

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I really have no idea why you are arguing about this.

 

 

 

Sorry, you are 100% wrong. Other than a couple of airports in Canada, Passport Control is most definitely 100% within the United States. You actually think the US sends border patrol agents to work in airports all over the world? That's crazy. There are very few countries that have passport control to get out of a country. From personal experience that is the case in Jordan and Cambodia and I am sure a few others but that has less to do with passports and more to do with having a valid visa that has not expired. Most countries have travel restrictions where you can stay for up to 30 days but anything longer requires a different visa. This is not about security, its about money.

 

 

The US states that a valid passport is required to leave or enter the united states. It does not say enter US airspace. Meaning, you have to have a passport to get through Passport Control which is IN the United States and we've already proven that in an emergency, that rule gets bent. YOU just have to get to a US airport.

Actually, there are more and more countries where you go through US passport control prior to boarding your flight.

Bahamas, Ireland, Bermuda, Aruba, UAE, plus Canada as you mentioned.

HOWEVER, the airlines check your documentation when you check in, and will not allow you to board if THEY are not satisfied that your documentation meets the requirements of your destination. There are severe penalties, plus they have to remove the person from the country, if the destination country does not allow entry due to incorrect documentation.

I even recently had an issue with checkin, when my passport expired 1 day less than 6 months required validity, on the day I was to fly out of that country.

If airlines are required to take you back why did Tom Hanks spend so many years in the airport:').

Because, he (and the real life person the story is based on) did not have a country to return to. The story was, while enroute, his country ceased to exist.

The actual person lived in Terminal 1 at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris for 18 YEARS.

Actual story - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mehran_Karimi_Nasseri

Actually, there are more and more countries where you go through US passport control prior to boarding your flight.

 

Bahamas, Ireland, Bermuda, Aruba, UAE, plus Canada as you mentioned.

 

HOWEVER, the airlines check your documentation when you check in, and will not allow you to board if THEY are not satisfied that your documentation meets the requirements of your destination. There are severe penalties, plus they have to remove the person from the country, if the destination country does not allow entry due to incorrect documentation.

 

I even recently had an issue with checkin, when my passport expired 1 day less than 6 months required validity, on the day I was to fly out of that country.

Were you flying to a country that requires 6 months remaining validity? What sort of issue did you have? In the link provided by Herfnerd above the OP was allowed to board a plane in another country without a passport as was the PP you quoted, so obviously exceptions can be made when necessary.

Because, he (and the real life person the story is based on) did not have a country to return to. The story was, while enroute, his country ceased to exist.

 

The actual person lived in Terminal 1 at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris for 18 YEARS.

 

Actual story - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mehran_Karimi_Nasseri

Yes, I know, I was making a joke, hence the :'). ;)

I am of the opinion that using a passport is the easiest way to travel.

While I write this, I wish you to know that documentation requirements change all the time and any experience a poster has posted about that is older than, say for argument's sake, five years is probably useless today. Just so you are aware, in Canada you cannot get onto a flight that is bound for a non-Canadian airport (i.e., to the U.S.) without a passport (and if you are Canadian or U.S. resident you can use a Nexus card instead of a passport). Here it is succinctly from one of the airline's sites: "Travel Documents:

• Canadian and U.S. citizens must present either a valid passport or a valid Nexus Card when travelling by air between Canada and the United States."
  

I am of the opinion that using a passport is the easiest way to travel.

 

While I write this, I wish you to know that documentation requirements change all the time and any experience a poster has posted about that is older than, say for argument's sake, five years is probably useless today. Just so you are aware, in Canada you cannot get onto a flight that is bound for a non-Canadian airport (i.e., to the U.S.) without a passport (and if you are Canadian or U.S. resident you can use a Nexus card instead of a passport). Here it is succinctly from one of the airline's sites: "Travel Documents:

• Canadian and U.S. citizens must present either a valid passport or a valid Nexus Card when travelling by air between Canada and the United States."
  

The documentation requirements for closed loop cruises have not changed since the promulgation of the DHS regulations in April 2008.

Yes passports are a very recommended item even though yes it can be a little expensive upfront I agree they are good for 10 years so you never know when you might use it for another item

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If you are at sea and stop at a port and there is an emergency and you need to get home or you get sick and need to FLY home..... you CAN'T, unless you have a passport .

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If you are at sea and stop at a port and there is an emergency and you need to get home or you get sick and need to FLY home..... you CAN'T, unless you have a passport .

 

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That's not quite correct, there is actually a thread on this forum right now where that happened to the OP and they were most definitely allowed to fly without passports. There will be additional hoops to jump through but you won't be stuck.

Maybe things are different here in Texas. We can't board the ship without a psssport!

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Maybe things are different here in Texas. We can't board the ship without a psssport!

 

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Texas shouldn't have anything to do with it since it's still part of the US, but some cruise lines do require passports regardless of itinerary.

All cruise lines out Galveston (Tx) require a passport.

The again, US customs allow 1 liter of alcohol duty free but Texas collects a duty on every bottle.

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All cruise lines out Galveston (Tx) require a passport.

The again, US customs allow 1 liter of alcohol duty free but Texas collects a duty on every bottle.

 

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I find that hard to believe unless you are talking about open jaw sailings. Here's what Royal says and I see nothing that mentions an exclusion for Texas:

You MUST have one of the following:

• A valid United States or Canadian passport. For additional United States passport information visit the United States Department of State travel information website or the Passport Canada website. Visa Central is the passport and visa service that we recommend, should our guests need passport and visa assistance. You may contact Visa Central for all your passport needs. Visa Central can obtain passports in as little as one day. US Residents, please contact VisaCentral online at www.visacentral.com/royalcaribbean, email rci@visacentral.com or call 800-858-8579, and be sure to reference Royal Caribbean account 44988 for reduced service fees. Canada residents, please contact www.visacentral.ca/royalcaribbean, email rci@visacentral.com or call 8888-665-9956, and be sure to reference Royal Caribbean account 10026 for reduced service fees.
  

- OR -

• Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) or Trusted Travel Documents. Click here for a list of all approved documents.
  

Exceptions:

• United States citizens on cruises that begin and end at the same port in the United States can use a original government-issued picture ID (i.e. driver's license) AND an original government-issued birth certificate or original Naturalization Certificate.
  
• Minors under the age of 16 will be able to present either an original government-issued, original or certified copy of his or her birth certificate; a Consular Report of Birth Abroad Issued by DOA; or Certificate of Naturalization issued by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.
  

If you are at sea and stop at a port and there is an emergency and you need to get home or you get sick and need to FLY home..... you CAN'T, unless you have a passport .

 

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Get them it's better safe than sorry

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I like Europe and S. America, so I can't imagine not renewing my passport. Our next renewal will take me to age 78 & DH to 70, so it might be our last renewal.

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It's a personal decision to have one or not. My wife and I always travel with a passport. I'm not sure how the islands do airport check in, but if you have a family emergency back home do you want to risk delays everywhere you go? Delay getting on the aircraft in Tortola a British colony, flying to a US air port where customs will charge you $300-$400 dollars each for entry without a passport. It's easier to and more reassuring to have one.

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It's a personal decision to have one or not. My wife and I always travel with a passport. I'm not sure how the islands do airport check in, but if you have a family emergency back home do you want to risk delays everywhere you go? Delay getting on the aircraft in Tortola a British colony, flying to a US air port where customs will charge you $300-$400 dollars each for entry without a passport. It's easier to and more reassuring to have one.

 

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Don't know where you are coming up with that fine amount. If you are thinking because of a PVSA violation that would only be applied if you left the ship in a US port and you would pay that whether you had a passport or not (and of course since it's a US port you wouldn't need a passport anyway). If I am understanding the other thread correctly where someone did fly from a port to the US they spent a little time in secondary inspection at their US arrival and then were sent on their way. Returning home from some of the islands is going to be problematic even with a passport and depending on when in the cruise the emergency occurred it might be better to just remain on the ship.