Do you need a PASSPORT and a DL?

I keep getting mixed answers and I dont understand the Carnival website. My husband and I both have passports. My id was lost and I waiting for a new one. My dear husband is known for losing his. Do we need both to cruise?

If you have a Pasort, you don't need a DL.

However depending where you are sailing a Passport may be essential.

If you both have a passport then use it. It's what it's for.

Bring your passport. You don't need your drivers license unless you plan to rent a car in your ports. In Mexico, my husband needed his drivers license for one of the 4 wheeled dirt bikes.

A Passport is the only identification you will need [proof of both identity and citizenship].

Some sort of photo ID card _may_ be useful at tender ports. The port authorities at some of those will not have access to the ship's computer to verify your photo, so will want something else with your name and photo to admit you to the tender boarding area. On a New England / Canada sailing this was true at Newport RI, but not at Bar Harbor Maine.

I know nothing about Carnival but everyone leaves passport on ship and some ports ask for a photo id to get back in secure area of ship along with cruise card, we always take ours.

I keep getting mixed answers and I dont understand the Carnival website. My husband and I both have passports. My id was lost and I waiting for a new one. My dear husband is known for losing his. Do we need both to cruise?

Stands to reason - you admit you're likely to lose your passport or your driving licence, so take both and keep them separate in the hope that you only lose one at a time! ;)

We do the same as George - we bring both but leave the passport in the safe in our cabin, and take our photo ID and ship card into port with us. I know some people say you should bring passports with you in case you miss the ship but that has never happened. We take the name and phone number of the line's representative, should we need them (printed on the daily planner or port map you will receive).

BOTTOM LINE: It's your decision, but a passport is all you need as it trumps all other forms of ID.

Have fun!

Passport only. On our last Eastern Med Cruise we stayed at the Hotel Arts in Barcelona pre-cruise. We stayed in the Concierge Floor and they had 11 Electric Smart Cars that were available to use included in the package. The only thing they needed was to see my Passport to get access to the car. Imagine driving all over Spain without an International Drivers License. What a rush, and the signs are the same as in the US, but wording is different. Passports rule here and abroad.

The OP did not specify where they are cruising. US citizens on US based closed loop cruises (start and end at the same US port - which includes Puerto Rico) do not require a passport. They require a valid drivers license and a birth certificate only -OR- a passport. International based cruises will require a passport.

None of the ports of call will require them either unless you need to leave your cruise and return to the US from one of them, at which point (other than Puerto Rico) you will need one to leave that country and to re-enter the US.

As mentioned some ports of call will require a picture ID along with your SeaPass card (RCI nomenclature) to pass through security to re-board the ship.

Best to take a passport if you have one along with a valid picture ID. We always take a passport as it is easiest - along with our drivers license.

Passport is the ultimate ID...but ashore, you don't want to carry a booklet....your DL is the same size as a credit card or your ship's key...that's the ID you will carry ashore.

On our recent cruise, DW and I always took our drivers license with us to port because of signs Carnival had posted saying you need a photo ID to re-board the ship. At none of the 3 ports (Grand Turk, Freeport, HMC) did we need to show it.

One other thing we did (thanks to a post I read somewhere here on CC before our first cruise) was to make a few photo copies of our passports. We kept our actual passports in the cabin's safe and took a copy of it with us off the ship. This way, we weren't at risk of losing our passport, but had a copy of it in the unfortunate event something came up that we needed it for. While I don't for a second believe a photocopy of a passport would be enough to get us reentry to the States, it at least gives us peace of mind that it could help expedite the process if necessary, again without the risk of losing our actual passport.

Along the same lines, we also take a copy of our credit cards front/back. This stays in the safe the entire cruise and is just so that we have the card number as well as the 800 number of the company to call in case we would lose a wallet or something and need to have them canceled. If you're not going to be in a port where you would consider needing a credit card, this is probably unnecessary.

Good idea about the credit card! I'll do that on any of my trips now.