Cruising this Sunday & a few questions

Hello! First time cruise this Sunday on Pride out of Baltimore to Half Moon, Freeport and Grand Turk..and have a few questions...

We are a family of 4 with girlies ages 9 and 11. We would like to book the Dolphin Encounter as there are still openings. I noticed it's cheaper to book directly throught the company rather than carnival? Any experiences with this?

Also, my hubby & I have passports and my daughters do not...we are bringing their birth certificates. Is this adequate? Do my husband and myself also need to bring our birth certificates? Do we need visas? We are U.S residents. We will also bring our driver license. I may be a bit paranoid but hate to get to Baltimore and not be able to get on the ship LOL

You will not have any issues boarding the ship with passports and / or birth certificates via the cruise ship. Now, if there is an emergency and you need to reenter the country without a passport you may encounter issues. I have always found non Carnival excursions better, less expensive, and with fewer people than Carnival operated excursions.

If you have passports you don't need your birth certificate in addition to it,

For the girls they only need a birth certificate and not photo ID based on their ages. This is from the Carnival website: Also acceptable for cruise travel (for cruises that begin and end in a U.S port), U.S. citizens can show proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate issued by a government agency and accompanied by a government-issued photo I.D.

Birth Certificate Information

The following are acceptable:

• An original or copy of a birth certificate issued by a government agency (state/county/city) or the Department of Health and Vital Statistics
  
• A clear, legible copy (photo copy) of a birth certificate that was originally issued by a government agency (state/county/city) or the Department of Health and Vital Statistics. The copy does not need to be notarized or certified.
  
• Birth Certificate Card
  
• A Consular report of Birth Abroad
  
• Internationally adopted children (under the age of 18): If the adoptive parent was not issued a birth certificate, we will accept as proof of citizenship, a Certificate of Citizenship by the U.S. and adoption paperwork. A Certificate of Citizenship is issued by the U.S. once the adoption is finalized.
  

Guests may obtain a copy of a birth certificate by contacting: The Department of Health and Vital Statistics at: www.vitalchek.com. If the guest has laminated their birth certificate, it is acceptable.

Birth certificates from Puerto Rico issued prior to July 1, 2010 are not valid forms of proof of citizenship and are not accepted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Guests from Puerto Rico either need to present a WHTI-compliant document or a government-issued photo I.D. with a validated birth certificate issued after July 1, 2010.

You are going to love Half Moon Cay. Have fun and don't over think everything.

I have a message for an upgrade but havent called back yet....we have a balcony room and he mentioned an upgraded balcony

I will be on the cruise with you. Have you joined the FB group for our cruise?

No! haha....I didnt know there was such a group! Whats it under?

Im so mad....I missed a cheaper booking thru the Dolphin Company on Freeport and now have to pay carnival Dolphin Encounter prices....ugh

No! haha....I didnt know there was such a group! Whats it under?

Do a search for the ship name and date of the sailing, there may be more than one!

No! haha....I didnt know there was such a group! Whats it under?

Carnival Pride September 23-30 2018

Hello! First time cruise this Sunday on Pride out of Baltimore to Half Moon, Freeport and Grand Turk..and have a few questions...

We are a family of 4 with girlies ages 9 and 11. We would like to book the Dolphin Encounter as there are still openings. I noticed it's cheaper to book directly throught the company rather than carnival? Any experiences with this?

Also, my hubby & I have passports and my daughters do not...we are bringing their birth certificates. Is this adequate? Do my husband and myself also need to bring our birth certificates? Do we need visas? We are U.S residents. We will also bring our driver license. I may be a bit paranoid but hate to get to Baltimore and not be able to get on the ship LOL

All the girls need are their birth certificates.

Im so mad....I missed a cheaper booking thru the Dolphin Company on Freeport and now have to pay carnival Dolphin Encounter prices....ugh

Many vendors utilized by Carnival have lower pricing for hotel guests staying on the island. Carnival and other cruise lines usually get the vendors to agree not to take cruise passengers only if they signed up through the cruiseline.

Hello! First time cruise this Sunday on Pride out of Baltimore to Half Moon, Freeport and Grand Turk..and have a few questions...

We are a family of 4 with girlies ages 9 and 11. We would like to book the Dolphin Encounter as there are still openings. I noticed it's cheaper to book directly throught the company rather than carnival? Any experiences with this?

Also, my hubby & I have passports and my daughters do not...we are bringing their birth certificates. Is this adequate? Do my husband and myself also need to bring our birth certificates? Do we need visas? We are U.S residents. We will also bring our driver license. I may be a bit paranoid but hate to get to Baltimore and not be able to get on the ship LOL

With a Carnival excursion you are covered if it runs late they will wait for you other wise you will be left.

We were on the Pride last week with this itinerary. (We were supposed to go to Bermuda, but Hurricane Florence caused a change.). Anyway, just to let you know, your Cruise Director is Dr. E, who is probably the best CD I’ve had on over a dozen cruises. Don’t miss his “Name that Tune — Motown” and “Name that Tune — 70’s and 80’s” shows!

BTW, because school is now in session, there were next-to-no children the ages of yours on our cruise. Your girls may not find any playmates in Camp Carnival.

Hello! First time cruise this Sunday on Pride out of Baltimore to Half Moon, Freeport and Grand Turk..and have a few questions...

We are a family of 4 with girlies ages 9 and 11. We would like to book the Dolphin Encounter as there are still openings. I noticed it's cheaper to book directly throught the company rather than carnival? Any experiences with this?

Also, my hubby & I have passports and my daughters do not...we are bringing their birth certificates. Is this adequate? Do my husband and myself also need to bring our birth certificates? Do we need visas? We are U.S residents. We will also bring our driver license. I may be a bit paranoid but hate to get to Baltimore and not be able to get on the ship LOL

You say "residents", not citizens. That implies you are not US Citizens, and therefore your passports are from another country.

Are your children US Citizens? If so, their birth certificates should be sufficient. If not, they should have passports from your home country.

As for booking through Carnival or not: you take a minor risk if you book directly that if things go sideways, either with the cruise itinerary (you can't make the booking on time) or while doing the excursion (they are late getting you back to the ship for some reason). If you are risk averse, then book through Carnival.

Many vendors utilized by Carnival have lower pricing for hotel guests staying on the island. Carnival and other cruise lines usually get the vendors to agree not to take cruise passengers only if they signed up through the cruiseline.

This is the first time I hear this. That is strange.

This is the first time I hear this. That is strange.

It's pretty standard. The cruise lines bring the excursion operators a lot of money and they will usually have contract clauses that keep the operators from accepting passengers directly as guests. That way the cruise line still makes money on excursions.