No passport-can you still sail to carribean

[nenner1]

What happens if you miss your embarkation port? How do you catch up with your ship?

 

If you don't have a passport you would have to do it via land or sea (Charter a boat for example).

[TravelerThom]

there are NO ports in the Caribbean or Mexico that require US citizens to have a passport if they are on a closed loop cruise.

Are you positive that this definitive statement is true? I can't prove that it is not true, but www.State.gov while putting a modifier on [for example] Panama that "Sea travelers must have a valid U.S. passport (or other original proof of U.S. citizenship, such as a certified U.S. birth certificate with a government-issued photo ID)" does not have similar modifying statement for Columbia and Trinidad & Tobago following the statement that a "valid passport is required".

 

Thom

[TravelerThom]

What happens if you miss your embarkation port? How do you catch up with your ship?

If you don't have a passport you would have to do it via land or sea (Charter a boat for example).

Don't think this works. Neither land nor a chartered boat is a closed loop cruise, and a closed loop cruise is the only exception to that I am aware of that the US CBP allows you to use anything other than a Passport or other WHTI compliant document.

 

Thom

[lcguy]

Are you positive that this definitive statement is true? I can't prove that it is not true, but www.State.gov while putting a modifier on [for example] Panama that "Sea travelers must have a valid U.S. passport (or other original proof of U.S. citizenship, such as a certified U.S. birth certificate with a government-issued photo ID)" does not have similar modifying statement for Columbia and Trinidad & Tobago following the statement that a "valid passport is required".

 

Thom

In addition to Mexico, Canada and Bermuda, here are the Caribbean islands that can be visited in compliance with the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiate without a passport while traveling on a closed loop cruise, leaving from and returning to a US port.

 

 

• Anguilla
  
• Antigua and Barbuda
  
• Aruba
  
• Bahamas
  
• Bermuda
  
• British Virgin Islands (includes Anegada, Jost Van Dyke, and Virgin Gorda)
  
• Cayman Islands
  
• Dominica
  
• Dominican Republic
  
• Grenada
  
• Jamaica (except for business travel)
  
• Montserrat
  
• Netherlands Antilles (includes Bonaire, Curacao, St. Eustatius (“Statia”), Saba, and St. Maarten)
  
• St. Kitts and Nevis
  
• St. Lucia
  
• St. Vincent and the Grenadines
  
• Turks and Caicos
  

Technically, a passport is required for Honduras (Roatan) and Belize, however both countries have exempted cruise travelers from the passport requirement as long as the cruise does not begin or end in those countries.

[nenner1]

Don't think this works. Neither land nor a chartered boat is a closed loop cruise, and a closed loop cruise is the only exception to that I am aware of that the US CBP allows you to use anything other than a Passport or other WHTI compliant document.

 

Thom

 

Oh true... could get messy.

 

But as an example: if they are left at say- Cozumel and some Mexican with a boat says I will drive you out to the cruise ship (have seen videos of this on youtube where small boats are used to get pax caught up to their cruise ships) well then US CBP isn't involved. That was the situation to which I was referring.

 

No doubt missing the boat is bad and opens up all kinds of possible trouble and inconvenience for those without a Passport. if you miss the ship you are responsible for catching up with it or meeting it at your next port of call. Not having a passport makes this situation inconvenient at best.

 

My advice is if you don't travel with a Passport then don't miss the boat, LOL! :D

[critterchick]

You aren't, sailing with a BC and DL is assuming you make the ship on time, unless your next port is SJU or St Thomas you would be out of luck. I think everyone should be required to have one but until the government agrees with me these rules are in place.

 

You would still likely be out of luck - the ship can't transport passengers from one US port to another unless a distant foreign port is involved. So unless you're travelling an itinerary that takes you to Aruba or another distant port, you won't be able to board in either of those places.

[Maya57]

Please be aware that even if your voyage does not require a passport to sail, in the event of an emergency should you be required to unexpectedly depart a vessel prior to the end of the voyage, a passport would be required to disembark the ship in a foreign country and re-enter the U.S. by air. We therefore strongly recommend that all guests are in possession of a valid passport.

 

Although there are procedures in the event you do not have a passport it can be costly and unpleasant.

 

A passport cost about $100.00 for 10-years that comes to $10.00 a year. In my opinon a bargain.

[andrzej5914]

IF you're ONLY planning on driving across Mexican or Canadian border or taking cruises in the Caribbean for the next 10 years for your vacation and IF you want to save some money, get a passport card. US authorities will treat it the same as a passport book and it costs $45. It's the size of a DL. You CAN'T use it to fly to any of these places, only drive or sail.

 

http://travel.state.gov/passport/ppt_card/ppt_card_3926.html