Any one else heard about a new passport policy?

[Chriz]

While we were getting off of the Sovereign of the Seas last month, the lady who was directing the lines the Port Canaveral Customs location kept announcing that in about 8-10 months, passports will be required and that birth certificates will no longer be accepted. I usually can smell a rumor, but I am not quite sure about this, as I don't know where she got her info. Anyone else know anything about this?

 

This has been posted on both the Carnival and RCI boards

[stillfrantic]

There is a long thread about this....also started via a rumor from Pt. Canaveral. No one can verify that it is true. Passports are always a good idea to have, but seemingly not to be required yet.

[clingandclatter]

Slowly but surely a lot of travel to the Caribbean is requiring a passport. Depends on where you go. I also heard this when I went on my Disney cruise and that was ~2.5 years ago - so obviously it hasn't become a hard and fast rule yet...

 

Somewhere on this State Dept.'s travel website I've seen what is required for travel to particular countries although I can't find it now...they also post travel warnings to locations here as well.

 

http://travel.state.gov/index.html

 

EDIT: Ah, I've found it

http://travel.state.gov/travel/tips/brochures/brochures_1229.html

[Onessa]

To increase security, the US has been investigating tightening passport requirements, nothing is official yet.

[LouChamp]

No news yet. There are a lot of confusing posts on these boards which I believe is causing needless worry among many people. If you don't have a passport, it is probably a good idea to think about getting one but if there is a policy change, there will be plenty of notice. Barbados last year changed their policy and the cruise lobby very quickly got the requirement amended. I hear such rumors on these boards for a variety of things and very little I take as truth. Someone scared the dayligts out of people going to Bermuda and if you do some checking, you will see that Bermuda recommends a passport but does not require it. Unfortunately some people on these boards like to deliver news that is wrong.

This forum is good for finding out things about a particular ship, ect but I would not rely on what posters say (myself included---don't even rely on me!) when it comes to such important issues as as passport. Nevertheless, I think it will eventually be something that will be universal but I don't see it happening soon.

All the best.

[stretch]

Here is the answer I got from the National Passport Information Center. Although there is nothing on the books at the moment, I do believe it will be manditory in the near future.

Stretch

Currently we do not have any information about any new policies.

If you have further questions, please email us at NPIC@state.gov. Please include all prior messages or correspondence in your reply so that we may know what has taken place previously. If you prefer, you can call us at (877)487-2778. Our contact center is open Monday through Friday 8:00AM-8:00PM EST.

 

Thank you. 053

National Passport Information Center