Birth Certificate not good enough?!

[linda_22003]

Actually it is a very valid reason for not getting a PP, it might seem to be silly for you, but for others (myself included) it is a real issue! I don't like the giving the government money I don't haver to. Until it is required for me to have a PP for a cruise, or I decide to take a trip that requires me to have a PP i will pass on spending the money!

 

Then you're limiting yourself on what you can see of the world because you don't like the "dang gummint." Yeah, well, okay. :p

[TahoeBob]

Then you're limiting yourself on what you can see of the world because you don't like the "dang gummint." Yeah, well, okay. :p

 

 

 

 

Please show me where I said I did not like the government. What I said was I don't want to give the government money I don't haver to.

 

I am happy that I have this opportunity to point out the difference to you because it is clear that you did not know the difference.

[echo]

My husband's was a hospital one, had his foot prints on it and a raised seal, we didnt know. Lady that checked us in at Carnival told us, but let us on anyways. We got the correct on after that, then later a passport.

[spunkanutter]

My apologies if this was already pointed out or if it does not apply, however...

 

It is not enough to have a birth certificate; if the passenger is 16 or older, he/she must also have a government-issued photo ID which ties the person on the birth certificate to the person standing in front of the cruise agent.

 

Without the photo id with name matching the name on birth certificate, you are not going to board the ship.

 

 

When I was a TA I had to talk to all of my clients about travel requirements. The above statement is correct per the travel.state.gov website. US Citizens, not residents, must have BC + gov't issued photo ID. Under 16 they only require the BC. If the travelers are not US Citizens, they MUST travel on their citizenship's passport.

[F5Loar]

It's really all pretty simple. The hard part is knowing for sure if yours is certified or not since each state/county does them different. Some say certified on them, some don't but will have a raised seal. Some no raised seal but a seal in gold leaf. Some have the lamintated pocket size, others don't. Some have watermarks, some have........... and the list goes on. I've never heard of a certified hosptial BC. One thing for sure Carnival will let you know if it's wrong as they wave good bye to you as you walk back down the ramp.

I wonder how many have the certified BC but an invalid or expired DL. 1000's of US citizens are stopped at road blocks everyday for DL checks only to find they didn't know it had expired. Some move and don't get the notice, others just don't care to look.

[mauraoel]

Okay so we are up to $4 maybe even $5 for the little booklet that the cover and paper likely comes from China for less then that. Add to it a person in India punching a computer button a few times to find out your lifelong personal history in 10 seconds, 20 if you got a criminal background. Do you really think there are people in Washington doing this? NOT! The postal worker taking your information doesn't get paid extra for each one they do. Remember they are going broke. Cost of postage to send it to and from is probably the most expensive part to gettting a passport and since it is goverment business it's free anyway and the taxpayer foots the bill on that stuff.

Still a long way from a $100 for one passport. I don't doubt there is another chip in there that can locate your passport so the government can tell at any time where you are at.

So if you loose one just call them to locate it for you.

Sounds like the government is making a heafty profit on each one no matter how you slice it. It's no worse then any other gov. red tape.

 

Met some of your non-existent Washington DC passport processors they do not I repeat do not out source this product. I don't really know how much it costs to produce it but it is produce right here in the US.

[comeon530]

My husband's was a hospital one, had his foot prints on it and a raised seal, we didnt know. Lady that checked us in at Carnival told us, but let us on anyways. We got the correct on after that, then later a passport.

 

This is why it's misleading when people tell others that your BC 'must have a raised seal'. It's just not true. You can have the type you mentioned with a seal that's not legit (and you were fortunate to have been allowed to board), and you can have a legit BC with no raised seal.

[dan40]

Hi all -

 

I live close to Port Canaveral and am actually scheduled to cruise on the Dream in 2+ weeks.

 

I heard from a friend whose close relative works at the port in a fairly high position who said that on more than one occasion recently they have had to escort some would-be passengers out of the port due to not having proper documentation.

 

In these cases it was that some or all members of the party only had birth certificates. Yes, I know this is "heard it from a friend" territory but I have no doubt that people were prevented from boarding for some reason. I think they may be confused as to the exact reason why they were kept off of the ship.

 

This has happened as recently as this past week (heard about it from them today because they know we are about to cruise and were concerned that we only have BC's and were afraid the same thing would happen to us). Some of the details we were told:

 

- The family were US residents and lived in a southeastern state (not immigrants)

- With the exception of one family member who had a passport, everyone else had birth certificates

- I believe this was a family with children, but the kids all had BC's

- This person says that they had what the cruise line requires (BC + ID) but it is ultimately up to the ship to decide what documents are valid

- They even called some very high Carnival officials and said they could do nothing to help them

- The family was ultimately unable to board the ship and did not receive a refund

 

 

Now, I find this very hard to believe, but at the same time I have no reason to disbelieve the person that this information is coming from. I think they must be confused on some of the details. At the same time, it scares the hell out of me because I'm due to leave on the Dream in two weeks and have no time to get a passport.

 

I'm thinking that maybe this family only had photocopies of their birth certificates, or maybe there was a divorcee involved who was preventing the children from leaving the country or something like that.. I can't think of too many other reasons why someone with a BC would be barred from boarding. And I would have to think that any given ship or sailing would have a large number of passengers who were only carrying birth certificates.

 

So has anyone heard of anything like this happening recently? Any idea why a party would be denied boarding even when they have their birth certificates?

 

Just to be safe I'm going to bring along a copy of Carnival's documentation policy as well as the government's 'closed-loop cruise' documentation requirements.

 

The ship and "the cruise line" are the same thing. When the ship is tied to the dock, Carnival HQ is totally in charge. At sea the Captain has safety discretion, but pretty much HQ still rules there to. For adults, there is no documentation to leave the States. The carrier, ship or plane, insists that adults have documentation so the passenger may leave their equipment when arriving at the destination. Carnival WANTS the passenger to board the ship, BUT they must be able to debark when the ship returns. When returning, THAT is when ICE enters the picture, ENTERING, the US, not leaving. The cruise in question was either not a closed loop, or as others have said, the docs were not 'official." If the cruiseline allowed someone to board without proper documentation, upon the return, that pax would not be allowed off the ship. And no cruiseline is looking for unpaid permanent residents. We once cruised with a Russian native here legally. It took over an hour to get him on the ship. The cruiseline took all his many, all official, including passport, docs to Immigration for approval prior to allowing him to board. Upon return 2 weeks later, it took about 2.5 hours for him to be released from the terminal by ICE and they fined him $250.00. I think the official reason for the fine was, "Because we can!" But they claimed a document had an illegible signature!!!

[ray98]

Then you're limiting yourself on what you can see of the world because you don't like the "dang gummint." Yeah, well, okay. :p

 

I think he was pretty clear. He is not limiting himself, he is only avoiding paying the fee until there is a situation where it is required. I find myself in an identical situation.

 

 

Until it is required for me to have a PP for a cruise, or I decide to take a trip that requires me to have a PP i will pass on spending the money!

[Warm Breezes]

I think he was pretty clear. He is not limiting himself, he is only avoiding paying the fee until there is a situation where it is required. I find myself in an identical situation.

 

Same here. Why pay for something when it is not needed yet?

[crzndeb]

Oh boy...could we open a can of worms on things people pay money for that aren't needed..LOL

 

But let's just leave it at it's everyone's personal choice whether they get a passport or not....it's their choice and the horse is already dead.

 

Personally, I really don't care how a stranger spends their money or what they choose to spend it on. Doesn't affect me or my decisions....

 

Kevin,

 

Glad you are all squared away...have a great time.

[KellyJ]

We couldn't check in online when with flew to San Juan to get on a ship. They told us to be at the airport 2 hours early to go through security and to bring our passports. Not kidding.

 

I was not happy, I thought San Juan was the same as flying in the US, but did what the airline told me to.

 

I remember it vividly, well maybe not so vividly(way too early). The flight left at 6:05 a.m.

So DH and I got to the airport at 3:45 a.m. The counter for check in for US Airways did not open until 5:00 a.m. I was not happy and tried to inquire why I had to be there sitting in the airport to check in when the check in counter wasn't even open.

 

If there was anyway to avoid it, I would have. They did check our passports since they considered it an international flight.

[nrdsb4]

We couldn't check in online when with flew to San Juan to get on a ship. They told us to be at the airport 2 hours early to go through security and to bring our passports. Not kidding.

 

I was not happy, I thought San Juan was the same as flying in the US, but did what the airline told me to.

 

I remember it vividly, well maybe not so vividly(way too early). The flight left at 6:05 a.m.

So DH and I got to the airport at 3:45 a.m. The counter for check in for US Airways did not open until 5:00 a.m. I was not happy and tried to inquire why I had to be there sitting in the airport to check in when the check in counter wasn't even open.

 

If there was anyway to avoid it, I would have. They did check our passports since they considered it an international flight.

 

 

 

They may well have asked you to bring your passport to the airport, but that doesn't mean you would not have been able to fly without it. PR is a US territory; a passport is not required. In fact, if you go to the web sites of PR, and the USVI, one of the things they advertise in order to get you to go there is that you are not required to have a passport if you are a US citizen. It is NOT international travel. Citizens of PR are US citizens and do not have to present a passport to enter the US mainland.

 

From the US Dept. of State web site regarding travel to US territories by US Citizens:

 

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cbpmc/cbpmc_2223.html

 

It clearly states that a passport is NOT required for re-entry.

 

http://www.topuertorico.com/resource/before.shtml#cust

[viaggi_per_mare]

We couldn't check in online when with flew to San Juan to get on a ship. They told us to be at the airport 2 hours early to go through security and to bring our passports. Not kidding.

 

I was not happy, I thought San Juan was the same as flying in the US, but did what the airline told me to.

 

I remember it vividly, well maybe not so vividly(way too early). The flight left at 6:05 a.m.

So DH and I got to the airport at 3:45 a.m. The counter for check in for US Airways did not open until 5:00 a.m. I was not happy and tried to inquire why I had to be there sitting in the airport to check in when the check in counter wasn't even open.

 

If there was anyway to avoid it, I would have. They did check our passports since they considered it an international flight.

 

We learned the hard way too that the two hour rule, does not apply to the first flight. We sat in Syracuse for 2 1/2 hours (didn't want to risk being a minute under the 2 hours) before our 6am flight too and the counter opened at 5am........we would have felt pretty stupid if there wasn't lots of other obedient Americans waiting:p