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Stolen Birth Certificates


carnivaljunkie

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I agree with the poster who said to try the hospital where the children were born. I'm so sorry for you to have this happen at the "last minute"! However, if they can't go on the cruise, I would remember that all things happen for a reason....

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Would trip insurance even cover something like this? The only insurance that would cover it would be cancel for any reason. Anything else probably isn't going to cover something like this.

 

I found out last year from reading our travel insurance that there is an exclusion within the policy concerning travel documents.

If you do not have the proper travel documents they will not cover cancellation.

 

OP so sorry this is happening.

Their best bet is to go and try. Get to the terminal very early. I also have read that in certain instances at the terminal exceptions have been made and that the hospital has faxed the birth record.

I'm not trying to give false hope but it has been done. Here is a thread from Sept 2011 where boarding was allowed using a hospital birth record.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1487879&highlight=cruise+port+hospital+birth+record

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The other eight of us are leaving at 2:00 PM EST for the airport. We hope that the other four find a solution and join us, but we know that they would not want all of us to miss the cruise. Four of us doing back to backs on the Freedom so I won't be able to tell you what happened for a couple of weeks. Thanks again for your kind thoughts and suggestions. Things have a way of working out.

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I found out last year from reading our travel insurance that there is an exclusion within the policy concerning travel documents.

If you do not have the proper travel documents they will not cover cancellation.

 

OP so sorry this is happening.

Their best bet is to go and try. Get to the terminal very early. I also have read that in certain instances at the terminal exceptions have been made and that the hospital has faxed the birth record.

I'm not trying to give false hope but it has been done. Here is a thread from Sept 2011 where boarding was allowed using a hospital birth record.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1487879&highlight=cruise+port+hospital+birth+record

the hospital may have a birth record but does not have a certified BC.

If it was a week day, the op could call the government agency where the BC is and get it faxed to the port. Happens all the time, but that's not going to happen if they aren't open.

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I am so sorry for you all- what an awful discovery! And I am now going to call my two guests and ask them to confirm that they have their passports in hand for our cruise next month. They did last fall- I want to know that they have them now. I would be sick for sure.

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I found out last year from reading our travel insurance that there is an exclusion within the policy concerning travel documents.

If you do not have the proper travel documents they will not cover cancellation.

 

OP so sorry this is happening.

Their best bet is to go and try. Get to the terminal very early. I also have read that in certain instances at the terminal exceptions have been made and that the hospital has faxed the birth record.

I'm not trying to give false hope but it has been done. Here is a thread from Sept 2011 where boarding was allowed using a hospital birth record.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1487879&highlight=cruise+port+hospital+birth+record

 

I wonder if since this is the result of a robbery if there is a police report tha the homeowners insurance could cover it...never hurts to check!

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Most states have a web site where you can get a certified copy of your birth certificate. The only problem is it takes a minimum of 24 hours to get it. Their best bet is to order a expidited copy from the internet and make plans to fly to the first stop.

 

That's not an option with birth certificates. You need a passport to fly into a foreign country.

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Wasnt there a thread several months ago...a poster lost or misplaced a BC for her small child. She got John Heald involved and the hospital where the child was born and they coordinated it some how to get the entire family aboard the ship

 

I cant remember how long the entire process took...if I can find the link I will post it.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1476086

 

In this post the mom said she got an Affidavit of birth from us customs.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=30469422&postcount=178

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I'm not saying this would work for everybody and it might have partly worked because my husband is in the military with military ID. And you would need to have previously made some kind of copy or scan of the original.

 

On our first cruise we realized the night before that my husband didn't grab his birth certificate. We were of course freaking out with no time to return to get it. We called the port authority or somebody and they said it's not so much getting on the ship that's difficult, but getting off. We had a friend get into our house and grab his BC. She scanned a copy and emailed it to us as well as faxed a copy to the hotel. Then she express shipped it to our hotel which agreed to hold onto it for us. We found a copy place to print off a huge color copy of the BC. We didn't have a problem getting on the ship with this in Miami. We were lucky that getting off the ship the guy hardly looked at it and instead talked military with my husband. But our plan was for me to return to the hotel to pick up the real BC if the copy wasn't good enough.

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I believe the birth certificates need to be certified copies.. In my experience with schools and sports ,etc, you only need to provide a copy machine copy. S that probably won't work either.

 

Maybe a quick run to Disney World instead?

 

What a bummer-- so sorry you are having to deal with this!!

 

Yes the BC has to have the raised seal on it to be considered an official document, and I believe I've read somewhere that the BC used cannot be the hospital certificate (which is why the raised seal is required). And without a passport, you wouldn't be able to fly to the first port (unless it was something in the United States).

 

I start making sure I have all documents two weeks prior to my cruise. And I constantly am checking to make sure I have them all (I don't relax until I am on board). It's a shame that the OP's family was robbed, but I have to say the thing that I'm sure others are thinking ... why weren't they making sure all documents were together before now?

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no such rule. Many states do not offer raised seal BC's

 

In Texas we can go get our birth certificates within minutes of applying. We had to go to Richardson from Plano and pay money. We left with them. They were stamped by the officials there and considered legal.

 

Nancy

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I wonder if since this is the result of a robbery if there is a police report tha the homeowners insurance could cover it...never hurts to check!

 

I was thinking along the same lines...since it is robbery related, would trip insurance cover it?

 

 

The OP stated the robbery was a couple of months ago. I wouldn't think either policy would cover as they would feel you had plenty of time to replace stolen items.

 

Gregg

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Too bad and sorry to hear of the problem with missing documents, but lesson learned for everyone, don't wait until last minute to review your plans and documents.

 

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

My husband think that I am nuts when I do this, but I make sure and check and re-check all documents that we need. I hope everything works out for the OP :(

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really stretching it now don't you think?

 

No my grandson has a school id at 11, in the 5th grade, it has a picture, his name, school name, school address,

 

My sons had them also in Colorado in jr and sr highschool. So I do not think it is a stretch, if you have them, it would be worth trying.

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No my grandson has a school id at 11, in the 5th grade, it has a picture, his name, school name, school address,

 

My sons had them also in Colorado in jr and sr highschool. So I do not think it is a stretch, if you have them, it would be worth trying.

 

Even with a drivers license or state issued ID you still need a passport or birth certificate. So no- school ID's will not cut it.

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