Passports or birth certificates?

[NMLady]

We are traveling on a 7 day western Caribbean from New Orleans on June 29th. None of us have passports. Can we just use our birth certificates?

 

 

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Does the cruise return to New Orleans? If so, that is a 'closed loop' cruise and those born in US do not need passports for that cruise, just official (not hospital) birth certificate and a government issued I'd such as driver's license.

[NMLady]

Hi jdragr, I don't think you can. If you are travelling to another country, you need to have a passport. Different rules apply for domestic (in which case you only need a drivers licence etc, or at least that's how it works in Australia), but I'm positive you will need to get a passport unfortunately. Hope all goes well and I'm wrong!

 

The OP is from Alabama so is probably a US citizen and Caribbean cruise is probably closed loop cruise so does not need passport.

[jdragr]

Yes from alabama. Yes closed loop cruise. Thank you for the info.

 

 

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[nana541]

Yes from alabama. Yes closed loop cruise. Thank you for the info.

 

 

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Yaaaaayyyy thanks for fixing your profile. I know it sounds silly but it helps in answering questions sometimes!

Is this trip a surprise for your hubby? Your family is going to have a great time!

 

 

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[navybankerteacher]

For the cruise described, an official birth certificate and government issued ID is sufficient. While those who stated a passport was necessary were providing misinformation, their advice was sound. A passport will help in the unlikely event you had to fly home, it will also enable you to travel anywhere over the next ten years. While its upfront cost might seem high, it works out to just a few dollars a year - say one Starbucks every three months.

 

It is always a good idea to think long term, but if you are certain you will NEVER want to travel overseas during the next several years and you NEVER will experience an interrupted cruise, then of course you should not want to get a passport.

[jdragr]

Yaaaaayyyy thanks for fixing your profile. I know it sounds silly but it helps in answering questions sometimes!

Is this trip a surprise for your hubby? Your family is going to have a great time!

 

 

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No no problem at all and not silly. Just had to go and figure out how to do it. Yes surprise for hubby. He has 5 boxes wrapped one inside the other. All are clues for the trip. Biggest box flip flops and another wrapped box. Next box is swim trunks and another wrapped box. Next box is sunscreen and another wrapped box. Next box is a toy train since we are going to take Amtrak and another wrapped box. Last box is a toy cruise ship.

 

He hates the beach but I am hoping he will like cruising. I know he would have loved an Alaskan cruise but just couldn't afford it right now.

 

 

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[jdragr]

For the cruise described, an official birth certificate and government issued ID is sufficient. While those who stated a passport was necessary were providing misinformation, their advice was sound. A passport will help in the unlikely event you had to fly home, it will also enable you to travel anywhere over the next ten years. While its upfront cost might seem high, it works out to just a few dollars a year - say one Starbucks every three months.

 

It is always a good idea to think long term, but if you are certain you will NEVER want to travel overseas during the next several years and you NEVER will experience an interrupted cruise, then of course you should not want to get a passport.

 

 

 

Will look into getting passports although I haven't needed one since I traveled Europe at the age of 16. But I'm hoping dh likes cruising. :)

 

 

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[nana541]

No no problem at all and not silly. Just had to go and figure out how to do it. Yes surprise for hubby. He has 5 boxes wrapped one inside the other. All are clues for the trip. Biggest box flip flops and another wrapped box. Next box is swim trunks and another wrapped box. Next box is sunscreen and another wrapped box. Next box is a toy train since we are going to take Amtrak and another wrapped box. Last box is a toy cruise ship.

 

He hates the beach but I am hoping he will like cruising. I know he would have loved an Alaskan cruise but just couldn't afford it right now.

 

 

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My hubby is not a beach person and our first cruise was of course the Caribbean and for 20 yrs that was our last cruise. Then one day friends wanted to do Alaska (I'm actually from Alaska) well he loved it! Panama Canal (Full Transit) was next and he loved that too.... Then the Med, seems every cruise is now his favorite cruise!

 

Cruising allows you to have a taste of many many places and figure out where you might like to return to and have a longer stay. Kinda a travel buffet :) we love Rick Steve's too!

 

Now I have a River Cruise booked, Amsterdam to Budapest, DH is resisting but I know he will love it.

 

Enjoy the planning, love the multiple boxes, so fun!

 

 

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[cadien]

Gosh I don't think I said that....I agree I hate that one liner, newbies don't know how to search....

 

Sorry. I can see how it gave that impression. Short version is I was agreeing with your response to someone else.

 

 

He hates the beach but I am hoping he will like cruising.

 

For what it's worth, I also hate the beach and my first cruise is going to be Mexican Riviera (with family) but based on the research I've been doing, there will be more than enough appealing alternatives.

 

 

Then one day friends wanted to do Alaska (I'm actually from Alaska) well he loved it!

 

Me too! And then I spent 13 years in Oregon. What part of Alaska?

Edited April 24, 2014 by cadien

[nana541]

Oh my! My family still lives in Anchorage, and I moved to Oregon when I went to college and never went back home :(

 

Small small world! Anchorage was a very small town in 1970 when we got there.

 

 

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[cadien]

Oh my! My family still lives in Anchorage, and I moved to Oregon when I went to college and never went back home :(

 

Small small world! Anchorage was a very small town in 1970 when we got there.

 

I was in Sitka then Fairbanks in the early 70s. Anchorage was huge! :D

[nana541]

Were you at the school in Sitka? Fairbanks was darn small back then.

 

 

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Edited April 25, 2014 by nana541

[jdragr]

We are definitely getting passports. Dh still had one that hadn't expired from some international business trips he has been on. So will just have to hurry and do mine and the girls. Thanks again for all the great replies!

[coolplex]

Thank you for taking the time to answer! Greatly appreciated!

 

 

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If for any reason including health or you miss the ship in a foreign port, you must have a passport to obtain a airline ticket to the next port or home.

 

Remember the birth certificate must be certified with raised letters on the official stamp, otherwise the cruise line may not let you board.

Edited April 25, 2014 by coolplex

[sparks1093]

If for any reason including health or you miss the ship in a foreign port, you must have a passport to obtain a airline ticket to the next port or home.

 

Remember the birth certificate must be certified with raised letters on the official stamp, otherwise the cruise line may not let you board.

 

No, it just needs to be issued by a government agency- many jurisdictions do not use raised seals.

[sparks1093]

We are definitely getting passports. Dh still had one that hadn't expired from some international business trips he has been on. So will just have to hurry and do mine and the girls. Thanks again for all the great replies!

 

Good choice, have a great trip!

[Mamalocs]

My husband and I travel Sunday and I have a BC and a DL. Im married so are you saying I cant travel without a marraige license?

 

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[Mamalocs]

Nevermind, I found another answer that shows no marraige license is needed. Happy Sails!

 

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[chengkp75]

My husband and I travel Sunday and I have a BC and a DL. Im married so are you saying I cant travel without a marraige license?

 

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Technically, the marriage license is the "bridge" document that shows the name change from the birth certificate to the DL (provided you changed your name). Do they ask to see it? Not frequently, but that doesn't mean that a check in agent (at embark) or a CBP agent (at disembark) having a real bad day couldn't want to see why the two names don't match. Another reason to have a marriage license is if you are under 21, most lines require proof of marriage. Any time there is a name change (marriage, divorce, adoption) it is always a good idea to have the bridge document available.

[Langley Cruisers]

My husband and I travel Sunday and I have a BC and a DL. Im married so are you saying I cant travel without a marraige license?

 

Nevermind, I found another answer that shows no marraige license is needed. Happy Sails!

 

Woah, not the answer I would have given you, nor would many people here. Take the marriage license as a "bridging document". Better to have it and not need it than the other way around.

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[Mamalocs]

Would a faxed copy suffice? I was married out of state.

 

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[Flatbush Flyer]

Three pages on this thread alone plus all the many other previous threads regarding identification - all with different interpretations about what is needed and/or what may work and how that changes based on emergencies, marital status, citizenship, itinerary, etc. At the bottom line, only one document works for all circumstances: a passport.

 

 

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[navybankerteacher]

Would a faxed copy suffice? I was married out of state.

 

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It probably would. The personnel checking you in are supposed to see evidence of citizenship - such as birth certificate together with ID - showing that you are the person identified on the birth certificate as having been born in the US.

 

If they are in different names, they would not show anything beyond the fact that a person who looks sort of like the photo of Susan Smith on a drivers license happens to have a birth certificate showing that a Person named Susan Jones was born in the US.

 

The bridge document (usually marriage certificate) ties the two together. Not all boarding clerks exercise care, but they are supposed to. Whoever told you you do not need a bridge document was not helpful.

[sparks1093]

Three pages on this thread alone plus all the many other previous threads regarding identification - all with different interpretations about what is needed and/or what may work and how that changes based on emergencies, marital status, citizenship, itinerary, etc. At the bottom line, only one document works for all circumstances: a passport.

 

 

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True but if one performs their due diligence other options are available (and of course if one doesn't want to muck around with due diligence they could just get the passport to begin with).

[Langley Cruisers]

At the bottom line, only one document works for all circumstances: a passport.

 

Yes, of course. A passport trumps all other kinds of ID. :) However, there are many, many threads here with people who, for whatever reason - usually financial - do not choose to get a passport and do travel successfully. Would I do it? No way. Would you? Doesn't appear so. But we can only guide someone and give our best advice, right?

 

The threads I like are ones like this one (the first part of it) where OP comes back and says, YES we're getting passports (post #38). Hurray! The entire big, beautiful world just opened up to them. :)

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