Do you need a passport?

[jamic16]

Do you need a passport to go on the norweign dawn? Boston to Bermuda ? Some people are saying yes and some are saying kno. We leave Friday

[triptolemus]

Passport recommended, but not required.

 

See here for ACTUAL requirements...

 

http://www.ncl.com/about/required-travel-documentation

[zqvol]

Do you need a passport to go on the norweign dawn? Boston to Bermuda ? Some people are saying yes and some are saying kno. We leave Friday

 

No you do not. It is a closed loop cruise and you may cruise with a certified birth certificate and a government issued photo ID such as a drivers license.

[Sauer-kraut]

No passport needed

However, if you do not have one you must bring a CERTIFIED copy of your birth certificate and a photo ID and if there is a different name on your ID you need a bridge document showing the name change (marriage certificate etc.)

[jamic16]

Ok thank you. Should we bring them with us when we get if the ship to go to the beach?

[njhorseman]

Ok thank you. Should we bring them with us when we get if the ship to go to the beach?

 

Leave your birth certificate or passport in your room safe. Take your room key card and a photo ID with you when you are off the ship.

 

By the way, the advice you're being given about a birth certificate being satisfactory proof of citizenship assumes you are a US citizen who was born in the US. If you are a naturalized citizen you need your certificate of naturalization. If you're a US citizen at birth who was born outside the US (such as the child of someone in military service stationed overseas) you need a consular report of birth abroad.

Edited May 12, 2015 by njhorseman

[Sauer-kraut]

Ok thank you. Should we bring them with us when we get if the ship to go to the beach?

 

Lock the documents in your safe for the rest of the cruise. SOME ports may require you to bring your driver's license AND room card to get back to the ship, other ports it will be just your key card. Be sure to read what the Freestyle Daily paper says for the port. (You'll get it the night before)

[hawkeyetlse]

Should we bring them with us when we get if the ship to go to the beach?

The only reason I would take my passport off the ship in Bermuda would be to get it stamped at the Customs House. :)

[triptolemus]

Leave your birth certificate or passport in your room safe. Take your room key card and a photo ID with you when you are off the ship.

 

By the way, the advice you're being given about a birth certificate being satisfactory proof of citizenship assumes you are a US citizen who was born in the US. If you are a naturalized citizen you need your certificate of naturalization. If you're a US citizen at birth who was born outside the US (such as the child of someone in military service stationed overseas) you need a consular report of birth abroad.

 

It is because of these types of complexities that the best advice is for the OP (and every OP with this question) to READ and UNDERSTAND the Required Travel Documents page linked in post #2. All of the necessary information is there.

[Illyria]

Well, put it this way: if you don't already have a passport, asking about it 5 days before you sail is a moot point.

[jethrojam]

It was required on the May 1st sail. This may or may not have been due to the ship coming back from a repo out of various other islands prior to arrival in boston. I think the threat level was raised too for national security so there is also that. I just know the agents wouldn't let us on until we got out are passports at the entrance.

[jamic16]

Ok thank you. We were told we didn't need them. I was just reading someone else post about it that's why I asked.

[sparks1093]

No passport needed

However, if you do not have one you must bring a CERTIFIED copy of your birth certificate and a photo ID and if there is a different name on your ID you need a bridge document showing the name change (marriage certificate etc.)

 

There is no requirement in the regulations that says it has to be certified, it need only be issued by a government entity. The State Department requires a certified birth certificate for a passport application so that may be where the confusion arises.

[garycarla]

It was required on the May 1st sail. This may or may not have been due to the ship coming back from a repo out of various other islands prior to arrival in boston. I think the threat level was raised too for national security so there is also that. I just know the agents wouldn't let us on until we got out are passports at the entrance.

 

You may well be passing on bad information. If you BOARDING for a Boston to Bermuda cruise, your passports were NOT required. You may well have been asked, and if you said you did not have passports, they would then accept the birth cert and other ID. Since you had passports, it was not an issue.

 

Again, you do not NEED passports for Boston to Bermuda and back for U.S. Citizens. Many people have them of course.

 

Threat level does not change this requirement at all.

[njhorseman]

It was required on the May 1st sail. This may or may not have been due to the ship coming back from a repo out of various other islands prior to arrival in boston. I think the threat level was raised too for national security so there is also that. I just know the agents wouldn't let us on until we got out are passports at the entrance.

 

Misinformation. In New York they always ask for your "passport" when you're entering. That doesn't mean you actually need a passport. "Passport" is short for "passport, birth certificate, or other proof of citizenship", which is actually what's needed for the closed loop cruise. In Bermuda they often ask for your "passport" when you're reentering the cruise terminal, when all you actually need is your photo ID and room key.

 

It's just easier to say "passport" rather than laying out all the options.

Edited May 12, 2015 by njhorseman

[jethrojam]

Misinformation. In New York they always ask for your "passport" when you're entering. That doesn't mean you actually need a passport. "Passport" is short for "passport, birth certificate, or other proof of citizenship", which is actually what's needed for the closed loop cruise. In Bermuda they often ask for your "passport" when you're reentering the cruise terminal, when all you actually need is your photo ID and room key.

 

It's just easier to say "passport" rather than laying out all the options.

 

It is not misinformation. My wife had gone up with bags containing passports while I parked the car. I had my license. It was not a valid passport. They sent up an officer to go find my wife with my passport.

Edited May 12, 2015 by jethrojam

[MsTabbyKats]

It is not misinformation. My wife had gone up with bags containing passports while I parked the car. I had my license. It was not a valid passport. They sent up an officer to go find my wife with my passport.

 

Did you show them your certified birth certificate? I'm guessing "no"...which is why they wanted the passport.

[jethrojam]

Did you show them your certified birth certificate? I'm guessing "no"...which is why they wanted the passport.

 

 

I'm guessing you weren't there. Which is why I can say with truth what happened and you cannot. Will the OP have same difficulty? Probably not. But don't justify your ignorance based on how you think it happened

[sparks1093]

I'm guessing you weren't there. Which is why I can say with truth what happened and you cannot. Will the OP have same difficulty? Probably not. But don't justify your ignorance based on how you think it happened

 

You need to show your documentation to enter the cruise terminal and that includes ID and proof of citizenship. Had you presented your license with a birth certificate you would have been allowed in (at least I am presuming that entering the terminal is where you had the issue).

[jethrojam]

I had my bc with me. Why wouldn't the cop say ok do you have a bc to go with the license? No he said must have a passport. So lets say you are all correct. Then if nothing else, the agent is making more work for themselves by not giving options to their demands.

[njhorseman]

It is not misinformation. My wife had gone up with bags containing passports while I parked the car. I had my license. It was not a valid passport. They sent up an officer to go find my wife with my passport.

 

Yes, it's misinformation, and you just exposed why. You only had your drivers license with you. That's just ID, not proof of citizenship and that's why they didn't let you in. If you had proof of citizenship with you, whether it was a birth certificate or passport they would have let you in. You didn't have any proof of citizenship with you.

 

Again, they usually say "passport" because most people have passports and it's a mouthful to say "passport, birth certificate or other proof of citizenship". This is nothing new. It wasn't just imposed for the May 1 Dawn cruise to Bermuda.

 

PS...I see you've changed your story and now say you had a BC with you. Previously you said you had your license...no mention of a BC. Did you try to show the guard your BC?

Edited May 12, 2015 by njhorseman

[jethrojam]

Yes, it's misinformation, and you just exposed why. You only had your drivers license with you. That's just ID, not proof of citizenship and that's why they didn't let you in. If you had proof of citizenship with you, whether it was a birth certificate or passport they would have let you in. You didn't have any proof of citizenship with you.

 

Again, they usually say "passport" because most people have passports and it's a mouthful to say "passport, birth certificate or other proof of citizenship". This is nothing new. It wasn't just imposed for the May 1 Dawn cruise to Bermuda.

 

PS...I see you've changed your story and now say you had a BC with you. Previously you said you had your license...no mention of a BC. Did you try to show the guard your BC?

 

 

Again, you weren't there. I didn't offer it, didn't think to. Said i had my license and he said that was no good i needed a passport. He never said dig out your "certified birth certificate" to go with your license. I know it's easy to appear so high and mighty behind a computer screen but still I have yet to hear you say you were there at that moment. If you were on this cruise than please say so. If not, please go back into your hole and bother someone else. If the OP or anyone else for that matter wants to try and travel without a passport they can go ahead and try. That's up to them. I am merely sharing my experience, which may have differed from the norm, or from yours.

[sparks1093]

Again, you weren't there. I didn't offer it, didn't think to. Said i had my license and he said that was no good i needed a passport. He never said dig out your "certified birth certificate" to go with your license. I know it's easy to appear so high and mighty behind a computer screen but still I have yet to hear you say you were there at that moment. If you were on this cruise than please say so. If not, please go back into your hole and bother someone else. If the OP or anyone else for that matter wants to try and travel without a passport they can go ahead and try. That's up to them. I am merely sharing my experience, which may have differed from the norm, or from yours.

 

You are right, none of us was there, but the fact remains if you had presented your birth certificate with your license he would have let you enter the terminal. I do have to wonder why you were carrying your birth certificate with you while your passport was packed away since most people carry the passport and have the birth certificate packed away (as backup).

[jethrojam]

You are right, none of us was there, but the fact remains if you had presented your birth certificate with your license he would have let you enter the terminal. I do have to wonder why you were carrying your birth certificate with you while your passport was packed away since most people carry the passport and have the birth certificate packed away (as backup).

 

 

My bc is in my wallet with my license. My passport was with my wife who was holding all the passports to go into the safe in her backpack. Lots of lawyers here. Anything else anyone would like to know about how I pack my personal stuff?

[garycarla]

It is not misinformation. My wife had gone up with bags containing passports while I parked the car. I had my license. It was not a valid passport. They sent up an officer to go find my wife with my passport.

 

Yes, it was misinformation.

 

If passports were required that day, many hundreds of people would have been left standing on the pier. They were not required for just that day or something.

 

I have no doubt what appeared to happen to you. And, I have no doubt that you would could have boarded with an ID and birth cert if you did not have a passport.

 

Once you informed the guard that your wife had your passport, that was all he kept looking for. He had no reason to ask for anything else. Very simple and reasonable expectation at that point.

 

I am sure you mean well, but your posting is scaring people into thinking they better have a passport or they will not be able to do. That is 100% wrong.

Edited May 12, 2015 by garycarla