Am I crazy 😁

[Bbearz]

...for my sanity, safety, etc,. we NEVER leave home without them- You just Never know what might come up....

[sail7seas]

Hello,

 

We are going on our first cruise in January. We will be sailing out of Florida for a 7 day western Caribbean Cruise. Are Passports really necessary? We have a party of 5 so it's going to cost us almost $600+ to get them. I know we can just use a birth certificate and photo which is what I'm honestly leaning towards. We have no plans to travel outside of the US and would only be using them to go on a closed loop cruise. Thanks ahead of time for the advice !!

 

The photo must e governmentissued photo ID ( Scfh as drivers license, Military ID. If one of your five should have an emergency and mus t leave the ship, you ncannot fly internationally without a passport. You will have to get all of you home as your cruise would not er closed loop for you if you must leave the ship.

Edited October 1, 2016 by sail7seas

[sparks1093]

Unless you are going on a cruise, you don't even need a drivers license.

I haven't had a license for over 30 years.

I drive cars and have never been pulled over by a policeman.

No insurance either.

I don't need it and have never used it.

I just drive very carefully and do not break the law.

 

I have saved a fortune over all those years.

 

All well and good except for one small, itty bitty detail- what you've "done" is flat against the law. What OP is doing is in full compliance with the law. (And you don't need a drivers license for a cruise either, just a government issued photo ID.)

[taglovestocruise]

Hello,

 

You are not crazy.

 

Passports are NOT necessary.

 

I have taken my family (two teenage boys) on four cruises without passports. Gasp! On our last cruise we even did adventure excursions (i.e. higher risk of injury than your normal excursion) at each port. So I am not just telling you something I would not do myself.

 

Yeah I understand how a passport makes it easier if you somehow get separated from the ship and need to fly for whatever reason. And you can get through customs a bit faster. But when I calculated the risk vs cost, the decision was easy. Others might less risk tolerant than myself and I understand that.

 

What would be crazy is to get a passport but leave it on the ship when you go ashore. Now that makes less than zero sense!

 

All that said, as soon as our youngest turns 18, I and going to get passports for all of us. Not because of cruises, as I think our cruising days are pretty much over, but because I could see us taking an overseas trips. Plus given the crazy world we live in, I would find some value in having proof of identity.

 

Almost without exception.. never ever take your passport off the ship, you put it in the safe and leave it there. If you miss the ship your passport and cc left in the safe will be waiting for you with the ships agent onshore.. Thieves seem to have a sense of what valuables your carrying and a passport is high on their list of what to steal. happy cruising

[LDVinNC]

We even take our passports when traveling by air in the US, as a second form of ID in case we lose our wallets with our drivers licenses.

[SuiteTraveler]

OP, as others have stated the main risk is that if there is a emergency and you need to fly back such as:

-ship emergency with discontinuation of cruise where the ship must make nearest port

-medical emergency (on cruise or back home)

-death in the family (on cruise or back home)

-someone in your party misses the ship and must fly home or to the next port of call to catch up with the ship.

-somehow someone in your party is put off the ship at a port by ship's security and must make their way home on their own.

 

Any of the above happens and you don't have passports, then you will have to get a passport to return home by air. Some Caribbean islands don't have US consulates or embassies so you may have to travel to another island to get your passports and then fly home from there. This may take several days - especially if this is over a weekend as embassies and consulates are generally not open on Saturday and Sunday.

 

As others have states it is also best to have travel insurance, but thousands of cruisers go without it every year. Most have no problem, for others an unforeseen illness or accident can turn into a financially life-changing event.

 

Decide what is best for your family and do accordingly.

[laurien]

I am a Canadian , don't leave my country without it

So if you ever decide to cruise to Alaska I suggest getting them

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[sparks1093]

OP, as others have stated the main risk is that if there is a emergency and you need to fly back such as:

-ship emergency with discontinuation of cruise where the ship must make nearest port

-medical emergency (on cruise or back home)

-death in the family (on cruise or back home)

-someone in your party misses the ship and must fly home or to the next port of call to catch up with the ship.

-somehow someone in your party is put off the ship at a port by ship's security and must make their way home on their own.

 

Any of the above happens and you don't have passports, then you will have to get a passport to return home by air. Some Caribbean islands don't have US consulates or embassies so you may have to travel to another island to get your passports and then fly home from there. This may take several days - especially if this is over a weekend as embassies and consulates are generally not open on Saturday and Sunday.

 

As others have states it is also best to have travel insurance, but thousands of cruisers go without it every year. Most have no problem, for others an unforeseen illness or accident can turn into a financially life-changing event.

 

Decide what is best for your family and do accordingly.

 

Discontinue of the cruise because of the cruise line is probably the easiest situation because the last time it happened CBP issued a letter to all passengers who didn't have passports allowing them to board the plane without one. If one can't board a plane to the US without a passport from an island that doesn't have a Consulate how are they to get to another island? I suspect that there is a procedure in place for those instances and the port agent would know exactly what to do (if it were that arduous I am sure we'd be reading horror stories regularly). I agree that someone needs to decide what is best for their needs and to act accordingly.

[sparks1093]

I am a Canadian , don't leave my country without it

So if you ever decide to cruise to Alaska I suggest getting them

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

The only reason to contemplate getting them for an Alaskan cruise is because some shore excursions cross the border and of course if one is not taking one of them there is no need for a passport. If one is taking such an excursion then a passport card or enhanced drivers license is a more affordable option for some.

[sail7seas]

The only reason to contemplate getting them for an Alaskan cruise is because some shore excursions cross the border and of course if one is not taking one of them there is no need for a passport. If one is taking such an excursion then a passport card or enhanced drivers license is a more affordable option for some.

 

 

If a person dfoes not have a psddport book, sre thery sble gtyo brgt a pasddport card? I recently renewed my passport purchased a passport card at the same time.

[sparks1093]

If a person dfoes not have a psddport book, sre thery sble gtyo brgt a pasddport card? I recently renewed my passport purchased a passport card at the same time.

 

Yes, a passport card may be obtained separately from a book ($55 if you've had neither before, $30 if you can apply by mail). I know many people in my community (8 miles from the Canadian border) that have them so they may cross into the Canada (and just as many with an EDL for the same purpose).

Edited October 3, 2016 by sparks1093

[sail7seas]

The only reason to contemplate getting them for an Alaskan cruise is because some shore excursions cross the border and of course if one is not taking one of them there is no need for a passport. If one is taking such an excursion then a passport card or enhanced drivers license is a more affordable option for some.

 

 

Some states do not issue EDL's.

[navybankerteacher]

I have no intention of going anywhere that requires a passport. We sail with BC and DL...it's fine! If you are trapped on an island, you will not be stranded in some foreign country forever....they will NOT let you stay, unlike our country! They will expedite your paperwork to get you the hell out of their country! No worries!

 

While I agree that passports are not necessary for closed loop cruises, and people who plan to never take other trips have reasonable grounds for deciding against the expenditure.

 

However, assurances such as the above are kind of mindless: just who do you think are the "They" who "will expedite your paperwork to get you the hell out of THEIR country"? If it is "their country", "they" will not be able to get you the documents you need to get back to the US. And there are very few islands on closed loop cruises which have US type "theys" (consulate staff) who could expedite anything for you.

[ronandannette]

I have no intention of going anywhere that requires a passport. We sail with BC and DL...it's fine! If you are trapped on an island, you will not be stranded in some foreign country forever....they will NOT let you stay, unlike our country! They will expedite your paperwork to get you the hell out of their country! No worries!

 

That you are SO adamant about it makes me curious. Any specific reason why? :confused:

Edited October 3, 2016 by ronandannette

[sparks1093]

That you are SO adamant about it makes me curious. Any specific reason why? :confused:

 

I know that I used to be in the same situation and said much the same thing, not sure if it applies to the previous poster or not, but for me I didn't have the money to travel anywhere that required the use of a passport. I knew I wanted to, just wasn't sure when. When turned out to be last year when we flew to Germany.

[live2vayk]

I wouldn't say it is crazy to not get a passport, but I would say that if anyone has any possibility of having to return to the states fast, they might consider it. On my very first cruise, I got a call that my Mom had passed unexpectedly. She was in her early 70s, and had some health challenges, but this was NOT expected. I was sure glad I had a passport to get back fast. Not having the "no passport issue" when all I could think about was getting back home as fast as possible was a VERY good thing.

 

Just another perspective.

[sparks1093]

While I agree that passports are not necessary for closed loop cruises, and people who plan to never take other trips have reasonable grounds for deciding against the expenditure.

 

However, assurances such as the above are kind of mindless: just who do you think are the "They" who "will expedite your paperwork to get you the hell out of THEIR country"? If it is "their country", "they" will not be able to get you the documents you need to get back to the US. And there are very few islands on closed loop cruises which have US type "theys" (consulate staff) who could expedite anything for you.

 

Yes, there are a number of islands that don't have a Consulate. However since we're not reading a lot of horror stories about people being stranded a number of possible conclusions can be made: 1) no one ever misses a ship on those islands or 2) the procedure is easier than most of us realize or 3) we have a good number of ex-pats residing on said islands. I am sure that given the number of travelers to these islands without passports that the governments involved have developed procedures to be used in the event one of those travelers misses the ship. It could be something as easy as allowing them to board a flight to the US and taking them straight to CBP secondary where they can be thoroughly vetted (remembering of course that CBP has access to the original passenger manifest for the cruise and a plethora of government databases that may be used to check someone's identity).

[made in canada]

I find it funny that no one is telling you to check with either your travel agent or with your US immigrations. I am from Canada so I do not know what your govt sites are like but up here our govt has specific sites for travelling. It tells us things like countries not to travel to, ones that require visa's etc.. I do not doubt that cruising in the USA they say you do not need one but you are still travelling to foreign countries. Contact the cruise line you might not be getting the correct info either as most cruise lines are headquartered in foreign countries too :)

I say better safe than sorry check with a reputable source not cruise critic hearsay:)

[Warm Breezes]

I find it funny that no one is telling you to check with either your travel agent or with your US immigrations. I am from Canada so I do not know what your govt sites are like but up here our govt has specific sites for travelling. It tells us things like countries not to travel to, ones that require visa's etc.. I do not doubt that cruising in the USA they say you do not need one but you are still travelling to foreign countries. Contact the cruise line you might not be getting the correct info either as most cruise lines are headquartered in foreign countries too :)

I say better safe than sorry check with a reputable source not cruise critic hearsay:)

 

Well I can speak from experience having done the Western route the OP is talking with BC and DL. WHTI rules state that as long as you are a US citizen on a closed loop cruise to/from a US port a govt issued photo ID and certified BC are all that is required.

[kansasrookie]

I went ahead and got one mostly for peace of mind.I have health issues. Just want to be sure. It's one last worry. Never been on a cruise before. But I have a feeling there might be more in the future. Got travel Insurance as well.

[sparks1093]

I find it funny that no one is telling you to check with either your travel agent or with your US immigrations. I am from Canada so I do not know what your govt sites are like but up here our govt has specific sites for travelling. It tells us things like countries not to travel to, ones that require visa's etc.. I do not doubt that cruising in the USA they say you do not need one but you are still travelling to foreign countries. Contact the cruise line you might not be getting the correct info either as most cruise lines are headquartered in foreign countries too :)

I say better safe than sorry check with a reputable source not cruise critic hearsay:)

 

The information is indeed on our government sites but sometimes it is hard to find and sometimes it is conflicting. Each cruise line's website outlines the requirements too and sometimes will impose a stricter standard than that imposed by the government, but again those sites can be confusing as well. After reading either of those sources people will come here and ask for confirmation of what they've read.