Do you get a passport for my kids?

[Eli_6]

I was just planning on using their birth certificates but then I started growing concerned about if we somehow missed the boat.  Unfortunately, I would have to expedite it and it isn't cheap.  

[samrothstein]

I got passports for my kids, but I won’t get one for yours lol. You may want to get them for your kids in the future, but a birth certificate will suffice. (Sorry, couldn’t help it)
 

Are planing on taking excursions with dicey operators or getting tanked at senior frogs/margaritaville? If not, then you should have little to worry about as far as missing the ship I’d think. 
 

what’s the cost of expediting the passports vs booking excursions through carnival?

Edited November 27, 2019 by samrothstein

[stellarose]

we have gotten passports since they were 8 and 10.  its better to be safe than sorry 

[Lottacruises]

It's up to you. What's the peace of mind worth?

[VentureMan_2000]

At $60 expedite per passport, I would stick to birth certs.  It would be $50 for a passport card and $115.00 for a passport book... plus the $60.  So looking at $110 per child (under age 16) minimum. 

Can take 6 - 8 weeks (daughter was about 4 weeks this past October).

[1025cruise]

Your concern is the reason everyone should travel with a passport.

[stellarose]

I was willing to pay for the expedite to have passports for December trip. realized end of Oct both kids' passports would expire  in November. 

[coevan]

45 minutes ago, 1025cruise said:

Your concern is the reason everyone should travel with a passport.

 

 

I completely agree with this as stuff happens. 

 

do you plan on traveling internationally in the next few years? How old are your kids?

[GradUT]

There are a lot of factors to consider:

 

1.  What are the ages of the children?  (Passports for children under age 16 are valid only for 5 years.)

 

2.  Do you anticipate doing other international travel within the next 5 years (assuming the children are under the age of 16.)

 

3.  What is your threshold for anxiety?  Do you worry about every little thing or are you a somewhat relaxed traveler?

 

If it were me, I would be loathe to spend the extra money to expedite passports for children for a cruise that does not require them.  The odds of your “missing the boat” with children are slim-and-none (as you won’t be drinking yourselves under the tables in a bar).  For extra piece of mind, you could book ship’s excursions or just stay close to port.  (And my advice comes based on being the spouse of a U.S. consular officer in a port city who rarely, if ever, had to deal with Americans who missed the boat.)

[Illbcruzn4life]

8 hours ago, Eli_6 said:

I was just planning on using their birth certificates but then I started growing concerned about if we somehow missed the boat.  Unfortunately, I would have to expedite it and it isn't cheap.  

 

why would you miss the ship? In most instances people miss the ship because they are drunk, or too much shopping.

 

Just keep your eye on your watch and give yourself plenty of time to get back to the ship.

 

Been on over 30 cruises and have not even had a close call and we do 99% of our excursions through private parties.

 

Good luck on whatever you decide.

[sanger727]

10 hours ago, VentureMan_2000 said:

At $60 expedite per passport, I would stick to birth certs.  It would be $50 for a passport card and $115.00 for a passport book... plus the $60.  So looking at $110 per child (under age 16) minimum. 

Can take 6 - 8 weeks (daughter was about 4 weeks this past October).

You can’t use the passport card to fly if you miss a port. So there wouldn’t be any advantage to getting those in this situation. They would need the books.

[SheriAZ]

I would.  In case of accident or emergency.  Book not card.

 

[SRF]

Always funny to see Americans debate passports.

 

A friend's grand son has a passport.  He is not yet 4 MONTHS old. 😄

 

 

[mjkacmom]

17 minutes ago, SRF said:

Always funny to see Americans debate passports.

 

A friend's grand son has a passport.  He is not yet 4 MONTHS old. 😄

 

 

It would’ve been a waste if I purchased passports for my kids at that age as they all would’ve expired before we used them. Four of my five have needed passports for travel as children, we got them a few months before needed, since they expire in five years. My daughter’s best friend and her brother had them since they were babies, their dad is from Ireland and has a house there, they go a few times a year. Every situation is different.

[sanger727]

22 minutes ago, SRF said:

Always funny to see Americans debate passports.

 

A friend's grand son has a passport.  He is not yet 4 MONTHS old. 😄

 

 

 

That seems unnecessary (at least in the US) unless you have family overseas. I traveled quite a bit as a child and still didn't need a passport until I was 16. It's different if you live in a European country where you could drive from Italy to France for vacation as easily as you could drive from Tennessee to Florida here.

[VentureMan_2000]

4 hours ago, sanger727 said:

You can’t use the passport card to fly if you miss a port. So there wouldn’t be any advantage to getting those in this situation. They would need the books.

 

I did not know that.  So, if you got left behind for whatever reason, then you would need your Book to get home, it sounds like, since you would have to fly.

So the price of a child passport just went up to $115 + $60 expedite fee... Yikes.

[cb at sea]

You will be FINE with a BC only, if this is a Caribbean cruise.  Under 16 requires no photo ID.

 

 

[cruiseryyc]

My nieces children have had passports since they were six months old.  Just get the darn things, use them and don't worry about any other type of ID whenever you travel.

[dkjretired]

8 hours ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

 

why would you miss the ship? In most instances people miss the ship because they are drunk, or too much shopping.

 

Just keep your eye on your watch and give yourself plenty of time to get back to the ship.

 

Been on over 30 cruises and have not even had a close call and we do 99% of our excursions through private parties.

 

Good luck on whatever you decide.

 

You can go on a hundred cruises but all it takes is once, all you need is an auto accident, you never know. 

[dkjretired]

3 hours ago, SRF said:

Always funny to see Americans debate passports.

 

A friend's grand son has a passport.  He is not yet 4 MONTHS old. 😄

 

 

 

Why, we have so many places we can go without a passport.  

[kerryincork]

If you are worried about being left by the ship, may be invest in travel insurance instead with coverage that includes expediting travel docs? Though you would have to read the small print, as you would probably have to prove that you weren't being reckless and missed the ship.

 

My travel insurance includes cover for luggage, missing the ship, repatriation, emergency money and expenses for emergency travel documents. I will have to read it again soon, but I think it covers missing flights as well.

 

I missed my cruise a couple of years ago due to weather delays and they paid out for my hotels, air line covered my flights and I caught up with the ship. 🛳️😊

[mo&fran]

4 hours ago, dkjretired said:

 

Why, we have so many places we can go without a passport.  

And many more that you cannot.

[Eli_6]

On 11/27/2019 at 5:41 PM, samrothstein said:

I got passports for my kids, but I won’t get one for yours lol. You may want to get them for your kids in the future, but a birth certificate will suffice. (Sorry, couldn’t help it)
 

Are planing on taking excursions with dicey operators or getting tanked at senior frogs/margaritaville? If not, then you should have little to worry about as far as missing the ship I’d think. 
 

what’s the cost of expediting the passports vs booking excursions through carnival?

I actually changed it twice and it isn't showing up. 

 

It's about $170 extra for both of them.  

[Eli_6]

23 hours ago, VentureMan_2000 said:

At $60 expedite per passport, I would stick to birth certs.  It would be $50 for a passport card and $115.00 for a passport book... plus the $60.  So looking at $110 per child (under age 16) minimum. 

Can take 6 - 8 weeks (daughter was about 4 weeks this past October).

Plus, the overnight charge per kid.  So it's like $160-170 to do a rush.

[Eli_6]

2 hours ago, mo&fran said:

And many more that you cannot.

I have a passport and have been many places, but that doesn't mean I went to those places with two very young kids in tow when I didn't have to.  A four months old isn't going to benefit from touring Europe (and actually shouldn't be going on a cruise either as most cruise lines require them to be 6 months) and I sure as heck am not going to sit on a plane for 9 to 16 hours with two screaming babies and make myself and everyone around me miserable.  My kids are just now old enough to be able to actually go on a trip and remember it.