Questions about passports & birth certificate.

[Dee144]

My cruise partner can't make our October carnival cruise. I am thinking of asking my sister , or son , or best friend. None have updated passports but do have American birth certificates. We'l be visiting Roatan, Belize, and Cozumel. Would birth certificates suffice to enter exit out county?

[CruiserBruce]

30 minutes ago, Dee144 said:

My cruise partner can't make our October carnival cruise. I am thinking of asking my sister , or son , or best friend. None have updated passports but do have American birth certificates. We'l be visiting Roatan, Belize, and Cozumel. Would birth certificates suffice to enter exit out county?

First question...is this a roundtrip out of a single US port?

[Ashland]

Certified BC they should be fine for a closed loop itinerary.

[njhorseman]

1 hour ago, Dee144 said:

My cruise partner can't make our October carnival cruise. I am thinking of asking my sister , or son , or best friend. None have updated passports but do have American birth certificates. We'l be visiting Roatan, Belize, and Cozumel. Would birth certificates suffice to enter exit out county?

An official birth  certificate and a government-issued photo ID such as a drivers license are sufficient per government regulations if this is a closed loop cruise...BUT...there are cruise lines that require all passengers to have a passport. Typically it's the upper end luxury lines that have the passport requirement while the mass market lines generally don't require anything more than a birth certificate and photo ID. You have to identify the cruise line in order to get an accurate answer.

[cruisemom42]

2 hours ago, Dee144 said:

My cruise partner can't make our October carnival cruise. 

 

46 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

You have to identify the cruise line in order to get an accurate answer.

 

OP states they are on Carnival, see above.

[njhorseman]

39 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

 

OP states they are on Carnival, see above.

True...my bad. 😬...and of course Carnival accepts a birth certificate and photo ID for a closed loop cruise:

https://www.carnival.com/help

 

Also acceptable for cruise travel (for cruises that begin and end in a U.S port), U.S. citizens can show proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate  issued by a government agency and accompanied by government-issued photo identification

[Host Kat]

2 hours ago, Dee144 said:

My cruise partner can't make our October carnival cruise. I am thinking of asking my sister , or son , or best friend. None have updated passports but do have American birth certificates. We'l be visiting Roatan, Belize, and Cozumel. Would birth certificates suffice to enter exit out county?

 

Howdy @Dee144 from a fellow Texan!   Welcome back to the Cruise Critic message boards! I see it has been awhile since you have posted on the boards.

 

Thank you for your new thread titled "Questions about passports & birth certificate." on the Ask a Cruise Question forum. 👍  It is the forum for general questions regarding cruising. 

 

To help you out since you are sailing on a specific cruise line, I have moved your thread to the Carnival Cruise Lines forum where it will be on topic. The majority of your fellow Cruise Critic members that have sailed Carnival frequent this forum and provide feedback here. Browse through the thread titles on this forum l👀king for threads of interest. You will probably find  your fellow Cruise Critic members have already posted questions and received answers that will be of interest to you.

 

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And don't forget, after your cruise be sure to submit your review for publication. Many cruisers will benefit from your experience!    See How To: Submit a Member Review.

 

I hope this will be helpful and glad to have you back aboard Cruise Critic! 

 

Happy sails,

 

Host Kat  

[Susan in Maine]

It may not be absolutely necessary to have a passport. BUT if anything happens so they are not on the ship when it comes back, they won't be able to get back into the US without one.

 

For example: they get sick and get left behind in a port for medical treatment and need to fly home. Or there is an emergency back home and they have to leave the cruise and fly home. 

 

You can get back into the US from a cruise ship without a passport, but any other way requires a passport.

 

Just sayin'

 

Have you checked with Carnival to see if you can change the name on the reservation?

[Barba21885]

If you are female and are going to use driver's license and birth certificate....do you have to show proof of name change?  Concerned for fellow cruiser who has been married/divorced twice...so she will need to bring proof of her name change on appropriate license/divorce papers.  

[nolatravelgirl]

On 9/12/2021 at 2:17 PM, Susan in Maine said:

It may not be absolutely necessary to have a passport. BUT if anything happens so they are not on the ship when it comes back, they won't be able to get back into the US without one.

 

For example: they get sick and get left behind in a port for medical treatment and need to fly home. Or there is an emergency back home and they have to leave the cruise and fly home. 

 

You can get back into the US from a cruise ship without a passport, but any other way requires a passport.

 

Just sayin'

 

Have you checked with Carnival to see if you can change the name on the reservation?

While I agree that having a passport is better that is not a reason to not cruise. The OP is making a generous offer to a friend and/or relative and hopefully one of them will be able to join on the cruise last minute. I wouldn't let a lack of passport stop me from taking you up on your offer. If any of your potential invitees have a serious health issue who may have a higher than likely need of medical evacuation then maybe consider not inviting them.  

 

If by chance you end up stranded in a foreign port whether due to medical emergency or due to your own forgetfulness you can always head to the local embassy and they will help get you sorted. Is it a headache? Yes but it isn't like you are stranded forever and will be relegated to panhandling in a foreign country for survival for the remainder of your life.

 

To the OP, since it sounds like they just have expired passports I would recommend that they go ahead and bring those along with the birth certificate and state issued ID. Having an expired passport should help expedite the process if by the chance the worst were to happen. 

[Host Kat]

On 9/12/2021 at 3:59 PM, Barba21885 said:

If you are female and are going to use driver's license and birth certificate....do you have to show proof of name change?  Concerned for fellow cruiser who has been married/divorced twice...so she will need to bring proof of her name change on appropriate license/divorce papers.  

 

@Barba21885

 

For each cruise I have taken I brought my "paper trail" of documents as back-up for my DL & BC. All were closed loop cruises. So far, *knock on wood*, no one has ever asked to see them at embarkation. However, YMMV!

 

Host Kat 

 

[sanger727]

On 9/12/2021 at 4:59 PM, Barba21885 said:

If you are female and are going to use driver's license and birth certificate....do you have to show proof of name change?  Concerned for fellow cruiser who has been married/divorced twice...so she will need to bring proof of her name change on appropriate license/divorce papers.  

most people report that no one asked for it. On occasion they do. A best practice is to either have a passport in the current name or the paper trail connecting the name on the ID to the name on the BC

[sparks1093]

On 9/12/2021 at 3:17 PM, Susan in Maine said:

It may not be absolutely necessary to have a passport. BUT if anything happens so they are not on the ship when it comes back, they won't be able to get back into the US without one.

 

For example: they get sick and get left behind in a port for medical treatment and need to fly home. Or there is an emergency back home and they have to leave the cruise and fly home. 

 

You can get back into the US from a cruise ship without a passport, but any other way requires a passport.

 

Just sayin'

 

Have you checked with Carnival to see if you can change the name on the reservation?

The authorities have the ability to waive the passport requirement for emergencies and for humanitarian reasons, and waiving the requirement is the fastest and easiest way to get a US citizen home from a closed loop cruise (and it would have been folly for the government to enact a closed loop exception without including provisions for getting folks home). And that is only IF something happens in the first place, which is a low risk proposition for many cruisers.

[dallasdan]

We have been on 16 cruises using only a birth certificate and DL.  My DW has never been asked about the name difference between DL and BC.  One day I will get a passport.