Help settle this- LA to Mexico- Passport needed?

[basketballdad]

Looking at Carnival Panorama for NEXT week- it is Long Beach, Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlán, and Cabo back to Long Beach, a total of 7 days.  One in our party has an expired passport.  But he does have a regular (not enhanced) US drivers license AND an original birth certificate with the hospital stamp.  Is that enough ?  I have read so many different things.  Please post if you know..thanks

 

[80sGal]

That's all that's required.  Passports are good for emergencies (travel back early by air), but a birth certificate and ID is enough to cruise. 

[basketballdad]

THANKS!

 

Option 2  How about a cruise that goes and returns to Boston, that goes to canada and bermuda?  Again not an enhanced drivers license, but a regular drivers license and an original birth certificate (US).  TIA

 

OR 

 

Option 2  

Miami to St. Maarten, St. Thomas, and Coocay back to Miami..  TIA

[80sGal]

CocoCay is Royal Caribbean's island ... Carnival has Princess Cay and Half Moon Cay.   Currently Bermuda and Canada both have enhanced protocol requirements that have caused some snags, so for this season, personally, I would choose Option 2.   Those islands only require the BC and ID.  

[KyloRen]

Absolutely do Not need one

 

 I’ve sailed this  same cruise 3 times since Jan and I’ve never needed one

 

 hope this helps!

[KyloRen]

2 hours ago, basketballdad said:

THANKS!

 

Option 2  How about a cruise that goes and returns to Boston, that goes to canada and bermuda?  Again not an enhanced drivers license, but a regular drivers license and an original birth certificate (US).  TIA

 

OR 

 

Option 2  

Miami to St. Maarten, St. Thomas, and Coocay back to Miami..  TIA

same with Bermuda I’ve got a cruise going there in sept and I’ve-seen you only need birth cert and enhanced id

 

if you leave and return to same port you’ll not need anymore than id and bc

Edited April 25, 2022 by KyloRen

[Essiesmom]

I am concerned about the birth certificate with hospital stamp.  Birth certificates issued by a hospital are souvenirs, not official.  Official birth certificates are issued by the state, county, etc.  EM

[sanger727]

If your cruise starts in a US port, and ends in the same US port, it will almost always allow a drivers license and birth certificate. 
 

There are a handful of caribbean stops that require a passport; but Mexico, Canada, Bermuda, and most caribbean islands do not.

 

I agree with the other poster about double checking the BC. I’ve only ever used a birth certificate issued by the state. Not sure that a birth certificate issued by a hospital will be valid. Your friend can go to vital statistics in the city born in and get a state issued BC.

[kellylw]

They’ll need a government issued birth certificate and a license/picture id. If the birth certificate they have isn’t government issued, you can get one delivered within a day or two. 

[sparks1093]

8 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

I am concerned about the birth certificate with hospital stamp.  Birth certificates issued by a hospital are souvenirs, not official.  Official birth certificates are issued by the state, county, etc.  EM

 

2 hours ago, sanger727 said:

If your cruise starts in a US port, and ends in the same US port, it will almost always allow a drivers license and birth certificate. 
 

There are a handful of caribbean stops that require a passport; but Mexico, Canada, Bermuda, and most caribbean islands do not.

 

I agree with the other poster about double checking the BC. I’ve only ever used a birth certificate issued by the state. Not sure that a birth certificate issued by a hospital will be valid. Your friend can go to vital statistics in the city born in and get a state issued BC.

 

40 minutes ago, kellylw said:

They’ll need a government issued birth certificate and a license/picture id. If the birth certificate they have isn’t government issued, you can get one delivered within a day or two. 

I picked up on that wording as well, "original birth certificate with the hospital stamp" doesn't sound like a government issued birth certificate which is what is needed for a closed loop cruise. Of course this is what is required (and acceptable) to return to the US, ports may have different requirements.

[CheckersMidwest]

To clarify.....a government issued birth certificate has the raised seal/emblem on it as opposed to the hospital one. It also says Certified across the top.

[sparks1093]

37 minutes ago, CheckersMidwest said:

To clarify.....a government issued birth certificate has the raised seal/emblem on it as opposed to the hospital one. It also says Certified across the top.

This will vary by jurisdiction and many states don't use raised seals any longer (although "certificate of live birth" will probably appear on it).

[MisterOJ2]

9 hours ago, sanger727 said:

There are a handful of caribbean stops that require a passport; but Mexico, Canada, Bermuda, and most caribbean islands do not.

 

Just out of curiosity, which Caribbean cruise ports requires a passport for you to get off the ship?

[cruisingguy007]

That drivers license needs to be not expired. If you are from CA, it should be county issued. They will take the short version copies you can get from your local library and county offices but not the hospital version. Get the short form one for the trip and then order the long form version when you get back from vital records, that passenger will need it anyway to get a real ID down the line and the cruise lines may stop taking the short form versions eventually too. Get two copies actually. Have a great cruise!

[willyt25]

1 hour ago, MisterOJ2 said:

 

Just out of curiosity, which Caribbean cruise ports requires a passport for you to get off the ship?

Some French Ports, Martinique and Guadeloupe are two that do.  The reason for this is they have flights to France that act as domestic flights, so there is no passport control at the airport for those flights.  Because of that they require passport for cruise passengers even if it is a closed loop cruise.

[klfhngr]

20 hours ago, basketballdad said:

Looking at Carnival Panorama for NEXT week- it is Long Beach, Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlán, and Cabo back to Long Beach, a total of 7 days.  One in our party has an expired passport.  But he does have a regular (not enhanced) US drivers license AND an original birth certificate with the hospital stamp.  Is that enough ?  I have read so many different things.  Please post if you know..thanks

 

He's fine!

Edited April 25, 2022 by klfhngr

[80sGal]

Agree with other posters.  I don't know what a hospital stamp is, but the BC Definitely has to be issued by the State of birth.   Each state has a Dept of Vital Statistics, or some similar name, to get an official BC. 

[cruisingguy007]

35 minutes ago, 80sGal said:

Agree with other posters.  I don't know what a hospital stamp is, but the BC Definitely has to be issued by the State of birth.   Each state has a Dept of Vital Statistics, or some similar name, to get an official BC. 

 

I believe what he's referring to is a certificate of live birth that you get when your child is born. That form needs to be filed with the vital records office and they usually have a notary that visits the hospitals to complete the form and send it off to get a birth certificate. This will not do in and of itself and is NOT a birth certificate. It's used to get a birth certificate. If the OP only has this but did indeed file (whether through hospital notary or on their own) the records to vital statistics, they should have gotten a birth certificate. If this has been lost, it can be replaced at county libraries and county or state offices in local jurisdictions. It's called an abstract and will work for employment and general identification purposes. It will no longer work for Real ID though. Many of us had short-form abstracts because our originals were lost or damaged. I used it for years for everything until I went for my Real ID and got the womp, womp, womp from the DMV lol. Now I have a long version too. 😁    

Edited April 26, 2022 by cruisingguy007

[Lane Hog]

Who issues the BC is going to vary by state.  I know Arizona and Texas have it centralized, while in Illinois they're issued at the county level.

[rj59]

Besides ability to fly home in an emergency, the other advantage of a passport now is the ability to get through customs easily using their face ID machines. Another one I found is that if you want to use a money exchange place in Mexico, they require a passport, but you don't need one if you want to use an ATM. 

[sparks1093]

14 hours ago, willyt25 said:

Some French Ports, Martinique and Guadeloupe are two that do.  The reason for this is they have flights to France that act as domestic flights, so there is no passport control at the airport for those flights.  Because of that they require passport for cruise passengers even if it is a closed loop cruise.

Thank you for that, I always wondered why Martinique required passports and now I have a reasonable answer.