Cancellation penalties

[Sickballer34]

Booked our first cruise ever with Carnival for July 24th on Elation. However our birth certificates that we have had all our lives turn out to be not government issued so will not be accepted for travel. We had no idea. They were the birth certificates we were given as kids and never thought twice about them. We applied to get our official government issued birth certificates in January.  We have learned they will not be sent to us to to the backlog of people applying until well after our cruise. As this was the only week we were  both off for our company's shutdown week we will have to cancel. Our final payment date was may 10th. Do they refund us all or partial payments or is there a penalty? We did not purchase travel insurance and we booked on carnivals website. We also purchased cheers and faster to the fun.. will they be refunded in full? Looked for answers on here but can't seem to find out . Thanks for any help

[Sgwscruiser]

Go to carnival.com go to FAQ Look under Cancellation penalties 

[ninjacat123]

You should be reimbursed Cheers and FTTF.  Cancel your cruise before your final payment date and you will probably lose your deposits.  Check out what Sgwscruiser posted.  Sorry that happened.

[Elaine5715]

1 hour ago, Sickballer34 said:

Booked our first cruise ever with Carnival for July 24th on Elation. However our birth certificates that we have had all our lives turn out to be not government issued so will not be accepted for travel. We had no idea. They were the birth certificates we were given as kids and never thought twice about them. We applied to get our official government issued birth certificates in January.  We have learned they will not be sent to us to to the backlog of people applying until well after our cruise. As this was the only week we were  both off for our company's shutdown week we will have to cancel. Our final payment date was may 10th. Do they refund us all or partial payments or is there a penalty? We did not purchase travel insurance and we booked on carnivals website. We also purchased cheers and faster to the fun.. will they be refunded in full? Looked for answers on here but can't seem to find out . Thanks for any help

Did you try https://www.vitalchek.com/v/  and the expediated option? I was able to get expediated birth certificates through them during the govt slowdown

Edited April 14, 2023 by Elaine5715

[Illbcruzn4life]

2 hours ago, Elaine5715 said:

Did you try https://www.vitalchek.com/v/  and the expediated option? I was able to get expediated birth certificates through them during the govt slowdown

great suggestion. 

[ProgRockCruiser]

I was going to suggest another option to consider is passports - currently at a 10-13 week turnaround, or 7-9 weeks for expedited.

 

But...you'd need the birth certificates, so that dog don't hunt...

 

How did you ever get a driver's license? Don't you typically need to show a BC to establish identity?

[cowboy$fan]

If you have an Enhanced Driver's License (EDL) you don't need a BC

 

https://help.cbp.gov/s/article/Article-74?language=en_US 

[Sickballer34]

18 minutes ago, ProgRockCruiser said:

I was going to suggest another option to consider is passports - currently at a 10-13 week turnaround, or 7-9 weeks for expedited.

 

But...you'd need the birth certificates, so that dog don't hunt...

 

How did you ever get a driver's license? Don't you typically need to show a BC to establish identity?

Yea how did we get a driver's license lol. Never had a problem using it for licenses or marriage so we never knew it wasn't an official government certificate.  We did call Vitalcheck and was told NY is so far behind on issuing birth certificates that they are doing ones received in September of 2022. We sent our form in end of January when we went to apply for a passport and found out ours were no good so looking not likely to get it before our sail date. Told it was possible but that's too much to gamble. Going to try to call the actual city clerk where we were born and see if they can get it to us sooner. Thanks for the replies and suggestions...much appreciated 

[Sickballer34]

We don't have the EDL driver license. Will check in to it ty

[SecretSK]

4 hours ago, Sickballer34 said:

We don't have the EDL driver license. Will check in to it ty

please check with the vital chek site. I wanted an extra copy of my daughter’s birth certificate and I was able to make an appointment for the next day in person through that site.

 

I would also suggest trying for an in person urgent travel passport appointment. Appointments can be made by phone within 14 days of international travel but only if you don’t apply before you call. Except you need to get the birth certificates first.  
 

I hope you don’t have to cancel!

[Sickballer34]

We were able to call the call the city clerk where we were born to order our birth certificates.  Should only take a week so we are good to go now. Vitalcheck in Albany massively backed up so got lucky there. We live in North Carolina now so going there wasn't an option. Thanks all for the different suggestions.  Definitely an eye opener to make sure our documents are correct .

[ninjacat123]

Yay!!  So happy for you!😄

[sparks1093]

7 hours ago, cowboy$fan said:

If you have an Enhanced Driver's License (EDL) you don't need a BC

 

https://help.cbp.gov/s/article/Article-74?language=en_US 

Unfortunately that requires a birth certificate and NC (where OP lives) doesn't issue EDLs. Only 5 states do (Vermont, NY, Minnesota, Washington state, Michigan).

[sparks1093]

2 hours ago, Sickballer34 said:

We were able to call the call the city clerk where we were born to order our birth certificates.  Should only take a week so we are good to go now. Vitalcheck in Albany massively backed up so got lucky there. We live in North Carolina now so going there wasn't an option. Thanks all for the different suggestions.  Definitely an eye opener to make sure our documents are correct .

Glad it worked out for you!

[Sickballer34]

Thank you. I can't imagine driving down to Florida to get on the ship and be turned away 🥺 what a nightmare scenario. 

[jsglow]

3 hours ago, Sickballer34 said:

Thank you. I can't imagine driving down to Florida to get on the ship and be turned away 🥺 what a nightmare scenario. 

The good news is that you did thorough research in advance.  Glad things are working out.