desperate passport question needs answer......

[leight]

we just booked a last minute cruise in 3/8 and there is no way we'll have passports in time. Dh has an expired one and mine is in my former married name- which I will not use.

 

My question is that no matter what- if you missed the boat at a foreign port- wouldn't your passport or documents be on the ship anyway?? I wouldn't carry them all with me when going on an excursion so wouldn't it be a moot point and wouldn't this all be handled in some way at a US Consulate?

[Nightwind]

...and wouldn't this all be handled in some way at a US Consulate?

 

In a word, yes. :)

 

In a few more words, yes, and I have personal experience with it. Lost my passport in Soviet Russia in the early 80s. I had no problems getting home. I HIGHLY doubt you will have any problems should the unthinkable happen on a Caribbean cruise. Heck, it could happen that the ship completely burns up or sinks and EVERYONE will lose their passport/BCs anyway. Guess what? It wouldn't be a problem. At all.

 

So don't listen to the alarmists. Until the government says you must have a passport for a cruise that departs from and returns to a US port, you don't need one and, to be completely honest, I wouldn't waste my money getting one just for cruising. Personally, I have a passport that doesn't expire until 2012, but it doesn't go with me anywhere unless I'm required to carry it. That includes, for now, cruising. But if I didn't have one and wasn't planning to do any international travel other than US-based cruises, I would wait to get one until they get the new passcards up and running, which they likely will before the June '09 deadline. Cheaper to get and much easier to carry since it will be conveniently credit card-like. (No more stamps, though. :( Bummer...)

[truecruiser]

just one more thing to consider...

 

there was just a thread where the pax missed the ship due to flight connection mishap. in order to fly to a caribbean port to meet up with the ship, you wld need a pp. of course, if you are flying direct, this minimizes the risk (unless you are flying in the day of, and experience considerable delays).

 

and, if you have a connection, hopefully the chances of this happening are slim to none, but i thought it was worth mentioning considering that the "slim to none chance" just happened to another CC member.

[mrdood]

Your response and your logic has me turning in my watery grave with laughter, I guess

I will let you believe that I stand corrected! LMAO

 

Was not trying to correct you at all, just pointing out that 45+ americans have been murdered or kidnapped in the last 5 years, ALL of them had passports, exactly how did having their passport protect them???

 

How did Natalee Hollaway's passport help her out?

 

I lived in Europe for several years during the cold war, just my opinion, but when in a bind, I can't think of a single instance where having a passport actually made a difference in any of the people abroad in trouble scenarios. All the people kidnapped in Iran in 1979 had them, can you give me a single example of where "having one" would have helped anyone????

 

Just an intellectual disagreement, I have provided many examples backing up my point, can you provide any to support yours?

[CaptainEdwardJohnSmith]

Was not trying to correct you at all, just pointing out that 45+ americans have been murdered or kidnapped in the last 5 years, ALL of them had passports, exactly how did having their passport protect them???

 

How did Natalee Hollaway's passport help her out?

 

I lived in Europe for several years during the cold war, just my opinion, but when in a bind, I can't think of a single instance where having a passport actually made a difference in any of the people abroad in trouble scenarios. All the people kidnapped in Iran in 1979 had them, can you give me a single example of where "having one" would have helped anyone????

 

Just an intellectual disagreement, I have provided many examples backing up my point, can you provide any to support yours?

 

Feeding your daily dose of havoc to the forums, I see :(

[Nightwind]

just one more thing to consider...

 

there was just a thread where the pax missed the ship due to flight connection mishap. in order to fly to a caribbean port to meet up with the ship, you wld need a pp...

 

Actually, this isn't necessarily true. You need a passport to fly into the US, not out of it. If you need to fly to your first non-US port without a passport, it would not be a problem on the US end. For all the airline knows, you are flying to (for instance) Nassau and never coming back. (Wouldn't THAT be nice? :) ) Passports are always about entering a country, be it the US or Zimbabwe, not about leaving one, as in flying from the US to Zimbabwe.

 

Of course, if you were catching a cruise in Nassau, you might need the passport to enter The Bahamas. Or, like in most Caribbean countries, perhaps all you need to do is to fill out their immigrations form and show proof of US citizenship, for which a certified BC and photo ID would be acceptable, particularly in a documented emergency situation. It all depends on the country you're flying to. Most Caribbean ones don't fuss overly much; their economy depends on us primarily Americans and Canadians that visit them. They're not going to put up a lot of hurdles to get us into their country and spending money. :)

 

And I might add that this was ALWAYS the case, too, not just since the US started its silly passport shenanigans. Other countries aren't/haven't changed their immigration requirements. So, if you felt secure enough to cruise without a passport before the US's silly dance, then you should have no qualms about doing so now, missed connections or not.

[Nightwind]

Oops. Double. Thought this was fixed...?

[truecruiser]

Actually, this isn't necessarily true. You need a passport to fly into the US, not out of it. If you need to fly to your first non-US port without a passport, it would not be a problem on the US end. For all the airline knows, you are flying to (for instance) Nassau and never coming back. (Wouldn't THAT be nice? :) ) Passports are always about entering a country, be it the US or Zimbabwe, not about leaving one, as in flying from the US to Zimbabwe...

 

i didn't bother checking the pp site b/c i have had a pp for a long, long time. but according to the carnival site, at least, i'm not wrong. yes, pps are about entering a country, the caribbean is now included. see below, and you shld clarify this for your own edification if you don't have a pp so that you know:

 

Effective January 8, 2007, passports will be required for air travel to or from Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, The Bahamas and Bermuda.

[truecruiser]

Passports are always about entering a country, be it the US or Zimbabwe, not about leaving one, as in flying from the US to Zimbabwe...

 

 

and, you are definitely wrong on this. while pps are predominently about entering a country, i have never, ever, ever, ever, ever, once flown to london, paris or venezuela without them FIRST checking my pp at the gate in the US. it is required.

 

in fact, my first pp had my maiden name, and i was married b/4 it expired. when boarding a flight to london once they questioned me about this, i produced my marriage cert. and they looked at that, together with my license and pp very carefully. and this was way before 9/11 and any Dept of Homeland Security.

[mrdood]

and, you are definitely wrong on this. while pps are predominently about entering a country, i have never, ever, ever, ever, ever, once flown to london, paris or venezuela without them FIRST checking my pp at the gate in the US. it is required.

 

True - there is a difference, you are checked by the airlines because it is their RULE, not US law, if for example they let you board a plane for London, and you do not have the proper documentation required by English law, they must be financially responsible for you and return you to your origination point.

 

As a pilot, I can (and have on private corporate flights) get behind the controls of an aircraft, file an international flight plan and depart the country, there are no restrictions on me or any of my passengers leaving the US, there are lots of RULES made by companies who have the right and will deny you boarding without the proper credentials so that they are not responsible.

 

So from a strictly LEGAL sense, Nightwind is correct.

[Nightwind]

and, you are definitely wrong on this. while pps are predominently about entering a country, i have never, ever, ever, ever, ever, once flown to london, paris or venezuela without them FIRST checking my pp at the gate in the US. it is required.

 

Well, that's weird. I flew to Ireland about 6 months ago to visit family and my passport was not checked on the US side, only on the Dublin side. Odd. Maybe it was because I was flying Aer Lingus roundtrip and not a US airline? Don't know. All I know is that I only had to show ID to the security checkpoint. I used my passport because it was handy, but they didn't care what I had so long as it was gov't-issued with a photo. (I printed my boarding pass online, so I didn't have to check in with the airline at the gate or outside the checkpoint.) Neither do I recall my passport ever being checked on the US side of any international flight, other than coming back into the country. And I've been on...too many flights to count. Maybe things have changed, though, and maybe, like I said, if you fly a US airline, they're checking. Last time I flew a US airline internationally was about a month after 9/11. My passport wasn't checked on the US side then.

 

As for the to/from thing, I stand corrected. Last I read, on the 23rd of Jan, the only requirement was for flying back into the US, not out of. I do tend to look at these things regularly because I do travel a lot and only use my passport when it's required, but I must have misread. Thanks for correcting me. :)

[truecruiser]

True - there is a difference, you are checked by the airlines because it is their RULE, not US law, if for example they let you board a plane for London, and you do not have the proper documentation required by English law, they must be financially responsible for you and return you to your origination point.

 

As a pilot, I can (and have on private corporate flights) get behind the controls of an aircraft, file an international flight plan and depart the country, there are no restrictions on me or any of my passengers leaving the US, there are lots of RULES made by companies who have the right and will deny you boarding without the proper credentials so that they are not responsible.

 

So from a strictly LEGAL sense, Nightwind is correct.

 

Exactly. sorry if i wasn't clear. my point was that while technically you don't need it to leave (and they surely they won't give you a stamp and of course, they aren't going to say "you, miss us citizen can't stay in the US if you don't have one"), what nightwind was saying was really semantics. b/c the fact of the matter is, at the end of the day, they aren't going to let you on the plane.

[MeLuvDaSea]

On our return to the U.S. last Saturday, when going through customs, the woman in front of us had a photographic image of her birth certificate and her DL. That is all it took for her to get through. I am not certain just what sort of birth certificate it was, official or otherwise. It was a negative image of her original. She showed my wife and I, as we were discussing the need for a passport. Apparently it was enough, but I wouldn't want to chance it.

 

Sincerely,

Don

[truecruiser]

Well, that's weird. I flew to Ireland about 6 months ago to visit family and my passport was not checked on the US side, only on the Dublin side... Neither do I recall my passport ever being checked on the US side of any international flight, other than coming back into the country. And I've been on...too many flights to count. Maybe things have changed, though, and maybe, like I said, if you fly a US airline, they're checking. Last time I flew a US airline internationally was about a month after 9/11. My passport wasn't checked on the US side then...

 

i find this very unusual. i'm not saying you are lying, pls don't think that. but, this isn't a new way of doing things. this has always been the case whenever i've boarded an international flight and DH too -- he's out of the country a lot -- london, singapore, hong kong, africa, peru, venezuela... his pp is always checked b/4 leaving, and not just w/ US carriers either, but w/ british airways, cathay pacific, virgin, etc.

 

oh well.

[ratherBcruizin']

My family cruised January 15-20, 2007 and none of us had passports. We had no problems getting on or off the ship. Have fun.

[Nightwind]

Well, maybe my memory is faulty about earlier flights, but since the advent of online/self-service checkin, I know that my pp has never been checked US-side. Maybe it's because my pp number is in the system of the airlines that I will use (I'm a platinum/gold/whatever frequent flyer with all of them); that just occurred to me. Perhaps that's it. The pp number is in my profile with them. Even so, though, like I said, since the advent of online/self-service check-in, I've never had to show my passport on the US side. I don't have any actual contact with the airline's employees other than having my boarding pass scanned. They've never asked me for a pp at the point, either.

 

Regardless, though, I would think that if you can show that you missed a flight due to the fault of an airline and can show proof of joining a cruise ship (like your cruise docs) at your destination, I'd be willing to bet that you'll be able to board the plane and get through immigration destination-side. Of course, if they really want to be safe, then people should get their passport. I just bristle that people seem to try to scare other people unnecessarily with what-ifs, you know? Although I must admit that your what-if is the most plausible one I've seen people offer up. :)

[cherylandtk]

On our return to the U.S. last Saturday, when going through customs, the woman in front of us had a photographic image of her birth certificate and her DL. That is all it took for her to get through. I am not certain just what sort of birth certificate it was, official or otherwise. It was a negative image of her original. She showed my wife and I, as we were discussing the need for a passport. Apparently it was enough, but I wouldn't want to chance it.Sincerely,Don

Don, sounds just like my first certified copy of my BC, which I think they called a photostat. Anyway, reverse image of original, clerk embossed it with a raised seal and stamped a date and county office info and signed it on the back. Had to get a replacement copy many years ago and the format was different, but I think many of the old negative image BC's are still out there and in use.