Travelling with a Birth Certificate

[NEUCruiser]

I will be sailing on the 4/28 Grandeur sailing. I plan to use my birth certificate for travel, but got nervous when I received my docs and it said the name of my proof of citizenship must match exactly with my passenger docs. The reservation is under my married name, but my birth certificate (obviously) has my maiden name. I have a passport but it is still under my maiden name. The trip was planned at the last minute and was afraid I would not get my passport name change back in time to travel so I decided to go with my birth certificate. Will I be ok travelling on my birth certificate?

[DPurcell58]

Bring your marriage license with you to be on the safe side. Also, I'm assuming your drivers license is in your married name.

[missbear]

Bring your passport and marriage license.

[Iamthesea]

Also, take your passport along. Picture I.D.'s are the best to have. Don't worry if you do not have a copy of your marriage certificate.

 

Have fun on the Grandeur. We loved her!

 

missbear - We posted at the same time! :D

[cb at sea]

You will NOT need your marriage license!!!! I've been married 35 years and have NEVER needed to prove I'm married! My maiden name is on my driver's license, which matches my birth cert. and that's all you will need. Honest!

[NEUCruiser]

Thanks so much for the info. It may be overkill but I plan on bringing every document I have now! The thought of being denied boarding scared me...

[andyjo0930]

All you need is your birth cert. I have cruised three previous times (4th in less than 3 weeks) and I have never needed my marriage license (not that I didn't bring it with me my first time).

[JerseyGem]

All this paperwork doesn't take up very much space in your carry-on; so take it all! Some people are lucky and get onboard with minimal ID checking- but what if (God forbid) there's another terrorist attack somewhere and the government "ups" the threat level? All of us will have our paperwork scrutinized until things calm down again. Why risk being denied boarding?

 

Re: Marriage certificates: these are only needed if the name on your Birth Cert is different from the name on your Driver's License and from the name on the ship's list of passengers. For those of you who always use your "maiden" name- the cruiseline doesn't care whether or not you're married LOL- all they want is to satisfy the US Gov that you're who you say you are. And all of this is why just having a passport is so much easier (although expensive).

[Schplinky]

You will NOT need your marriage license!!!! I've been married 35 years and have NEVER needed to prove I'm married! My maiden name is on my driver's license, which matches my birth cert. and that's all you will need. Honest!

 

But her name won't match her cruise documents? Has that been the case for you, too?

 

I would take everything and just lock it all in the safe once you get to the room.

[roadnut]

All this paperwork doesn't take up very much space in your carry-on; so take it all! Some people are lucky and get onboard with minimal ID checking- but what if (God forbid) there's another terrorist attack somewhere and the government "ups" the threat level? All of us will have our paperwork scrutinized until things calm down again. Why risk being denied boarding?

 

Re: Marriage certificates: these are only needed if the name on your Birth Cert is different from the name on your Driver's License and from the name on the ship's list of passengers. For those of you who always use your "maiden" name- the cruiseline doesn't care whether or not you're married LOL- all they want is to satisfy the US Gov that you're who you say you are. And all of this is why just having a passport is so much easier (although expensive).

 

Note: The marriage certificate isn't to show the cruise line that you're married...it's to show the transition from one last name to another, to prove that it's the same person.

[paytongirls]

from another newbie who is traveling with travel docs that fall in the "grey" area call the RCC and ask them, then contact your TA and ask them to call RCC (dont mention that you already did this) and see if the answers match. If they dont call the RCC yourself to see if all it takes is a change of your name pior to boarding,,,may find out that they can change your name on the roster before you even board so none of this will matter....after the past 2 days on the phone I have discovered that its actually easier then it seems

Good Luck

[DonnaK]

I was asked at the Ports of Miami and NY for my Marriage Licence in addition to my BC and DL, to show my name change. Better to bring it and be safe than to be denied boarding because you cannot prove you are the same person as your BC states.