passport for Bermuda!

[sailingnut]

Do you need a passport for Bermuda. I understood through my travel agent it would be June 1, 2009. My daughter and I are sailing on Sunday, the 17th and she has a birth certificate and D.L. Thanks.

[njhorseman]

Do you need a passport for Bermuda. I understood through my travel agent it would be June 1, 2009. My daughter and I are sailing on Sunday, the 17th and she has a birth certificate and D.L. Thanks.

 

 

A passport isn't required for "closed loop" cruises, even after June 1. An original or certified copy birth certificate plus a photo ID (driver's license) are sufficient. Here's the exact wording from NCL:

 

As of June 1st, 2009:

For sailings that depart from and return to the same U.S. port, you need a valid passport or proof of citizenship and a valid government-issued photo I.D. (driver's license with a photo), or any other WHTI compliant document. Proof of Citizenship examples include: an original or state certified copy of a U.S. or Canadian birth certificate, certificate of U.S. naturalization, original certificate of U.S. citizenship, or a U.S. Consular report of your birth abroad.

[Arwenmark]

As long as you don't have an emergency and have to fly home you would be ok if it is as stated a closed loop cruise. If you have to leave the country other than on the ship though you would Have to have a passport.

[blindrid]

No.

[BIG_Steve]

As long as you don't have an emergency and have to fly home you would be ok if it is as stated a closed loop cruise. If you have to leave the country other than on the ship though you would Have to have a passport.

 

Some cruiselines seem to be requiring passports regardless (or so I've read.)

 

Don't know if they'd block you from boarding over it though.

 

I'd hate to have to haggle with the US embassy to get back home if I missed the ship.

[Arwenmark]

Some cruiselines seem to be requiring passports regardless (or so I've read.)

 

Don't know if they'd block you from boarding over it though.

 

I'd hate to have to haggle with the US embassy to get back home if I missed the ship.

 

I agree, It is deffinately best to have the passport. also the OP needs to call their cruise line and verify what is needed with them directly.

[rrobynec]

A passport isn't required for "closed loop" cruises, even after June 1. An original or certified copy birth certificate plus a photo ID (driver's license) are sufficient. Here's the exact wording from NCL:

 

As of June 1st, 2009:

For sailings that depart from and return to the same U.S. port, you need a valid passport or proof of citizenship and a valid government-issued photo I.D. (driver's license with a photo), or any other WHTI compliant document. Proof of Citizenship examples include: an original or state certified copy of a U.S. or Canadian birth certificate, certificate of U.S. naturalization, original certificate of U.S. citizenship, or a U.S. Consular report of your birth abroad.

NCL must be monitoring this particular thread--the wording as of 1:28 PM EST now is this:

As of June 1st, 2009:

For sailings that depart from and return to the same U.S. port, you need a valid passport, proof of citizenship and a valid government-issued photo I.D. (driver's license with a photo), or any other WHTI compliant document. Proof of Citizenship examples include: an original or state certified copy of a U.S. or Canadian birth certificate, certificate of U.S. naturalization, original certificate of U.S. citizenship, or a U.S. Consular report of your birth abroad.

 

They took out the "or".....

Makes the first sentence far more vague.

:confused:

[cherylandtk]

Some cruiselines seem to be requiring passports regardless (or so I've read.)

One of the luxury lines does (cannot recall which at the moment), but not the mass-market lines. RCI, Celebrity, Carnival, Princess, HAL and NCL all accept the WHTI cruise exception.

[rsinj]

NCL must be monitoring this particular thread--the wording as of 1:28 PM EST now is this:

As of June 1st, 2009:

For sailings that depart from and return to the same U.S. port, you need a valid passport, proof of citizenship and a valid government-issued photo I.D. (driver's license with a photo), or any other WHTI compliant document. Proof of Citizenship examples include: an original or state certified copy of a U.S. or Canadian birth certificate, certificate of U.S. naturalization, original certificate of U.S. citizenship, or a U.S. Consular report of your birth abroad.

 

They took out the "or".....

Makes the first sentence far more vague.

:confused:

 

Ok - the wording is confusing, but a passport alone is proof of citizenship and photo id - that should be obvious to anyone...which is why they got it in the first place.

 

Here's what it says when I just looked:

 

Caribbean, Bahamas, Bermuda, Alaska (SEATTLE), Mexican Riviera, Or Canada & New England Cruises

 

For sailings that end by May 31, 2009, you need a valid passport, proof of citizenship and a valid government-issued photo I.D. (driver's license with a photo), or any other WHTI compliant document. Proof of Citizenship examples include: an original or state certified copy of a U.S. or Canadian birth certificate, an original certificate of U.S. naturalization, original certificate of U.S. citizenship, or a U.S. Consular report of your birth broad.

 

Note: If you miss your ship at its scheduled U.S. departure port and need to travel outside the U.S. to meet your ship, or should you unexpectedly need to depart the ship from a foreign port prior to the end of sailing, a passport would be required to leave or re-enter the U.S. by air.

 

As of June 1st, 2009:

 

For sailings that depart from and return to the same U.S. port, you need a valid passport or proof of citizenship and a valid government-issued photo I.D. (driver's license with a photo), or any other WHTI compliant document. Proof of Citizenship examples include: an original or state certified copy of a U.S. or Canadian birth certificate, certificate of U.S. naturalization, original certificate of U.S. citizenship, or a U.S. Consular report of your birth abroad.

 

 

Howard

[cherylandtk]

Howard,

It's a case of Eats Shoots and Leaves.

 

I see it as "You need A, B+C, or D".

 

A= Passport, B=BC and C=ID, D= Other WHTI document.

[messengertm]

You are leaving the same time me and my wife are:

 

No, you do not need a passport. JUST a Drivers License and a Birth Certificate.

 

We are also bringing our Social Security Cards. (Just in case).:cool:

 

If after June 1st, YES you will need a passport. NOT UNTIL JUNE 1st.

[Venus4NU]

I just got off the phone with NCL. The rep I talked to said for certain destinations you do not need a passport at this time. We are going to the Bahamas on the Sky in August and that is one port that does not require passports. However, for another cruise to Samana a passport would be required.

[BIG_Steve]

The other thing I wonder. If for example, you miss your ship while in Grand Cayman, but would like to fly to Cozumel to rejoin it, would that be possible with no PP?

 

I don't have money to burn. But 100 bucks for a passport was well worth the peace of mind to me.

[negc]

Some cruiselines seem to be requiring passports regardless (or so I've read.)

 

Don't know if they'd block you from boarding over it though.

 

I'd hate to have to haggle with the US embassy to get back home if I missed the ship.

 

You probably have read that, but common sense should indicate that no cruiseline is going to require a passport if the government and their competition doesn't. It would be financial folly for them. Basically they can require anything they want but realistically they want to remain competitive so they will only demand what is absolutely necessary. :rolleyes: Only proof of citizenship and a government photo ID are required. A passport may be more convenient and will be helpful if, for whatever reason, you need to fly home from Bermuda but even then, if you don't have a passport you won't become permanently stranded in Bermuda. The government has alternative procedures to handle such cases. It might involve some delay or be more of a hassle, but you will be able to go home again.:)

Our ship sailed from Bermuda at 6am, so unless you pulled an all-nighter off the ship, your chances of missing the ship would have been very slim.:)

[taxgirl8900]

Ok so we are on the Majesty from Balt to Bermuday on 6/21/09. What I got from all the posts is that me and DH need passports, ID, AND birth certificates and the kids (12 and 14) need passports and birth certificates. Am I getting this right? It seems like a waste of resources to bring all that when to get the damn passport you need to submit all of the above too. And are they saying that if I don't bring or have a birth certificate then I can't on the ship???

JEEEEEEEZZZZZZZz:confused:

[discjoker]

Ok so we are on the Majesty from Balt to Bermuday on 6/21/09. What I got from all the posts is that me and DH need passports, ID, AND birth certificates and the kids (12 and 14) need passports and birth certificates. Am I getting this right? It seems like a waste of resources to bring all that when to get the damn passport you need to submit all of the above too. And are they saying that if I don't bring or have a birth certificate then I can't on the ship???

JEEEEEEEZZZZZZZz:confused:

 

All you need is the passport. It is proof of ID and citizenship. Passport is all you need.

[Arwenmark]

What many of you seem to be missing in reading the paragraph is the punctuation.

 

Please note where the comma's are:

 

As of June 1st, 2009:

For sailings that depart from and return to the same U.S. port, you need a valid passport, proof of citizenship and a valid government-issued photo I.D. (driver's license with a photo), or any other WHTI compliant document. Proof of Citizenship examples include: an original or state certified copy of a U.S. or Canadian birth certificate, certificate of U.S. naturalization, original certificate of U.S. citizenship, or a U.S. Consular report of your birth abroad.

 

For sailings that depart from and return to the same U.S. port, you need a valid passport [comma]proof of citizenship and a valid government-issued photo I.D. (driver's license with a photo) [comma]or any other WHTI compliant document.

It then explains what those other documents could be.

 

A passport IF YOU HAVE ONE is ALL you need. If not then you need one of the other combinations.

[davester02]

Ok so we are on the Majesty from Balt to Bermuday on 6/21/09. What I got from all the posts is that me and DH need passports, ID, AND birth certificates and the kids (12 and 14) need passports and birth certificates. Am I getting this right? It seems like a waste of resources to bring all that when to get the damn passport you need to submit all of the above too. And are they saying that if I don't bring or have a birth certificate then I can't on the ship???

JEEEEEEEZZZZZZZz:confused:

 

We are on the same cruise the week before. I have confirmed that closed loop cruises are an exception to the passport rule and children under 16 are an exception as well. All you will need is BC and photo id for you and your husband and BC for the kids. As the previous poster pointed out. Read it closely it does say a passport or government issued ID and BC. I hope your cruise goes well we are really looking forward to ours.

[BIG_Steve]

What many of you seem to be missing in reading the paragraph is the punctuation.

 

Please note where the comma's are:

 

As of June 1st, 2009:

For sailings that depart from and return to the same U.S. port, you need a valid passport, proof of citizenship and a valid government-issued photo I.D. (driver's license with a photo), or any other WHTI compliant document. Proof of Citizenship examples include: an original or state certified copy of a U.S. or Canadian birth certificate, certificate of U.S. naturalization, original certificate of U.S. citizenship, or a U.S. Consular report of your birth abroad.

 

For sailings that depart from and return to the same U.S. port, you need a valid passport [comma]proof of citizenship and a valid government-issued photo I.D. (driver's license with a photo) [comma]or any other WHTI compliant document.

It then explains what those other documents could be.

 

A passport IF YOU HAVE ONE is ALL you need. If not then you need one of the other combinations.

 

I don't agree with your interpretation. However, I think your explantion is what was INTENDED to be conveyed by the text you quoted. I think it is very poorly written. It would have been so painfully easy to have written that paragraph so that it is not open to interpretation or confusion.

 

Modern business....

[jdarch]

All you need is the passport. It is proof of ID and citizenship. Passport is all you need.

 

Oh, so I don't need that digital converter box for my TV either?

[njhorseman]

You are leaving the same time me and my wife are:

 

No, you do not need a passport. JUST a Drivers License and a Birth Certificate.

 

We are also bringing our Social Security Cards. (Just in case).:cool:

 

If after June 1st, YES you will need a passport. NOT UNTIL JUNE 1st.

 

 

No...you still don't need a passport after June 1 on closed loop cruises. Please read the numerous posts on this thread which quote the requirements.

[taxgirl8900]

All you need is the passport. It is proof of ID and citizenship. Passport is all you need.

 

Thank you discjoker......

[WELLDOITAGAIN]

Your case is obviously moot, as the lawyers would say. If you're boarding on the 17th, and asking the question on the 16th, you're not getting a passport in time. Either you get on the ship, or you don't.

 

With that out of the way, my opinion is to get a passport if you're leaving the country. If you can afford to take a cruise, you can afford to get a passport. Many post offices have passport application days on Saturday, they take the photo, help with paperwork etc. In my case, I found out that what I thought was my birth certificate didn't count, it looked real official, but was issued by the hospital, not by a Government Agency. I had to contact the city where I was born to get an acceptable version.

 

I think I would have been screwed if I turned up at the dock with what I had.

[mommadisney]

We are sailing boston to bermuda on June 12th

I was told by my TA to get passports.

Because there are so many interpretations to the passport rules it is best to have the passport.

I didn't want to get one for DS (he turns 15 in Sept) I would have liked to wait until he was 16 to get the 10 years out of it but, I didn't feel it was worth the risk. So, I bit the bullet and spent the money on 4 passports.

NOW. We are going to have to come up with money to travel elsewhere to make the passports worth it!!!:D

If you are travelling on a birth certificate be careful and make sure that it has a RAISED seal. back in 2005, we cruised on Disney and I had to send away for a new birth certificate for myself because my original was so old that you could no longer feel the raised seal! * I don't know how the paper was so old when I was certainly NOT! ;)

[*Luv2Cruz*]

We are sailing boston to bermuda on June 12th

I was told by my TA to get passports.

Because there are so many interpretations to the passport rules it is best to have the passport.

I didn't want to get one for DS (he turns 15 in Sept) I would have liked to wait until he was 16 to get the 10 years out of it but, I didn't feel it was worth the risk. So, I bit the bullet and spent the money on 4 passports.

NOW. We are going to have to come up with money to travel elsewhere to make the passports worth it!!!:D

If you are travelling on a birth certificate be careful and make sure that it has a RAISED seal. back in 2005, we cruised on Disney and I had to send away for a new birth certificate for myself because my original was so old that you could no longer feel the raised seal! * I don't know how the paper was so old when I was certainly NOT! ;)

Better to be safe then sorry!;) Glad you got it and have a great cruise!:) We're going down the week before!:D