Passport

Our passports have expired and I was wondering if anyone has gotten the passport card instead of the book. We only go out of the country on cruises and would like to know the pros and cons.....thanks!

I'm pretty sure you need the book. If you need visas for anything, you need the book.

I have both. The card will get you in and out of Mexico and Canada if you are driving. If you want to cruise you will need the "real" passport. Renew it now!!!

To be safe, I would get the book. I think if anything happens and you get stuck in foreign country, they won't accept a card to return home. I would not take the chance.

Sure, you could limit yourself with a passport card, and it would be valid for cruises only to Bermuda, MX, Canada and Caribbean. And of course, if you should need to fly back home, there's the added hassle of contacting a consulate or Embassy and getting an emergency passport issued, which can take some time.

I personally can't see why you would limit yourself on your vacation plans s or take the added risks, but it's possible and perfectly legal to cruise, to specific areas, with only a passport card..

Best to get the book.

Keith

To be safe, I would get the book. I think if anything happens and you get stuck in foreign country, they won't accept a card to return home. I would not take the chance.

The card can be useful as "official" ID in a foreign country and could probably help to expedite replacement of a lost passport book but it is definitely not valid for international travel other than within narrow confines.

From the US Passport web site:

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The U.S. Passport Card can be used to enter the United States from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Bermuda at land border crossings or sea ports-of-entry and is more convenient and less expensive than a passport book. The passport card cannot be used for international travel by air.

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Note: That last "bolded" part was not added by me. It is that way on the web site.

But if the OP was only going to get one they should get the book not the card.

Keith

I'm pretty sure you need the book. If you need visas for anything, you need the book.

I have both. The card will get you in and out of Mexico and Canada if you are driving. If you want to cruise you will need the "real" passport. Renew it now!!!

Not entirely correct.

For US citizens on a closed-loop cruise that begins and ends in the same US port, the minimum requirement (currently) is a birth certificate plus (for those 16 and over) a government-issued photo ID.

A passport card is good for land and sea crossings between the US and Mexico or Canada.

There's no advantage having a passport card gives you over just using a birth certificate/photo ID.

But, for most other cruises, AND for flying between the US and foreign countries, you must have a passport book.

And, there are some cruiselines (mostly the luxury ones) that require a passport, regardless of the actual legal requirements.

Get the book!

OP, if all you ever do are cruises within the WHTI then the passport card will fit your needs very nicely. It is one document that proves citizenship and ID, it's good for closed loop and open jaw sailings, it's durable, and if the need arises that you need to fly back it will be easier for the Consulate to aid you because your information is already in the system. Assess your risk and your acceptance of that risk and plan accordingly.

OP, if all you ever do are cruises within the WHTI then the passport card will fit your needs very nicely. It is one document that proves citizenship and ID, it's good for closed loop and open jaw sailings, it's durable, and if the need arises that you need to fly back it will be easier for the Consulate to aid you because your information is already in the system. Assess your risk and your acceptance of that risk and plan accordingly.

Are you sure it is good for open jaw sailings?

OP, if all you ever do are cruises within the WHTI then the passport card will fit your needs very nicely. It is one document that proves citizenship and ID, it's good for closed loop and open jaw sailings, it's durable, and if the need arises that you need to fly back it will be easier for the Consulate to aid you because your information is already in the system. Assess your risk and your acceptance of that risk and plan accordingly.

Best advice!!!!

Are you sure it is good for open jaw sailings?

Technically a passport card is good for open-jaw cruises that do not stray from the WHTI boundaries. But as such cruises would be a violation of the PVSA by not calling at a distant foreign port they pretty much don't exist. (Only occasional exception is a cruise between San Juan and the US mainland that through some quirk in the PVSA gets around the distant foreign port rule; Carnival is offering a few such Galveston-San Juan sailings)

Technically a passport card is good for open-jaw cruises that do not stray from the WHTI boundaries. But as such cruises would be a violation of the PVSA by not calling at a distant foreign port they pretty much don't exist. (Only occasional exception is a cruise between San Juan and the US mainland that through some quirk in the PVSA gets around the distant foreign port rule; Carnival is offering a few such Galveston-San Juan sailings)

I am not sure if NCL still offers it but they used to do a one way cruise from Boston to Quebec and vise versa.

Are you sure it is good for open jaw sailings?

Yes (my Enhanced Drivers License may also be used for the same purposes as a passport card).

I am not sure if NCL still offers it but they used to do a one way cruise from Boston to Quebec and vise versa.

I think it was assumed that the above discussion re the validity of a passport card for open-jaw cruises applied to those between two different US ports. I don't believe you would be permitted to board a Boston to Quebec cruise without a passport book even if you swore up down and sideways you would be walking across the border back to the US.

I think it was assumed that the above discussion re the validity of a passport card for open-jaw cruises applied to those between two different US ports. I don't believe you would be permitted to board a Boston to Quebec cruise without a passport book even if you swore up down and sideways you would be walking across the border back to the US.

You can do it with a passport card, however. It's good for both land and sea crossings between US and Canada.

From the Dept of State website:

The U.S. Passport Card can be used to enter the United States from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Bermuda at land border crossings or sea ports-of-entry and is more convenient and less expensive than a passport book. The passport card cannot be used for international travel by air.

http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/passports/information/card.html

I think it was assumed that the above discussion re the validity of a passport card for open-jaw cruises applied to those between two different US ports. I don't believe you would be permitted to board a Boston to Quebec cruise without a passport book even if you swore up down and sideways you would be walking across the border back to the US.

It is valid for sea ports of entry, no need to swear up and down. Canada recognizes it. The US recognizes it. And yes, open jaw does typically refer to a US city to US city itinerary.

If you're only doing cruise out of the US, that don't require a passport anyway, don't waste your money on the card. Either get a real passport, or just use a BC and DL.

The card won't help you fly home, if that's why you want a passport.

I have both. The card will get you in and out of Mexico and Canada if you are driving. If you want to cruise you will need the "real" passport. Renew it now!!!

This is not true for cruises to Alaska. A Passport Card is sufficient as is a regular Passport, or a legible copy of a Birth Certificate (a government issued photo ID card is also needed with a birth certificate), or an Enhanced Driver's Licens if a resident of a state which has those.

Tom

Get the book and be safe.

Get the book and cruise the world! Don't limit yourself

For those who quoted my first post you should have read further where I revised my statement and included the actual verbiage from the passport website. It clarified how the card may be used. My apologies for my previous misstatement.