Help!!!! Question

Hello,

There is 16 of us going on a short 3 day Carnival Cruise out of Long Beach Ca, to Ensenada Mexico NEXT WEEK...long story short, 1 of my friends just informed me all he has is his official birth certificate and his driver license....PROBLEM IS, when he was born, his mother gave him her maiden name and thats the name on his birth certificate....Brian Young...he took his fathers last name, 40 YEARS AGO and now goes by Brian White. His license, military ID, etc. all says Brian White. He says he has NO DOCUMENTATION of when his mom changed his name... He's been in the military since 9/11 and is still currently still in the military, he says there has never been a problem. Does anybody know what is going to happen when he goes to check in??? Will he be denied??? Does Carnival have back up plans in case someone looses their passport or something crazy like this happens??? Im so worried they are going to deny this poor guy. Any suggestions what we can do. I called Carnival and they just said he should have some kind of documentation of the name change.

Without a "bridging" document showing the name change it could most definitely be a problem.

Have him bring any other ID document he has and hope for the best.

Good luck and let us know if He makes it onboard.

With his DL and Military ID hopefully he'll be allowed to board...but :eek: Best of luck !!!!

Does his birth certificate list his father? I would think if it shows that his dad's last name is White, that will help. In any case, he needs to call Carnival and ask them what to do. Posting on this board and getting "advice" from people who don't have the final say in the matter isn't really going to help him. Good luck to your friend! And PS-this is why passports are best.

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I'm stumped as to how was he able to get his first driver's license, with the difference in names, without documentation of the change. Or for that matter, didn't it come up when he joined the military? Hard to see how this won't cause a problem.

People board all of the time with birth certificates and IDs that don't match so I'm not sure it will be a problem. Bottom line here is if it is all that he has then it is all that he has and he kind of has to hope for the best (presuming that he doesn't have some sort of bridging document to bring to support the name change).

He should be booked in whichever name is on his ID....

My BC doesn't match my married name, of course....and I have never had an issue. They are looking at the birthdates to make sure they match.

As active military, doesn't he have a passport? Or some such military travel document?

He should be booked in whichever name is on his ID....

 

My BC doesn't match my married name, of course....and I have never had an issue. They are looking at the birthdates to make sure they match.

I think if you are female they accept the fact that most women will take their husbands surname when they marry

Not sure they would accept the same for a male ..they may want to view their marriage license to confirm they are taking thier spouses surname :rolleyes:

As active military, doesn't he have a passport? Or some such military travel document?

Military may travel without a passport with their military ID and official orders, so they don't necessarily need a passport (and if he had an official government employee passport then it couldn't be used for non-official travel).

Hello,

 

There is 16 of us going on a short 3 day Carnival Cruise out of Long Beach Ca, to Ensenada Mexico NEXT WEEK...long story short, 1 of my friends just informed me all he has is his official birth certificate and his driver license....PROBLEM IS, when he was born, his mother gave him her maiden name and thats the name on his birth certificate....Brian Young...he took his fathers last name, 40 YEARS AGO and now goes by Brian White. His license, military ID, etc. all says Brian White. He says he has NO DOCUMENTATION of when his mom changed his name... He's been in the military since 9/11 and is still currently still in the military, he says there has never been a problem. Does anybody know what is going to happen when he goes to check in??? Will he be denied??? Does Carnival have back up plans in case someone looses their passport or something crazy like this happens??? Im so worried they are going to deny this poor guy. Any suggestions what we can do. I called Carnival and they just said he should have some kind of documentation of the name change.

At this time there is nothing that you can do in this situation other than hope for the best. This is something that can be resolved but will take some time after the cruise to "fix".

Military may travel without a passport with their military ID and official orders, so they don't necessarily need a passport (and if he had an official government employee passport then it couldn't be used for non-official travel).

Yes, WHTI only allows military ID with orders for official travel, just like my Merchant Mariner's Credential, which looks like a red US passport, and has my photo and all the same information as a passport. I can only use that if I have a letter saying that I am joining or leaving a vessel.

TO : OP

Being that the cruise line has already told advised that your friend should have documentation supporting the name change than your friend needs to be prepared to be denied boarding. The requirement for necessary documentation is not set be the cruise line. Rather the requirements for documentation for boarding is set by the government. There is no contingency plan as it's solely the responsibility of the passenger to produce the necessary documentation.

What does his DL have as his first and middle name? Is it Brian Young White? If so, it's less of an issue.

I sailed several times with my 'Jane Doe' BC and my 'Jane Doe Smith' DL.

Thanks Everyone...Im happy to announce that it really wasnt a issue, and he was allowed to board right away. We had a great cruise!!!!

That's good to hear!

Thanks for the update and glad it worked out!

Thanks Everyone...Im happy to announce that it really wasnt a issue, and he was allowed to board right away. We had a great cruise!!!!

Thank you for coming back and giving us this update. Glad to know it was no problem and you had a great cruise.

I'm stumped as to how was he able to get his first driver's license, with the difference in names, without documentation of the change. Or for that matter, didn't it come up when he joined the military? Hard to see how this won't cause a problem.

Because back in the 70s it wasn't a big deal. I was in school using my step father's name. When my mom divorced him I changed it back. Some of my school year records can't be found now. My D/L was on cardboard and could easily have been faked or changed.

Times are different. My step son decided to take his step dad's name. He went out applied for a passport and every place is in the SF's name. He was a minor. I don't think he legally changed it until he was an adult but certainly every document he has/had used a different name then his legal name.