meanmom08

I have been on 2 previous cruises with my 2 daughters that I paid for 2 and was only charged port fees and tax for the extra person, besides the service charge. 1 cruise was on a Celebrity and 1 was on a Carnival just last year. I am trying to find another cruise for Jan - March for 3 in 1 cabin and am looking at all all the cruise lines and am having no luck at all. I am finding that cruises that claim to have the 3rd person free do not. The charge for the first 2 is simply jacked up. So, my question is: does anyone know if one of the cruise lines doesn’t charge an extra base fair for a 3rd person, or is there a time of year or some way to predict when a cruise line will offer such a promotion?

It was my understanding because numerous articles pop up when you Google “do you need a passport to go to the Bahamas” that tell you you do. Obviously, they were not authoritative sources which is why I was trying to find someone that could give me the straight skinny. My TA called RCCL and confirmed you do not, and of course, others on this thread told me the same.

Thanks so much for all the responses. My travel agent confirmed his birth certificate and valid gov’t issued ID will be enough. He’ll take his (expired) passport, too. He has a birth certificate but it does not have a raised seal. I checked, and some years ago VA switched from a raised seal to some sort of special paper to print certified birth certificates. He is going tomorrow to get a new one. It’s up to him, at this point.

That’s what I thought I read, but I was afraid I had misunderstood. thanks!

I’ve tried to talk to someone at RCCL without success, and I emailed my travel agent and am waiting for a call back. In the meantime, I’m hoping someone can answer my question as I’m in a bit of a panic. I recently booked a 4 day cruise to Nassau for Aug 5. My husband just informed me his passport expires Aug 1. If I understand correctly, you (an American citizen) absolutely cannot go to the Bahamas without a passport. RCCL’s website says you may board the ship with a birth certificate and an official government ID. My question is: will he be allowed to go on the cruise, but just not get off the ship at Nassau, or will he not be allowed to sail at all? please don’t ask how we could have done something so stupid…

Great! Thanks so much for responding.

My family and I embark from Charleston in the morning. Our appointment to start embarkation is between 1-1:30. Does anyone know if we can drop our checked luggage off at the port earlier? We were thinking about leaving it about 10:30, then returning for our 1:00 appointment. I’ve cruised about 6-7 times on 4 different cruise lines and every time, you just hand your luggage over and no one would know or care what time you actually boarded. By the same token, I’ve never had a specific time I was required to board, either.

Are there advantages to booking through a travel agent as opposed to booking directly through the cruise line?

Thanks so much. I had seen the paragraph “Carnival recommends…”, but not “To enter the Bahamas…”. Your suggestion to bring her birth certificate and drivers license sounds like a good one. It certainly won’t hurt!

I will be taking a cruise on the Sunshine in a couple of weeks. I noticed on the Carnival website that you choose your time for embarkation. What are the options - what time does it start and what is the latest you can embark? We are driving to Charleston the night before, so we can probably get to the port whenever we want. What time should we choose if we want to avoid the worst of the crowds, or is it pretty much the same since everyone has an appointment? Also, before I booked the cruise, I checked to make sure no one in our family had an expired passport and no one did. However, I just read somewhere that passports should not expire within 6 months of the cruise. My daughter’s expires a month after. We are only going to Nassau. Will this be a problem? She may not even want to leave the ship in Nassau.

My family and I will be on the Sunshine on February 18. I haven’t sailed on Carnival in a number of years and was sorry to see the main dining room is no longer open for lunch. I always head to the main dining room on embarkation day. Where is a good place to go for lunch to avoid the crowds in the buffet?

Thanks so much for the responses, and for the link. Very helpful!

I understand that Carnival allows each adult to bring 1 bottle of wine onboard. I would like to bring a bottle of a margarita cocktail which is made with agave wine. Does anyone know if this is allowed?