Please help me conform what requirements are needed in a closed loop?

Even for a child who is 7? Or 12? They need a State issues picture ID, really? carnival does not say that anywhere.

 

Can someone confirm?

Please read what the poster said that CBP said, carefully: " its best to have a State Issued ID AND the birth certificate for any aged child", not that it was required. This is the same language that CBP uses for bridging documents (marriage certificate, divorce decree, adoption papers) to document name changes. They won't say that it is mandatory, but that the CBP agent can ask for them, and not having them would result in delays in clearing you. Frankly, I don't know what other states charge, but Maine charges $5 for a "state ID" (resembles driver's license) and is available to anyone, so this is a cheap way of documenting the child, and provides a photo ID for getting back onboard if some security guy in a foreign port has a bad hair day.

The downside to not having a regular passport is that if for some reason, heaven forbid, you need to leave the cruise at a foreign port, in order to fly you will have to get a passport at the closest Consulate, which can take several days.

Ehhhh.....no. I'm aware of one instance personally where the travel letter was signed in a matter of hours.

Even for a child who is 7? Or 12? They need a State issues picture ID, really? carnival does not say that anywhere.

 

Can someone confirm?

No. Not needed. Cruised with a thirteen year old a few weeks ago. With just a birth certificate. Doing so again in a couple more weeks.

Our kids do not have passports, we use the (short form) birth certificate only. They are 11 and 6 and have cruised several times. I went to the courthouse and got the short form printed for them and keep them with our travel documents. No issues at all. I was worried after reading differences in short and long forms, but there were no issues at all.

Ehhhh.....no. I'm aware of one instance personally where the travel letter was signed in a matter of hours.

Probably true, but when an emergency happens, would you want to wait “just a few hours”? I certainly wouldn’t, and did not. In my case, I had a 15 year old daughter go missing. Think I was willing to wait around for a passport to be issued after seeing someone at the Embassy? Hell no! My cruise line tendered us to a nearby island, someone was at the pier waiting for us and took us to a travel agent who had our plane tickets waiting. They then drove us to the small airport where a little “puddle jumper” flew us to a bigger airport in Antigua, where we boarded an Air Canada flight to Toronto.

In case anyone is wondering, daughter was found, and ok. She must have thought she needed a vacation, too. Totally not funny, though. And her poor grandparents weren’t laughing either. End of story.

One other thing to consider is if any minor children are traveling without both parents present, you may need a letter of consent from the parent that is not traveling allowing the child to leave the country.

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Dumb question...what if the 15 year old doesn't have a school ID?

Dumb question...what if the 15 year old doesn't have a school ID?

School or state issued id will work. Obviously not all kids will have an id, what if they are home schooled for example. Just get a state issued id, similar to a drivers license.

Dumb question...what if the 15 year old doesn't have a school ID?

An ID is not required for a 15 year old, although if one wants many states will issue them a state ID as has been mentioned.

An ID is not required for a 15 year old, although if one wants many states will issue them a state ID as has been mentioned.

I was told today a 15 yearold needed the id, ages 15-17. The PVP could have been wrong, but if the 15 yearold has a photo id why not take it just in case?

I was told today a 15 yearold needed the id, ages 15-17. The PVP could have been wrong, but if the 15 yearold has a photo id why not take it just in case?

The PVP was absolutely wrong but yes, if you already have one it's no big yank to bring it.

I was told today a 15 yearold needed the id, ages 15-17. The PVP could have been wrong, but if the 15 yearold has a photo id why not take it just in case?

After looking at the FAQ section for US citizens, it states 16+ need an ID. If she has one she can bring it but I'm fairly certain she does not.

If the children (ages 11 and 4) have passport books, they don't need birth certificate....correct? Thanks in advance! :)

If the children (ages 11 and 4) have passport books, they don't need birth certificate....correct? Thanks in advance! :)

That is correct. A passport allows all travel internationally.

The birth certificate needs to have the raised seal on it.

 

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As others have already pointed out, this is incorrect information. The birth certificate does NOT need to have a raised seal on it. A copy of the birth certificate is perfectly acceptable.

high school picture id will not be accepted - it has to be a State Issued ID. When I called CBP (Customs and border protection) they said that its best to have a State Issued ID AND the birth certificate for any aged child. As for adults, the same applies - an adult does NOT have to have a passport on a closed loop trip - where you are returning to the same US port that you started from. However a state issued id or drivers license and certified birth certificate are needed. When i went on the first cruise i did not have a passport and I was required to show both my certified copy of my birth certificate as well as my license. when I took my kids, i was required to show both a state id and certified birth certificate (they will not take a photo copy, it has to have the raised seal for the birth cert.) My youngest son was 7 for that cruise and my oldest son 16

A school issues I'd IS a state issues I'd, as long as it is a state run school.

A photo copy of a birth certificate is fine as long as it is a state issued bc.

I can understand your confusion because the people that should know these things often don't.

Also those magic words best to have does not mean required. Required means required. Not having required documents will get you denied bordering. Not having suggested or best to have will not.

Each cruise line determines what they require, like one cruise line requires all single parents that are taking a child to have a passport. Right now, carnival does not.

Often you call official places and say do I need this thing to cruise, to make it easy on themselves they will usually say something along the lines of it would be good to have that, when there is no requirement to have it and it is only the required things that matter.

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Since a copy is acceptable, I would recommend scanning a copy of the certified birth certificate and saving it to your phone. It's a good backup if the documents are lost and can be easily emailed and printed. I also have a copy of my passport scanned and saved to my phone, so that I have the information in case I need it.

• "A clear, legible copy of a birth certificate that was originally issued by a government agency (state/county/city) or the Department of Health and Vital Statistics. The copy does not need to be notarized or certified."
  

I am the one that organized 6 families to come on a cruise with us with ages ranging from 7 to 50’s. I want to send a group email out that includes Carnival’s link to their Passport requirements. A few families made it clear early on that they do not want to spend the $400+ for passports for families of 4-5 people, so I get that. So I am trying to make it simple for them to understand what they will need, so please correct, or add, to anything wrong listed below. I know Passports are ideal, but I cannotforce that on them:

• Adults:Pictured Driver’s license and birth certificate
  

• 16 +:Government pictured ID and birth certificate. (trying to find out if high school student picture ID will do) If not, we may have to get pictures and ID at Department of Motor Vehicle or just get the passport card at the post office.
  

15 -:It appears just a birth certificate will do, but if you have a student pictureID, I would bring it as well.

• For thekids, if you do not want to get the passports, I strongly recommend the PassportCard.
  

I recommend that you, like the cruise line, tell each passenger it is up to them to KNOW what is required and to have the correct paperwork. Each person can call and bombard cruise line with questions, and not bog you down with this.

IF they show up at the port with wrong paperwork ... it is on THEM and NOT you.

Two of the parents where born in PR and are in their 40's. They just requested and received new birth certs from PR last week. Are these birth certs and a pictured driver's license good enough?

This is very scary. WHY would you leave such important information up to CC answers. I know everyone here 'means' to be helpful, but if they give you erroneous info. and you & all guests don't find out for yourself, there could be big trouble.

Really, call the cruise line and get the correct answers.

This is very scary. WHY would you leave such important information up to CC answers. I know everyone here 'means' to be helpful, but if they give you erroneous info. and you & all guests don't find out for yourself, there could be big trouble.

 

Really, call the cruise line and get the correct answers.

However, if you call the cruisline, you are likely to get 3 “correct answers”... key words as noted above are “recommended” not “required”. I personally like to hear from actual experience to back up,what the “official” info is to determine if there is any ambiguity.

This is very scary. WHY would you leave such important information up to CC answers. I know everyone here 'means' to be helpful, but if they give you erroneous info. and you & all guests don't find out for yourself, there could be big trouble.

 

Really, call the cruise line and get the correct answers.

You mean like the PVP who said 15 year olds need a state issued ID?:rolleyes:

Bill

This is very scary. WHY would you leave such important information up to CC answers. I know everyone here 'means' to be helpful, but if they give you erroneous info. and you & all guests don't find out for yourself, there could be big trouble.

 

Really, call the cruise line and get the correct answers.

Back in the day when I was making the decision whether or not we needed passports I consulted 3 sources for information in order to make my decision: 1) government sources (i.e. the DHS regulations, and yes, I read the entire document with particular focus on the cruising requirements); 2) the cruise line FAQs; 3) sites similar to CC. When the information from all three of those sources matched up then I was confident that I was interpreting the regulations correctly, especially when I was reading information posted by the folks who had been there, done that.

The downside to not having a regular passport is that if for some reason, heaven forbid, you need to leave the cruise at a foreign port, in order to fly you will have to get a passport at the closest Consulate, which can take several days.

Yes, this is a benefit of having passports.

Keith

You seem to be all confused.

 

A school issues I'd IS a state issues I'd, as long as it is a state run school.

 

A photo copy of a birth certificate is fine as long as it is a state issued bc.

 

I can understand your confusion because the people that should know these things often don't.

 

Also those magic words best to have does not mean required. Required means required. Not having required documents will get you denied bordering. Not having suggested or best to have will not.

 

Each cruise line determines what they require, like one cruise line requires all single parents that are taking a child to have a passport. Right now, carnival does not.

 

Often you call official places and say do I need this thing to cruise, to make it easy on themselves they will usually say something along the lines of it would be good to have that, when there is no requirement to have it and it is only the required things that matter.

 

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no I'm not confused. I didnt talk to Carnival i specifically called CBP and asked those questions because the last thing i wanted was to get to the port and be turned away because i didnt have proper identification. I believe you are the one who is quite confused, especially about the school id. School ID's are not accepted as a form of identification acceptable for passage per the CBP. State issued id's or drivers licenses that are issued by the Department/Bureau of Motor vehicles are accepted. A photo copy that does not have the certified raised seal is also not accepted - again this is according to the CBP not per Carnival. I did do my research! So listen to someone who did make several phone calls (i learned long ago that asking 5 different people will get you 5 different answers) and i did get the same answers every time i called CBP. So if you want to question it be safe and call CBP as they have the final word and authority over Carnival or any other cruise line. If CBP doesnt want you to travel you wont be travelling.

no I'm not confused. I didnt talk to Carnival i specifically called CBP and asked those questions because the last thing i wanted was to get to the port and be turned away because i didnt have proper identification. I believe you are the one who is quite confused, especially about the school id. School ID's are not accepted as a form of identification acceptable for passage per the CBP. State issued id's or drivers licenses that are issued by the Department/Bureau of Motor vehicles are accepted. A photo copy that does not have the certified raised seal is also not accepted - again this is according to the CBP not per Carnival. I did do my research! So listen to someone who did make several phone calls (i learned long ago that asking 5 different people will get you 5 different answers) and i did get the same answers every time i called CBP. So if you want to question it be safe and call CBP as they have the final word and authority over Carnival or any other cruise line. If CBP doesnt want you to travel you wont be travelling.

If CBP says that those documents aren't acceptable then CCL wouldn't be able to accept them, and they do accept them according to their FAQ. Just because someone works for CBP doesn't mean that they are all knowing or that they can't be wrong like the rest of us. It's highly unlikely that CBP has CBP officers manning their phones (and even all CBP officers won't necessarily know the information either if they haven't worked a sea port of entry).