passport for 12 year old

[jdmaillet]

I am taking my 12 year old granddaughter on the Liberty Western Caribbean on Feb 7th. The rest of us have passports. Will she need one?

[cb at sea]

No--her state issued Birth Certificate is fine...along with perhaps a library card or school ID, if you have one. It doesn't have to be a picture ID for those under 16.

[negc]

I am taking my 12 year old granddaughter on the Liberty Western Caribbean on Feb 7th. The rest of us have passports. Will she need one?

None of you will actually need a passport since you are on a closed-loop cruise (one which leaves from and returns to the same US port). A birth certificate will be fine for her. If you anticipate that she will be traveling out of the country in the next few years, it might be worth her while to get one for future foreign travel that might require a passport (that would include and land or air crossings into Mexico or Canada.

[vtsmike]

I think you need a paper stating that you have permission from her parents to take her out of the country. Hopefully someone else post the link or the paper you need. Good luck.

[Lionesss]

We opted to get a state ID card that is similar to a drivers license. It has our daughters picture and statistics on it.

The good thing about this is her picture would be readily available via the web, Ohio bureau of license, if God forbid she would be abducted.

I carry it along with her passport when we travel.

When we are at home it is bragging rights in her wallet. (ID picture, not Passport).

I realize her passport picture could easily be accessed also, but, I guess I am a little over-kill.

Safe travels.

[LBumb]

you will definitely need a letter of permission from her parents.

[jg2256]

Make sure the letter is notarized and signed by the girl's parents. I had to do this a few times with my ex-wife for my children and had no problems. I do not remember a cruise line form (but there probably is one) but we just had a letter from my ex (in your case the parents) that the had permission to accompany me on the cruise and the dates of the cruise.

 

I also recommend getting the state issued ID card. At least in VA they are easy to obtain with a SSN card and birth certificate. They come in handy checking in for flights as well as checking onto the ship.

 

Good luck.

[waterbug123]

I am taking my 12 year old granddaughter on the Liberty Western Caribbean on Feb 7th. The rest of us have passports. Will she need one?

 

None of you need a passport for a closed loop cruise. Hypothetically though, if you were traveling somewhere that YOU needed a passport, then yes, she would need to have her own; minors cannot travel on their parents' passport (or grandparents)

[ck53]

In case of emergency that you had to leave the ship to fly home, she would then need a passport.

 

It is simple to get and it will last her 5 years.

[jsjr]

We did a Disney cruise to the Bahama's last year. At the time of cruising, my sons were 16 and 12, we all got passports. I did a lot of research, since I did not want to pay $400 for passports, and I decided I felt more comfortable getting the p/ports. We were told by the travel dept that if something happened outside the country, in the Bahamas, where the kids needed to flown back to the US, they could be denied access, since they did not have the passports. I just didn't want to take that chance. I checked several times with the Western travel agency and also with travel agents and read and re-read the passport web site. I just felt better with it.

[negc]

We did a Disney cruise to the Bahama's last year. At the time of cruising, my sons were 16 and 12, we all got passports. I did a lot of research, since I did not want to pay $400 for passports, and I decided I felt more comfortable getting the p/ports. We were told by the travel dept that if something happened outside the country, in the Bahamas, where the kids needed to flown back to the US, they could be denied access, since they did not have the passports. I just didn't want to take that chance. I checked several times with the Western travel agency and also with travel agents and read and re-read the passport web site. I just felt better with it.[/quote

Having them can be reassuring even though they were not necessary. Passports are definitely the best form of identification you can have. However whoever told you that your kids would be denied entry back into the US if they did not have passports was engaging in the kind of scare tactics that are unnecessary and uncalled for. :mad: The US government has alternative procedures to verify your citizenship (and that of your kids, especially if you are traveling with them) and while it might be a bit of a hassle they wouldn't be stranded in some foreign land. It is this kind of misinformation which causes untold hardship and worry. It pops up from time to time on the boards no matter how often it is refuted.:rolleyes:

[chotton]

I wouldn't leave the country these days without one. We got one for our 8 month old for our cruise next month. Our 2 and a half year old has one also.

[toxicfairy]

We are taking our 12 yr old (well she will be 13 when we leave) daughter on her first cruise. We got her a passport just to make things easier . While you do not NEED one, if God forbid anything where to happen when your outside of the US and you had to fly her home you could have a more difficult time without the passport. We figured it would give us peace of mind. So it was worth the hassel. We had to get her mother to fill out a paper and have it notorized giving her permission. (she is my step daughter). Not to mention she got really excited to see it when it came in ...it made her feel special :).

[scg1a0]

From reading this it appears that it is not required but I think it is a good idea in case of emergency. We got my son a passport for his first cruise when he was just 6 months old. To get his photo when he was about 4 months I had to hold him up over my head! It was hilarious. He is going on his 4th cruise in February with the same one. I think that is funny because he is three and looks quite different...

[jdmaillet]

Thanks for your responses. I really didn't want to hassle with it at this late date. I'm pretty sure I'd have to pay $$$ for expedited. She is our Granddaughter but we also have legal guardianship. She has our same last name so we've never even been asked if she's our daughter or granddaughter in the past (we are pretty young grandparents). Thank you very much for the info........

[toxicfairy]

Thanks for your responses. I really didn't want to hassle with it at this late date. I'm pretty sure I'd have to pay $$$ for expedited. She is our Granddaughter but we also have legal guardianship. She has our same last name so we've never even been asked if she's our daughter or granddaughter in the past (we are pretty young grandparents). Thank you very much for the info........

 

If you are not getting her a passport make SURE you have something with you that proves you have legal guardianship! My step daughter has her father's last name but the passport place still wanted to see proof of how she was related to her mother and father before they would give us her passport! because her mother now has a different last name. So even though she has her DAD'S last name it wasn't good enough. Just to keep from having your vacation ruined make sure you have that proof with you !