Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

Passport Prices going up soon.

cruisingnewyorkers

Recommended Posts

martdm

martdm

Posted
Posted
Our passports expired a couple of years ago, can we still renew? What about our kids? My daughter is 17 now, do we get new pictures?

 

As long as it hasn't been 15 years since the date of issue (in other words, it expired less than 5 years ago) you can renew. You also need to have been 16 when it was issued, have the same name (or have proof of name change), and have the original passport to submit. Cost is $55 and there will be a $12 surcharge after 3/8.

 

Unfortunately, it sounds like your daughter will need to get a new one as I'm assuming she wasn't 16 when the one she has was issued. It will be full price - $85 with a $12 surcharge after 3/8.

 

All would need to submit new pictures.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
AltaJoe

AltaJoe

Posted
Posted
I really don't think a mere $12.00 (the price of lunch at mcdonald's) is going to break anyone, lol.

 

Barb, I laughed when I read your post. I keep remembering the Passport/no Passport debates from a year or two ago.

 

There were warnings from posters saying that some of the Carib Islands were going to be tightening their security and starting to require Passports. The posters were advising those who didn't have one to get one. The anti-passport faction went berserk. "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU TO TELL ME TO GET A PASSPORT!!!!". It got pretty ugly. Their whole premise, besides the no one tells me what to do was that they had never needed one before and they were the All-star team of Carib cruising. The kicker, was the cost. Holy Christ. You'd have thought they'd have to mortgage their house to get one. The logic of breaking it down to the cost of a drink per year only had then reaching for their AK-47's. :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites
beachchick

beachchick

Posted
Posted

I think that for what we are getting that passports are not at all expensive. We get 10 years of an official US document that can help us in the most dire situations in a foreign country, can get us into US embassies anywhere in the world, can get us back into our own country with the least amount of hassle, and that tell others that we are US citizens with all the protections that offers. Nope, doesn't seem like a bad deal at all.

 

beachchick

Link to comment
Share on other sites
martdm

martdm

Posted
Posted

I agree completely beachchick! I think that most people don't realize that a passport serves as more than just a form of ID. I think someone earlier called it "insurance" which is a great way to look at it. You almost never need it for more than ID but, when you do, it can be a lifesaver.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
MonaCK

MonaCK

Posted
Posted

We actually just had my husband submit his passport application over the weekend. We hdn't realized that our local post office was one of the places we could get it done, and had hours of 10am - 3pm for submissions. He picked up the picture, the money order, everything right there. Super easy. I'm glad that he did it Saturday - we had no idea there was going to be a price increase. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
dc-snoopy

dc-snoopy

Posted
Posted

I'm still not sure of why anyone would consider leaving the country without a passport. As for the value, think of it this way. In MD, a new DL costs $45 and lasts for 5 years. It costs $30 to renew. That's $75 for 10 years. The PP costs $80 to get (plus a passport photo of $5-10). With the price going up $12, it comes out to about $100. Prior to the $12 fee increase, it wasn't all that much different in fees to a DL and I don't hear nearly the amount of grousing about the fees for a DL.

 

In any event, $12 prorated over 10 years is an annual increase of $1.20. How many things do you think will go up more than $1.20 per year in the next 10 years? And will you be complaining that much when it happens?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
redcat72

redcat72

Posted
Posted

If you go directly thru the gov't. the cost is currently $55 for a passport *renewal*. (The post office had a posted a price of $70.) I only paid $55 + $8 for photos (although you could take your own digital ones that meet certain specifications) + $1.15 mailing/confirmation. So, you can still get your passport renewed for around $65 (at least until March 8th.) When you break it down between 10 years, it's only $6+ a year. Not too bad of a deal. :) Rather be safe than sorry.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
MonaCK

MonaCK

Posted
Posted

For us it was pure laziness. I had my passport done when I went out of the country with my company back in the year 2000. DH had no reason to get it done, so didnt. He did mail away for 2 copies of his birth certificate though, and we've always travelled with that and his drivers license.

 

In anticipation of a change in the rules (though nothing has been stated yet) and as a way for this to allow us to do last minute international travel, we have finally gotten him one. We had no idea it was as easy to do as it was, or we would have done it months ago. As it is, we should receive it back in plenty of time for our May cruise.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Jobro2

Jobro2

Posted
Posted

DC-Snoopy:

 

Just skimming thru the threads when I see you live in Laurel...I grew up in Laurel, MD and lived in Montpelier also!! We lived on Crystal Rock Lane and moved there when our home was brand new...(many, many years ago!) Left Montpelier in 1979.. So funny to hear you are living in my old subdivision!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Peggy13

Peggy13

Posted
Posted

Thanks to reading about the passport increase here, I just dragged my 3 sons down today to get their passports. FYI, if your child is under 14, you have to have a notorized signed consent form from the spouse that is not there (unless the two parents go to get the passport). Luckily, I knew this ahead of time and dowloaded all the applications before I went. I told the people working that the passports were going up - they still didn't hear this.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
dc-snoopy

dc-snoopy

Posted
Posted
DC-Snoopy:

 

Just skimming thru the threads when I see you live in Laurel...I grew up in Laurel, MD and lived in Montpelier also!! We lived on Crystal Rock Lane and moved there when our home was brand new...(many, many years ago!) Left Montpelier in 1979.. So funny to hear you are living in my old subdivision!!!

 

Jobro2, cute. I live on Claxton Drive just a few doors South of Contee Road. I know where Crystal Rock Lane is and it's close (in fact, sometimes when I'm trying to cut out of the neighbor going South, I will go right past your old home down Oxwell Lane).

 

Small world, eh?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Colts-Steelers

Colts-Steelers

Posted
Posted

All of you that are planning to get your passport before the prices go up need to double check your birth certificate to make sure it is truly a certified copy. I went this week and was told my hospital birth certificate was not a certified copy from the state. The lady said it is good for about everything but proving citizenship and the passport office will only accept a certified birth certificate or certified copy with the state seal on it. All of the older birth certificates issued from hospitals are not accepted any longer. The back of my hospital birth certificate states: This Certificate of Birth should be carefully preserved as a record of value for the future:

To verifiy age, to prove citizenship, to obtain passports, to establish right to inheritance, to prove age for Social Security Benefits.

 

With all that on the back of it, I never thought I would have a problem with it. I guess I missed the memo...I think about all the cruises that I have taken with it and no one has ever said a word about it except a customs agent on our last cruise in December. I just figured he didn't realize it was the real thing when he was telling us we needed to get passports.

 

Now I'm waiting for the certified copy to arrive so I can try again before it costs me more money!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • Hurricane Zone 2024
      • Cruise Insurance Q&A w/ Steve Dasseos of Tripinsurancestore.com June 2024
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...