Middle names on passport - not on booking

[dixieagle]

DH and I are booked on the Westerdam in early March (Southern Caribbean). I just noticed - a couple months after booking - that the reservations are in our first and last names only, while our passports include his middle name and my maiden name, e.g., "Mary Smith...Mary Jones Smith": "William Smith...William John Smith".

 

Should this present a problem? I've emailed HA and am awaiting a response, but figure that someone on this board will have the answer. It's not our first cruise with HA, but I don't remember if this is similar to the last time, when we had the same passports (Mediterranean on Noordam).

 

Thanks.

[Richie2pies]

I had the same problem. I called HAL and they said it made no difference but they changed it anyway on the reservation.

[dixieagle]

I had the same problem. I called HAL and they said it made no difference but they changed it anyway on the reservation.

 

That's good to know; you hear so much about "EXACT" matching of names (though I know that a passport is not strictly required to get back into the country, with the "closed loop" thing). Will be interesting to hear what HA says.

 

Thanks!!!

[Bonzhai]

We had the same issue. Jim substituted for James. No problem! In fact, when we got our room keys and tickets for excursions, our full names off of the passport were printed which presented a problem for identity theft. We asked HAL to just list first and last names and it was easily changed at the front desk during the cruise.

[terigo]

My husband's middle name is on his passport, but his middle name has never appeared on any of our bookings, as his mariner number only has first and last name associated with it.

 

Apparently it is more important to HAL for the names to match his mariner number than it is to the government for his reservation to match his passport.... we have never had an issue with the passport not matching the reservation.

[GeriatricNurse]

DH and I are booked on the Westerdam in early March (Southern Caribbean). I just noticed - a couple months after booking - that the reservations are in our first and last names only, while our passports include his middle name and my maiden name, e.g., "Mary Smith...Mary Jones Smith": "William Smith...William John Smith".

 

Should this present a problem? I've emailed HA and am awaiting a response, but figure that someone on this board will have the answer. It's not our first cruise with HA, but I don't remember if this is similar to the last time, when we had the same passports (Mediterranean on Noordam).

 

Thanks.

 

 

In my view, the name(s) on ALL travel docs, airline tickets, etc. SHOULD be the SAME name as it appears on the passport(s)!:)

[baggal]

DH and I are booked on the Westerdam in early March (Southern Caribbean). I just noticed - a couple months after booking - that the reservations are in our first and last names only, while our passports include his middle name and my maiden name, e.g., "Mary Smith...Mary Jones Smith": "William Smith...William John Smith".

 

Should this present a problem? I've emailed HA and am awaiting a response, but figure that someone on this board will have the answer. It's not our first cruise with HA, but I don't remember if this is similar to the last time, when we had the same passports (Mediterranean on Noordam).

 

Thanks.

 

Unless you are flying to your cruise - then, it could be a problem for the TSA.

[dixieagle]

In my view, the name(s) on ALL travel docs, airline tickets, etc. SHOULD be the SAME name as it appears on the passport(s)!:)

 

 

Not concerned about the airline tickets, as it's domestic and we don't need passports. However, we often carry our passports as ID when flying domestically, and have never encountered a problem, though airline tickets usually just have a middle initial, not the full middle/maiden name as on the passports.

[ninkb]

"It makes a difference if you book your air with HAL. Then they need the passport name on the cruise/air reservation."

 

This is what I was told when I asked HAL the same question . . . and since we had booked our own air, it didn't matter that my husband's middle name was not spelled out on his cruise ticket.

 

Hope this helps other cruisers.

[jiminyC_fan]

I've got that problem with my next cruise in January but with the airlines. THEY made the mistake and I have tried three times to have it corrected. The third time the agent confesssed that even though it's their mistake they can't fix it and she promised me that TSA will not have a problem with it. I have my full middle name on my driver's license and passport but they booked me with my middle initial. I have a friend that is a supervisor of some sorts for the TSA in Orlando so I quickly asked him what will happen. He, too, reassured me I will be fine. I won't feel "fine" until I get back home!

[bob brown]

What this is about relates more to air travel. The TSA (which thankfully doesn't screen cruisers, at least not yet), recently had air carriers notify regular passengers that the name on the booking must exactly match the ID presented for check-in. Whether it is a passport, drivers license or whatever, it should match. Adding your middle name to your drivers license when you renew it is a good idea too. Especially if you have a common name that might match one on the no-fly list.

[dixieagle]

I've got that problem with my next cruise in January but with the airlines. THEY made the mistake and I have tried three times to have it corrected. The third time the agent confesssed that even though it's their mistake they can't fix it and she promised me that TSA will not have a problem with it. I have my full middle name on my driver's license and passport but they booked me with my middle initial. I have a friend that is a supervisor of some sorts for the TSA in Orlando so I quickly asked him what will happen. He, too, reassured me I will be fine. I won't feel "fine" until I get back home!

 

 

I've been in that situation often...no problem at all, ever, with TSA or any airline.

[aussiedisneyfan]

I have checked back over our current and previous bookings and none of them have our middle names on them. We have never had a problem departing Australia or the countries we visited while sailing.

[jiminyC_fan]

I've been in that situation often...no problem at all, ever, with TSA or any airline.

 

Thanks dixieagle!! Sounds like I will be just fine.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Until recently the cruiselines did not even have a place to type in a middle name when booking a cruise but they are slowly all starting to change their on line programs to have an area to place a middle name. Of course like stated if you are booking air thru the cruise line they must have your full name as it appears on your passport or I.D.

Slow but sure cruise lines will be requiring full name but till then it is totally fine if HAL only has the first and last name as long as those are correct. Such as Robert cannot have Rob or Bob on the cruise documents if legal name is Robert. :)

[Jade13]

I do not have my middle name on my passport, which does not always match other paperwork, and have never had a problem. I have flown on many different airlines this year including US Airways, American, Air Tran, Air Canada, ANA, Air China, Bangkok Airways, and Cambodia Angkor Air. We have also been on SWISS and Lufthansa in the past year.

 

Also note, not everyone has a middle name. My mother does not have one.

[jiminyC_fan]

Also note, not everyone has a middle name. My mother does not have one.

 

That's true. My husband doesn't either.

[Typhoon1]

Nothing to worry about. We have had the experience, and never a problem.

[long_shot45]

AA just called me today because they needed my middle name. They said name on booking has to be the same as on passport. I called HAL and they put my middle name on my online information. BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY.... Read posting on lady who was refused boarding with B/C and D/L.....

[clueless2]

Has anyone ever had an issue flying internationally where their passport has a suffice (Jr) and their airline info does not.

 

I have a flight booked for this summer and United does NOT have a place for a suffix on the webpage where you enter in the "Secure Flight Information".....

[Typhoon1]

AA just called me today because they needed my middle name. They said name on booking has to be the same as on passport. I called HAL and they put my middle name on my online information. BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY.... Read posting on lady who was refused boarding with B/C and D/L.....

 

Boarding passes and Governement IDs must match for purposes of flying. Those rules do not apply to boarding the ship.

[long_shot45]

It's only a matter of time.......

[dixieagle]

Glad to see that I started some discussion here. I tend to think that we will see stricter requirements as to exact names on all docs before long. In the meantime, here is the answer I received today via email from HAL:

 

"Thank you for your recent correspondence with Holland America Line. On your cruise reservation your first name and last name are required to show exactly as seen on your Passport. This is a Customs and Immigration requirement that Holland America Line must comply with.

 

Your middle name or middle initial is not required on your cruise booking even if it is listed on your passport. If you would like your middle name or initial added and you have booked through us directly please call us toll free at 877-724-5425." (Italics mine)

 

So, I guess we're good for now!!! I think in the future I will make sure our middle names are on all air/cruise bookings from the beginning so that I just don't have to concern myself with it.

[DizzyDallasDi]

It's my understanding that *fairly new* air travel requirements are that the name on your ID (e.g., drivers license, passport) match the name on the reservation exactly. I don't have a middle name but when I got my Texas drivers license (many years ago), the agent insisted I "had to have a middle name" on my license so they used my maiden name as such. My passport shows only my first and last name.

 

To make it more complicated, when making a reservation on AA you have to use the name as shown on your AAdvantage account...for me, that's only my first and last. So, even if I'm flying domestically I have to remember to bring my passport as my ID so it will exactly match the name on my reservation. My DL wouldn't work because it has my maiden name as my middle name. :(

 

Air travel just gets more and more complicated but it's the only way I have to get from here to there. I'll do whatever is necessary to get me to my destination.....I just gotta keep up with the rule changes. :)

[RuthC]

I don't have a middle name but when I got my Texas drivers license (many years ago), the agent insisted I "had to have a middle name" on my license so they used my maiden name as such.

Wonder what they would have done if you were

a.) a man with no middle or maiden name, or

b.) an unmarried woman with no middle name, or

c.) a married woman with no middle name, who had kept her own name when she married.

:confused: