passcard vs passport?

[irish2005]

Has anyone used a passcard instead of a passport for a cruise? I understand they are good for cruising. Thanks

[wcook]

From a cursing standpoint, a passcard is nothing more than a "fancy driver's license". If you are just going on a closed loop cruise around the Caribbean, a passcard (or driver's license) plus your official birth certificate are enough. But if a cruise requires a passport, the passcard is not enough.

 

Note even if a passport isn't required, it will get you home faster in an emergency. Having only a passcard or driver's license will lead to some delay as you apply for an emergency passport.

[Marie51]

Has anyone used a passcard instead of a passport for a cruise? I understand they are good for cruising. Thanks

 

Don't waste your money on the card. It really isn't any different than using your birth certificate and drivers license.

[negc]

The primary purpose of the passport card is for use by US residents in border communities who frequently cross the border between US and Canada or Mexico. It is only good for land crossings and not for sea or air transport between those countries. Since a birth certificate and a government issued ID are sufficient for closed-loop cruises, a passport card could take the place of your driver's license, but otherwise its value is severely limited. If you are debating between a passport card and a passport, the usefulness of a passport is far superior to a passport card and would be my choice unless my travels were solely limited to frequent land crossings.

[milton333]

A passcard will not allow you to fly back home if there is an emergency on the cruise. It's no better than driver's license and birth certificate. To be safe, get a passport, no need to spend the money on a passcard. As noted above, the passcard is really for people who live near the border and cross frequently by land, it's easier for going to/from Mexico and Canada, but otherwise it is useless to you.

[RoofingPrincess]

The primary purpose of the passport card is for use by US residents in border communities who frequently cross the border between US and Canada or Mexico. It is only good for land crossings and not for sea or air transport between those countries. Since a birth certificate and a government issued ID are sufficient for closed-loop cruises, a passport card could take the place of your driver's license, but otherwise its value is severely limited. If you are debating between a passport card and a passport, the usefulness of a passport is far superior to a passport card and would be my choice unless my travels were solely limited to frequent land crossings.

While most of this is correct, a passport card IS valid for sea entry:

"The U.S. Passport Card can be used to enter the United States from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Bermuda at land border crossings or sea ports-of-entry and is more convenient and less expensive than a passport book. The passport card cannot be used for international travel by air."

http://travel.state.gov/passport/ppt_card/ppt_card_3926.html

You would NOT need to use your birth certificate in conjunction with it.

[Caleo]

While most of this is correct, a passport card IS valid for sea entry:

"The U.S. Passport Card can be used to enter the United States from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Bermuda at land border crossings or sea ports-of-entry and is more convenient and less expensive than a passport book. The passport card cannot be used for international travel by air."

http://travel.state.gov/passport/ppt_card/ppt_card_3926.html

You would NOT need to use your birth certificate in conjunction with it.

 

We have used our Passport Cards for three cruises now...all you need is the card and you're good to go. No need for an additional drivers license or birth certificate. That's the ID that we take when we're in port and especially when we're diving/snorkeling.

[njhorseman]

From a cursing standpoint, a passcard is nothing more than a "fancy driver's license". If you are just going on a closed loop cruise around the Caribbean, a passcard (or driver's license) plus your official birth certificate are enough. But if a cruise requires a passport, the passcard is not enough.

 

Note even if a passport isn't required, it will get you home faster in an emergency. Having only a passcard or driver's license will lead to some delay as you apply for an emergency passport.

 

The primary purpose of the passport card is for use by US residents in border communities who frequently cross the border between US and Canada or Mexico. It is only good for land crossings and not for sea or air transport between those countries. Since a birth certificate and a government issued ID are sufficient for closed-loop cruises, a passport card could take the place of your driver's license, but otherwise its value is severely limited. If you are debating between a passport card and a passport, the usefulness of a passport is far superior to a passport card and would be my choice unless my travels were solely limited to frequent land crossings.

 

While most of this is correct, a passport card IS valid for sea entry:

"The U.S. Passport Card can be used to enter the United States from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Bermuda at land border crossings or sea ports-of-entry and is more convenient and less expensive than a passport book. The passport card cannot be used for international travel by air."

http://travel.state.gov/passport/ppt_card/ppt_card_3926.html

You would NOT need to use your birth certificate in conjunction with it.

 

Both "wcook" and "negc" are wrong. "RoofingPrincess" is right. In fact the passport card is not only good, with no additional documentation required, for closed loop cruises, it is also good for open jaw Western Hemisphere cruises...cruises that start and end in different US ports and call on only WHTI countries.

 

The important shortcoming of the passport card is that it can't be used for international air travel. This document has an easy-to-read comparison of the passport card and book: http://travel.state.gov/pdf/ppt_pptCard.pdf

[negc]

While most of this is correct, a passport card IS valid for sea entry:

"The U.S. Passport Card can be used to enter the United States from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Bermuda at land border crossings or sea ports-of-entry and is more convenient and less expensive than a passport book. The passport card cannot be used for international travel by air."

http://travel.state.gov/passport/ppt_card/ppt_card_3926.html

You would NOT need to use your birth certificate in conjunction with it.

 

Thanks for the clarification. Apparently the passport card is a bit more useful but whether or not it's limitations will be worth the savings over the cost of a full passport is still a question to be decided by the individual traveler.

[xmasteach]

Have passport card and it is GREAT. No need to carry bulky passport. Used on Alaska cruise, no problem. Into Vancouver, & Yukon by car.

Going to use it on Oasis in June, but taking my passport in important documents in case of emergency and I have to fly home.

:)

[mpillen]

Please read my story below and learn from it. GET THE FULL PASSPORT. It's looking like we are out nearly $6,000.

 

 

To whom it may concern,

 

My family and I flew out of LAX on 4/8/11 on US Airways flight 1446, as you may know, we had engine problems and engine #2 had to be shut down at 30,000 ft. We made an emergency landing in Omaha. The crew was very profession and helpful. Upon arrival in Omaha I immediately sat in front of the help desk to make sure that I was first in line to get help so that we could get an alternate flight to our final destination in FLL, so we could get to our cruise ship on time which sailed on 4/9/11 at 5:00pm. Announcements were made that a plane was being flown in and and alternate arrangement would not be made and if we tried to call and get another flight they would not approve them and they would not release our luggage. When we finally spoke to the supervisor, Bill or Bob, who was helping people right outside of gate 11, we told him we needed to get to FLL to catch our cruise ship by 3:30 and he rudely said "don't you know you always fly a day ahead when going on a cruise", then he said take a seat and he would see what he could do. He continued to help people while we sat there for the next 2 - 2 1/2 hours, during this time we kept walking up asking if he could help us now and he said "just take seat". Finally we got so mad that we went up and said "we have been very patient and nice, could you please help us now?". That's when he told us there was nothing he could do and we had to go to Philadelphia, he gave us (4) $5.00 meal voucher and sent us on our way. When we boarded flight 9010 and started talking to other passengers this is when we discovered that many other passengers were accommodated on other flights and their luggage was released. If we would have been accommodated we could have made it to FLL to catch our ship.

 

When we arrived in Philadelphia we were told to go to customer relations. When we got to the office it was closed and we had to wait 30 more minutes for this office to open. When the office opened we spoke to Aja Whetstone and Dana Barlett, we told them our story and told them that 2 of us had passports and 2 of us had passport cards and asked if we could fly to Nassau and meet up with the cruise ship with these documents. She checked something on the computer and said we could travel with these documents but she would have to get a manager’s approval to book the flight. Finally, she scanned all of our 2 passports and our 2 passport cards information into the computer and the tickets were issued, we were given (4) $15 meal vouchers and (2) hotel vouchers and we headed to baggage claim to get our luggage. I want to add that we spent at least another 2 hours here and the two girls helping us were very nice and polite, although the next morning we found out that we couldn't travel with the documents we had. I don't know why these employees issued tickets that do not know what documents are need to travel.

 

Off we went to the baggage claim office. Upon arrival here I spoke to Dhana Ward and she was also professional and helpful. I told my story again and she called someone and told them the story and they went to look for our bags. We waited about 15 minutes and she called back to check and see how the search was going and found out the person didn't really understand what she said the first time and she had to repeat it again. Then he was off to try to find the bags again. We waited and waited, it seemed like a lifetime it was around 5pm and we had been up since 7:00am on Friday morning and it was now around 5:00pm on Saturday night. Our bags were finally found and we had to walk to the next terminal to get them. After got our bags we waited for the hotel shuttle. We arrived at the hotel checked in, got something to eat and immediately went to bed.

 

Sunday morning 4/10 we woke up at 4:00am to go to the airport to catch the flight to Nassau. When we arrived we spoke to Christina Butler and a couple of other people whose names I didn't get, we handed her our tickets and our passport and passport cards. She looked at us funny and said "how did you get these tickets". So we stood at this ticket counter for at least another 1 1/2 hours while they tried to get in contact with customs in Nassau to see if they would let us travel with the documents we had. In the end we could not travel to Nassau and we rebooked on flight 797 to LAX which departed at 7:35am. By the time we got the tickets in our hands and got through security the plane was already boarding and we couldn't even get something to eat. The staff that we encountered here were professional, knowledgeable, and kind. I can't say enough great things about them.

 

From here we boarded flight 797 and started our journey home. I was sitting on the exit row near flight attended Mike Stevens, and spoke to him about what had happened to us the previous days. He was very compassionate and an absolute delight to speak to. Once we were in the air, he offered each of us a travel nap sack to make our flight home more comfortable, which we were very appreciative of.

[cherylandtk]

.... it is also good for open jaw Western Hemisphere cruises...cruises that start and end in different US ports and call on only WHTI countries.

But it is worth noting that these 'open jaw Western Hemisphere cruises' do not exist; they would be violations of the PVSA. The closest thing to 'an open jaw WHTI cruise' is a one-way from Florida to the west coast, and which requires a full passport. The passport card is limited to the contiguous countries and adjacent islands (Canada, Mexico, Caribbean, Bermuda) and not the entire Western Hemisphere.

 

The passport card would, however, get one on a ferry or other sea-based public one-way transport between contiguous countries/adjacent islands.

[cherylandtk]

One exception, a one-way repo cruise from San Juan to New York. Open Jaw, Two different US ports. San Juan is excepted in the PVSA, and being two different US ports, it does not fall under the closed loop exception. Passport card works, BC/ID does not.

[xmasteach]

WOW, what a mess, I hope you had insurance!!

I have a passport card, and passport. I carry both, but use my passport card going on and off the ship. I keep my passport in the safe, just in case. Did you not have a passport? or did you have both, but figured you would not need it?

Painful lesson learned. Thanks for sharing...sounds like a nightmare.

[cherylandtk]

WOW, what a mess, I hope you had insurance!!

...Did you not have a passport? or did you have both, but figured you would not need it?

...

Nope:

... we told them our story and told them that 2 of us had passports and 2 of us had passport cards....

Elsewhere she posted that insurance will only cover about $2000 of the total cost, $500 for each of four pax for travel delay coverage. They may or may not get their airline costs refunded, but if they do, it is likely that the insurance payout will then be denied since it was an air carrier delay and the refund would belong to the insurance company.

[njhorseman]

One exception, a one-way repo cruise from San Juan to New York. Open Jaw, Two different US ports. San Juan is excepted in the PVSA, and being two different US ports, it does not fall under the closed loop exception. Passport card works, BC/ID does not.

 

The ABC islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao are distant foreign ports under the PVSA and as a result are common ports of call for open jaw repos. The Netherlands Antilles islands (which as I understand it technically no longer exists) are listed under the WHTI, so it would seem to me that you can use a passport card for those cruises, as well as a Puerto Rico repo. Check this page from the State Dept. http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis_pa_tw_2223.html and then click the link to the list of nations in the Caribbean, which takes you here: http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis_pa_tw_3256.html .