It's Time for a Passport (or Birth Certificate) Check

[Sue L]

Booked last min. Both kids passports expire 2 1/2 months after we get back. Leaving in 30 days. Cruise is closed end western caribbean. I have both their birth certificates. Was thinking of bringing passports and birth certificates.

 

What are your thoughts OK?

 

 

Assuming you are going to the Caribbean? If yes, then there is NO caribbean port that requires ANYTHING but a valid passport!

[RZ3]

All 4 passports are in my backpack... by the front door... waiting for the car to pick us up in the morning...

 

because we're goin' cruizin'!!! Flying to San Juan tomorrow and meeting the Serenade on Sunday. :D

[Fisical1]

Assuming you are going to the Caribbean? If yes, then there is NO caribbean port that requires ANYTHING but a valid passport!

 

Thank you Sue. So if im understanding correctly , my kids will be denied bording even if we are on a closed end leaving from Fort Lauderdale and returning to Fort lauderdale visiting the Western Carribean. I was told it would be OK just bring both as we will not be flying in and out of those countries?

 

Would appreciate your feedback as time is ticking....

[wrp96]

Wrona, I assume that it wasn't his passport that was missing. That would have been too perfect.:p

 

 

Unfortunately it was my boss's passport that was missing.:rolleyes:

 

Found out more to the story today. Boss's OLD passport was in the safe - the one with her maiden name. So we're guessing he just looked, saw three passports, and assumed everything was okay.

[Sue L]

Thank you Sue. So if im understanding correctly , my kids will be denied bording even if we are on a closed end leaving from Fort Lauderdale and returning to Fort lauderdale visiting the Western Carribean. I was told it would be OK just bring both as we will not be flying in and out of those countries?

 

Would appreciate your feedback as time is ticking....

 

As long as the passports are valid until the end of the cruise you are ok, heck you can sail with a certified birth certificate and a photo ID, so you are fine as long as you are all US citizens

[Daghis]

I took this message as an opportunity to complete our online check-in for our August cruise. I confirmed that all four passports were right where they were supposed to be and all still valid for travel. I entered the relevant information on the Royal Caribbean web site, printed out my SetSail pass, and placed the passports back into the safe where I had found them.

 

All is well.

 

Now I just need to wait another 78 days until we leave.

 

Daghis taps his foot impatiently.

[wrp96]

Daghis taps his foot impatiently.

 

 

If you get tired of tapping your foot, you can switch to my method - twiddling my thumbs. It's an art form.;)

[pspercy]

Many a lost passport / DL / Soc Sec card etc has been found under the lid of that so convenient home printer/copier/scanner :)

[jodie84124]

On my 1st trip back to the USA after moving to Saudi 10 yrs ago, I raced home from work at 7PM, threw my nursing uniform and 'whites' into the washer to wash before my taxi picked me up at 9PM and quickly showered and finished packing. About 30 min later I thought 'Oh NO!, my passport was in my jacket (as we had to relinguish them to Passport Control while in Kingdom). I ran to the washer and there's my passport 'floating on top as were the Visa stamps for Saudi Arabia. All the stamps for China were smeared beyond recognition, but everything else was 'waterproof'. I used my hairdryer to try to dry it as I finished up, but it was still damp. I used 'scotch tape' and reaffixed the Visa stamp.

 

At the border to Bahrain (where my flight left from), the guard took one look and pointed to the 'office'. Yikes! Fortunately, my trusted driver speaks English AND Arabic, so he handled the whole thing with great finese. But you never know how low ranking bureauocrats will respond to an unexpected problem.

 

Hairraising at the time...now just a good 'forum story'. Jodie

[wrp96]

So big boss got back from vacation (had a fantastic time - forgave husband once she was on the plane).

 

Husband had apparently reassured her for months that he had the passports. 9:30 Wednesday night (flight 7am Thursday morning) he went to get the passports out of the safe. There WERE 3 passports there, but boss's was her old no longer valid in her maiden name passport. Apparently when they got the new passport he put the wrong one back in the safe - and just assumed that was the correct one in there.

 

After tearing apart the house all night, he found it at 5:30am.

 

When they got back from vacation, the first thing boss did when they walked through the door was tell husband to go put ALL the passports in the safe.:p

[luvscruising2007]

wrp96--Thank you for this thread. I am glad your boss found her passport in time and that they had a good vacation.

I don't cruise for 18 months, but I double checked to make sure passports were where I thought they were.

[CruisinGerman]

if in the United States, the most technologically advanced country in the world, it weren't such a complicated, arduous, and long process to get a passport.

 

Here in Spain, and in most European countries, you just go to your local police station authorized to issue identity documents (there's usually one in every neighborhood) and you walk out with your passport.

 

While the newer U.S. passports have the electronic chip, our passports use a more complicated, double photograph process than the U.S. passports.

 

It seems that by making it so complicated, long and bureaucratic to get a passport, your government just doesn't want you to travel and wants to keep you inside.

 

Kind regards,

 

Gunther and Uta

[thomasale]

I wonder why a passport once issued valid ever expires???

[wingnutphl]

My passport expires July 2012. After my Allure cruise in the fall, I will start the process of renewing mine.

[Sue L]

I wonder why a passport once issued valid ever expires???

 

$$$$$$$$$$

[Langley Cruisers]

[quote name='thomasale']I wonder why a passport once issued valid ever expires???[/quote]

People's looks change. Pictures should be as current as possible, don't you think? Ten years is a good length of time for a passport; a Canadian passport is valid for 5 years.

And money, Sue is right. Huge revenue.

[rd757]

[quote name='CruisinGerman']
It seems that by making it so complicated, long and bureaucratic to get a passport, your government just doesn't want you to travel and wants to keep you inside.

Kind regards,

Gunther and Uta[/QUOTE]

Yes, that is exactly it. They don't want us going anywhere. We'll just stay locked up in our own borders that are open to everyone else. :rolleyes:

Just fill out the proper documents, include correctly taken photographs, write a check and send it in. Not exactly a "long and difficult" process. ;)

I went and physically held my passport... yep, it's valid. Cruise leaves in 7 days, one less thing to worry about.

[CruisinGerman]

Yes it seems like a simple process from the way you describe it.

Then why does it take so long?

And why can you pay a higher fee for "expedited service", which still takes several weeks.

Seems overly long and bureaucratic to me.

Kind regards,

Gunther and Uta

[wrp96]

In my bosses situation, if husband had realized the passport wasn't there during the day, she could've driven an hour away from here and gotten a brand new passport in a couple of hours with no problems. The biggest issue here was that he waited until less than 12 hours before the flight to check to make sure the passports were there (and correct). That's why I posted this - to remind people to not leave this stuff until the last minute.