Grandma: "I did not bring my Brith Certificate with me, did I need it?"

[tulsacubfan]

You were VERY luck. I thought it had to be an ORIGINAL BC:confused: But I'm very happy it worked for you. I can't imagine getting all the way to the cruise port and finding I didn't have my documents:eek:

 

ACtually it can be a certified copy....the certification seal was probably clear enough

[tulsacubfan]

scgamecock's #1 cruising rule: ANYONE cruising with me will have their birth certificate/passport checked personally by myself before the car rolls out of my driveway and everyone is notified that if they don't have their documentation when we get there, I will not hesitate to leave them at the port.

 

 

This!!!!!!

[StillPooh]

Grandma's are funny. They will forget what you told them 10 minutes ago but remember what happened 10 years ago. ;)

Not saying it is true of the OPs grandmother, but the above is a perfect description of the early stages of senile dementia. :(

[wbsander]

make sure you bring another additional identify documentation JUST IN CASE you the port you are sailing from does not know how to process EDLS

 

Its also a good idea to make copies of your documents before you leave, and email them to yourself and to someone who you can contact at home, so you can retrieve them or forward them if necessary.

[Bibble]

I still remember my very first cruise... 1992. Best friend and I are 23 years old. She's the "old married, responsible one". Tells me for 6 months straight not to forget my birth certificate. (I was still single & fancy-free - LOL). Truly every week she called and told me to make sure I had it. I fly to NJ (cruise out of NYC), spend two days with her. She asked me a minimum of 5 times if I had my DL & BC.

Day of cruise, her husband drives us to NYC. We check in our luggage, go have lunch, he drops us off. We go inside, all set to go, and lo & behold, SHE doesn't have her birth certificate!!!! This is before cell phones (man, that makes me feel old...), so she's on the pay phone calling her husband's beeper as he's on his way home back down the Garden State Parkway. Leaving one pay phone open for him to call back. On another pay phone with her father, who is going to try and break into her house to get her BC and go and have it notarized that it's an original, and faxed to the port.

Her father came through before her husband made it home, thankfully!

 

I went through the whole emotional roller coaster of what do I do? Do I go without her? Do I stay and miss out on this?? But thankfully didn't have to make a decision.

 

We went from being 3 hours early, to being the last two on the ship, AS they were closing the gangplank. Almost missing the muster drill.

But ended up having the time of our lives!

[NCTribeFan]

This is my biggest fear. I must check every 10 minutes that I have all my documents before I leave. Some call it OCD, I prefer detail oriented and organized. :o It's funny but I've never thought to make a copy of my passport as well. I will make 2 copies, one to carry with me and one to leave at home, just in case.

 

Actually, I do have three copies! Not just the one I sent to DD and the one I leave in my desk drawer, but the copy I put in my travel docs JUST IN CASE I somehow manage to lose my wallet between the house and the ship. LOL.

 

It isn't OCD, exactly. It's Obsessive-Compulsive PERSONALITY Disorder. Yes, it exists. Yes, that's me. That's also what makes me a good accountant. SOMEONE has to pay attention to details!

 

:p

[serene56]

For the reasons you posted above:

I am taking my dad (85) and he invited his brother (83) and his wife (80)

I had a "cruise" meeting this past weekend and collected everything I need to get them onboard- Its all in an envelope- not taking any chances.

[RoofingPrincess]

For the life of me, I do not understand the problem here. Every country on this planet has some type of requirement to enter it. EU countries require you to present a passport if you leave the EU and re-enter. On cruises, the cruise line just does it up front so that you do not have to show it when you re-enter the country.

Not true.

I have been asked to show my passport when re-entering the US on EVERY cruise I have taken. So has every other passenger - it's not a random thing.

Cruise lines and airlines make you show appropriate ID before boarding because they don't want to be stuck with you if you are denied entry.

[Laurie S.]

Yes..it was suppised to be for states with significant borders/traffic with Canada. I guess Mexico border states were potentially going to be added but have not yet. I can travel to Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean on my EDL without my passport as long as it's by sea or land. No good for air travel.

 

 

Mexico requires both a passport and a visa, no matter how you travel here.

[linda_22003]

Not saying it is true of the OPs grandmother, but the above is a perfect description of the early stages of senile dementia. :(

 

It's also a perfect description of my life, pretty much every day. :p

[buckeyefrank]

Under the final regs a copy is just fine (as evidenced by the email that I just received from CCL with the document requirements).

 

A xerox copy is not what CCL or HS is talking about in their requirements. When you go to the state (or city) to get your BC, they give you a certified copy of it. An individual can never get the 'original' that was filed. The certified copy is what they were referring to.

 

I'm surprised and glad to hear that Grandma was allowed on the ship. There is so much opportunity for fraud when you're dealing with a fax or copy.

[halos]

Not true.

I have been asked to show my passport when re-entering the US on EVERY cruise I have taken. So has every other passenger - it's not a random thing.

Cruise lines and airlines make you show appropriate ID before boarding because they don't want to be stuck with you if you are denied entry.

I agree!!!!!!!!!!

[bythehex]

I agree also! The only exception was the last cruise we were on in August. When we returned and went through customs, we handed over our blue form and the guard just waved us through without looking at our passports. That was the only time that's ever happened, every time I've sailed they always checked our passports.

[Raven Days]

Mexico requires both a passport and a visa, no matter how you travel here.

 

Thats incorrect. All you need to enter Mexico is a passport, no visa required. I have been 3 times now and all I had was my passport card, my DL and my BC just in case.

[megs1954]

Mexico requires both a passport and a visa, no matter how you travel here.

 

When I travel to Mexico on foot, I don't need a visa. Passport or passport card is fine.

[sparks1093]

A xerox copy is not what CCL or HS is talking about in their requirements. When you go to the state (or city) to get your BC, they give you a certified copy of it. An individual can never get the 'original' that was filed. The certified copy is what they were referring to.

 

I'm surprised and glad to hear that Grandma was allowed on the ship. There is so much opportunity for fraud when you're dealing with a fax or copy.

 

I have read the final regulations and in the discussion DHS did at one point considered requiring a "certified copy" of a birth certificate for children coming back from Canada on a school trip. They decided that a "copy" would be sufficient. There was no similar discussion when talking about the birth certificate requirements for the closed loop exception.

 

The evidence? If DHS required a certified copy of a birth cert than Grandma in the current example would not have been allowed to board with a faxed copy of her birth certificate. CCL would not have accepted something that CBP would later reject.

[finzup-kt]

Mexico requires both a passport and a visa, no matter how you travel here.

 

 

I've been many times both driving over the border and flying in and US citizens do not need a visa to go to mexico....

[cruiserguy11]

Same reason Canada makes it so difficult to come back into our country. I can't tell you how many times I've been stopped at the border with my minor children only to be asked for the "travel letter" from my ex. Yes, customs officer, I am kidnapping my kids back into the country to send them to school after a nice vacation outside of the country :rolleyes: That's why they are crying!!:p. Thankfully I never crossed the border without that letter, just in case, my I know many a person who had a big hassle coming back in. :confused:

 

You're doing it wrong. Just smile and say, "You're right. You keep them." (Unless you actually like them.):p

[Loves_Dogs]

Had to chuckle on our last cruise the cab driver loaded all our bags in the cab, got back in, turned to us and said 'I have 1 question for you...do you both have your passports?'. My first thought was 'that is a good question to ask people going to the airport, how nice of him'. After more consideration I came to the conclusion that perhaps he had dealt with a passenger who HAD forgotten their passport and was subjected to a frantic drive back to that persons house speeding against the clock on our lovely icy Ohio roads and didn't EVER want to do that again. Who knows.

 

I am such a paranoid person that I carry our passport books in my purse, put our passport cards in my son's carry on (yes I have passport cards and books.. after an experience we had in Dominica I bought cards too but that's another story) and pack our birth certificates in my carry on. I know - overkill. But if a piece of our luggage or my purse gets lost or stolen, we are still gettin' on that ship ;) .

[SardisGrandma]

As u can see from my username I'm a grandma. Of 8 1/2. I've always been the one that keeps up with everything, makes all the plans, etc. Cruising on the Magic in May w/granddaughter & i've been fussing & asking for BC, & notorized letter,etc. But now I'm doubting ME!! Maybe I should actually look & see when my passport expires. I know at my age I catch myself saying such & such happened "the other day" or "a couple weeks" ago. Only to have brilliant son intervene with... "No Mom that was 3 yrs ago". Lol