No Passport

[georgiacruizer]

My son's passport expires a week after we get back. I hope this is OK. He is going to bring his license and birth certificate along just in case.

 

You could always renew it before you go. It's best to renew it before it expires, less hassle that way.

[cruise_pirate]

We have them but never needed them I see points for and against

[sparks1093]

Although the question is not directed at me, I will state my opinion.

 

With 50 states, DC, New York City, and US territories issuing and have issued birth certificates in numberous forms and certifying practices currently and over the years; having just one form of USA ID for customs to validate at sites of entry could reduce the chance of terrorists gaining entry. By requiring all US travellers to obtain passports (where the submitted birth certificate can be properly processed over time by the department of state) vs. a quick view of numberous styles of birth certificates and DLs by a customs agent would be one way of reducing the possiblity. Of course the Real ID act when fully adapted will help with the DLs...but there are still too many various forms of BCs floating around.

 

DHS carefully considered this when they and the State Department wrote the final regulations. They concluded that closed loop cruises posed a low risk to the national security. It is not likely that a terrorist will board a cruise ship at a U.S. port just so they can come back to the same port (not to mention that in order to board a cruise ship in a U.S. port they have to be in the U.S. to begin with, which would be their goal to begin with). So DHS came up with one exception to the mandtory passport rule. All passenger manifests are checked against the government databases well before the passengers board.