Traveling without a Passport

[wajowander2011]

Has anyone ever had problems traveling with just a birth certificate and a photo id? Would be interested in hearing. Taking my daughter and family and they don't have passports.

Thanks,

Wanda

[michigancruiser0715]

It's not that they'll have any difficulty during the cruise, per se, however it's the "what ifs" that can getcha. If the ship leaves without them, it makes it much more difficult to get back to the US. Not impossible, just difficult.

 

That being said, people cruise with birth certificates all the time and come home just fine.

[Warm Breezes]

Nine cruises, absolutely no issues. The chances of running into a situation where you will need to get an emergency passport or a waiver to fly are extremely slim and can increase based on your own personal risk factors (types of excursions, flying in the day of, pre-existing conditions, etc.). It is a personal decision each family must make based on their own risk vs cost analysis.

 

Having said that DH and I recently purchased passports for ourselves but not for DD(16) and DS(19). We purchased them for ourselves because our October Jewel cruise will be our first cruise leaving the kids home alone. This is an increase in risk for us with both kids being relatively new drivers. It increased the risk enough that purchasing the passports were now worth the cost to us. The kids will be coming with us on our Freedom cruise. Their risks did not change so purchasing passports for them was not worth the cost to us. Personal choice.

[Elaine5715]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1836262

This is an extensive discussion about this issue.

[mitsugirly]

We have cruised several times before getting a passport with no problems. Our youngest daughter didn't get her passport until 2 cruises ago-no problems. My oldest daughter and her boyfriend don't have passports and no problems.

 

The only problem you would have is if you are ever left behind (and there's ways around still getting back) or if there was an emergency and you needed to leave from one of the ports.

[sparks1093]

We haven't had any problems, but the question isn't necessarily "has anyone else had any problems", it's will you have any problems and that answer depends on many factors. What types of shore excursions are you doing (on your own is riskier than through the ship), how good are you at making sure that you are on time for things, are you doing anything involving physical danger, is there anyone back home that you would need to cut your trip short for if something happened to them, are you flying in the day of departure. If you get travel insurance make sure that you get a policy that doesn't have any exclusions for travel document problems (I read one policy that said that it would not cover any claim that was caused in whole or in part because the traveler didn't have the right travel documents).