Birth certificate CARD with Carnival?

[iheartmarshall]

I'm gathering documents for our cruise in May and while I have a passport, DH will be cruising with his birth certificate and DL. He has a certified copy of his birth certificate with a raised seal that came from our state's vital statistics department so we should be good on that. But he also has a laminated birth certificate card with the raised seal stamped in. I have never seen one of these before and I was curious if it works the same as the larger birth certificates? It has the same information, it's just smaller and about the size of a credit card. Has anyone cruised with one of these before?

[agc291]

The requirement is to use the official one with the raised seal. I have never seen or heard of a BC card and would expect most people havent so it would be a red flag at the port that you wont want to deal with. It took my BF 4 cruises for me to convince him to get a passport.

[iheartmarshall]

We'll definitely take the one from Vital Statistics with the seal, I was just curious about the card... I don't have one and had never even heard of one until I saw DH's. I probably wouldn't think it was legit either haha. I wish he would just get a passport but he keeps putting it off saying he doesn't have time so I've given up.

Edited March 6, 2014 by iheartmarshall

[seaturtletattoo]

I was issued a BC card, laminated, about 11 years ago before I went on a cruise. It is completely legit, it was issued from the county I was born in...they called it a "travel birth certificate". It worked for plenty of trips to Mexico and my previous cruises.

[niccikatie]

We'll definitely take the one from Vital Statistics with the seal, I was just curious about the card... I don't have one and had never even heard of one until I saw DH's. I probably wouldn't think it was legit either haha. I wish he would just get a passport but he keeps putting it off saying he doesn't have time so I've given up.

 

Was he born in Indiana? My DD has one of those and was born in Indiana. It's the only one I've ever seen. I wish they were more readily available!

[edwardsm]

My daughter born in 1994 has a paper birth certificate with a seal but not raised. My son born 1997 has a birth certificate card. Their passports have expired and I plan to use their birth certificates for our upcoming cruise WE have used them in the past with no problems. Prior to getting his passport a few years ago, my husband reapplied for his birth certificate and it's in card form, seal unraised and we didnt have a problem with getting on the ship.

[snowskier]

The requirement is to use the official one with the raised seal. I have never seen or heard of a BC card and would expect most people havent so it would be a red flag at the port that you wont want to deal with. It took my BF 4 cruises for me to convince him to get a

 

A raised seal, really?

 

Why do people keep saying this? There are many states that no longer use raised seals. There is no documented requirement for a raised seal, only the CC myth that keeps getting repeated.

 

There was another thread about the card recently and several people said they used it with no problem.

[Dreacrusingaway]

I was born in SC and also have a wallet sized card with a raised seal. Totally legit. BUT I plan to order a long form to have just in case. It was stink to be unable to board with the card. Our 1st cruise is in May.

 

 

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[iheartmarshall]

Was he born in Indiana? My DD has one of those and was born in Indiana. It's the only one I've ever seen. I wish they were more readily available!

 

No, he was born in West Virginia. It's the only one I've ever seen though. Didn't even know they had these as an option.

[iheartmarshall]

Thank you everyone for the replies! It's good to know that some of you have cruised with the BC Card and it is just like using the paper copy. I think we'll take both just to be sure but I appreciate the input :)

 

Sorry if there was an earlier thread about the BC Cards; I didn't see it and was curious.

[RWolver672]

Thank you everyone for the replies! It's good to know that some of you have cruised with the BC Card and it is just like using the paper copy. I think we'll take both just to be sure but I appreciate the input :)

 

Sorry if there was an earlier thread about the BC Cards; I didn't see it and was curious.

 

Might I suggest that you use the card first just to see if it will be accepted. Then if not, pull out the paper copy. And please, get back with us so that we know for sure. As we all know, each person checking you in and each port of embarkation has different rules that they follow.

[sparks1093]

each person checking you in and each port of embarkation has different rules that they follow.

 

One rule, just different interpretations of the rule;).

[pops72106]

Myself and my wife took about 10 cruises with our B/C card before we got our passports, If it is state issued and has the seal, then they have to accept it just as they accept the paper version.

[bluesmom]

My daughter was born in SC and has the BC card and a regular BC. I am taking both and will try the card first. If they don't like it, I'll show them the other one. We're sailing in the Dream March 29th!

[GOLDIEDA1]

I have cruised several times with my birth certificate card with no problem.

[Yari mommy of 2]

I just traveled with my 4 kids BC no issues. 2 have BC card 2 have that big cert. went through immigrations with no prob. You really only need it when you arrive back to the USA

[agc291]

I just traveled with my 4 kids BC no issues. 2 have BC card 2 have that big cert. went through immigrations with no prob. You really only need it when you arrive back to the USA

 

They check IDs when you are checking in as well as customs checking them when you go through to debark.

[rrtii]

My daughter was born in SC and has the BC card and a regular BC. I am taking both and will try the card first. If they don't like it, I'll show them the other one. We're sailing in the Dream March 29th!

Did the card work out in New Orleans or did you have to break out the long form certificate?

[uapyro]

The raised seal is a bad thing to go by. Others said some states aren't doing the raised seal any more. I had a hospital issued birth certificate that had the raised seal that they wouldn't let me board the ship with .

[Homosassa]

We were given a birth card when my daughter was born in Maryland in 1983. It was from the state and had a raised sealed.

 

It wasn't acceptable for a Social Security card or for passport purposes so I wonder if someone might be taking a chance if that is all they had.

 

I had the laugh at the official Maryland Birth Certificate. It was obviously typed out by an illiterate clerk and had misspellings (including the word Maryland) and had white out and type overs. It had a raised sealed, however, and was accepted for the SS number and, much late,r for a passport.

[hartsnvt]

The raised seal is a bad thing to go by. Others said some states aren't doing the raised seal any more. I had a hospital issued birth certificate that had the raised seal that they wouldn't let me board the ship with .

 

 

That's because it has to be a state issued BC, not a hospital issued one. There is a difference.

 

Also, for those who are considering getting a passport, (we just got ours), our wallet sized state issued with raised seal are no longer accepted. We had to contact our state and get the long ones before we could apply for our passports.

[Havingfun2010]

The requirement is to use the official one with the raised seal. I have never seen or heard of a BC card and would expect most people havent so it would be a red flag at the port that you wont want to deal with. It took my BF 4 cruises for me to convince him to get a passport.

 

My wife used it in the past with no issues. She has a passport now since we flew someplace, and this was used to get the passport. BC comes in all different sizes, and shapes from 50 states, AP addresses, and all the USA territories.

[YubaSutter]

The requirement is to use the official one with the raised seal. I have never seen or heard of a BC card and would expect most people havent so it would be a red flag at the port that you wont want to deal with. It took my BF 4 cruises for me to convince him to get a passport.

 

Raised seal is not a requirement.