Did you need passport?

[Cruiser from Ohio]

I am on the Caribbean Princess stopping in Roatan, this is my first time there, it is a closed loop out of fll, did the birth certificate and dl as id ok I know I should really have a passport but just wondering if birth certificate is ok

[crewsweeper]

BC is fine. You need it to get on the ship. Once on the ship, any customs at any port is taken care of by the ship. You will be issued a ship id card which is used to get off and on the ship and onto the ship's pier at any port. People who have passports often take photo copies with them on excursions. If you're doing a longer excursion via a non-ship vendor, you do run the risk of missing the ship. Then and only then would a passport be helpful. But for 99.9999% or more of all US passengers on closed loop cruises, a passport is NOT needed, if you have your BC.

Edited February 20, 2015 by crewsweeper

[Cruiser from Ohio]

Thank you, we will not venture out on our own, we only do excursions from the ships, I am not very brave!!

[dkoitz]

You may want to consider getting a passport for future cruises. If anything happens like an emergency and you need to get back to the US, fights require a passport.