Advantages of passport/passport card

[CruzinKittie]

It's my first time cruising to the Bahamas from Jacksonville. I see that a passport/passport card is not required but recommended. Has anyone traveled without a passport? If so have you had difficulties? Our ages are 57, 40, 18 and 14. Thanks!

[hard_eight]

Only if you have an emergency situation and need to fly home etc. We've done it both ways, prefer to be safe than sorry.

[Razor_Poke]

Passport card won't get you on an airplane, at least not without some help from the embassy.

[Umbrae Noctem]

Last time I cruised I use a DL and Birth Certificate.Didn't have any issues. I do plan on getting the passport book this time around tho.

[gottaluvcruises12]

I have a passport and it set to expire a week before my cruise. I went on a got a passport card. Plenty of my friends have traveled with DL and Birth Certificate and been fine. Some people are so paranoid.

[Pyrate13]

Not paranoid, prepared. A friend of ours ended up at the hospital while on a cruise, he would have had a great time trying to fly home without his passport. Just because it hasn't happened to you or your friends in the past certainly doesn't mean it will never happen. Good luck if it happens to you though.

[lizardhowson]

Some of us always travel with a passport and travel insurance. Many others do not.

I like to be prepared.

[42rob22]

My wife and I both have passport books, but we got passport cards for our three kids. $105x3 is a hefty chunk of change for a passport that's only good for five years.

[VolzCruiser]

Passport is like full coverage you pay more but it gives you peace of mind that if something happened you would be alright to get back without any difficulty.

 

Passport Card and DL w/BC you can still get back but there would be issues.

[Tatka]

We always use passports ever since we became citizens. It lasts 10 years and helps in many citations. You never know which cruise you want to take, or where to travel.

[sanger727]

IMO, unless you live near the Mexico or Canada border there's no reason to spend the money to get a passport card. You can travel on a cruise ship to the Caribbean using a birth certificate and driver's license for free or pay for the passport card. Neither method would allow you to fly to the next port if you missed the ship or fly home for an emergency, so why pay the money for the card when it does no more than the bc.

 

You will have no issues traveling on those documents, many cruisers do it every day. The only thing a passport gives you is the ability to fly internationally in an emergency. Only you know what value that has to you. Now, understand that if you are a US citizen and end up needing to come home early you will make it back with or without a passport. You won't be stranded in a foreign country the rest of your life; it could just be more expensive and take longer to get home than if you already had a passport.

 

 

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[rufflesmom]

One thing to consider if you are flying to the port and live in one of the handful of states whose DL do not qualify as a valid gov't photo ID (I live in Missouri, ours is one of those states). Unless you have another gov't issued photo ID you won't get thru security at the airport with a DL. Just a thought.

[coevan]

Some of us always travel with a passport and travel insurance. Many others do not.

I like to be prepared.

 

 

+1 , I have said this on at least 10 passport threads. I would never leave U.S. soil without a passport, accidents happen. What if a close relative stateside go critically ill or worse. Your driver's license and BC would be useless at the airport. For the same reason we get travel insurance. We have had to use travel insurance twice, paid for itself in spades.

[sunshower9]

My husband and I took our first cruise with just birth certificates and driver's licenses, but it was a short cruise and we only went to Mexico. This time we're going on a longer cruise with more ports outside the US, so I applied for my passport just to be on the safe side. Hubby said he didn't want to spend the money on it right now, so he'll be traveling with just the BC and DL again. Like others said, I got it for peace of mind in case there's a medical emergency or we miss the ship(!). Obviously I hope I won't have to use it, but I prefer to be prepared (same with travel insurance).

[S.S.Oceanlover]

I have a passport and it set to expire a week before my cruise. I went on a got a passport card. Plenty of my friends have traveled with DL and Birth Certificate and been fine. Some people are so paranoid.

 

Is there a reason you bought the card and didn't just use your B/C drivers license?

 

Bill

[Coors light]

I have a passport and it set to expire a week before my cruise. I went on a got a passport card. Plenty of my friends have traveled with DL and Birth Certificate and been fine. Some people are so paranoid.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[bUU]

Not paranoid, prepared. A friend of ours ended up at the hospital while on a cruise, he would have had a great time trying to fly home without his passport. Just because it hasn't happened to you or your friends in the past certainly doesn't mean it will never happen.

I agree. We need to think ahead, beyond what we've experienced ourselves, and see what has happened to others and what could happen to us.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

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One too many coors lights??;p

 

Bill

[summersigh]

Copied and pasted from

Passport Card Information - State

 

The U.S. Passport Card can be used to enter the United States from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Bermuda at land border crossings or sea ports-of-entry and is more convenient and less expensive than a passport book. The passport card cannot be used for international travel by air.

 

travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/passports/information/card.html

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Copied and pasted from

Passport Card Information - State

 

The U.S. Passport Card can be used to enter the United States from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Bermuda at land border crossings or sea ports-of-entry and is more convenient and less expensive than a passport book. The passport card cannot be used for international travel by air.

 

travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/passports/information/card.html

 

That's why I asked gottaluvcruises12 what his reason was for purchasing the card. It does the same thing as the BC/DL.

 

Bill

[Doggielover68]

It's always good to have a second form of photo ID. On more than one occasion I needed two government photo IDs for new hire paperwork.

 

 

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[bUU]

I forget: Can you have both a passport (book) and a passport card?

[summersigh]

I forget: Can you have both a passport (book) and a passport card?

Yes

 

Product age 16 and over

Form

Application Fee

Execution Fee

 

 

 

 

Passport Book

DS-11

$110

$25

 

 

 

 

Passport Card

DS-11

$30

$25

 

 

 

 

Passport Book & Card

DS-11

$140

$25

 

Product Children

Form

Application Fee

Execution Fee

Passport Book

DS-11

$80

$25

Passport Card

DS-11

$15

$25

Passport Book & Card

DS-11

$95

$25

[Moonarino]

I've always cruised with a passport card, for one thing because it's a lot more convenient (one credit-card-sized item) than a piece of paper plus the DL. Current pricing (I just renewed) is quite a bit cheaper than it used to be; $30 total for ten years, 3 bucks a year. When I leave ship at a port, my Sail and Sign and passport card fit very neatly into my pocket, and I don't have to worry about the pp card getting wet.

 

About 3-4 years ago we cruised with a friend who went the BC and DL route. Getting back on the ship at one port, she had to step into another line to show her docs. That particular re-entry was a weird thing, not typical at all, but on that one occasion it was definitely better to have a passport.

 

And PS: I also have a passport book and always take it with me (for absolute worst-case), but the card is ridiculously convenient in comparison.

[isaiahsnana]

I sail with a passport and usually out of Galveston - I travel on a scooter so I always get a porter to help with bags (a wonderful $10 investment) - he takes me and the luggage directly to a passport only line - which is general 1/10th the length of the line of those without a passport - I just zip right through.