Why is a passport needed?

[SadieN]

Another reason to get a passport.

 

The Carnival Dream sprung a leak, flooding about 50 cabins. Besides Carnival taking good care of them monetarily they’ve also offered to fly pax in the effected cabins home from Cozumel. Can’t do that if traveling on a BC.

[zqvol]

Another reason to get a passport.

 

The Carnival Dream sprung a leak, flooding about 50 cabins. Besides Carnival taking good care of them monetarily they’ve also offered to fly pax in the effected cabins home from Cozumel. Can’t do that if traveling on a BC.

 

Yes you can. The State Department will allow them to fly home, and just take a little longer to process them when they go through customs. If you are a citizen you will be allowed home, and it will not be as difficult as people on here claim.

 

Having said that IMO you don't eave the country without a passport, but the doom and gloom that it preached is just more fake news.

[navybankerteacher]

Yes you can. The State Department will allow them to fly home, and just take a little longer to process them when they go through customs. If you are a citizen you will be allowed home, and it will not be as difficult as people on here claim.

 

Having said that IMO you don't eave the country without a passport, but the doom and gloom that it preached is just more fake news.

 

Of course, " ...if you are a citizen you will be allowed home." Does it occur you to consider how you can convince those who will get you home if you are without documentation? Sure, it will ultimately work out - perhaps after a couple of nights at a local hotel - but having a passport does make a significant difference.

[SadieN]

Yes you can. The State Department will allow them to fly home, and just take a little longer to process them when they go through customs. If you are a citizen you will be allowed home, and it will not be as difficult as people on here claim.

 

 

 

Having said that IMO you don't eave the country without a passport, but the doom and gloom that it preached is just more fake news.

 

 

 

DD broke her ankle overseas and was able to get home quickly. No way was she in a position to get a passport if she didn’t have one.

To get a passport in Cozumel you’d have to take the ferry to Playa Del Carmen and get to the consulate between 09:00-13:00. Appointments needed but emergencies can walk in. Don’t think ‘cruise ship flooded my cabin’ is an emergency.

[fishywood]

Yes you can. The State Department will allow them to fly home, and just take a little longer to process them when they go through customs. If you are a citizen you will be allowed home, and it will not be as difficult as people on here claim.

 

Having said that IMO you don't eave the country without a passport, but the doom and gloom that it preached is just more fake news.

 

True. While one should not try this just for the sake of trying it, it is not really that difficult to be admitted onto a flight back to the USA from Mexico, Bermuda, or much (though not all) of the Caribbean with alternate-though-technically-insufficient proof of citizenship. Canada is actually the more difficult place in North America for a US citizen to be stranded.

 

Unnecessary "doom and gloom" precisely describes this thread. Especially in defining a simple broken water pipe as "[the ship] sprung a leak" :eek:

I would think if the hull was compromised as such a phrase implies a whole lot more than fifty cabin's worth would be evacuated at the next port.

[njhorseman]

This is not a good example of why you may need a passport. It's a similar situation to what happened a few years ago when a Carnival ship broke down and passengers had to be flown home from the Caribbean (St. Maarten I believe) the US government (DHS or State Department) issued a letter that authorized any passenger who didn't have a passport to fly back to the US. No waiting a couple of nights, no additional expense to the passengers.

 

Don't get me wrong, I personally wouldn't travel without a passport, but a situation like this is not going to cause a significant problem for someone who doesn't have one.

[broberts]

Of course, " ...if you are a citizen you will be allowed home." Does it occur you to consider how you can convince those who will get you home if you are without documentation? Sure, it will ultimately work out - perhaps after a couple of nights at a local hotel - but having a passport does make a significant difference.

 

Fortunately a few years ago they invented this thing called the internet. It allows computers to talk to each other. Unsurprisingly, those concerned with protecting the borders and other law enforcement have found the ability to rapidly communicate and search each others data stores quite useful.

[thinfool]

Another reason to get a passport.

 

The Carnival Dream sprung a leak, flooding about 50 cabins. Besides Carnival taking good care of them monetarily they’ve also offered to fly pax in the effected cabins home from Cozumel. Can’t do that if traveling on a BC.

 

A multibillion dollar corporation has a little more horsepower with ICE and CBP than the individual cruiser.

 

They would not make the offer if they couldn't fulfill it.

[K32682]

The only people who should not have a passport are those who don't and will never leave their own country. Otherwise everyone should have a current passport and take it with them when the are outside their own borders.

[Velvetwater]

The only people who should not have a passport are those who don't and will never leave their own country. Otherwise everyone should have a current passport and take it with them when the are outside their own borders.

 

This.

 

A passport is one of the best things you can ever buy in your life. I have had one since birth (Well...added to my Parent's as it was the 80s)

[Tatka]

The only people who should not have a passport are those who don't and will never leave their own country. Otherwise everyone should have a current passport and take it with them when the are outside their own borders.

 

 

Agree completely.

I don’t understand a problem of getting a passport once in 10 years (or 5 for kids) and take it while sailing outside of US.

[Hlitner]

Lets see...hmmm. there are about 195 countries in the world. How many can you visit without a Passport?

 

Hank

[K32682]

This.

 

A passport is one of the best things you can ever buy in your life. I have had one since birth (Well...added to my Parent's as it was the 80s)

What distinguishes us is that we are are not Americans many of whom have different attitudes than we do about passports. Even with tighter documentation requirements restrictions since 9/11, less than half of Americans hold passports while in Canada and the UK a majority of us have them.

[sparks1093]

Of course, " ...if you are a citizen you will be allowed home." Does it occur you to consider how you can convince those who will get you home if you are without documentation? Sure, it will ultimately work out - perhaps after a couple of nights at a local hotel - but having a passport does make a significant difference.

 

If you have your ID and your birth certificate you have documentation. This documentation is verifiable through any number of data bases available to the authorities. I wouldn't let this incident change my mind about whether to get a passport or not, my personal travel plans are what dictates that.

[sparks1093]

The only people who should not have a passport are those who don't and will never leave their own country. Otherwise everyone should have a current passport and take it with them when the are outside their own borders.

 

You'd have a hard time selling that to the folks in my community that live 8 miles from the border with your country. For many community members traveling up to Canada is the only foreign travel that they will ever do and for them it makes more sense to use a passport card or Enhanced Drivers License than to use a passport book.

[sparks1093]

Lets see...hmmm. there are about 195 countries in the world. How many can you visit without a Passport?

 

Hank

 

What does it matter is someone doesn't have the means for visiting any of them?

[Tatka]

What does it matter is someone doesn't have the means for visiting any of them?

 

You never know before opportunity arrives.

Why limit yourself? $125 for 10!!! years.

People spent more a month for eating out, much less cruising. :)

[navybankerteacher]

You never know before opportunity arrives.

Why limit yourself? $125 for 10!!! years.

People spent more a month for eating out, much less cruising. :)

 

People spend more on three or four cups of coffee per year - and not even at Starbuck's.

[Velvetwater]

Passport charges are cheap IMO for similar reasons that have been covered.

 

People who have never left their country and do not plan to are not really my kind of people. I see some people say 'oh its fine because my country is so big there's so many different things to see and different climates'. Travelling from California to New York isn't that different when you consider you could fly to Peru or Guatamala etc instead. If I lived in the US I would be going all over central and south America.

 

Each to their own at the end of the day but with such a beautiful planet to explore having a passport comes in useful and flights and things are getting cheaper and if you dislike flying (like me) there are other ways too. Transatlantic cruise then Europe tour etc.

[sail7seas]

In a case such as This , THE CRUISE LINE WILL WORK W ith CBP to have one ti me use passport substitute for those UJ.S. citizens

 

CBP took care OF u.S. ciitizens who did not have have heir p;asports. so they could fly home

[sparks1093]

You never know before opportunity arrives.

Why limit yourself? $125 for 10!!! years.

People spent more a month for eating out, much less cruising. :)

 

Yes, I did know that with 5 kids to raise that DW and I could not afford to travel via international air anywhere in the world. Didn't matter how good the deal was, it wasn't going to happen. Now that the kids are on their own it's a different matter and we're currently planning our 3rd trip to Germany. Before that passports would have been a waste of money. Everyone isn't the same and people have different travel needs. That's what it boils down to.

[sail7seas]

Lets see...hmmm. there are about 195 countries in the world. How many can you visit without a Passport?

 

Hank

 

 

 

Is that really true? :eek:

 

I am shocked, if so.

[PTMary]

What distinguishes us is that we are are not Americans many of whom have different attitudes than we do about passports. Even with tighter documentation requirements restrictions since 9/11, less than half of Americans hold passports while in Canada and the UK a majority of us have them.

 

A major reason many US residents do not see the need to obtain a passport while people in the UK do, is that the US is so large with so much to see without even leaving the borders. In many ways, each state is like a different country, similar to what is found in Europe. Each state has its own culture, and many even have their own dialect. Laws are slightly different state by state, and the scenery is certainly different from one state to the other, with their own unique places of interest. A US citizen can spend their entire life touring the country and not see everything. Many of our states are larger than some European countries. So there is not as much motivation to obtain passports as in countries that are relatively small and compact.

 

[ScareDcrow]

Is that really true? :eek:

 

I am shocked, if so.

 

Indeed, 195 according to the ultimate source of information (google)

http://www.worldometers.info/geography/how-many-countries-are-there-in-the-world/

[capriccio]

Lets see...hmmm. there are about 195 countries in the world. How many can you visit without a Passport?

 

Hank

 

Is that really true? :eek:

 

I am shocked, if so.

 

Easy to confirm at http://www.worldometers.info/geography/how-many-countries-are-there-in-the-world/:

 

There are 195 countries in the world today. This total comprises 193 countries that are member states of the United Nations and 2 countries that are non-member observer states: the Holy See and the State of Palestine.