Cruising without a passport? Read this first.

[broberts]

47 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

...

If the passport costs almost 1/2 the cruise fare, it must be a very short cruise.

 

With Nassau as the midpoint and being a closed loop cruise with RCI it was most likely a 2 - 3 day cruise.

 

[OzKiwiJJ]

On 12/19/2018 at 10:19 AM, Velvetwater said:

 

However I also struggle to see why US (and possibly Oz also) closed loop cruises allow passengers on without passports. We read so many document and incident things it would be easier to just have a blanket passport policy like the rest of the world.

 

 

The only Australian cruises that allow you to board without a passport are ones that only visit other Australian ports, e.g. Sydney to Tasmania return, and there is very little risk in that case.  Australia is far enough from most other countries that in an emergency an Australian port would always be closest.

 

If the ship visits even one overseas port you must have a passport. 

Edited December 20, 2018 by OzKiwiJJ

[John Bull]

5 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

 

What is unrealistic is the attitude of people who will travel on a shoestring- not wanting to pay for passport or medical insurance.

 

5 hours ago, Kingofcool1947 said:

Are you suggesting that this was the case with these two PAXs?

 

Err, yes, I guess he is.

Same as probably everybody else who's read the thread and the link.

 

And, as per other responses, I''ll add the unrealistic attitude of travelling without cash / credit reserves for such an emergency.

 

Mebbe you need to take the time to read through.

 

JB 

 

Edited December 20, 2018 by John Bull

[sparks1093]

7 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

 

What is unrealistic is the attitude of people who will travel on a shoestring- not wanting to pay for passport or medical insurance.  Sure, I am sorry for them - but they would be better off if cruising were not so cheap - and that government regulations were so lax.   

People traveled on a shoestring before cruises were cheap, it's a fact of life. The regulations are not lax at all, the purpose of presenting a passport is to ensure that the person standing in front of the CBP officer is a citizen of the country they claim to be. Since they have the luxury of time with cruise ship passengers they can properly vet the passengers during the cruise. They also recognized that a US citizen on a closed loop cruise presents a very low risk to the national security. What are the odds that someone is going to sneak into the country in order to do harm, just to sneak out of the country for vacation only to have to sneak into the country again a few days later? I know that when we started cruising we were traveling on a shoestring and I made sure to mitigate as much risk as I could and it didn't take me long at all to see the value of good travel insurance.

[sparks1093]

8 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

Similar to LHT28, I have also had at least 1 passport since the early 70's. Having used passports for over 45 years, I certainly don't consider it odd, in fact, departing country of residence, it is just automatic to take both passports.

 

Personally, I consider the passport expenses a cost of travelling the world. I maintain 2 passports and over the 10 years of validity, I generally recoup the cost of both of them, by savings on Visas, by using 1 or the other.

 

If the passport costs almost 1/2 the cruise fare, it must be a very short cruise.

For my family passports would have set us back in the neighborhood of $850 and the cruise was about $1400. Yes, it was a 4 day cruise. Yes the cost of a passport is a cost of traveling the world, but many people don't have that option. I know that when we started cruising that we wanted to travel the world but we also knew it wasn't a possibility as long as the kids were home and we really didn't know when it would be possible. Turned out it was 6 years after we started cruising when we took our first trip to Germany in 2015.

Edited December 20, 2018 by sparks1093

[sparks1093]

12 hours ago, Velvetwater said:

As I said I understand the financial and various reasons why US folk may not have a passport but in all seriousness...the fact that one can leave their country (or country zone group) without a passport appears odd to the rest of the world. 

 

The US should have the same passport rules for everywhere else...including for cruises. A US passport is a comparable price to the UK and well worth it. Passports make travelling simple and even though I get the geography of US holiday habits you would hope a regular cruiser would invest in one.

 

Also...

 

Surely it is possible to buy holiday insurance/holiday medical insurance in the US? My husband has T1 diabetes (although we are young and healthy otherwise)and our insurance for a cruise inc medical came to around Oz/Asian 3 week cruise holiday cost us £70 which is around $95.

Yes we can buy travel insurance in the US although many make the decision to self insure. There decision doesn't impact me at all. As I understand it within the European Union one doesn't need a passport to travel between countries so I don't think it's odd at all. For non-US citizens the US does have the same passport rules as everywhere else- you need a passport to enter the US. For US citizens there are less expensive alternatives available under certain circumstances, including for someone on a closed loop cruise. I live 8 miles from the border with Canada and pre-9/11 I could re-enter the US based on my verbal declaration of citizenship. Now I need to produce a passport, passport card or Enhanced Drivers License to make the same crossing. Many people in my community cross that border frequently and it's the only travel they will ever do, so for them buying a passport makes no sense at all since less expensive alternatives exist.

[John Bull]

1 hour ago, sparks1093 said:

As I understand it within the European Union one doesn't need a passport to travel between countries so I don't think it's odd at all.

 

Just a quick clarification on that......

 

Most European countries are in the "Schengen" open-borders scheme -  including countries not in the EU,  but not including the UK or Ireland which are EU members. So UK citizens need their passports to travel to anywhere in Europe. 

 

Citizens of Schengen countries are supposed to carry their passport or ID card when travelling into other Schengen countries, but except in exceptional circumstances neither they nor anyone else is required to show them at internal borders.

That requirement, plus countries being much smaller and closer together than the US, means that the majority of Brits & other Europeans have passports or passport cards.

 

Without getting mired into politics I see Schengen as a step toward a "United States of Europe" - which is a major factor in the majority of Brits voting to leave the EU.

JB 

Edited December 20, 2018 by John Bull

[John Bull]

4 minutes ago, John Bull said:

Oooops, sorry.

Deleted double post 

JB 

 

Edited December 20, 2018 by John Bull

[sparks1093]

41 minutes ago, John Bull said:

 

Just a quick clarification on that......

 

Most European countries are in the "Schengen" open-borders scheme -  including countries not in the EU,  but not including the UK or Ireland which are EU members. So UK citizens need their passports to travel to anywhere in Europe. 

 

Citizens of Schengen countries are supposed to carry their passport or ID card when travelling into other Schengen countries, but except in exceptional circumstances neither they nor anyone else is required to show them at internal borders.

That requirement, plus countries being much smaller and closer together than the US, means that the majority of Brits & other Europeans have passports or passport cards.

 

Without getting mired into politics I see Schengen as a step toward a "United States of Europe" - which is a major factor in the majority of Brits voting to leave the EU.

JB 

But it is possible for citizens of those countries to travel without a passport, very similar to what is allowed for US citizens traveling to Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and the Caribbean. Yes, they may have a passport but there is an alternative available should they choose to use it.

[pacruise804]

On 12/19/2018 at 9:46 AM, navybankerteacher said:

 

Which still means that you should not travel overseas without sufficient cash and/or available credit to cover such expenses.

 

As the ever expanding cruise industry attracts more and more budget-minded travelers,  we are likely to see more people who travel on a shoe string - with no reserves or options to cover unanticipated expenses.

 

I'm budget-minded, which is exactly what allows me to cruise.  Having a plan for your limited resources and knowing ahead of time if you can afford to use them for discretionary travel is not the problem.  Non-budget minded travelers who don't know what their financial situation is and skimp where they should spend (insurance, passport, emergency funds) or spend where they should skimp (drinks, souvenirs, casino, etc) are those more likely to travel on a shoe string.

 

[mjkacmom]

I still don’t think it’s worth it to pay for a passport if you are just going to use it for a 3 day closed loop cruise, but trip insurance is necessary, because even if the odds are low, you be left with a financial disaster if things go wrong, worth the money.

[Velvetwater]

A US passport costs you  around $110-$200 right? (Depending on speed and delivery and if it is your first etc)

 

A passport lasts you 10 years.

 

Thats $11-20 per year for easy peasy travel and less fuss over other documents with the freedom to go further afield should the opportunity arise. If you already own a passport then it encourages you to book more adventurous holidays. If you leave buying one off it makes travelling feel more like a uphill battle which it need not be.

 

Seems a worthy investment to me and I am by no means rich.

Edited December 20, 2018 by Velvetwater

[K32682]

21 hours ago, Kingofcool1947 said:

For heavens sake.  What a cruel and callous thing to say about the two women. 

Grow up. The world is occasionally a cruel and callous place and the two women in the article were evidently not equipped to deal with it.  The rest of us however should be capable of getting ourselves home without needing a Go Fund Me campaign or a panicked trip to the Embassy.  

Edited December 20, 2018 by K32682

[Kingofcool1947]

 

13 minutes ago, K32682 said:

Grow up. The world is occasionally a cruel and callous place and the two women in the article were evidently not equipped to deal with it.  The rest of us however should be capable of getting ourselves home without needing a Go Fund Me campaign or a panicked trip to the Embassy.  

And you are rude.  Speak for yourself and not for others.   You need to grow up.

Merry Christmas.

Edited December 20, 2018 by Kingofcool1947

[sparks1093]

22 minutes ago, Velvetwater said:

A US passport costs you  around $110-$200 right? (Depending on speed and delivery and if it is your first etc)

 

A passport lasts you 10 years.

 

Thats $11-20 per year for easy peasy travel and less fuss over other documents with the freedom to go further afield should the opportunity arise. If you already own a passport then it encourages you to book more adventurous holidays. If you leave buying one off it makes travelling feel more like a uphill battle which it need not be.

 

Seems a worthy investment to me and I am by no means rich.

It's only a worthy investment if you are able to actually use it, otherwise it's an expensive geegaw. Had we gotten a passport when we first started cruising we would have lost 6 years of validity on it by the time we started traveling in a manner that actually required one. And you can do all sorts of mathematical tricks you'd like it's due and payable right up front and as I said for my family that was $850. The passports for DW and myself cost a little over $300 and while I'm more financially secure now than I've ever been and $300 isn't such a big deal I don't spend $300 if I don't have to spend $300 on something that I don't need.

Edited December 20, 2018 by sparks1093

[dreadpirate3]

It's resolved for them as their friend has raised $11K and as soon as they get their temporary passports, they will be traveling back to the US.

 

As for us, even with some medical coverage internationally, I get trip insurance for every cruise. We also use passports to travel, as they are more convenient than lugging around birth certificates, marriage license, and a photo ID.

 

As far as ability to afford a passport, someone on complete disability is not going to be able to work or to pay for a passport. Basic life needs are covered and little else.

 

 

Edited December 20, 2018 by dreadpirate3

[mjkacmom]

17 minutes ago, Velvetwater said:

A US passport costs you  around $110-$200 right? (Depending on speed and delivery and if it is your first etc)

 

A passport lasts you 10 years.

 

Thats $11-20 per year for easy peasy travel and less fuss over other documents with the freedom to go further afield should the opportunity arise. If you already own a passport then it encourages you to book more adventurous holidays. If you leave buying one off it makes travelling feel more like a uphill battle which it need not be.

 

Seems a worthy investment to me and I am by no means rich.

And I have a passport. However, if a couple on a fixed income can’t afford to travel, it’s a waste of money. I doubt a couple who has no funds to fly themselves home from the Bahamas is ever going to able to afford overseas travel, living on disability.

[K32682]

2 minutes ago, Kingofcool1947 said:

 

And you are rude.  Speak for yourself and not for others.   You need to grow up.

Hope you have a Merry Christmas.

LOL. Better to be a little rude than stuck on an island broke with no passport depending on the kindness of strangers and standing in an Embassy line to get home.

 

Incidentally, I do not celebrate Christmas.  Not my religion.  It's quite presumptuous of you to think it was.  Some might even call it rude. 

[Kingofcool1947]

3 minutes ago, K32682 said:

LOL. Better to be a little rude than stuck on an island broke with no passport depending on the kindness of strangers and standing in an Embassy line to get home.

 

Incidentally, I do not celebrate Christmas.  Not my religion.  It's quite presumptuous of you to think it was.  Some might even call it rude. 

Whatever.   How about “have a nice life”?.  I presume you have one.   LOL. 

Edited December 20, 2018 by Kingofcool1947

[marion10]

If you were an American citizen and in the hospital and unable to get to an embassy or consulate- the Department of State can arrange for someone to go to the hospital and issue you an emergency passport.

 

In rare cases, they can loan you the money- but you will have to repay.

 

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/emergencies/emergency-financial-assistance.html

 

[Kingofcool1947]

1 minute ago, marion10 said:

If you were an American citizen and in the hospital and unable to get to an embassy or consulate- the Department of State can arrange for someone to go to the hospital and issue you an emergency passport.

 

In rare cases, they can loan you the money- but you will have to repay.

 

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/emergencies/emergency-financial-assistance.html

 

 

Good to know.  

Thanks.

[marion10]

One of the things that goes in my travel papers is the address and phone of nearest American consulate or embassy wherever I am going.

[LDVinNC]

4 minutes ago, marion10 said:

One of the things that goes in my travel papers is the address and phone of nearest American consulate or embassy wherever I am going.

An excellent idea, one I had not thought of!

[navybankerteacher]

2 hours ago, LDVinNC said:

An excellent idea, one I had not thought of!

 

2 hours ago, marion10 said:

One of the things that goes in my travel papers is the address and phone of nearest American consulate or embassy wherever I am going.

 

Of course, the many US cruisers who visit the Caribbean often find themselves on islands with no US consulate or embassy. 

[navybankerteacher]

3 hours ago, Kingofcool1947 said:

Whatever.   How about “have a nice life”?.  I presume you have one.   LOL. 

 

Don’t poke him.