Another closed loop cruise Question Ft Lauderdale > Cozumel> back

[nadinenurse1]

 And YES the baby in the photos is staying home..... 👍🐍Just like the other question, family going on Feb 13 Independence to Cozumel and back, so that is a closed loop cruise,  6 kids 26 - 28  getting off the boat renting RTV’s etc. (yes, I and hubby are staying ON the boat, LOL). Do we need passports... I hate to ask a similar question, but it would be lovely for the poor kids did not have spend the extra. $ ,  they will never use a passport again  They all work so hard , and of course, have bills beyond belief,  I am paying for their cruise, they are really good kids, I am blessed....Thank you friends....

Edited August 19, 2019 by nadinenurse1
Forgot datA

[Clarea]

If you are all natural born US citizens, then all you need is a certified copy of your birth certificate and a government issued photo ID.

[nadinenurse1]

OMG. You made my day and their’s  , my 2 “adopted “ sons never did anything w their family, kinda grew up at my house , not a good upbringing for them , terribly sad, they have NEVER been on a vacation, ever, It makes my heart hurt,  the first time they went to a upscale restaurant was when I took them with my biological family...last year , it was like the scene with pretty woman where she said that is the fork I knew...  anyway enough emotional grief...this is wonderful. Thank you again....

[Clarea]

Just now, nadinenurse1 said:

OMG. You made my day and their’s  , my 2 “adopted “ sons never did anything w their family, kinda grew up at my house , not a good upbringing for them , terribly sad, they have NEVER been on a vacation, ever, It makes my heart hurt,  the first time they went to a upscale restaurant was when I took them with my biological family...last year , it was like the scene with pretty woman where she said that is the fork I knew...  anyway enough emotional grief...this is wonderful. Thank you again....

 

No problem.

 

Maybe this is obvious, but the names on the certified birth certificates have to match the names on the cruise bookings and the names on the government issued photo IDs.  It would be good to confirm this before you show up at the pier.

[nadinenurse1]

I def DEF will , thank you a million 👏🏻

[dthogue]

Need them no, but it is always a good idea to have.  If something happens on the island or you miss the ship, it will be costly (not to mention difficult) to get home without a passport.

[sparks1093]

54 minutes ago, dthogue said:

Need them no, but it is always a good idea to have.  If something happens on the island or you miss the ship, it will be costly (not to mention difficult) to get home without a passport.

There will be delay but the regulations do allow the passport requirement to be waived for emergencies and for humanitarian reasons. Traveling on a closed loop cruise for most people is a very low risk activity so it's up to each one to determine their own risk level (some do have higher risk factors) and their own comfort level in accepting that risk. 

[mayleeman]

@nadinenurse1  I know a number of people who never expected to use their passports again. I cannot imagine, though, how anyone in their 20's could ever "know" they never will. If an opportunity quickly came up for a flight somewhere, it seems a shame to decide now that they would never go. I know, for example, people who were offered free flights to attend an island wedding about 3 weeks away. 

 

I would also consider that, in this era of more contention at the borders of many countries, new passport requirements could well be added to many Caribbean destinations in the 10 years new passports would be valid. And fees may seem cheap now compared to what they might be later.

 

Finally, as mention above, if there is a need to fly home from the cruise (either for an emergency or due to excursion delays), a passport would be quite helpful. Yes, they can be obtained from a local US consulate, but the hassle and delays would likely far outweigh any benefit of not having one. 

 

I actually think people who travel without access to a lot of financial reserves have more of a reason, not less, to lower their exposure to unexpected risk. If you cannot afford to budget for passports half a year before a cruise, how will you afford it if necessary then? 

 

But, admittedly, we are "better safe than sorry" people, and lots of other people here no doubt think we are nuts.

 

I hope you all have fun and that things go smoothly! And that they appreciate what you are doing for them!

[karena1]

In Cozumel, all you need to take off the ship with you is your SeaPass card and Drivers License.  We have never had them ask to see our license, but they may need it if they are going to rent RTVs

 

But to get on the ship - a certified "raised seal" birth certificate and Driver's License is all they absolutely need.  Names need to match so if there is a name change due to marriage or something, they need to take proof of why the name on the birth cert is not the same as the name on the DL.

[sparks1093]

19 minutes ago, mayleeman said:

@nadinenurse1  I know a number of people who never expected to use their passports again. I cannot imagine, though, how anyone in their 20's could ever "know" they never will. If an opportunity quickly came up for a flight somewhere, it seems a shame to decide now that they would never go. I know, for example, people who were offered free flights to attend an island wedding about 3 weeks away. 

 

I would also consider that, in this era of more contention at the borders of many countries, new passport requirements could well be added to many Caribbean destinations in the 10 years new passports would be valid. And fees may seem cheap now compared to what they might be later.

 

Finally, as mention above, if there is a need to fly home from the cruise (either for an emergency or due to excursion delays), a passport would be quite helpful. Yes, they can be obtained from a local US consulate, but the hassle and delays would likely far outweigh any benefit of not having one. 

 

I actually think people who travel without access to a lot of financial reserves have more of a reason, not less, to lower their exposure to unexpected risk. If you cannot afford to budget for passports half a year before a cruise, how will you afford it if necessary then? 

 

But, admittedly, we are "better safe than sorry" people, and lots of other people here no doubt think we are nuts.

 

I hope you all have fun and that things go smoothly! And that they appreciate what you are doing for them!

My son obtained his passport just before he went off to college "just in case". Never got the chance to use it and likely won't now that he's a married man with one child and another on the way (and a bunch of student loan debt besides). Yes, there are some people who have trips drop into their lap last second but many of us just can't take advantage of them because of other responsibilities. Even now when DW and I are empty nesters trips are planned out well in advance. Personally I'm not one who is likely to pay money now to maybe avoid paying more down the road. We aren't talking contentious border crossing here, we are talking tourist travel to what amounts to be our back yard. I definitely don't think that you are nuts, you are doing things that make the most sense for you and yours and there is nothing wrong with that at all. I know that when we started cruising it would have cost us $850 for passports for the family for a 4 day cruise. While it would have been tight to come up with that as you point out we could have done it by proper budgeting but since it wasn't a necessary expense I didn't see the need to spend the money.  

[waterbug123]

15 hours ago, karena1 said:

But to get on the ship - a certified "raised seal" birth certificate and Driver's License is all they absolutely need.  N

 

Please don't use the term "raised seal" birth certificate.  Not all states issue BCs with a raised seal.  Some use a water mark or a stamp or something like that, and if that's the case those BCs are just as official/certified as those from states that use a raised seal.