Document required for 16 year old to cruise to Caribbean

[DeborahGwaltney]

I called carnival and they told me all my 16 year old daughter needs is a passport card and no other form of ID they even went and asked the big dogs on the phone but I just want to make sure that all she needs is the passport card and not the gov photo ID also..... just freaking out because our cruise leaves Saturday and all we have for her is a passport card

[shof515]

https://www.carnival.com/help/3409

passport card is fine

[canes20]

Good to go

[DeborahGwaltney]

Thank you so much for replying.!!!!!... calming down now from a small anxiety attack😬😓

[coevan]

14 hours ago, shof515 said:

https://www.carnival.com/help/3409

passport card is fine

  no it's not if you need to fly anywhere out of the U.S., however a birth certificate and picture ID would be acceptable. Passport cards have limited use.

Edited September 16, 2019 by coevan

[DeborahGwaltney]

We are not flying at all just cruising 

[coevan]

if, god forbid, something happens to you or a loved one at home and you had to leave the ship, you would need a passport to fly home from a foreign port, stuff happens

[Joseph2017China]

15 hours ago, DeborahGwaltney said:

I called carnival and they told me all my 16 year old daughter needs is a passport card and no other form of ID they even went and asked the big dogs on the phone but I just want to make sure that all she needs is the passport card and not the gov photo ID also..... just freaking out because our cruise leaves Saturday and all we have for her is a passport card

The passport card is a passport, and is a government ID!  Anything else is a lesser item.  Example, a passport is better than a DL and birth certificate.  Ignore all the "world will end if you need to fly home" people. 

[sparks1093]

1 hour ago, coevan said:

if, god forbid, something happens to you or a loved one at home and you had to leave the ship, you would need a passport to fly home from a foreign port, stuff happens

And the risk of that happening for most people is very low. And the regulations allow for the waiver of the passport requirement for emergencies and for humanitarian reasons. Since the OP's daughter already has one they might as well use it.

 

OP, as stated the passport card is a government issued ID and proves both citizenship and identity in one document.

[jlabs03]

43 minutes ago, Joseph2017China said:

The passport card is a passport, and is a government ID!  Anything else is a lesser item.  Example, a passport is better than a DL and birth certificate.  Ignore all the "world will end if you need to fly home" people. 

The passport card is only valid for land and sea entries into and out of Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda, so it will not work if you have to fly from one of these countries. However, as others have stated the number of people that have to fly back is pretty low. 

 

[DeborahGwaltney]

Thank you so much for your reply’s .... I’m only trying to figure out if she can board the ship to the Caribbean w just the one passport card and nothing else .... I believe y’all have answered my question... thank you again😊

[coevan]

2 hours ago, Joseph2017China said:

The passport card is a passport,

 

 

No it's not, even though it is rare, we would never leave U.S. soil without a passport. Sparks, I understand how you feel and you do not travel internationally which is fine. We travel out of the country by air at least twice a year. We love land trips to the Caribbean as well as cruising and a passport card is not getting you on a plane to the Caribbean 

[mrpayroll]

The question was..is a passport card all that is needed to CRUISE. Answer is yes. Didn't ask about flying anywhere. 

[coevan]

you don't have to capitalize, I was specifically referring to JosephChina who said they were the same, they clearly are not the same. Personally for security and ease of traveling $15 a year is a bargain. 

[Elaine5715]

5 hours ago, Joseph2017China said:

The passport card is a passport, and is a government ID!  Anything else is a lesser item.  Example, a passport is better than a DL and birth certificate.  Ignore all the "world will end if you need to fly home" people. 

 

4 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

And the risk of that happening for most people is very low. And the regulations allow for the waiver of the passport requirement for emergencies and for humanitarian reasons. Since the OP's daughter already has one they might as well use it.

 

OP, as stated the passport card is a government issued ID and proves both citizenship and identity in one document.

[coevan]

exactly what I said

[BearPenn2010]

I use my Passport card for All Cruises...

 

[Joseph2017China]

1 hour ago, coevan said:

you don't have to capitalize, I was specifically referring to JosephChina who said they were the same, they clearly are not the same. Personally for security and ease of traveling $15 a year is a bargain. 

I never said they were the same.  I did say the card is a passport because it is.  Just because it has restrictions does not change that.  Poster is not worried about the .0000001% of people that need it for an emergency.   

[Susan in Maine]

23 hours ago, DeborahGwaltney said:

I called carnival and they told me all my 16 year old daughter needs is a passport card and no other form of ID they even went and asked the big dogs on the phone but I just want to make sure that all she needs is the passport card and not the gov photo ID also..... just freaking out because our cruise leaves Saturday and all we have for her is a passport card

 

To put this succinctly: Your daughter can certainly cruise with her passport card. In the exceedingly remote chance that she has to fly back from one of your ports of call, she may have a problem. 

 

I wouldn't be concerned if it were my daughter.

 

BTW - unless you travel out of the country frequently, a passport card makes more sense for someone 16 or under. Passports issued for them are only good for 5 years. Over 16 the passport is good for 10 years.

[sparks1093]

13 hours ago, coevan said:

 

 

No it's not, even though it is rare, we would never leave U.S. soil without a passport. Sparks, I understand how you feel and you do not travel internationally which is fine. We travel out of the country by air at least twice a year. We love land trips to the Caribbean as well as cruising and a passport card is not getting you on a plane to the Caribbean 

Oh, we do travel internationally. It used to be limited to by car and by ship but we now travel internationally by air (currently planning a trip to Germany). Our travel needs changed and when they changed we obtained passports. I'm not saying that a passport card will get you on a plane to the Caribbean, I'm saying that it won't prevent you from returning home by air from the Caribbean in an emergency.

Edited September 17, 2019 by sparks1093

[sparks1093]

11 hours ago, Elaine5715 said:

 

And that doesn't apply in the case of an emergency when the requirement for a passport can be waived.

[Elaine5715]

4 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

And that doesn't apply in the case of an emergency when the requirement for a passport can be waived.

Case of emergency is not a cruiser who had a medical emergency and had ignored recommendations to carry a passport book.  

[Elaine5715]

4 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

Oh, we do travel internationally. It used to be limited to by car and by ship but we now travel internationally by air (currently planning a trip to Germany). Our travel needs changed and when they changed we obtained passports. I'm not saying that a passport card will get you on a plane to the Caribbean, I'm saying that it won't prevent you from returning home by air from the Caribbean in an emergency.

It sure will help you obtain an actual passport so you can return by air.  

[sparks1093]

14 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:

Case of emergency is not a cruiser who had a medical emergency and had ignored recommendations to carry a passport book.  

It certainly is, a recommendation is just that- a recommendation. DHS and the State Department are not in the business of punishing people in such situations, they are in the business of getting US citizens home as expeditiously as possible under the circumstances. 

[sparks1093]

15 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:

It sure will help you obtain an actual passport so you can return by air.  

Yes, it certainly will aid in that effort, but again, the passport requirement may be waived by the authorities. I've read of it happening at least twice, both times from ports without a State Department presence.