Identification for boarding

[Elaine5715]

6 hours ago, coevan said:

because of the money, no other logical reason.

As my dad would say, "people stepping over a dime to pick up a  nickel"

[DryCreek]

1 hour ago, Elaine5715 said:

As my dad would say, "people stepping over a dime to pick up a  nickel"

Maybe he meant "paying a dime to pick up a nickel"?

If it's not required to have a passport, then I certainly can't justify the cost for one if you are an average family of four, and taking your first (and maybe last) 5 day cruise.

If you are a regular overseas traveler, or cruise frequently, then maybe paying for a passport, or passport card makes more sense.

Average family of four:

2 adults, cost is $145 each for passport books.

2 children under 16, $115 each for passport books.

Total cost for four passports is US$520.

Of course you could save some and just get the passport cards, but you'd have the same issue if needing to fly home (although an expedited passport book/waiver would be provided more quickly at a consulate).

How much would a 5-day cruise (assuming inside cabin) cost the first time cruising family?  Would the cost of passports be about half of the cost of the cruise?

It's easy to spend other peoples money for them.

[Elaine5715]

34 minutes ago, DryCreek said:

Maybe he meant "paying a dime to pick up a nickel"?

If it's not required to have a passport, then I certainly can't justify the cost for one if you are an average family of four, and taking your first (and maybe last) 5 day cruise.

If you are a regular overseas traveler, or cruise frequently, then maybe paying for a passport, or passport card makes more sense.

Average family of four:

2 adults, cost is $145 each for passport books.

2 children under 16, $115 each for passport books.

Total cost for four passports is US$520.

Of course you could save some and just get the passport cards, but you'd have the same issue if needing to fly home (although an expedited passport book/waiver would be provided more quickly at a consulate).

How much would a 5-day cruise (assuming inside cabin) cost the first time cruising family?  Would the cost of passports be about half of the cost of the cruise?

It's easy to spend other peoples money for them.

How much would multiple nights in a foreign city, airfare and emergency passport (good for one use) cost?

[DryCreek]

2 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:

How much would multiple nights in a foreign city, airfare and emergency passport (good for one use) cost?

About as much as buying a spare tire for the bus you're not riding on, I guess.

I'm not saying that you wouldn't be taking a gamble on that unplanned expense, but come on - other than the drunk pier runners, how many times have you seen where a large group, or maybe an entire family on a Carnival-booked shore excursion was stranded?

Why would you buy a spare tire if you don't plant to ride the bus?  If you are a family that is in good health, can read your watch and know what time the vessels gets underway, act responsibly, what are your REAL chances of needing to fly back home?

I could also have a chartered jet on standby any time I travel should an unplanned issue arise.

I'll take my chances though.

[lobster1313]

19 minutes ago, DryCreek said:

About as much as buying a spare tire for the bus you're not riding on, I guess.

I'm not saying that you wouldn't be taking a gamble on that unplanned expense, but come on - other than the drunk pier runners, how many times have you seen where a large group, or maybe an entire family on a Carnival-booked shore excursion was stranded?

Why would you buy a spare tire if you don't plant to ride the bus?  If you are a family that is in good health, can read your watch and know what time the vessels gets underway, act responsibly, what are your REAL chances of needing to fly back home?

I could also have a chartered jet on standby any time I travel should an unplanned issue arise.

I'll take my chances 

You could but most people can't charter a flight.  Medical emergencies happen and most people would rather get on the next flight instead of waiting days to get an emergency passport issued.  The other risk without a passport is that security procedures can change at anytime and ports that didn't require passports might suddenly without notice.

Edited October 21, 2019 by regoodwinjr

[CoolOne56]

If your itinerary includes Martinique, to get off the ship, you must have a passport - even if it's a close loop cruise.

 

U.S. Citizens do not require a Tourist Visa to enter Martinique. You will, however, need a valid passport to travel to Martinique.

[sparks1093]

7 hours ago, Elaine5715 said:

How much would multiple nights in a foreign city, airfare and emergency passport (good for one use) cost?

Better argument for good travel insurance and that is only if one actually needs to obtain an emergency passport to begin with since the requirement can be waived for emergencies or for humanitarian reasons.

[coevan]

It sounds like many people here on CC either only cruise or do not travel internationally. We take at least two land bases vacations to Mexico or the Caribbean a year. We do not have a choice and $15 a year is a bargain

[SmileEh]

23 hours ago, coevan said:

because of the money, no other logical reason.

 

How long is a US Passport good for... My CDN Passport cost me $160.00 CDN and its good for 10 years.

[Elaine5715]

7 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

Better argument for good travel insurance and that is only if one actually needs to obtain an emergency passport to begin with since the requirement can be waived for emergencies or for humanitarian reasons.

There is no waiving of humanitarian or emergergency for cruisers who fail to have a passport.  Cite one valid case that doesn't involve a tall tale posted in cc

[Elaine5715]

Just now, SmileEh said:

 

How long is a US Passport good for... My CDN Passport cost me $160.00 CDN and its good for 10 years.

Also 10 yrs for adults

[Elaine5715]

15 hours ago, DryCreek said:

About as much as buying a spare tire for the bus you're not riding on, I guess.

I'm not saying that you wouldn't be taking a gamble on that unplanned expense, but come on - other than the drunk pier runners, how many times have you seen where a large group, or maybe an entire family on a Carnival-booked shore excursion was stranded?

Why would you buy a spare tire if you don't plant to ride the bus?  If you are a family that is in good health, can read your watch and know what time the vessels gets underway, act responsibly, what are your REAL chances of needing to fly back home?

I could also have a chartered jet on standby any time I travel should an unplanned issue arise.

I'll take my chances though.

At least once a cruise, someone gets left behind not just pier runners but those who are trying to save a buck and go off on their own.  

"Good health" do you get a physical before leaving so you can be assured nothing will rear up while in vacation?  Do you encase everyone in bubble wrap in case of a fall?   

I also have house and car insurance that I don't plan on using.

[sparks1093]

18 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:

There is no waiving of humanitarian or emergergency for cruisers who fail to have a passport.  Cite one valid case that doesn't involve a tall tale posted in cc

Here's the regulations, since you only choose to believe the horror stories posted on CC and label as a "tall tale" any that don't coincide with your view. (And that waiver could be applied to any traveler, not just cruisers).

(b) A U.S. citizen is not required to bear a valid U.S. passport to enter or depart the United States:

 

(1) When traveling as a member of the Armed Forces of the United States on active duty and when he or she is in the uniform of, or bears documents identifying him or her as a member of, such Armed Forces, when under official orders or permit of such Armed Forces, and when carrying a military identification card; or

(2) When traveling entirely within the Western Hemisphere on a cruise ship, and when the U.S. citizen boards the cruise ship at a port or place within the United States and returns on the return voyage of the same cruise ship to the same United States port or place from where he or she originally departed. That U.S. citizen may present a government-issued photo identification document in combination with either an original or a copy of his or her birth certificate, a Consular Report of Birth Abroad issued by the Department, or a Certificate of Naturalization issued by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services before entering the United States; if the U.S. citizen is under the age of 16, he or she may present either an original or a copy of his or her birth certificate, a Consular Report of Birth Abroad issued by the Department, or a Certificate of Naturalization issued by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services; or

(3) When traveling as a U.S. citizen seaman, carrying an unexpired Merchant Marine Document (MMD) in conjunction with maritime business. The MMD is not sufficient to establish citizenship for purposes of issuance of a United States passport under part 51 of this chapter; or

(4) Trusted Traveler Programs. (i) NEXUS Program. When traveling as a participant in the NEXUS program, he or she may present a valid NEXUS program card when using a NEXUS Air kiosk or when entering the United States from contiguous territory or adjacent islands at a land or sea port-of-entry. A U.S. citizen who enters the United States by pleasure vessel from Canada under the remote inspection system may also present a NEXUS program card;

(ii) FAST Program. A U.S. citizen who is traveling as a participant in the FAST program may present a valid FAST card when entering the United States from contiguous territory or adjacent islands at a land or sea port-of-entry;

(iii) SENTRI Program. A U.S. citizen who is traveling as a participant in the SENTRI program may present a valid SENTRI card when entering the United States from contiguous territory or adjacent islands at a land or sea port-of-entry; The NEXUS, FAST, and SENTRI cards are not sufficient to establish citizenship for purposes of issuance of a U.S. passport under part 51 of this chapter; or

(5) When arriving at land ports of entry and sea ports of entry from contiguous territory or adjacent islands, Native American holders of American Indian Cards (Form I-872) issued by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) may present those cards; or

(6) When arriving at land or sea ports of entry from contiguous territory or adjacent islands, U.S. citizen holders of a tribal document issued by a United States qualifying tribal entity or group of United States qualifying tribal entities as provided in 8 CFR 235.1(e) may present that document. Tribal documents are not sufficient to establish citizenship for purposes of issuance of a United States passport under part 51 of this chapter; or

(7) When bearing documents or combinations of documents the Secretary of Homeland Security has determined under Section 7209(b) of Public Law 108-458 (8 U.S.C. 1185 note) are sufficient to denote identity and citizenship. Such documents are not sufficient to establish citizenship for purposes of issuance of a U.S. passport under part 51 of this chapter; or

(8) When the U.S. citizen is employed directly or indirectly on the construction, operation, or maintenance of works undertaken in accordance with the treaty concluded on February 3, 1944, between the United States and Mexico regarding the functions of the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC), TS 994, 9 Bevans 1166, 59 Stat. 1219, or other related agreements, provided that the U.S. citizen bears an official identification card issued by the IBWC and is traveling in connection with such employment; or Start Printed Page 18420

(9) When the Department of State waives, pursuant to EO 13323 of December 30, 2003, Section 2, the requirement with respect to the U.S. citizen because there is an unforeseen emergency; or

(10) When the Department of State waives, pursuant to EO 13323 of December 30, 2003, Sec 2, the requirement with respect to the U.S. citizen for humanitarian or national interest reasons

[BallFour4]

39 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:

There is no waiving of humanitarian or emergergency for cruisers who fail to have a passport.  Cite one valid case that doesn't involve a tall tale posted in cc

 My preface is we are on our second passport. We also travel international via air and cruises so for us it makes sense.

  What might not make sense is a family of four, first cruise or a cruise every few years from lets say Galveston where they drive to the port. For them the costs of passports that aren't required are a big budget item.
  December 2018, Carnival Valor, a couple without passports assigned to our dinner table received a call about her father passing away that day. Carnival had the shore agent meet them at the pier in Cozumel and they were headed home to Houston before the ship sailed for home. That's the second time we have experienced that in the past two or three years with people we know or have met aboard.
  Sensationalism is telling someone "it takes days" or "you are stranded and can't get home."

  We've cruised thirty-six times from Galveston alone, and the No Passport line is always large at debark. At some point a few of those families had a medical or family emergency and they got home. I'm 5'11" or not that tall.

 .

Edited October 21, 2019 by BallFour4

[sparks1093]

31 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:

At least once a cruise, someone gets left behind not just pier runners but those who are trying to save a buck and go off on their own.  

"Good health" do you get a physical before leaving so you can be assured nothing will rear up while in vacation?  Do you encase everyone in bubble wrap in case of a fall?   

I also have house and car insurance that I don't plan on using.

You are required to have the house and car insurance, for a closed loop cruise you aren't required to have a passport. Whether it's advisable or not to have a passport is a different question and that depends on each person's personal risk factors and their tolerance for that risk. 

[BallFour4]

17 minutes ago, sparks1093 said:

(9) When the Department of State waives, pursuant to EO 13323 of December 30, 2003, Section 2, the requirement with respect to the U.S. citizen because there is an unforeseen emergency; or

 

(10) When the Department of State waives, pursuant to EO 13323 of December 30, 2003, Sec 2, the requirement with respect to the U.S. citizen for humanitarian or national interest reasons

And we've seen it happen twice.

.

[sparks1093]

2 hours ago, coevan said:

It sounds like many people here on CC either only cruise or do not travel internationally. We take at least two land bases vacations to Mexico or the Caribbean a year. We do not have a choice and $15 a year is a bargain

Everyone's travel patterns and needs are different. In the community that I live in there are a great number of people whose only international travel is going to be crossing into Canada and most of them have opted for either the passport card or the EDL instead of a full passport book. We have others in the community whose only travel is via closed loop cruise and they use either birth certificate/Government issued ID or passport card or EDL (this is the category we used to fit into). And we have others who do travel internationally by air and they have full passport books (the category we now fit into). Each group is using the documentation that works best for their needs. 

[biomedbob]

I working on my 6th passport.  A small investment for large peace of mind!

[coevan]

6 hours ago, Elaine5715 said:

At least once a cruise, someone gets left behind not just pier runners but those who are trying to save a buck and go off on their own.  

Elaine, you know this is not even close to true, another CC myth

[DryCreek]

6 hours ago, BallFour4 said:

 My preface is we are on our second passport. We also travel international via air and cruises so for us it makes sense.

  What might not make sense is a family of four, first cruise or a cruise every few years from lets say Galveston where they drive to the port. For them the costs of passports that aren't required are a big budget item.
 

And this was exactly the point I was trying to make.  How many family cruisers are the once-and-done type?  Just another thing to cross off of your bucket list.

To be honest, cruising was not on our radar after our 2010 cruise.  But, we had a gazillion reward points from our credit card, and the DW wanted me to get them used before they expired.  Well, due to the funky airline schedules these days, it was just about impossible to get a flight during decent hours round trip from ACT-HON using our ScoreCards rewards points.  Due to a quirk in their travel section, they actually made it easier for us to book a cruise than to book a flight to a destination we preferred.  So, we are going on a 7-day cruise on the Vista in mid-February.

We are not globetrotters (had enough of the rest of the world while in the USN), so the passport card would have done everything we needed (border crossing Mexico, Canada).  But, due to me misinterpreting the rules, I went ahead and renewed both our passport books and cards (belt and suspenders).  It's no big deal to me, I can easily afford that expense.  But, earlier this year my boss, his wife, and three children wanted to hop over into Canada while on their big vacation trip to Vermont.  Due to the cost of getting adult passport cards for his entire family, he had to forego that part of their dream trip.  Travel document costs do add up, and I guess that some here have a hard time conceptualizing that fact.

[sparks1093]

11 hours ago, DryCreek said:

And this was exactly the point I was trying to make.  How many family cruisers are the once-and-done type?  Just another thing to cross off of your bucket list.

To be honest, cruising was not on our radar after our 2010 cruise.  But, we had a gazillion reward points from our credit card, and the DW wanted me to get them used before they expired.  Well, due to the funky airline schedules these days, it was just about impossible to get a flight during decent hours round trip from ACT-HON using our ScoreCards rewards points.  Due to a quirk in their travel section, they actually made it easier for us to book a cruise than to book a flight to a destination we preferred.  So, we are going on a 7-day cruise on the Vista in mid-February.

We are not globetrotters (had enough of the rest of the world while in the USN), so the passport card would have done everything we needed (border crossing Mexico, Canada).  But, due to me misinterpreting the rules, I went ahead and renewed both our passport books and cards (belt and suspenders).  It's no big deal to me, I can easily afford that expense.  But, earlier this year my boss, his wife, and three children wanted to hop over into Canada while on their big vacation trip to Vermont.  Due to the cost of getting adult passport cards for his entire family, he had to forego that part of their dream trip.  Travel document costs do add up, and I guess that some here have a hard time conceptualizing that fact.

And it can also work the other way. A while ago a friend of mine was planning a trip to Disney in Florida for her family of 4. After checking airfare out of Montreal she realized that she saved enough to warrant purchasing passports for the family and was still able to save a substantial amount over and above that versus flying to Florida from any of the airports in the northeast (and her family had no immediate plans for any international travel). I don't mention this often because it has limited use for most US citizens, but it does emphasize that every travel scenario can be different. (We always check flights out of Montreal but usually they are for our trips to Germany. We have been able to save a few hundred for flights to US destinations as well.)

[buckeyefrank]

21 hours ago, coevan said:

It sounds like many people here on CC either only cruise or do not travel internationally. We take at least two land bases vacations to Mexico or the Caribbean a year. We do not have a choice and $15 a year is a bargain

it's not $15 a year, it's a one time investment for $150 for EACH person on the cruise.  For those people that go on one cruise, years 2-10 they would get no benefit.  The only way that analysis remotely makes sense is if you cruise at least once a year.  Otherwise you lose the $15 that year.    Wonder if you could apply for a refund since you didn't use it that year... hmmm

[buckeyefrank]

20 hours ago, Elaine5715 said:

There is no waiving of humanitarian or emergergency for cruisers who fail to have a passport.  Cite one valid case that doesn't involve a tall tale posted in cc

That is total bull and you know it.  The United State CANNOT refuse entry for a valid US citizen.  It may take longer but that's the breaks.  You don't think there are situations where people have lost their passports / birth certificates / DL while on the cruise.  I'm sure it happens all the time.  In fact, if you show up at a US border with zero information, they are required to work with you to establish you identify and allow you access once your citizenship is established.

[buckeyefrank]

20 hours ago, BallFour4 said:

 My preface is we are on our second passport. We also travel international via air and cruises so for us it makes sense.

  What might not make sense is a family of four, first cruise or a cruise every few years from lets say Galveston where they drive to the port. For them the costs of passports that aren't required are a big budget item.
  December 2018, Carnival Valor, a couple without passports assigned to our dinner table received a call about her father passing away that day. Carnival had the shore agent meet them at the pier in Cozumel and they were headed home to Houston before the ship sailed for home. That's the second time we have experienced that in the past two or three years with people we know or have met aboard.
  Sensationalism is telling someone "it takes days" or "you are stranded and can't get home."

  We've cruised thirty-six times from Galveston alone, and the No Passport line is always large at debark. At some point a few of those families had a medical or family emergency and they got home. I'm 5'11" or not that tall.

 .

I've been on 9 cruises at 7 different ports and never have seen a "no passport' line to disembark.  All lines are the same and we've never been delayed because we have a DL / BC.

[buckeyefrank]

On 10/20/2019 at 9:38 PM, Elaine5715 said:

How much would multiple nights in a foreign city, airfare and emergency passport (good for one use) cost?

Let's assume 2 nights in a foreign city, but the emergency passport will likely not cost anything and the airfare will be the same regardless if you have a passport or not.  The only additional cost would likely be the cost of a couple nights hotel, roughly $250 - $500.... still less than the cost of the passports.