Identification for boarding

[sparks1093]

Just now, Elaine5715 said:

Irrelevant to someone attempting to return to the US who departed without a passport.

Not under the extant regulations which I quoted above. You can poo-poo the idea all that you want to and people can certainly choose to listen to you and make their decisions accordingly but the fact remains that exceptions are made quite frequently.

[Elaine5715]

Just now, sparks1093 said:

That patient most certainly will go through Customs and Immigration at some point. 

Not when the US Coast returns a patient from US or international waters to a hospital.  

[sparks1093]

Just now, Elaine5715 said:

Leaving the US without a passport is poor judgement.  

LOL, sure it is. I know many people in my community who leave the US routinely without a passport because the only travel they will ever do is to cross the border that is 8 miles away. I personally have traveled quite extensively in my life time and didn't need a passport for my travel until 2015.

[sparks1093]

1 minute ago, Elaine5715 said:

Not when the US Coast returns a patient from US or international waters to a hospital.  

The Customs agent will go to the hospital to clear them, whether they are a US citizen or not. Same thing happens around here if an ambulance needs to take someone from across the border to the local hospital.

[Elaine5715]

Just now, sparks1093 said:

Not under the extant regulations which I quoted above. You can poo-poo the idea all that you want to and people can certainly choose to listen to you and make their decisions accordingly but the fact remains that exceptions are made quite frequently.

Yet, you can't document one.  The State Department is very clear.  You must obtain a passport to return to the US.  The person must present themselves to the Embassy, etc, etc.  Life and death.. next business day..  There is no "unless you missed your ship" line.   

[Elaine5715]

3 minutes ago, sparks1093 said:

LOL, sure it is. I know many people in my community who leave the US routinely without a passport because the only travel they will ever do is to cross the border that is 8 miles away. I personally have traveled quite extensively in my life time and didn't need a passport for my travel until 2015.

Comparing returning from Canada or Mexico where a US citizen can present themselves directly to the Border Officials is not comparable from trying to return from DR or Grand Cayman.  There is no Nexxus line 

[sparks1093]

1 minute ago, Elaine5715 said:

Yet, you can't document one.  The State Department is very clear.  You must obtain a passport to return to the US.  The person must present themselves to the Embassy, etc, etc.  Life and death.. next business day..  There is no "unless you missed your ship" line.   

There has been a poster in this thread who described two such incidents, but that doesn't coincide with your view so you choose to ignore it. Again, people can read the regulations that I posted (which is related to cruising without a passport) and they can read all of the State department stuff you posted (which is related to other types of travel) and they can make up their minds themselves.

[sparks1093]

2 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:

Comparing returning from Canada or Mexico where a US citizen can present themselves directly to the Border Officials is not comparable from trying to return from DR or Grand Cayman.  There is no Nexxus line 

Add in the Caribbean and Bermuda and you've described the area covered by the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative. Those regulations, like it or not, give people the choice to not use a passport for certain travel and those regulations, whether you like it or not, provide a way for them to get home if something happens.

[FTLCruiseGal]

I was on a cruise on another cruise line earlier this year and a woman’s husband died while snorkeling in Grand Cayman.  The wife and some of her family had to stay in Grand Cayman and needed their passports to get back in the US, which the crew gathered for them.  Don’t say it won’t happen because it does, more often than you think or hear about.  Imagine if she didn’t have one — it would have been one more thing to worry about on top of having to mourn her husband and figure out how to get him back home.  
 

most people that get left behind for any reason don’t plan on it or expect it to happen.  It’s just that sometimes it does happen and it is best to be prepared.  The car insurance comparison is a good one — chances are you will never need to use it, but it’s nice to have just in case you do.

 

if money is an issue, perhaps getting passports at different times would ease the cost.  Say for example, get one per year.  That way when it is time for renewal, you won’t have that expense all at once.  

[Garth2]

I always carry my passport separately from my driver's license.  If you lose one, you still have a backup.  Even though I have the passport and renewed my driver's license earlier this year, I bit the bullet and waited 3 hours at the DMV for the real ID because I shudder at the thought of how much time it will take the month before the deadline.  In our state they hold the document in one hand and keypunch with the other hand, which takes forever, and then they scan the documents.  But it was worth it to have a backup.

[ray98]

I don't know why some stick to their end of the world viewpoints.  I actually know someone who had to leave a cruise early for a family emergency.  It had the letter he needed to fly in less than 6 hours.  

 

Bottom line, if that rare unexpected event happens it will cause you a small headache but you will not be stranded.  All the places the Caribbean cruises go are covered by the WHTI.  UCBP knows by allowing people to travel by land and sea on BC that there will be some instances where they need to board a flight back home for emergencies and there are policies in place for that.  Getting stranded somewhere outside of that zone is a different ballgame.

[biomedbob]

I did the 3 hour wait for the real ID and had to go back a week later to renew my carry permit.  The wait time and lines are getting longer.  The state is now trying to recruit new people because of the anticipated problems.

[BallFour4]

8 hours ago, buckeyefrank said:

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.

Galveston. Thirty-six times on two cruise lines from 2002 until we walked off in January.
 We've also cruised from Boston, Miami and Ft Lauderdale and I didn't pay attention to if they had two lines. Galveston did as recently as January.

Edited October 22, 2019 by BallFour4

[BallFour4]

21 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...

Didn't want to truncate your post, but did want to say either here or another cruise page I used to chat with a rancher turned home travel agent from your county. I think his name was Ray. Fine gentleman, and had some great cruise tips for people.

 

.

[coevan]

1 hour ago, ray98 said:

It had the letter he needed to fly in less than 6 hours.  

 

 

A letter from whom? 

[ray98]

10 minutes ago, coevan said:

 

 

A letter from whom? 

 

The consulate provided it with some sort of temporary passport.

[stellarose]

ok what if a person is coming on board for a wedding and then hoping off (before it sails). do they need a passport?  

[coevan]

is this allowed?

[stellarose]

a friend is coming onto the breeze to watch a wedding then leaving bf its sails. 

 

does he need a passport? 

 

help. 

[cmichael1279]

This is exactly why I put my birth certificate in a separate bag from my passport, just in case the worst happens!  I have the BC and DL as a backup to my passport.

 

[DryCreek]

9 minutes ago, stellarose said:

a friend is coming onto the breeze to watch a wedding then leaving bf its sails. 

 

does he need a passport? 

 

help. 

Nope.  But he would need a "ticket".

No visitors allowed onboard - passengers only.

You have to have your cruise documents before you cross the gangway, at least that's what I've always read.

[DryCreek]

5 hours ago, Elaine5715 said:

Leaving the US without a passport is poor judgement.  

Maybe.

Maybe not.

I traveled the world with just my military ID back in the early 80's.

And yes, I got to all of those "exotic locations" on a "cruise".

 

[DryCreek]

1 hour ago, BallFour4 said:

Didn't want to truncate your post, but did want to say either here or another cruise page I used to chat with a rancher turned home travel agent from your county. I think his name was Ray. Fine gentleman, and had some great cruise tips for people.

 

.

I think I know who you are referring to.

I believe that he (and his wife) ran a forum named TexasCruisers, or something like that.  I posted on that forum years ago.

[buckeyefrank]

15 hours ago, BallFour4 said:

Galveston. Thirty-six times on two cruise lines from 2002 until we walked off in January.
 We've also cruised from Boston, Miami and Ft Lauderdale and I didn't pay attention to if they had two lines. Galveston did as recently as January.

Just FYI, I'm guessing Galveston is the outlier.  We've come back to Charleston, Jacksonville, NYC, Port Canaveral, Miami and New Orleans.  None of those have special lines for passport only.  We've never done Galveston.

[Joe817]

If memory serves me correctly(and it very well might not. I've slept since then), when we went in to clear customs, after getting off the Dream in Galveston last Aug. 1,  they did have 2 lines. One for passports, and another was, and here is where it gets foggy, and one for international passports and those without passports(d.l. + b.c.)

Edited October 23, 2019 by Joe817
add'l info