Honeymooning and name changing

[lazyart]

My fiance and I will be man and wife on the morning of our cruise. Since we are booked as Mr and Mrs her name isnt going to match what is on her ID. What is the resolution for this?

[jcanino]

My fiance and I will be man and wife on the morning of our cruise. Since we are booked as Mr and Mrs her name isnt going to match what is on her ID. What is the resolution for this?

 

The cruise should be booked using her maiden name. There is no time to get her photo ID changed to reflect her new last name and cannot do it before as you need prrof of the marriage to change it. Call your TA or the cruise line and have her name changed on the reservation.

[Keith1010]

The advice you were given is absolutely correct. Since all of her identification will have her maiden name that is what the cruise booking should show. After you get back from your honeymoon she should start the process of changing items to her new last name from drivers license to social security card to passport if she has one to vehicle registration, etc.

 

But to do so usually requires a marriage license to show your new last name.

 

So, be sure that the cruise line shows her maiden name so there is no confusion.

 

Congratulations on your upcoming marriage. Taking a cruise for your honeymoon should be wonderful.

 

Keith

[lazyart]

Well, I had already booked under Mr and Mrs. I called the cruise line and they said a marriage license would be enough to show the change in name, or for $50 they would change and reissue the boarding passes.

 

We chose the former. Thanks for the responses.

[Keith1010]

Be sure that you will have your marriage license right away. In many states the license will not be sent back to you until a couple of weeks after the marriage.

 

Keith

[cwc]

How are you going to get your "signed & sealed" marriage license before your wedding?:confused:

 

I would paid the 50$ to change the name right now and be safe or your "wife" will not get on the ship if you don't have the license. And the cruiseline do not allow any more name change 1 week before the cruise. So this is no last minutes thing.

[emilyrose]

Although it's fun to be Mr and Mrs. right away, you might want to consider being safe rather than sorry. Her name doesn't actually change until she goes to change it. It can be Mr. X and Mrs Z forever if you want it that way, the name change is not automatic.

[hjrell]

I have to agree - my son and his new wife just went to Hawaii and since all of her identification was still in her maiden name, they booked everything using my son's name and her maiden name for her. $50 would seem a very cheap price to avoid having any problems at a very special time in your lives.

[lazyart]

How are you going to get your "signed & sealed" marriage license before your wedding?:confused:

 

Signed and sealed? By a notary?? We will have a notary performing the ceremony, if that's what you mean...

[cherylandtk]

I think everyone is wondering how you will get your marriage license recorded by the county/city/state and get a 'certified' copy of it that same day as the wedding. Not knowing your local laws and requirements its hard to say, but in most places the person authorized to perform the marriage takes the actual, original marriage license back to the place where you applied for it and gets it recorded. You then receive a certified copy by mail, usually several weeks later. It is this certified copy that the cruiseline will be looking for as proof of legal name change.

 

You need to contact your notary NOW and specifically ask if you will have a certified copy of your marriage license that same day. I suspect (as do the posters above) that what you may get that day will just be a photocopy of the license, signed by the notary but not yet recorded/issued by the county. Or perhaps all you will get is a pretty gilded memento (suitable for framing, but not much else) signed by the notary.

 

The cruiselines don't give a hoot if you are legally married or not, but they DO CARE that the booked names exactly match the names on the legal ID presented. Your wife's drivers license is in her legal maiden name. What you don't yet have is legal proof of her married name change. (and as one poster mentioned above, its not automatically changed when they say 'man and wife')

 

It is possible that the cruiseline will take pity on you if you arrive with unacceptable documents, but its not something you should count on. Your choices are:

--Call the notary, call the local county records department, and make sure they both know you need the legal, certifed copy that day and you will be really upset with them if they don't get it to you in time to take your cruise.

--Spend $50 to re-issue the documents in your legal names and eliminate the risk.

[lazyart]

Thanks all for your information and clarification. $50 is pretty cheap for peace of mind. Since we are getting married & cruising on a Saturday I won't count on getting the ceritified license the same day.

 

Since this is our first cruise, it's only appropriate to make it a "maiden" voyage.

 

(boo... hiss.....)

[serene56]

ooo please pay the 50 bucks for a name change. I can only imagine you two standing at the pier being denied boarding since your new wife dont have proper documents.

 

You wont hve the marriage license--and a copy wont due. It needs to be an original copy. and since you are cruising the same day-- its not even registered yet.

Even by getting married by a notory the license needs to be recorded--and it will take a few days.

The agent should have told you all this when she booked the cruise

 

Read the doucments you received--its listed a few times over that boarding can and will be denied if a person does not have the proper documentation. Dont take chances with a honeymoon of a lifetime

[Keith1010]

Good decision. Spend the $50.00 so that you don't have problems boarding. It's a small price to pay.

 

Keith

[rin1]

Good call on spending the cash. As a newlywed myself, I totally understand wanting to do the whole Mr. & Mrs. thing the next day (signing credit card receipts in my maiden name was so anti-climactic)! I just know that in my state it took about 2 weeks to get that certificate. Bah.

 

Happy honeymoon travels! Hope it's the best!

[cwc]

Sorry... Sign = signuature from you, wife, witness and officate person. Sealed = depend on the state. Mine from CA has a raised seal to show it is original not copy.

[lazyart]

Soo.... I called the cruise line and told them I needed to make a change and why. The rep asked for the new information and punched it in. 3 days later my updated docs came in.

 

On top of this, I wasn't asked to pay a cent. We are set to cruise!

[cherylandtk]

How terrific for you. Glad to hear it worked out so simply and cheaply.

[Jodyflower]

My DH and I got married our 1/05 cruise and I just used my maiden name during the trip as it was also on my passport. Yes I was waiting for that magic moment to sign my new last name, but we waited until we got home so we wouldn't encounter any headaches. We didn't get the official marriage certificate from the state of Florida until weeks after we got home but the first opportunity I had to sign my new last name upon arrival home, you bet I did!!