Carnival cruiser, do you have a valid passport?

[TNcruising02]

Since many people assume the majority of Carnival cruisers don't use passports for cruises, I figured I would make a poll to find out.  Our family got passports for our first cruise and have used them ever since then.

Edited April 11, 2021 by TNcruising02

[TNcruising02]

9 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

I doubt the majority of Carnival cruisers are on CC. Maybe someone should do a poll. 🤣

Maybe not, but there have been quite a few threads in the past with people disagreeing on passports. Plus, this isn't a covid thread, so yay.  LOL.

[tallnthensome]

You can't be a serious traveler and/or cruiser and not have a passport in my opinion. If you don't its out of sheer laziness. Many stories of people getting stuck places because they had no passport to get home. Very bad planning. 

[AHS123]

18 minutes ago, TNcruising02 said:

 Plus, this isn't a covid thread, so yay.  LOL.

Give it a moment, you posted the poll less than hour ago. 🙂 

[bury me at sea]

Of course I have a passport.  So does every single family member I have ever taken with me across the northern or southern border, or on a cruise.  Full stop.

[Host Carolyn]

There have been many passport threads, most have turned into a pros and cons debate. This will go poof if that happens again

[sgttami]

Yes, I've had a passport for 50 years, even before I ever cruised.

Never knew where I'd want to go so it was always ready.

Renewal coming up again next year and haven't been anywhere since Jan. 2020...LOL

[pe4all]

We have had passports for over 40 years, and our kids got theirs at ages 4/7. (they are now 29/33).   Worthwhile investment for us. They also act as great id for getting other things such as enhanced driver's licenses here in NY, and I am sure in other states also.  My daughter used hers not only for travel, but for job id when first hired, and for lease application.

[whyrlygig]

My whole family has always had passports and we would not even consider leaving the country without one.  

[Jasonsterling]

Yes as does my son but we travel outside of North America- if I just simply had my mind made up that I was never going outside the immediate North American environment then I might not bother with it. Outside of Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean I'm not aware of anyplace else you could go but that's enough for some people and that's their choice, so be it.  

[musbeus]

We always use our passports. We especially enjoy that we are NOT restricted to closed loop cruises or US based vacations. There are so many beautiful places to enjoy!

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, pe4all said:

We have had passports for over 40 years, and our kids got theirs at ages 4/7. (they are now 29/33).   Worthwhile investment for us. They also act as great id for getting other things such as enhanced driver's licenses here in NY, and I am sure in other states also.  My daughter used hers not only for travel, but for job id when first hired, and for lease application.

Why would you need an enhanced drivers' license if you have a passport? I renewed my (expired because the DMV was closed due to Covid when it was due) license earlier this year. I was asked if I wanted an enhanced license. I said I had renewed my passport in 2019. I was then told I did not need it.

 

The passport also came in handy when I needed picture ID for a legal document, and as I previously wrote my license had expired.

[sanmarcosman]

3 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

Why would you need an enhanced drivers' license if you have a passport?

You don't and in California by not paying the higher fee for the enhanced DL we looked at it as cash back from what we paid for our passports 😉

[ontheweb]

5 minutes ago, sanmarcosman said:

You don't and in California by not paying the higher fee for the enhanced DL we looked at it as cash back from what we paid for our passports 😉

Same in NY. And since the drivers license has a shorter expiration date than a passport, the savings will be more than once.

[ledges1]

I have had a passport for 10 years. Just renewed. Post office lost the passport. Had to fill out a new application and submit fee $75. Bummer. Had to pay a stop payment on check ($36), bummer. Carnival has a lot of 4 and 5 day cruises. I would think those cruisers use a lot of birth certificates. I mentioned in another thread, there were 900 cruisers on the Triumph with birth certificates when it was towed to Mobile, AL. 

[cruisingguy007]

40 minutes ago, sanmarcosman said:

You don't and in California by not paying the higher fee for the enhanced DL we looked at it as cash back from what we paid for our passports 😉

 

There is no higher fee in CA. Baloney. 

 

"The DMV will charge a $35 fee for your REAL ID. It's the same fee you pay during your regular driver's license renewal."

Edited April 11, 2021 by cruisingguy007

[Jamesatgsu]

My wife and I got passports ahead of our first cruise. Figured better safe than sorry and that we would need them eventually anyway. We went to Europe a year later and are Greece bound in July. 

 

We have not gotten passports for our kids. 

[sanmarcosman]

1 hour ago, cruisingguy007 said:

There is no higher fee in CA. Baloney. 

Then we were misinformed. 

[scpirate]

3 hours ago, cruisingguy007 said:

 

It's not "sheer laziness" in every case. When you have a family of say 5-8 or more, it adds up really quickly. To the point where you can take a whole vacation for the same costs. For some it may be a matter of cost vs value. Not everyone loves traveling by plane for long hauls and would get very little use out of the cost. I think a lot of singles and couples forget that value erodes quickly when you have a family and have to pay everything in many multiples of two. A family of six costs the same as a couples vacation times three. Probably even more as you need multiple rooms/cabins.

 

Older folks with more free time and those who enjoy globetrotting may find it a small inconvenience and good value. Larger families and those of us who may not use it as much would rather spend that spend on an actual vacation. For example, I just spent a week in San Diego for the same cost it would have been for my family to acquire passports and the only place we would use them is to fly to Mexico for an all inclusive, something we used to do with only our ID's. I'm actually hoping that with the enhanced drivers licenses becoming a thing everywhere, that we may be allowed to travel to neighboring countries with ID's again as we used to be able to do.          

A lot of people cruise one time and never do it again 95% of my immediate family and inlaws (16 people) never return.my wife and I are repeat cruisers and 2 of my sister in laws.so they probably see no need to spend that money on a full passport or the passport card. Besides I thought this new enhanced driver license was supposed to cover all that.

[ledges1]

6 minutes ago, scpirate said:

A lot of people cruise one time and never do it again 95% of my immediate family and inlaws (16 people) never return.my wife and I are repeat cruisers and 2 of my sister in laws.so they probably see no need to spend that money on a full passport or the passport card. Besides I thought this new enhanced driver license was supposed to cover all that

Enhanced DL is domestic only.

 

[skrufy]

4 hours ago, TNcruising02 said:

Since many people assume the majority of Carnival cruisers don't use passports for cruises, I figured I would make a poll to find out.  Our family got passports for our first cruise and have used them ever since then.

We have had passports since our 2nd cruise back in 2005. Was glad I had mine a few years back in St. Thomas. After walking out the security area I wanted to go back onboard to get something. The guard asked me for my passport and I didn’t have it with me. He allowed me to go get it and bring it back to him. Besides it possibly saving my hide a passport opens worldwide travel to you.

[sanger727]

I have my passport but I do understand it when people cruise without one. My husband cruises his first with his birth certificate. He had never left the country, never planned on leaving the country, and I had to talk him into trying the cruise. He ended up loving it and got his passport and we have traveled internationally several times since. But I know a lot of people like he was that aren’t ‘travelers’. They are perfectly content with an annual vacation house rental and have no ambitions to leave the country. They may go on one cruise in their life for a family trip, wedding, etc. I don’t blame them for not getting a passport for that.

[Host Carolyn]

7 hours ago, TNcruising02 said:

Maybe not, but there have been quite a few threads in the past with people disagreeing on passports. Plus, this isn't a covid thread, so yay.  LOL.

Exactly....always disagreement re passports, not civil in most cases and this didn't take long to turn. Please no judging, fighting

[TNcruising02]

26 minutes ago, Host Carolyn said:

Exactly....always disagreement re passports, not civil in most cases and this didn't take long to turn. Please no judging, fighting

I agree.  I just thought it would be interesting to see how many cruisers get passports and how many don't.  The great thing is that people can decide their own risk level when it comes to things like getting passports, flying in a day before a cruise, travel insurance, etc.   None of those things are necessary, but some people like the added comfort and some people would prefer to save time/money.  It makes no difference to me what other people do.

[cruizinisthebest]

Yes we all have passports. Kids do too. I would never leave the U.S. with the kids without passports. We played fast and lose a few times before we started a family when we much younger...and dumber.  Thank goodness it never bit us in the azz.