Carnival cruiser, do you have a valid passport?

[SNJCruisers]

2 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

 

No, flying in the day before might be prudent but it isn't strictly necessary.

If you wish to roll the dice and fly in the morning of a cruise that departs FLA at 400 pm, go for it.  Inclement weather during the winter and mechanical issues during the other 3 months can always rear it's ugly head.  For the cost of a hotel room, piece of mind is a great thing by flying in the night before. You can then also get up and get to the port around 1000 am and be in the first group on board.  But if you prefer to get up at an ungodly hour of 300 or 400 am for your 600-700 am flight, by all means have at it.

I guess we must have different interpretations of the phrase "isn't strictly necessary."

[tm_aw_love]

16 hours ago, cruisingguy007 said:

 

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."

You are confusing a Real ID and an Enhanced DL. They are different and allow different things. 

[tytanbri]

My husband and I got passports when we went on our first cruise. I knew I didn't "need" it but felt better leaving the country with one. We also got passports for our three children when we took them on their first cruise at ages 8,8 and 12. We have had them since. Only one of us has used them for something other then cruising. My daughter went to France, Greece and Italy her senior year of high school. It was one less thing we had to worry about doing when the French Club decided to go. 

[IntrepidFromDC]

I'm not sure what percentage of cruisers only cruise vs. a landlubber trip to Europe, but if you've never tried it, it will change your life in ways far beyond cruising.  This was our reasons for getting passports long ago.  We were flying to Europe for vacations for years before trying our first cruise.  Oddly enough, it was the nine-year old who wanted to do more cruises and less overseas travel and that's been our habit since... she's 21 now and our next cruise is scheduled for September.  

[Jamesatgsu]

4 hours ago, ontheweb said:

Just checked the survey results, and it was 68 with passports and ZERO without.

 

I think it is quite fair to say that this is not a random survey of Carnival cruisers, and the real answer is nowhere near 100% have passports.

It was always going to be heavily slanted that way. There are 2 types of people on this forum:

 

1) Frequent travelers, who at some point need a passport

2) Newer cruisers looking for advice because they want to be as prepared as possible

 

That is going to lead to most having passports. When I went on a bachelor party cruise with 20+ guys around the age of 30, I'd guess only a handful had passports, and even that would be slanted by the majority of them being 1st or 2nd generation immigrants. Zero of them got passports because of the cruise.

[Jamesatgsu]

I mentioned that we don't have passports for the kids, but that would change if we were doing excursions with them. I absolutely would not consider a non-ship sponsored excursion without passports for everyone. 

[tkportersat]

I clicked yes because we did....all 3 of ours expired at the beginning of the year.  Not in a rush to renew until I find out what is going on with travel, especially for my son since his is only good for 5 years.  Hopefully we can get this done this summer.

[sparks1093]

1 hour ago, SNJCruisers said:

If you wish to roll the dice and fly in the morning of a cruise that departs FLA at 400 pm, go for it.  Inclement weather during the winter and mechanical issues during the other 3 months can always rear it's ugly head.  For the cost of a hotel room, piece of mind is a great thing by flying in the night before. You can then also get up and get to the port around 1000 am and be in the first group on board.  But if you prefer to get up at an ungodly hour of 300 or 400 am for your 600-700 am flight, by all means have at it.

I guess we must have different interpretations of the phrase "isn't strictly necessary."

While I agree with what you say it is only prudent to do so, so it is a matter of interpretation. An awful lot of people don't have the option of going the day before.

[cmukid87]

Adults are all valid but only 1 kid.  I think we will be getting passports for everyone late summer.

[ontheweb]

3 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

Yes, that is what you've done but I would guess that many started out the way that we did- they did a closed loop cruise or two without passports before finally getting them.

We actually did some foreign travelling without passports before we, or at least I, had a first passport. On our honeymoon we went to the Bahamas without the need of a passport. One year before we went to London and needed a passport we went to Jamaica for our 20th anniversary, again with birth certificates and drivers licenses. We were actually lucky that we were allowed as DW had the "wrong" birth certificate. It seems her mother did housecleaning and sent us the hospital birth certificate with no official seal and threw away the proper one. We did not realize why they were looking at it so closely until the next year when she applied for a passport and ended up having to get a new certified copy of her real birth certificate.

 

She must have had a real passport earlier as a child since she and the family did a lot of free flying as her father was an executive with British Airways. He had emigrated from Scotland after being a pilot with the RAF during WW II. There were still relatives they visited in Scotland. She once told me of her and her father flying back to the USA standby with the pilots instead of the passengers. I guess that would not happen now.

 

 

[jetsfan58]

21 hours ago, tallnthensome said:

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. 

I disagree with your laziness analogy. I personally feel its more "financially and time" inhibiting than anything else. A family of 6 would spend almost a thousand dollars on passport origination, passport photos, the time involved for entering the information and receiving the passport by our traditional mail system. Sometimes people have the desire and love but not the resources.    

[TooManyWakeUpsTilWeSail]

6 minutes ago, jetsfan58 said:

I disagree with your laziness analogy. I personally feel its more "financially and time" inhibiting than anything else. A family of 6 would spend almost a thousand dollars on passport origination, passport photos, the time involved for entering the information and receiving the passport by our traditional mail system. Sometimes people have the desire and love but not the resources.    

Being honest here...which rarely gives you positive feedback....  We rarely sail so we never got our passports for our 2019 cruise.  Cost is an inconvenience but not a financial issue.  Now 2 years and 1 cancelled cruise later I can’t even find out birth certificates (which were neatly packed away in our luggage before one daughter borrowed it).  So IMO among the safeguards, travel insurance runs first, arriving/departing with time allowance is next and passports are just before body guards and bubble suits.  At some point you roll the dice and win or lose in life....

[DenaInWyo]

3 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

If you wish to roll the dice and fly in the morning of a cruise that departs FLA at 400 pm, go for it.  Inclement weather during the winter and mechanical issues during the other 3 months can always rear it's ugly head.  For the cost of a hotel room, piece of mind is a great thing by flying in the night before. You can then also get up and get to the port around 1000 am and be in the first group on board.  But if you prefer to get up at an ungodly hour of 300 or 400 am for your 600-700 am flight, by all means have at it.

I guess we must have different interpretations of the phrase "isn't strictly necessary."

 

Just flew to CA about a month ago and reinforced why I agree with you on this.  Should have arrived to Orange County at 0930, and with one disaster and another, arrived at 1600.  Was thinking the whole time.."Glad I don't have a cruise ship to catch!"

 

[jetsfan58]

10 minutes ago, TooManyWakeUpsTilWeSail said:

Being honest here...which rarely gives you positive feedback....  We rarely sail so we never got our passports for our 2019 cruise.  Cost is an inconvenience but not a financial issue.  Now 2 years and 1 cancelled cruise later I can’t even find out birth certificates (which were neatly packed away in our luggage before one daughter borrowed it).  So IMO among the safeguards, travel insurance runs first, arriving/departing with time allowance is next and passports are just before body guards and bubble suits.  At some point you roll the dice and win or lose in life....

My order of importance will lead with Vaccines Cards and Vaccine Passports. I am sure that Travel Insurance will remain important but this will also have to be revamped.  

[TooManyWakeUpsTilWeSail]

3 minutes ago, jetsfan58 said:

My order of importance will lead with Vaccines Cards and Vaccine Passports. I am sure that Travel Insurance will remain important but this will also have to be revamped.  

Yeah, sorry.  Trying to not factor in covid which documentation would be more of requirement to sail rather than just priority of risk/reward/consequences.  
 

I did have a passport 25 years ago I brought on my first cruise.  As expected, no holdups & didn’t cruise/travel abroad again until 10+ years later passed.

[SNJCruisers]

27 minutes ago, TooManyWakeUpsTilWeSail said:

  Now 2 years and 1 cancelled cruise later I can’t even find out birth certificates (which were neatly packed away in our luggage before one daughter borrowed it).

Looks like you'll need to get reissued sealed birth certificates, which you'll also need in the future in case you ever decide to get passports.

[jetsfan58]

5 minutes ago, TooManyWakeUpsTilWeSail said:

Yeah, sorry.  Trying to not factor in covid which documentation would be more of requirement to sail rather than just priority of risk/reward/consequences.  
 

I did have a passport 25 years ago I brought on my first cruise.  As expected, no holdups & didn’t cruise/travel abroad again until 10+ years later passed.

No problem. It will be interesting to see what "Covid Clause" language will be added to the Travel Insurance packages. May/Could spike the price of coverage which could potentially deter more passengers from sailing. Always a "Proverbial" Wrench being thrown in to the Industry Coming Back Sooner.   

[BenjiRodney]

Had a passport since 1996.

[TooManyWakeUpsTilWeSail]

22 minutes ago, SNJCruisers said:

Looks like you'll need to get reissued sealed birth certificates, which you'll also need in the future in case you ever decide to get passports.

Absolutely.  And a new place to hide our valuables.  I think a $30 safe may be our next purchase.

[Jobeth66]

I wouldn't leave the country without a passport, ever.  And when we took our kids on their first cruise, we got passports for us and all of them (5, total), too - it was just another cost of taking the trip.

 

We also got passport cards, because they're convenient as heck.  Additional cost, yes, but totally worth it.

Edited April 12, 2021 by Jobeth66

[jetsfan58]

4 minutes ago, TooManyWakeUpsTilWeSail said:

Absolutely.  And a new place to hide our valuables.  I think a $30 safe may be our next purchase.

The she will just borrow the safe. Our Kids and our stories.

[mek]

On 4/11/2021 at 5:32 PM, ontheweb said:

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

Well, I don't take my passport to fly within the US.  I've lost track of the enhanced DL requirements, but at some point they will be required to fly in the US - why would I take a passport along for that type of trip?

Edited April 12, 2021 by mek

[SNJCruisers]

3 minutes ago, mek said:

Well, I don't take my passport to fly within the US.  I've lost track of the enhanced DL requirements, but at some point they will be required to fly in the US - why would I take a passport along for that type of trip?

Simple for me, cost.  If the enhanced DL, which I have never heard of is ever required for domestic travel, I will just us my passport.  Why pay for something extra that you can use your passport for?

[mek]

1 minute ago, SNJCruisers said:

Simple for me, cost.  If the enhanced DL, which I have never heard of is ever required for domestic travel, I will just us my passport.  Why pay for something extra that you can use your passport for?

To each his own - so much easier to fly domestically with just the DL than to carry a bulky passport. 

[IntrepidFromDC]

5 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

Looks like you'll need to get reissued sealed birth certificates, which you'll also need in the future in case you ever decide to get passports.

Some states are also now requiring certified/original birth certificates or passports to renew drivers' licenses.  Glad I'm good at filing things alphabetically.