Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

Birth Certificate photocopy for MSC Cruise?

SunBaby66

By SunBaby66,
in MSC Cruises

 Share

Recommended Posts

SunBaby66

SunBaby66

Posted
Posted

My husband and I just applied for our passports on April 13th and they took our original birth certificates and gave us photocopies.  Im worried that we wont get our originals back before our cruise on May 21st. I'm very anxious and stressed about this!  I live in Florida, but I was born in California.  I have gone onto many sites to get a copy of my birth certificate, but they state at least 5 weeks.  Rescheduling our cruise is NOT an option at this point.  Anyone know if these will be accepted, and if not where or what site I can go to purchase a copy of my birth certificate?  Thank you for your info!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
rikitikitavii

rikitikitavii

Posted
Posted
5 hours ago, SunBaby66 said:

My husband and I just applied for our passports on April 13th and they took our original birth certificates and gave us photocopies.  Im worried that we wont get our originals back before our cruise on May 21st. I'm very anxious and stressed about this!  I live in Florida, but I was born in California.  I have gone onto many sites to get a copy of my birth certificate, but they state at least 5 weeks.  Rescheduling our cruise is NOT an option at this point.  Anyone know if these will be accepted, and if not where or what site I can go to purchase a copy of my birth certificate?  Thank you for your info!

I’ve never tried to use a copy of a birth certificate, but I do not think they will accept it. You usually need a certified copy or original. You would also have to go through Customs upon disembarkation, and they probably won’t accept the copy.

You might try calling the county (health dept?) in which you were born to see if they have a faster process you could receive.

You can try calling MSC and ask, good luck on that, or call U.S. Customs and ask.

Good Luck!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
mscdivina2016 "Live from...." Rare

mscdivina2016

Posted
Posted
9 hours ago, SunBaby66 said:

My husband and I just applied for our passports on April 13th and they took our original birth certificates and gave us photocopies.  Im worried that we wont get our originals back before our cruise on May 21st. I'm very anxious and stressed about this!  I live in Florida, but I was born in California.  I have gone onto many sites to get a copy of my birth certificate, but they state at least 5 weeks.  Rescheduling our cruise is NOT an option at this point.  Anyone know if these will be accepted, and if not where or what site I can go to purchase a copy of my birth certificate?  Thank you for your info!

Raised seal. Copies are not acceptable.

 

Did you not use expedited service? Two weeks it's taking.

 

Do you have relatives in CA? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
kelleherdl

kelleherdl

Posted
Posted

We know a trick that is very helpful in this very situation. Whenever you put your passport application together take photos/copies of all the documents. Keep a copy of you application receipt, either from post office or express mail retailer. This will generally work at the ports.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites
mscdivina2016 "Live from...." Rare

mscdivina2016

Posted
Posted
49 minutes ago, kelleherdl said:

We know a trick that is very helpful in this very situation. Whenever you put your passport application together take photos/copies of all the documents. Keep a copy of you application receipt, either from post office or express mail retailer. This will generally work at the ports.  

Not worth possibly missing out on a cruise that may have cost upwards to 10k on a photo copy.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
emdia43

emdia43

Posted
Posted
18 hours ago, SunBaby66 said:

My husband and I just applied for our passports on April 13th and they took our original birth certificates and gave us photocopies.  Im worried that we wont get our originals back before our cruise on May 21st. I'm very anxious and stressed about this!  I live in Florida, but I was born in California.  I have gone onto many sites to get a copy of my birth certificate, but they state at least 5 weeks.  Rescheduling our cruise is NOT an option at this point.  Anyone know if these will be accepted, and if not where or what site I can go to purchase a copy of my birth certificate?  Thank you for your info!

You just sent it 3 days ago?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
mvh

mvh

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, emdia43 said:

You just sent it 3 days ago?

You have a much better chance of getting your BC before your passport. With all the reports on how long a passport is taking now I'm not sure why you would have not waited until you got back from your cruise so you at least had you BC. Unless you need your passport for something else coming up, Although, I'm sure that's the last thing you want to hear. Hindsight.  Good luck.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Morgsmom Great Review Rare

Morgsmom

Posted
Posted

Getting a raised seal birth certificate from where you were born is generally fast and you can usually pay to expedite it.  That's likely your best bet at this time.  Agree with @mscdivina2016 that showing up with a photocopy might be huge risk and you might be turned away.

 

Do not, however, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE BELIEVE anything a phone MSC rep tells you.  If they say "no problem" and you show up at the port and are told no you will be 100% out of luck.

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Brighton Line

Brighton Line

Posted
Posted

Copies of the birth certificates will not be accepted at check-in and you will not be allowed to board. The cruise line would be fined if you presented this to CBP upon debarkation so they won't let you on board.

Nothing to do with getting off the ship since you won't even be allowed on.

 

If you lose your Passport or ID/BC during the cruise CBP won't deny entry to a US Citizen, just proving that you are a Citizen the entire process would be a lot longer and you would be in for intensive scrutiny but that is pointless since you won't be able to get on the ship in the first place.

 

You should get your BC back way before the passport actually comes. Did you see if you can pay for expedited processing even after mailing? Might get the documents back faster. 

 

Is anyone in CA that can get your BC? I know with a certified letter someone in my State can pickup an official copy for someone else. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Laszlo

Laszlo

Posted
Posted
On 4/15/2023 at 11:49 PM, SunBaby66 said:

My husband and I just applied for our passports on April 13th and they took our original birth certificates and gave us photocopies.  Im worried that we wont get our originals back before our cruise on May 21st. I'm very anxious and stressed about this!  I live in Florida, but I was born in California.  I have gone onto many sites to get a copy of my birth certificate, but they state at least 5 weeks.  Rescheduling our cruise is NOT an option at this point.  Anyone know if these will be accepted, and if not where or what site I can go to purchase a copy of my birth certificate?  Thank you for your info!

Best of luck on getting your passports back in time. They have been running 8-10 weeks out

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Ferry_Watcher Excellent Advice! Rare

Ferry_Watcher

Posted
Posted
15 minutes ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

They've also been allowed on Carnival.

 

This is a question for @sparks1093 or @Ferry_Watcher

 

The folks who work at cruise terminals (like me) work for a third party.  During my work week, I can do check-in or directional work for HAL, Princess, Celebrity, Royal, and Carnival - basically any cruise ship that sails from my pier.

 

We are all trained to know what citizenship ID we can accept, when we need to call a supervisor, and to recognize what isn't acceptable (like commentative hospital issued birth certificates).

 

My pier doesn't service NCL or MSC ships, so I can't speak about those lines.  Generally speaking, my wheelhouse is Alaska cruises, and I tend to keep my comments to those closed loop Alaska cruises.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
mscdivina2016 "Live from...." Rare

mscdivina2016

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, 20165 said:

We submitted our passport renewals Feb 23 and we still dont have them yet.  Im actually getting nervous about our june cruise. 

Don't worry you will be fine. You are well within the time frame with extra to spare 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
mmbcater

mmbcater

Posted
Posted
On 4/21/2023 at 8:46 AM, 20165 said:

We submitted our passport renewals Feb 23 and we still dont have them yet.  Im actually getting nervous about our june cruise. 

We submitted my husbands on 2/5 and he just got his yesterday-it was just a renewal though.... Good luck!

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...