Passport vs Drivers License

[vswan]

On our very first family cruise we cruised with Birth Certificates and driver's licenses - this was about 1998 or so. When we decided we were going to continue this type of vacation, all four of us got passports. Mine has been renewed when it was up and has stayed valid since that time. I just feel more comfortable having a passport. No question if I will be allowed to board, or if there was an issue that I would need to debark at a foreign port for medical reason, etc. Not everyone feels a need for a passport. If you are comfortable traveling without, go ahead and give it a try. Just not for me.

[sparks1093]

12 hours ago, john91498 said:

lol, you guys will fight over anything 🤣😂😅😆

Just demonstrating that the FAQ is not as clear and unambiguous as some think it is.

[JMAE]

On 10/6/2024 at 11:10 PM, Illbcruzn4life said:

Wouldn’t that mean each passenger on that cruise would need a passport?

Only if you used a passport since they expire.  Birth cert. don't expire and is used to establish citizenship.  With that being said, I agree not all countries have the 6 month requirement, but CCL is states within their cruise documents that are issued to all that book a cruise if you use a passport, it may not expire within 6 months.  What I'm saying, I wouldn't want to be the person that spent money to travel to an embarkation port for CCL to say "it is clearly stated in our documents, sorry you cannot cruise" no matter if you are traveling to a country that doesn't have the requirement.  CCL holds all the cards.  As a backup I would carry my birth cert.        

[Illbcruzn4life]

1 hour ago, JMAE said:

Only if you used a passport since they expire.  Birth cert. don't expire and is used to establish citizenship.  With that being said, I agree not all countries have the 6 month requirement, but CCL is states within their cruise documents that are issued to all that book a cruise if you use a passport, it may not expire within 6 months.  What I'm saying, I wouldn't want to be the person that spent money to travel to an embarkation port for CCL to say "it is clearly stated in our documents, sorry you cannot cruise" no matter if you are traveling to a country that doesn't have the requirement.  CCL holds all the cards.  As a backup I would carry my birth cert.        

But your post that I was replying too was about having a passport with at least 6 months left on it for Greenland. Now your saying you can use a birth certificate??

 

Also you say that birth certificate is establishes citizenship. Well how did I get a passport? I used my birth certificate so that statement seems counterintuitive.

 

Color me confused!

[broberts]

28 minutes ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

But your post that I was replying too was about having a passport with at least 6 months left on it for Greenland. Now your saying you can use a birth certificate??

 

Also you say that birth certificate is establishes citizenship. Well how did I get a passport? I used my birth certificate so that statement seems counterintuitive.

 

Color me confused!

 

The Carnival FAQ is very clear, itinerary that include Greenland require a passport book valid for 6 months beyond completion. It does not allow for any other form of documentation.

[staceyglow]

2 hours ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

 

 

Also you say that birth certificate is establishes citizenship. Well how did I get a passport? 

 

Color me confused!

I have a US passport, and my birth certificate is from Germany. 

[Illbcruzn4life]

11 hours ago, broberts said:

 

The Carnival FAQ is very clear, itinerary that include Greenland require a passport book valid for 6 months beyond completion. It does not allow for any other form of documentation.

My thoughts too but that was not what JMAE said.

[sparks1093]

14 hours ago, JMAE said:

Only if you used a passport since they expire.  Birth cert. don't expire and is used to establish citizenship.  With that being said, I agree not all countries have the 6 month requirement, but CCL is states within their cruise documents that are issued to all that book a cruise if you use a passport, it may not expire within 6 months.  What I'm saying, I wouldn't want to be the person that spent money to travel to an embarkation port for CCL to say "it is clearly stated in our documents, sorry you cannot cruise" no matter if you are traveling to a country that doesn't have the requirement.  CCL holds all the cards.  As a backup I would carry my birth cert.        

A FAQ is not a cruise document and is not binding. The cruise contract says this: "Guests are advised to check with their travel agent and with the appropriate government authorities to determine the necessary documents and travel eligibility requirements for their particular cruise destinations, including the port of embarkation. Carnival assumes no responsibility for advising Guest of what travel documents are required for the requested itinerary and it is recommended that Guest travel with a valid government issued passport at all times." So according to the contract you need to verify with their TA or appropriate government authority to determine what documents they need for their itinerary, CCL recommends a valid government issued passport. In short, they don't tell you at all in an official way what you need. For a closed loop cruise the regulations talk about exceptions to the passport requirement and lists acceptable alternatives, no help. We know that one can re-enter the US with a passport up until the day it expires. The islands visited have exceptions for documentation for cruise ship passengers, but good luck finding that in writing on an official government site. 

 

Unfortunately, the FAQ is poorly written and mixes different travel situations in one section, muddying the waters unnecessarily. Everyone has to do what they feel comfortable doing and if you want to renew your passport early because it would have less than 6 months remaining on it at the time of your closed loop cruise you are certainly free to do that. But Carnival is not going to deny someone boarding with a valid US passport when other passengers are boarding without a passport at all. We have check in agents that are members of CC and they have said in other threads that they have never denied boarding to someone having a US passport on a closed loop cruise just because it has less than 6 months remaining on it.

[JMAE]

20 hours ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

But your post that I was replying too was about having a passport with at least 6 months left on it for Greenland. Now your saying you can use a birth certificate??

 

Also you say that birth certificate is establishes citizenship. Well how did I get a passport? I used my birth certificate so that statement seems counterintuitive.

 

Color me confused!

I should have said for cruises that allow the use of birth certificate, for a cruise to the county that don't require a passport. Greenland requires a passport, so to get on the cruise to Greenland you must have a passport that doesn't expire with 6 months.  I understand how a passport is issued; however, they expire, unlike a birth certificate.  The rules for passport usage are established in law and the current laws of some countries state a passport is required and must be valid for 6 months after the cruise, like Greenland, not A CCL rule.  CCL cruise documents (not FAQ) that are available to you after booking state "Carnival highly recommends all guests travel with a passport (valid for at least six months beyond completion of travel)."  So, if you use a passport, it must be valid for 6 months.  If a passport is not required for some cruises, you have the option to use a birth certificate and certain gov't issued IDs.  Until CCL changes their cruise document language, they have the option to deny passage if you show up with only passport that expires within 6 months, will they I don't know but as I said earlier, I wouldn't want to be the person that is denied boarding watching the ship sail away.        

       

 

[JMAE]

20 hours ago, broberts said:

 

The Carnival FAQ is very clear, itinerary that include Greenland require a passport book valid for 6 months beyond completion. It does not allow for any other form of documentation.

 

9 hours ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

My thoughts too but that was not what JMAE said.

broberts is correct. I guess I was not clear.  CCL cruise documents states if a passport is used (even if not required) it must be valid for 6 months after the cruise. 

[n6uqqq]

12 minutes ago, JMAE said:

 

broberts is correct. I guess I was not clear.  CCL cruise documents states if a passport is used (even if not required) it must be valid for 6 months after the cruise. 

I'm guessing if the six month requirement was a truly mandated statement, it would be in the Carnival bible, the binding cruise ticket contract. It is not and Carnival actually puts the onus on us to know what is needed. In the years and hundreds of thousands of posts out here, have you seen one where someone was denied boarding with an unexpired passport for a closed loop US cruise that doesn't go to Greenland or Columbia? Why do you think  Carnival made a point to differentiate between Greenland and Columbia cruises, explicitly mentioning the six months window but not for domestic cruises? If it is required, why is Carnival being stingy with the required six month verbiage? 

 

I guess we will all agree to disagree on this one. Someone getting on with a driver license and birth certificate but being denied with 5 months left on a passport doesn't pass the common sense rule! And yes, we all have to much time on our hands to debate this but we do 😉 . 

[JMAE]

Yep, with Cruise Critic Carnival thread down to 296 followers, we have to keep the Carnival thread alive......  

[ngrund]

22 minutes ago, n6uqqq said:

I

 

I guess we will all agree to disagree on this one. Someone getting on with a driver license and birth certificate but being denied with 5 months left on a passport doesn't pass the common sense rule! And yes, we all have to much time on our hands to debate this but we do 😉 . 

My guess is that there is a "CYA" thought on the part of Carnival if a passenger shows up with only a Passport that close to expiration

 

 License revoked, can't renew passport due to legal reasons, etc..

 

 

[n6uqqq]

1 hour ago, JMAE said:

Yep, with Cruise Critic Carnival thread down to 296 followers, we have to keep the Carnival thread alive......  

Actually the follow list doesn't really mean anything. You are only on the follow list if you add yourself. Most of the well known posters out here aren't even on the list. I don't think we are an endangered species just yet 😜

[sparks1093]

5 hours ago, JMAE said:

 "Carnival highly recommends all guests travel with a passport (valid for at least six months beyond completion of travel)."   

       

 

I don't read it that way since the term "highly recommended" applies to the entire sentence. They highly recommend that you use a passport and they highly recommend that it have 6 months validity remaining.

[broberts]

3 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

I don't read it that way since the term "highly recommended" applies to the entire sentence. They highly recommend that you use a passport and they highly recommend that it have 6 months validity remaining.

 

The 6 month requirement is in the next, bold, sentence.

 

From https://www.carnival.com/help?topicid=3409.

 

"Except where it is a mandatory requirement, Carnival highly recommends that all guests travel with a passport book.  The passport book must be valid for at least six months beyond the completion of travel."

 

 

Edited October 13 by broberts

[sparks1093]

7 hours ago, broberts said:

 

The 6 month requirement is in the next, bold, sentence.

 

From https://www.carnival.com/help?topicid=3409.

 

"Except where it is a mandatory requirement, Carnival highly recommends that all guests travel with a passport book.  The passport book must be valid for at least six months beyond the completion of travel."

 

 

That sentence is in the FAQ, not the document that the previous poster quoted, and it's that sentence that is causing all of the confusion. I looked back at some of the threads that talk about this very thing (yes, it is a frequent topic) and it appears that this confusing wording was added to the FAQ some time in the last year or so. Here are the two sentences-

 

The document quoted by the previous poster: "Carnival highly recommends all guests travel with a passport (valid for at least six months beyond completion of travel)."

 

The FAQ: Except where it is a mandatory requirement, Carnival highly recommends that all guests travel with a passport book.  The passport book must be valid for at least six months beyond the completion of travel. 

 

Do you see the difference? Hence, the confusion. The bottom line: a US citizen on a closed loop cruise may use their valid passport up until the day it expires.

 

I think I'll print off this thread and send it to Carnival.

[ontheweb]

I have a cruise booked at the moment (not on Carnival) that is a closed loop cruise starting and ending in NY City. None of the countries we are visiting requires a passport. On the invoice from our TA it says a passport is required and must have at least 6 months remaining after the completion of the cruise. I have e-mailed the TA and asked him if this is boilerplate and on all his invoices, or if it is a real requirement. (I also expressed my concern over his well being after these last 2 almost back to back hurricanes). When and if he replies, I will share the gist of what he says.

[JMAE]

The document snip in post #84 is not from the FAQ, it is the cruise documents that you receive once booked. 

[sparks1093]

1 hour ago, JMAE said:

The document snip in post #84 is not from the FAQ, it is the cruise documents that you receive once booked. 

Yes, I got that and I pointed out that the wording is vastly different then the FAQ.

[staceyglow]

21 hours ago, ontheweb said:

I have a cruise booked at the moment (not on Carnival) that is a closed loop cruise starting and ending in NY City. None of the countries we are visiting requires a passport. On the invoice from our TA it says a passport is required and must have at least 6 months remaining after the completion of the cruise. I have e-mailed the TA and asked him if this is boilerplate and on all his invoices, or if it is a real requirement. (I also expressed my concern over his well being after these last 2 almost back to back hurricanes). When and if he replies, I will share the gist of what he says.

Do you intend to renew your passport once it expires? If so, why not just renew it early? That's what we did. It sure beats all the sturm and drang over whether or not you really need six extra months on your passport expiry. 

 

[sparks1093]

55 minutes ago, staceyglow said:

Do you intend to renew your passport once it expires? If so, why not just renew it early? That's what we did. It sure beats all the sturm and drang over whether or not you really need six extra months on your passport expiry. 

 

I would let my actual travel plans dictate when I renew my passport. If I had a month remaining and was taking a closed loop cruise I would have no angst about using it for that cruise, then renewing it for my next trip that might be a year or two later. Of course I had no angst traveling without a passport when we started cruising.

[aborgman]

On 10/7/2024 at 7:29 PM, sparks1093 said:

They may be stricter than what the regulations call for.

 

Yep... Mexico for example has no expiration limit, but many airlines won't let you get on a plane to Mexico if your passport isn't valid for at least 6 months. It's airline policy.

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, staceyglow said:

Do you intend to renew your passport once it expires? If so, why not just renew it early? That's what we did. It sure beats all the sturm and drang over whether or not you really need six extra months on your passport expiry. 

 

We last renewed our passports in 2019 to do a land trip to Peru. So, we still have many years left and would not consider renewing for a long time. When it gets closer to that date, we will have to consider whether we are still able to travel long distances at the ages we will be then.