Are We In A World Of ...?

[hammerinfrank]

And, also, if by any chance you're not successful with getting proof of birth and you find your insurance doesn't cover such an instance (which I'm absolutely positive it does not)

 

Heather - HAL's cancellation policy states "CPP STANDARD PLAN: Our CPP Standard plan allows you, for any reason, to provide written cancellation up to 24 hours prior to scheduled cruise departure and receive a cash refund equal to 80% of the applicabl cancellation fee". This insurance was purchased from HAL.

 

I spoke with a very helpful HAL supervisor on the telephone this morning by the name of Cathy Ford (or with a K?) and she confirmed that my travel insurance would cover this cancellation, if indeed we do have to cancel. She told me that "written cancellation" was not necessary and that as long as a phone call was received at the HAL office no less than 24 hrs. before departure, I would qualify for a refund (minus penalties).

 

Frank

[hammerinfrank]

Or you could get a replacement fiance` with a valid passport for the week. Just a thought.:D

 

jc

 

 

Tempting thought!

 

Frank

[peaches from georgia]

Do you have any good news today? Or any news at all? :confused:

[fcorey]

Heather - HAL's cancellation policy states "CPP STANDARD PLAN: Our CPP Standard plan allows you, for any reason, to provide written cancellation up to 24 hours prior to scheduled cruise departure and receive a cash refund equal to 80% of the applicabl cancellation fee". This insurance was purchased from HAL.

 

I spoke with a very helpful HAL supervisor on the telephone this morning by the name of Cathy Ford (or with a K?) and she confirmed that my travel insurance would cover this cancellation, if indeed we do have to cancel. She told me that "written cancellation" was not necessary and that as long as a phone call was received at the HAL office no less than 24 hrs. before departure, I would qualify for a refund (minus penalties).

 

Frank

 

I'm glad you have some option there, but I hope you can work things out so you can go on the cruise.

[hammerinfrank]

To all who offered their support, thank you. I know none of you but I felt the sincerity in your hopes for us. Lots of great suggestions too.

 

Irma came home today with a duplicate of her birth certificate. Her first name on the certificate is misspelled (ERMANN ?) The clerk at the recorders office was quite helpful and spent some time looking and was able to find it. Waiting for a return call from the HAL offices and hoping that the misspelling is not another roadblock.

 

Now I'm more pumped than ever, cruise is just days away.

 

You guys are great!

[cusyl]

Hurrah!!!! Bon Voyage :d

[YankeeCruiser]

Yay!! Glad they found it - hopefully it won't be a problem for HAL. Have a fantastic time!!

[jtl513]

GRRRRRREAT NEWS! CONGRATS!

[Pete Jackson]

I think that the HAL insurance is your ace in the hole. If for any reason your documentation is not perfect by 24 hours before sailing, call HAL and ask if they will accept what you have, or they can give you 80% of your money back. I presume that HAL will make the sensible business decision!

 

Have a great cruise, and a great marriage!

[peaches from georgia]

It isn't up to HAL to make the decison of what is acceptable. HAL can only allow you on the ship if you have documentation which INS will accept. She has to be able to get back in the country at the end of the cruise. It's not a business decision, it's a decision of the US government.

[kakalina]

That is fantastic. Now hope that you can get the rest of your documantation in time. Good luck

[sail7seas]

Good news. I join the others in hoping that the improper spelling of her name can be dealt with.

 

Will she need a birth certificate to get your marriage license? We've been married so long I don't remember. ;)

 

The name correction has to be made at some point.....might as well be now and get everything in order.

 

Hope the news continues to be good!!!

 

[Sunshine91]

Frank & Irma - This is great news! Was the original certificate handwritten - is that what accounts for the inconsistent spelling?

What I remember of the ID check is that HAL looked at passports at check-in (in your case driver's license & birth certs). At the first US port after a foreign port, immigration officials boarded the ship & then deck by deck pax had to pass by the INS officers with documents in hand. The officers gave a brief glance to our passports to see if our pix matched our faces. And that was it.

Upon our actual return to the US at the end of the cruise we were told to have our passports out & ready to show the INS officers in the terminal, but they never checked them. They just collected the form.

Have a wonderful time in Mejico. Would love to go back someday on a cruise. :)

And Frank, don't you start calling her Ermann. That's something my John would do. ;) :D

[Grampy]

To all who offered their support, thank you. I know none of you but I felt the sincerity in your hopes for us. Lots of great suggestions too.

 

Irma came home today with a duplicate of her birth certificate. Her first name on the certificate is misspelled (ERMANN ?) The clerk at the recorders office was quite helpful and spent some time looking and was able to find it. Waiting for a return call from the HAL offices and hoping that the misspelling is not another roadblock.

 

Now I'm more pumped than ever, cruise is just days away.

 

You guys are great!

 

That is great news Frank. We will see you on board.:D :D

[serendipity1499]

So Happy for you both..Don't forget to tell us how your cruise went..Have a wonderful time..:)

[Tinknock50]

Glad it all worked out for you!

 

So are we all invited to the wedding?:D :D :D

[thomasale]

Awwww... a happy ending :)

[jtl513]

Waiting for a return call from the HAL offices and hoping that the misspelling is not another roadblock.

 

Maaaaybe, just in case, she should get some photo ID WITH the misspelled name. I'm not suggesting changing her driver's license, but I think in most states you can get non-driver's IDs from either DMV or the Sherrif's Office or some such place.

 

If you normally sign up for internet time on board cruises, send us a post from there! :) :p :D

[Grumpy1]

Maaaaybe, just in case, she should get some photo ID WITH the misspelled name. I'm not suggesting changing her driver's license, but I think in most states you can get non-driver's IDs from either DMV or the Sherrif's Office or some such place.

 

If you normally sign up for internet time on board cruises, send us a post from there! :) :p :D

Doing that could be construed as obtaining a fradulent ID, since a driver's license has been issued in the other name. i would suggest a notarized statement signed by her and a parent or sibling attesting that the facts on the birth certificate are all correct except for the spelling of the first name, which was an inadvertent clerical error.

 

The other possibility is to get a judge at the courthouse to issue a legal name change document.

[jtl513]

Doing that could be construed as obtaining a fradulent ID, since a driver's license has been issued in the other name.

 

I never thought of that! But the thought also crossed my mind that maybe ERMANN IS her legal name (strange, but possible, like an old family name) and that parents and "everyone" just called her Irma. But that wouldn't explain how she managed to get a social security card, or a driver's license, or register for school, etc using a "nickname".

[arzz]

When my mother, many years ago, applied for her first passport it was discovered that her birth certificate was issued to "Pearline" instead of the "Pauline" that she had assumed was her first name for her lifetime. At that time to get a passport all she had to do was bring two relatives to the passport office (like brothers and sisters since her parents were no longer alive) to swear affadavits that Pearline and Pauline were, in fact, the same person and they issued a passport to Pauline. I do not know if the rules have changed since 9/11 -- but if that is all you need to do, I would suggest applying for that passport at your earliest convenience (I know that you are cruising this week) -- but once the passport is issued with the correct first name and it matches the driver's license and other ID's you will be set for life.

 

You never know when you might need to travel or need a passport since the rules on that are changing hourly so I would recommend correcting the situation ASAP . Have a great trip!

[Mary Ellen]

You never know what the official birth certificate (BC) will say. My father still has his original BC. It has the name he's always known. I do genealogy and since the state in which he was born has the BCs available on microfilm, I decided to get a copy for my records. Dad has the same first name as his father, but is not a 'Jr.' as he has a middle name - his father did not. On the copy filed with the state someone has written in 'Junior' - a different handwritting than the rest of the certificate. Apparently some clerk when it was filed, decided he was a Jr. At 80+ Dad learned that - according to the state - he is a 'Junior'.

 

But the thought also crossed my mind that maybe ERMANN IS her legal name (strange, but possible, like an old family name) and that parents and "everyone" just called her Irma.

 

That does happen. A friend was helping her father (60-80 age range) get a passport. The ONLY given name he had ever known was Junior. school records, Drivers Licence, Social Security - everything, had his first name as Junior. They went to the County Clerks office to get his BC for the passport. Shocked to find out that he was (father's name) Jr., he blurted out that his name was Junior, not (father's name) Jr. The clerk took a pen, crossed out (father's name) Jr. and wrote in Junior. :eek: Not too sure about the legallity of that.....

 

Anyway, to the OP name differences DO happen. Hopefully this one will easily straighten out.

[hugger]

I was 16 I had to go to the county clerk's office in the city where I was born (not where I lived) to obtain my Birth Cert. in order to get my driver's license. The first time I got it I never thought to look at it while I was still there. They'd spelled my first name wrong - I have an unusual name for a woman (especially in the 50's). I had to make the trip back to have it corrected - I looked prior to leaving that time and it was still spelled wrong. After 3 times I finally had a Birth Certificate that was under the correct name and spelling. My parent's were still alive at the time so we knew for sure what they had intended.

 

Because Irma's name is quite different on her Birth Cert. Could be that it was a family name and they just called her Irma. Interesting that she was able to obtain all of her other documentation under Irma though????

[jtl513]

When my mother, many years ago, applied for her first passport it was discovered that her birth certificate was issued to "Pearline" instead of the "Pauline" that she had assumed was her first name for her lifetime.

 

I was given no middle name at birth, but when starting a job that required a security clearance I was told by the investigator that since I had used my confirmation name as a middle name/initial for more than 20 years on many documents it was now my legal name ... something like a common law marriage I guess!

 

When doing genealogy I found a relative that spelled her official name about 6 different ways throughout her life, but always went by a nickname that didn't resemble her real name at all ... and was married under her nickname. But that was 125 years ago when things were a lot more lax about all records!

 

Sorry, OP, for going way off-topic!

:o

[HeatherInFlorida]

Frank, I am so happy this worked out for you and especially relieved you won't have to break her leg because that can be painful;) .

 

I was assuming you had regular insurance (never assume because we know what happens:o ) where it wouldn't have been covered. HAL's insurance is good in that way except you don't get it all back. But it sure would have helped in this situation!

 

Have a wonderful cruise!:)