Another passport question

[Becky81]

Sorry to be asking this, but I think I missed something. I thought you now needed a passport (as of January) to travel out of US. My sister-in-law sent in all paperwork begining of January and still does not have it. She did look on line, and they said she should have it either on or before March 25th. The only problem is that we are sailing on the Fantasy April 2nd!:eek: Is a birth cert. ok?

 

Thanks for any response

[Lv2Camp&Cruise]

A birth certificate and DL is fine for this year while on a cruise. If for some reason you would have to fly back during the cruise for an emergency then you would have a few more problems getting into the country without a passport.

 

You may want to call the passport agency and make sure the passport is mailed out as soon as possible.

[yst347]

You must have an original birth certificate or state-issued certified copy. In either case it must contain a raised seal from the issuing governmental authority. A hospital certificate generally isn't acceptable.

 

If your sister-in-law applied for her first passport didn't she submit her birth certificate with the application? Does she have a second copy that fits the description above? If she doesn't she might want to get another certified copy from the county of her birth just for back-up in case she doesn't receive her passport in time.

[beach410]

I assumed the same, that they were needed this year, if I had done my homework better I wouldnt have applied this year. I here that if you need to fly out of a country from a cruise that there is somethiing in place so that you can do so without a passport.

 

Our original BC's were sent in with our application for our passports, also sailing April 2nd and our passports will not be here on time, it sounds as if your sisters will be, but kind of scary to wait to such a last minute if she doesnt have the appropriate copies of her BCs. I had to go through the hastle of sending away for copies of the original BC's. :(

[mlpreston]

I don't know complete policies for the US but I know that my husband and I aren't able to get our passports in time for our cruise so I have frantically contacted every necessary agency to confirm that we are okay to travel. As we are coming from Canada we have opted to drive across the border and fly within the US this excuses the need for a passport as we will not be crossing the border via air travel. I have confirmed this with US Airways (BTW: for the frugal traveller in Canada, flying from the US saves you hundreds! We saved nearly $1000 flying from Buffalo instead of Toronto)

As for our ports of call; we will be travelling within Mexico for our ports of call (Cozumel, Costa Maya) I have confirmed with the Mexican Consulate in Toronto and the Mexican Tourism Board who have both confirmed that as Canadians we do not need our passports in Mexico we can present valid DL and BC. I am not sure of Mexican policy with Americans.

I called Carnival three times and spoke with three different reps (as I have noticed two people from the same cruise line can tell you two completely different things!) and they have all told me the same thing; that we would not need our passports to board the ship, just our DL and BC.

 

I don't know any passport policies with other ports of call, but this is what I have learned from my investigations.