Are there still cruises requiring no passport?

[jimw]

I guess we could go to San Juan and St Thomas, etc. Is there such a cruise?

[firefly333]

Closed end cruises that leave out of a U.S. port and come back into the same U.S. port do not require a passport, but you still have to have your birth certificate.

[yst347]

All Carnival cruises that begin and end in the same United States port are exempt from the passport requirement, both now and after June 1, 2009.

[francina]

To play it safe get your passport. If an emergency occurs and you have to fly back to the U.S. you will need a passport. Such as missing your ship...etc...:o

[zqvol]

All Carnival cruises that begin and end in the same United States port are exempt from the passport requirement, both now and after June 1, 2009.

 

 

Maybe . . . there is still that issue with contiguous islands and countries.

[noblepa]

Maybe . . . there is still that issue with contiguous islands and countries.

 

True, but AFAIK, all of the Caribbean islands (oddly enough, including Cuba) are on the list of contiguous islands. Canada and Mexico are, of course, contiguous to the US.

 

The only common cruise stops that seem to be in question are Belize and Costa Rica. Avoid those two, and you're probably okay. I suppose that a southern caribbean cruise that stopped at Panama or the mainland of South America, might also be problematic.

 

In short, though, there are still plenty of cruises that one can take sans passport.

 

I wouldn't recommend it, though.

 

Paul

[urbanhawk]

I guess we could go to San Juan and St Thomas, etc. Is there such a cruise?

 

One would not need a passport for either San Juan or St. Thomas, as these are both part of the U.S. anyways! Happy cruising!

[old sole]

True, but AFAIK, all of the Caribbean islands (oddly enough, including Cuba) are on the list of contiguous islands. Canada and Mexico are, of course, contiguous to the US.

 

The only common cruise stops that seem to be in question are Belize and Costa Rica. Avoid those two, and you're probably okay. I suppose that a southern caribbean cruise that stopped at Panama or the mainland of South America, might also be problematic.

 

In short, though, there are still plenty of cruises that one can take sans passport.

 

I wouldn't recommend it, though.

 

Paul

 

 

Add to the list of questionable Caribbean ports of call: Roatan (Honduras) and Cartagena (Colombia).

[Dee777]

Just wondering why it is that some people are not interested in obtaining a passport? Is it the cost, or is it something else? I am just curious. I require one to fly to the US when we cruise, and am not certain of the requirements for driving across the US border now, but we always presented our passports when we drove over in the past. Just made things simpler, knowing that we had documentation that was not questionable.

 

I know that if we needed to fly home in a hurry from a port, we have what we need and do not have to go through hoops should an emergency arrive.

[FantasyLineAddict]

Just wondering why it is that some people are not interested in obtaining a passport? Is it the cost, or is it something else? I am just curious. I require one to fly to the US when we cruise, and am not certain of the requirements for driving across the US border now, but we always presented our passports when we drove over in the past. Just made things simpler, knowing that we had documentation that was not questionable.

 

I know that if we needed to fly home in a hurry from a port, we have what we need and do not have to go through hoops should an emergency arrive.

 

It's usually the cost at the moment. If you're looking at a cruise, say in August, and the price is great, and you have 4 going, you'd be adding $400 to the cost for that vacation. $400 at the moment might be a make or break.

 

For some it's just good to know that there are still closed-loop cruises from the US that don't require passports after June 1. Many of these people will end up with passports eventually or will continue to stay within whatever the limits are and they're willing to gamble on the chance of an emergency to fly home.

[jimbug]

I think the other issue is that many first-time cruisers are not sure whether or not the added expense of a passport would be "worth it" or not. For one, they don't know if they'll like cruising, so they may not go again. (And obviously they also aren't traveling outside of the U.S. by air, since they don't already have a passport.)

[Slimpickins]

Just wondering why it is that some people are not interested in obtaining a passport? Is it the cost, or is it something else? I am just curious. I require one to fly to the US when we cruise, and am not certain of the requirements for driving across the US border now, but we always presented our passports when we drove over in the past. Just made things simpler, knowing that we had documentation that was not questionable.

 

I know that if we needed to fly home in a hurry from a port, we have what we need and do not have to go through hoops should an emergency arrive.

 

I am not opposed to getting a PP if it ever becomes a requirement. At the moment, I do not need a PP so I choose not to get one. I travelled Europe courtesy of the US Army, so I dont need to go there. I have no plans/desire to fly to Mexico or Canada so I do not need a PP. I am willing to cruise without a PP and take the slight chance that I might be required to enter the US mid cruise via flying. I realize that I would be delayed until I was given permission/Temp PP from the US embassy/consulate, but I am sure I can prove me citizenship and will eventually get back to the US.

[lizardhowson]

It's the same mentality as those who postpone getting a converter for their TV. A certain percentage of un-motivated Americans (or should I say persons living in America) will allow their TV signal to go out until they get a converter, then it will be a "hurry up" and "can't afford it" emergency.

 

Same thing with passports. Folks without passports still want to vacation, but wait until the last minute to get them. Then it's "too much money" and "can I get them in time".

[MadManOfBethesda]

I am willing to cruise without a PP and take the slight chance that I might be required to enter the US mid cruise via flying. I realize that I would be delayed until I was given permission/Temp PP from the US embassy/consulate, but I am sure I can prove me citizenship and will eventually get back to the US.

 

Yes, but do you really want to be stuck getting second class medical care on a Caribbean island somewhere while the U.S. embassy works on that for you rather than being flown back to the U.S. immediately should you suffer a health problem while on a cruise?

 

Oh, I know.

 

There's only a "slight chance" that you might have an accident or other health issue while out of the country. :rolleyes:

[ShedQueen77]

When we booked our first cruise (this was our first 'major' travel experience besides amusement parks, Wrigley Field, etc..) our TA strongly encouraged us to get our passports (this was during the passport crunch in 2007). We were in that group of people who swore we'd never get our money's worth from them; that we'd never use them. We decided to just go ahead and get them because it was easier to carry around than two forms of ID (BC and DL).

 

Well, 16 weeks into waiting for our passports we got a call from one of my husband's old USMC friends. They were having an impromptu get together in Alicante, Spain (where they had been stationed for a few years) and wanted us to come. Since we waited 16 weeks for our passports with no luck, our congressman intervened and got them to us in time to go.

 

Had we not initially applied, we would have missed out on seeing his friends again for the first time in many years. We wouldn't have been able to fly to Spain without them.

 

Now that we have the passports (and our children do as well), our travel opportunities know no bounds. We are not just limited to cruises. While we love cruising, there is a big world out there and cruise ships can't take us everywhere we want to go. We can weekend in Cancun, see Paris, Russia, Japan.... all because of the power of that little book (and the wallet, unfortunately ;)).

 

You never know what opportunities may arise for you that a passport will allow you to take advantage of.

 

JMHO.

[FantasyLineAddict]

Well, 16 weeks into waiting for our passports we got a call from one of my husband's old USMC friends. They were having an impromptu get together in Alicante, Spain (where they had been stationed for a few years) and wanted us to come. Since we waited 16 weeks for our passports with no luck, our congressman intervened and got them to us in time to go.

 

 

Great story and good points!

[Slimpickins]

Yes, but do you really want to be stuck getting second class medical care on a Caribbean island somewhere while the U.S. embassy works on that for you rather than being flown back to the U.S. immediately should you suffer a health problem while on a cruise?

 

Oh, I know.

 

There's only a "slight chance" that you might have an accident or other health issue while out of the country. :rolleyes:

 

I would imagine, many of these ports we are talking about do not have flight after flight coming and going. I might even have my temp PP or what ever docs they give me before the first flight out of that poor backwards Caribbean island you speak of.

[Slimpickins]

When we booked our first cruise (this was our first 'major' travel experience besides amusement parks, Wrigley Field, etc..) our TA strongly encouraged us to get our passports (this was during the passport crunch in 2007). We were in that group of people who swore we'd never get our money's worth from them; that we'd never use them. We decided to just go ahead and get them because it was easier to carry around than two forms of ID (BC and DL).

 

Well, 16 weeks into waiting for our passports we got a call from one of my husband's old USMC friends. They were having an impromptu get together in Alicante, Spain (where they had been stationed for a few years) and wanted us to come. Since we waited 16 weeks for our passports with no luck, our congressman intervened and got them to us in time to go.

 

Had we not initially applied, we would have missed out on seeing his friends again for the first time in many years. We wouldn't have been able to fly to Spain without them.

 

Now that we have the passports (and our children do as well), our travel opportunities know no bounds. We are not just limited to cruises. While we love cruising, there is a big world out there and cruise ships can't take us everywhere we want to go. We can weekend in Cancun, see Paris, Russia, Japan.... all because of the power of that little book (and the wallet, unfortunately ;)).

 

You never know what opportunities may arise for you that a passport will allow you to take advantage of.

 

JMHO.

 

All very valid points if any of those possibilities applied to me. However, if such an opportunity arised, I would get a PP. I'm not against PPs, however i'm fairly sure no unexpected outta countries opportunities will pop up requiring me to have a PP.

[Slimpickins]

It's the same mentality as those who postpone getting a converter for their TV. A certain percentage of un-motivated Americans (or should I say persons living in America) will allow their TV signal to go out until they get a converter, then it will be a "hurry up" and "can't afford it" emergency.

 

Same thing with passports. Folks without passports still want to vacation, but wait until the last minute to get them. Then it's "too much money" and "can I get them in time".

 

Well maybe if the US would spend billions of US dollars to subsidize PPs like they did for converters then more ppl would get them. I wouldn't say I was unmotivated about getting a PP, I would say I lack the need for a PP so chose not to get one. Trust me, if I needed a converter, I would surely have one(just like a PP).Your analogy missed by a tweeny bit in my opinion:D.

[bygjon]

I'm headed for my third cruise to Mexico and I don't have a passport. The ports I'm going to have modern, state of the art hospitals. Besides, if I suffered a true medical life and death emergency, there's no way I'd have time to fly back to a U.S. hospital, would I?

 

People who cruise without a passport know they're taking a small risk that they can't immediately fly home. I live in California. If worst comes to worst, I can always drive home.

 

What I'm saying is to each their own. If you have a passport and it makes you feel safe and secure and you enjoy traveling all over the world, more power to you. People have free will for a reason.

[ShedQueen77]

All very valid points if any of those possibilities applied to me. However, if such an opportunity arised, I would get a PP. I'm not against PPs, however i'm fairly sure no unexpected outta countries opportunities will pop up requiring me to have a PP.

 

Not judging anyone's choices. It works for you so that's good! :)

 

I was just trying to address the possibility brought up in a previous post about cruisers thinking they'd never use a passport again if they got one.

[lizardhowson]

Well maybe if the US would spend billions of US dollars to subsidize PPs like they did for converters then more ppl would get them. I wouldn't say I was unmotivated about getting a PP, I would say I lack the need for a PP so chose not to get one. Trust me, if I needed a converter, I would surely have one(just like a PP).Your analogy missed by a tweeny bit in my opinion:D.

 

Nope, same mindset. Reread your posts... (I just don't think I would ever need one was the jist...and... I'll get one when I need it)

[lizardhowson]

if I suffered a true medical life and death emergency, there's no way I'd have time to fly back to a U.S. hospital, would I?

 

I live in California. If worst comes to worst, I can always drive home.

 

Too bad of shape to be medivaced (which I don't believe) as you read of it everyday (just in news after tour bus crash) but you could drive to California.

 

Hope I'm not on the road that day...

[yakdaddy42]

everyone needs to ignore the comments of Slimpickins

Cool Cruiser

 

they are just stiring the pot regarding passports, They have done this on just about every thread regarding passports.

 

this person has some deep reason for not getting a passport or for anyone else getting one.

 

to a first time cruiser or someone that lives near the border get a passport it will make your life so much easer at the airport, border and checking in to your curise.

 

yes you can do everything with a DL and a CBC but it is a hassle IMHO

[ManyMore]

I want to know why it is that no matter how many people ask the question as easy as are there still cruise that don't require a pass port people alway still want to tell someone they should get one when that isn't what they asked. Are there cruises? yes and the majority of cruises fot that bill... done