Passport question - very occassional travelers

[2preschoolers]

DH and I both have passports but they are expired. We don't get the opportunity to travel much (that would require a passport) and probably won't have any options for several years. Our kids do not have passports at all. I know we can get a passport card - however my fear is - what if something happens on the ship or at one of the ports and we require immediate medical attention. With a passport card, we cannot fly home. So then we're stuck getting medical treatment in Jamaica or Mexico, etc! :eek: I know it would be an off-chance it'd be needed but I just don't know if it's worth the risk. Getting passports for all of us is VERY expensive considering they probably wouldn't get used again before the kids expires.

 

Just wondering what everyone's feelings are in regards to this - I would assume the "regular" cruisers have them but wondering about those who only get to go occassionally? Not sure what to do!

 

DH thought maybe me and him would get passport cards but we'll get the kids full passports - that way if anything happened they could fly home with his aunt and uncle (who have passports and will be on the cruise with us). Thoughts?

[doclove]

My wife and I got passports last year and are going to get the kids their passports this week for our upcoming cruise. I thought about the cost and whether or not we should get the passport card, the full passport or nothing at all. We decided to get the full passport so in case of emergency we are prepared. Also, we don't know what the future holds and we might have the chance to do more travel.

 

Its a pain to fulfill all the requirements and the cost, but worth it for the peace of mind it will bring on the cruise knowing that we are covered if there is an emergency.

[Essiesmom]

The passport card will not do anything for you that your birth certificate and gov't ID will, so I would pass on that. Depending on how long your passport has been expired, it is less expensive to renew than to get a new one. And remember, for you it is good for ten years, and will not get any cheaper if you wait. EM

[cherylandtk]

Well, let me ask you this - Did you buy trip insurance other than cancellation insurance? If you did, then you really ought to all have passports to use that insurance if it becomes necessary. If you opted not to buy trip insurance, then you have some more thinking to do.

 

You've correctly identified the closed loop passport question/dilemma; but only you can answer it for your situation. Think of it like insurance. You may not need it, but if you do, you will be very glad you have it. Will this bother you to no end if you don't? Will you worry about it while on the cruise? There is no 'right' answer as to what everyone else does - the only 'right' answer is what you are most comfortable with. How much peace of mind/insurance is that amount of spending going to give you?

 

In cases of medical emergency there is limited information as to what will happen, but since WHTI the two cases that made it onto these boards took two days to travel back to the States; one family with brand new passports (issued at regular price) and one young woman with an emergency travel letter. Both had BC/ID to facilitate issuing these documents. There were, of course, extra expenses for hotels and flights in both of those cases. This type of cost is least partly re-imbursed by most trip insurance plans.

 

In cases of passenger folly (left passport on ship and missed the ship) it took two weeks and thousands of dollars in extra expenses. Most trip insurance plans do not cover this sort of extra expense.

[startraveler]

Despite my signature, we're not regular cruisers. But my wife and I do like to travel - both by cruise and by air - and having a passport makes planning easier should we find a good deal.

 

As well, my brother-in-law got his passport for a Caribbean cruise when he was 12 or 13. There's a good chance it'll expire before he can use it again, unless the in-laws can afford going on an Alaska cruise or driving to Niagara Falls, Canada. But he does have one.

[cb at sea]

while you may have to "jump through hoops" to do it, you CAN fly home...it just may be a hassle.

I'm NOT a fan of getting a passport unless ABSOLUTELY necessary....why give the government MORE of our money to waste?

Until it's a law, I will continue to us BC and ID!!!

[Warm Breezes]

while you may have to "jump through hoops" to do it, you CAN fly home...it just may be a hassle.

I'm NOT a fan of getting a passport unless ABSOLUTELY necessary....why give the government MORE of our money to waste?

Until it's a law, I will continue to us BC and ID!!!

I'm with you. I will not send the gov't my money until it is actually required for a trip that I am taking. If it is not required then I'm keeping my money.

[2preschoolers]

while you may have to "jump through hoops" to do it, you CAN fly home...it just may be a hassle.

I'm NOT a fan of getting a passport unless ABSOLUTELY necessary....why give the government MORE of our money to waste?

Until it's a law, I will continue to us BC and ID!!!

 

I'm with you. I will not send the gov't my money until it is actually required for a trip that I am taking. If it is not required then I'm keeping my money.

 

Well I tend to agree with you on this! And I KNOW that's how DH feels too. If it's not 'required" why get them do so?

 

But cb at sea, you mentioned you COULD fly home but not without hassle. Any idea what they do in case of emergency? The lady who I booked with at the cruise line told me (in regards to insurance) that she shattered her arm on the pier and had to have immediate surgery and if not for flying home she'd have to had surgery in Mexico. (I admit, I wonder if that story is TRUE or just to try to get me to buy insurance...haha) But I keep trying to figure how many possible reasons would there be to have to fly home immediately vs just cruising home?

 

No we did not get the trip insurance - I've never gotten it and don't really see the point in having it.

[jennlynnmahan]

My husband and I both have passports, but have been debating on what to do about our two kids - they are currently 2 years old. Should we even bother with the passport card?

[uppitycats]

Trip insurance has several "points". First of all, if you are rather wealthy, and don't mind absorbing the cost of a cancelled trip - the cruise, the air fare, hotels, transfers, etc...then maybe you don't need it. For a lot of us, that's a lot of money, and a couple hundred dollars worth of trip insurance seems worth it.

 

Why would you need to cancel? One (or both) of you..or your children..gets sick. Or worse. You have unexpected expenses (our house burned down one time; another time we flooded out. Had to spend time and $$ dealing with that, rather than the vacation.) If you have immediate family that you care enough about that -- if one of them got sick or died (like an elderly parent) -- you'd want to stay home.

 

Once on the cruise, any of the above could happen, causing you to need to go home. And indeed medical care in some other countries is not nearly as good as you might find at home. I spent a day..seemed like a lifetime..in a Philippine hospital and can personally attest to that! And someone already talked about some of the other expenses that travel insurance can cover, should you be out of town and need to get home quickly.

 

And if you don't have a passport and are out of the country, you're not flying anywhere until you get to the nearest consulate, fill out a lot of paperwork, suffer a lot of delays, answer gobs of questions, send back to the US for documentation, and then maybe.

 

While I do travel within the US..and possibly Canada..without travel insurance, I don't step out of the country otherwise, without it.

 

As for a passport, I got my first at age 17. When it expired I was in no position to travel, so didn't get one. I got one again when I was able to travel, and just renewed it last year.

[Kerry's Girls]

 

No we did not get the trip insurance - I've never gotten it and don't really see the point in having it.

 

You may want to see if your regular medical insurance covers evacuation at sea. Mine doesn't (and I think most don't). If one of my preschoolers gets sick or has an accident on a sea day and needed helicopter evacuation, it would be financially devastating to me (tens of thousands of dollars), so I always have trip insurance. Also, with the unpredictable flu season coming up, I want to know that I won't lose the money I spent on the cruise if any of us gets sick when we're supposed to be leaving. It's just a part of our cruise budget now.

 

Best,

Mia

[doclove]

We have had one other experience that taught us how helpful a passport can be and it wasn't for International travel. A few years ago we were in Washington D.C. and my wife had her wallet stolen with her DL. With all of the new security measures we were afraid how we would get her on the flight home. We were able to have someone with a spare key get into our house, get my wife's birth certificate, and then FEDEX it to us overnight. We also had to go to the local warehouse store to get a new membership card made that has her picture on it. Both the BC and the membership card was enough to get past security. After going through that cost and hassle we learned that it is best to bring 2 legal forms of identification that are kept separate, preferably in a hotel safe, in case something gets stolen.