Passport question

[krhardy]

This is not inteded to debate the benefits of a passport...I know the pros and cons.
Normally I am an obsessive planner but this has been my daughter's senior year and has been filled with college plans etc. Not to mention the fact that she was very ill this fall and required multiple hospitalizations and surgery.
I just realized that our passports will expire the month that we cruise. Do we NEED passports to board the ship? If I absolutely need them, I will, but I will have to expedite them and I'd rather not have that expense if its not absolutely, positively, and completely necessary.

 

[TXDCLfan]

This is not inteded to debate the benefits of a passport...I know the pros and cons.
Normally I am an obsessive planner but this has been my daughter's senior year and has been filled with college plans etc. Not to mention the fact that she was very ill this fall and required multiple hospitalizations and surgery.
I just realized that our passports will expire the month that we cruise. Do we NEED passports to board the ship? If I absolutely need them, I will, but I will have to expedite them and I'd rather not have that expense if its not absolutely, positively, and completely necessary.

No just your birth cert and Gov issued id

 

[PrincessShmoo]

This is not inteded to debate the benefits of a passport...I know the pros and cons.
Normally I am an obsessive planner but this has been my daughter's senior year and has been filled with college plans etc. Not to mention the fact that she was very ill this fall and required multiple hospitalizations and surgery.
I just realized that our passports will expire the month that we cruise. Do we NEED passports to board the ship? If I absolutely need them, I will, but I will have to expedite them and I'd rather not have that expense if its not absolutely, positively, and completely necessary.

Which cruise?

 

[clten]

You do not need passports for closed loop cruises (cruises that start/end in the same US city). For these a valid government issued birth certificate along with photo id for anyone over 18 (like driver's license) is fine.

You said the passports expire the month you are traveling. Is the exact date they expire after you return from the cruise. If so, you can use your passports.

 

[krhardy]

We will be on the Western Caribbean with stops in Mexico and CC. Our passports will expire at the beginning of the month, and we board at the end.
Thanks for the info!

 

[jazzykirl]

You do not need a passport. However, God forbid, you were to have a medical emergency or other, it would not be as easy to get back into the US by plane. You would have to wait till the boat reentered the US.

 

[kcashner]

You do not need a passport. However, God forbid, you were to have a medical emergency or other, it would not be as easy to get back into the US by plane. You would have to wait till the boat reentered the US.

It is not true that you would have to wait till the ship re-entered the US. In the event of an emergency, a temporary passport can be obtained at any US embassy or consulate that would allow one entry to the US. It would then be exchanged for a regular passport after you were home. The problem is that it would add another layer of bureaucratic garbage at an already stressed time in your life.

You can view the full regulations at the US gov state department web site.

 

[It'sWDW4me]

This is not inteded to debate the benefits of a passport...I know the pros and cons.
Normally I am an obsessive planner but this has been my daughter's senior year and has been filled with college plans etc. Not to mention the fact that she was very ill this fall and required multiple hospitalizations and surgery.
I just realized that our passports will expire the month that we cruise. Do we NEED passports to board the ship? If I absolutely need them, I will, but I will have to expedite them and I'd rather not have that expense if its not absolutely, positively, and completely necessary.

Since you will be renewing current passports and since you have nearly 3 months until your cruise, I can't imagine that you'd have to expedite them. My DS's passport (new application) arrived in just over 2 weeks. I'd mail your expiring passports in this week. You'll probably have the renewals back in plenty of time before your cruise.

 

[sissy_ib]

Since you will be renewing current passports and since you have nearly 3 months until your cruise, I can't imagine that you'd have to expedite them. My DS's passport (new application) arrived in just over 2 weeks. I'd mail your expiring passports in this week. You'll probably have the renewals back in plenty of time before your cruise.

Someone here reported here the other day they just got their passport back in 12 days. I got mine in less than three weeks.
OP-you do have time if you want to get them but no, you do not have to have them.