3 days before cruise and Birth Certificate is Missing!

[Judge Doom]

What can be done? A friend misplaced his birth certificate and does not have a passport. We leave this Saturday and are frantic. Will he be denied onto the vessel? He has Military discharge papers form DD 214 with his birthday on it will that suffice?

 

[princssdisnygina]

I am not positive what they will do. He has to have proof of US citizenship. Is he close to his hometown where he can just go to the courthouse and get another one? My husband had to do that. They give it to you right away. Just a thought.

Gina

 

[ivanova]

If he's not close to the county records office, he might be able to get one sent to him overnight ... it'll cost him dearly I'm sure.

 

[PizzieDuster]

Depending upon where his birth certificate is!

Whatever he does, he needs to do it ASAP before 9am his time tomorrow! To make overnight delivery and to have 'one' day in case retreiving his certificate may take 'one' more day!

ASAP - get on it now!

If he cannot get down to the county recorders office in his town because he was not born there....

He can get a court service or attorney service to retrieve it and get a expedited certified copy of birth certificate and send it to him - how early he gets it, depends upon where and how far he's got to go for it! And how much he begs (just joking)

Call tomorrow morning.... get a federal express invoice number (you can go to a mail center). Call a service - expedite it (probably with a credit card - or call an attorney friend).

I know this because it happened to me when I was suppose to board the plane for my honeymoon. I didn't have a certified birth certificate. I had my hospital birth certificate and they would not let me board! But our attorney service retrieved a certified copy that same day (but it was in the same state) and fed ex'd it to my hotel room - it was the next day and we did pay for it

But it also was in the same State, different county.





I mention that if he had an attorney - they most likely have an existing attorney service who will not request payment up front and will just bill the cost to the attorney's account. They will most likely work to get the request done because this is coming from an existing client. Otherwise, it may take too much time to explain all of this. Attorney services can be very resourceful! And very efficent!

If he writes for it.... he won't make it in 3 days. If he calls for it.... no way.

Attorney services always have diligent, resourceful, smart and efficient employees who almost live at the court house! Their offices call them and say ..."hey... we need this...." and they know all the clerks! Maybe if his birth certificate is out of state, it may be like FTD..... the attorney service may know who to call....


So when and if he does calls - he should be sure to have the address, account number and information where to send the certified copy to ............. and follow up! AND DON'T WAIT! It needs to be down ASAP - first thing tomorrow am - if you are talking about over nigthing the certificate! Before he can take a sip of coffee he needs to be making calls! Otherwise, how sad it would be be for him not to board.

I'm not sure how laxed they are right now with the paperwork. We just came back last week and they checked our docs very carefully.

And lastly, have him check again! Guess where my certified birth certificate was? With my dad! Just 20 minutes away.......... duh!

 

[traycie2201]

I took a look at the dcl website for you to see if i could find any info out about this and this is what it says but i suggest you ring them (800) 951-3532 to discuss. Good luck

What documentation do I need to bring?
All U.S. and Canadian citizens must travel with proof of citizenship, which is a valid passport, original, state-certified birth certificate and picture identification, or a certified naturalization certificate with a picture identification. Acceptable forms of picture identification are state or provincial driver's license, or federal, state, province or local government photo I.D. card. Guests age 17 and under who are U.S. or Canadian citizens are only required to have proof of citizenship, excluding picture identification. These guidelines are based on U.S. government regulations which are subject to change at any time. It is the Guest's responsibility to check with their Travel Agent, government agencies, embassies or consulates prior to their vacation to ensure that they have proper documentation. Any Guest traveling without proper documentation will not be allowed to board the vessel and no refund of cruise fare will be issued.

New security guidelines require all adult Guests to show a picture I.D. to embark and disembark the ship in all ports, including Castaway Cay. Please be advised that anyone under the age of 18 wishing to go ashore unaccompanied will be required to have a consenting parent, guardian or other responsible adult with them at the gangway, to provide their signature as authorization.

 

[huckster]

www.vitalcheck.com they will overnite it they did my dh

 

[Judge Doom]

Okay he's going to the Los Angeles registars office to see if he can get it there. I visited the website however and because he was born before 1975 it says that they have to mail it in 15 days! I called the office and said if he brings an itinerary they should be able to help him but she wasn't 100% sure.

I also called DCL and they stated to bring all kinds of forms of ID including his DD 214, social security card, military ID, drivers license...pretty much anything issued with an picture and his name. She also stated a decsion would be made at the dock and wasn't 100% sure if he could get on but she sounded hopeful with the more documentation the better.

So unless the registars office fails he'll have a 50-50 chance of getting on board.

Thank you to everyone who offered suggestions. I really appreciate it!

 

[mikeymars]

Good luck...Los Angeles county states the minimum processing time for ANY copy of a birth certificate is 3-5 business days. While I'm sympathetic to the situation here, let this thread be a strong, strong lesson to those who put off boring details like boarding documentation until the 11th hour.

 

[Memaw2Wm]

Yep, after my DD discovered her driver's license was missing just hours before we had to leave for the airport last summer, I decided that passports were a necessity for our land/sea vacation this coming August.

Last weekend I was at the post office applying for passports for me, DD and 2 of the 3 grandkids. Am sending documentation to former DIL so she can applied for a passport for my oldest grandchild (they live in a different state).

Being paranoid, I will probably take certified copies of all of our birth certificates, too ... better safe than sorry!!!

 

[mikeymars]

Not to turn this into the proverbial "are passports worth it thread," but...

...I read many, many cruise boards (the ones on cruisecritic.com in particular come strongly recommended, much more depth than what you see here). If I had a nickel for every thread I've ever seen about problems with birth certficates, I could have retired years ago.

Or stated differently, THE SMART MONEY GETS A PASSPORT - LONG BEFORE THEY ARE EVEN SURE IF THEY WILL EVER NEED IT.

 

[khakismum]

Yup, we have passports for ourselves and DD. Passports trump *all* other fprms of ID. We got them becasue we needed them to travel abroad, but we take them with us when we travel domestically just to get us through security check points at airports and ports. Took them last Spet on our 1st cruise, taking them again in July. This doesn't help your friend and his lost birth cert. but it may help him to decide to go ahead and get a PP.

 

[TheWog]

have him beg for the BC, He may not be allowed passage, its a government requirement, not just DCL. I'm with mikey, but then we already knew that.

 

[mikeymars]

The Wog as usual is correct, begging at this point is all he can do. The challenges he will face, however, are several:

- A bureaucracy like a county registrars office hears all sorts of begging from people every day, which means they become rather immune to it (whatever your particular sob story, they've already heard nine variations of it a dozen times.)

- Also, from what I've read and heard, many record offices have specific policies about "emergency requests' like this, and while needing to travel due to a death or serious illness in ones' immediate family usually makes the cut, just wanting to go on a vacation doesn't.

And in a scenario where one doesn't have proper documentation, no one should expect DCL to simply "look the other way" at the pier. The casual days are over, gang- in the post 9/11 environment, travel and immigration regulations have gotten tighter and they ARE being enforced.

 

[Jillpie]

What does having a passport have to do with any of this? If this person was well prepared, he would have had his birth certificate in hand for this cruise. So whether its a passport or a birth certificate, it really doesn't matter. Its the fact that whatever the identification he chooses, it should've been dealt with months ago! Preperation is key here, not what the piece of paper is.

 

[jrabbit]

I have a friend that last year went to Mexico. Didn't have his Birth Certificate. Made it to Mexico ok and almostback home before it was discovered. In the US airport going through immigration where they wanted to see the BC. Since he didn't have it, he had to fill out a form, raise his right hand and take an oath that he was born in the US. Granted, he was with his family and everyone else had their BC. Don't know if this would work for getting ON the ship, but it may be worth a try if you can't get the BC before leaving!!

OK so DW's anal retentive obsessive compulsive preparation fanaticism is a good thing

 

[Greysword]

I have two statements and a questions regarding this issue (if you will permit me ):

1) The DD-214 does not work as a form of identification, especially proof fo birth, since it is relatively easy to alter them (and people do), they are only somewhat certified (for instance: when the VA asks for it, they just want a copy not a certified copy), and there are many people from other countries that join the military. It is official only in the fact that it proves military service.

2) If this person had a passport, then they would hopefully have their BC tucked away in a safe place. Thus, the stress would not be there, as much, since they would have a back-up for the cruise. Thus, having a passport allows for two independent forms to get on the ship. If one is lost, the other can be used to fill the void.

The Question:

If I were to loose my passport three days before the cruise, how quickly can it be replaced by the state department? Would having a passport be able to speed up the resolution?

 

[goingbacksoon]

Assuming you live in LA, there are some options people overlook.

In the phone book under "passorts" there are ads for places in Beverly hills that say "we can do the impossible".... passports overnight, BCs overnight, sometimes same day. You should give them a call. No doubt they charge an arm and a leg, but at this point, you risk losing your cruise fare otherwise.

I've had friends that do this type of thing for study abroad, day before they leave... "oh ____, I don't have my passport" and they have returned with one in hand. Again, no doubt they paid a pretty penny.

goingbacksoon

 

[erikthewise]

I sure hope everything works out OK for the OP.

But for the rest of us....

Don't kid yourself that you don't need a passport because you have a birth certificate -- you may be right if nothing goes wrong, but if something does....

If you have a birth certificate, driver's license, AND a passport, then you have TWO proofs of citizenship and TWO photo IDs and you have made yourself (nearly) idiotproof. If you lose one of these items, or forget to pack one, you're still OK.

So get a passport!

 

[mikeymars]

>>If I were to loose my passport three days before the cruise, how quickly can it be replaced by the state department?<<

As a prior poster mentioned, there are third party services that can expedite the delivery of a passport (new, if all the required documentation -- which includes a certified BC -- is readily available) or replacement in as little as 24 hours. However, prices for that type of service easily run $250+, and that's before all the messenger service expenses.

Birth certificates are another matter, since they are localized and/or state level product, not a Federal one (as a passport is). Critical difference here.

While I'm sure the Beverly Hills yellow pages are full of ads for all sorts of firms that claim they can literally do anything (including having their clients drop 15 pounds the night before their cruise departure), re-read my earlier post about local bureaucracies (ergo, the textbook county registrar's office). These institutions are staffed by cynical, lifelong civil servant types who don't know the understanding of the term "expedite."

Again, per the last poster, I too wish the friend of the OP well, albeit rolling my eyes over the fact this "crisis" was completely preventable.

 

[mikeymars]

>>Don't know if this would work for getting ON the ship<<

It's not a matter of if , it's a matter of it . Ergo, it won't.