Newbie: Maiden name / married name mismatch on boarding documents?

[RaymOOOnd]

Hello all,
We're booked for our first Disney cruise in just over 2 weeks from now. During the check-in process, I uploaded my wife's passport as her main form of ID. This displays her maiden name, rather than her current surname, as we'd gotten these passports nearly 10 years ago just before our wedding. This name however CONFLICTS with the name on both her driver's license and on the initial reservation, which instead bear MY last name. There was no opportunity to upload a marriage certificate or to give an explanation during the online process, and so I was fully expecting to receive some request or objection, at which point I'd planned on explaining or providing additional information. To my surprise, I received just a standard email telling me that we're *all good to go* or something along those lines.

I called customer service today and was not given any reassurance. I felt a bit dismissed -- the person seemed not to make much of an effort to understand my concerns, and just said something like "well in the system it changed your wife's name to her maiden name on the reservation, so you're good to go!". This turns out to be true, but what was done was to swap out her current profile for her old pre-wedding profile, complete with the change of avatar and everything (she's back to being Elena of Avalor...) -- which makes me fear that, rather than understanding the situation, somebody may have just said "Oh the wrong profile is linked on the app to the reservation, here's the right one". If I just take the word of the cast member at customer service, we'll be showing up with a passport and reservation bearing her old name, and a driver's license bearing her new / current name.

Maybe I'm making too much of this, but does anyone have any knowledge of how this is addressed? I'm sure it happens not uncommonly. In retrospect I wish we'd thought to update her passport, but now we're running out of time and, at this point, the reservation is under her maiden name.

Should we just bring the marriage certificate and hope for the best?

Thanks to anyone who reads through this!

 

[lanejudy]

Is it an itinerary she can travel with just birth certificate and drivers license? That would be my first suggestion. If a passport is required, she should get to a passport office for an emergency renewal to get it changed. Otherwise I would bring any and all documentation to show the connection, and hope all goes well.

Lesson learned — her passport should have been changed when she changed her name 10 years ago. And don’t book any more last minute international travel without checking documents.

 

[Karin1984]

Your name has to match your documents, so if the reservation is on her maiden name, and her passport is on her maiden name... yes, I would agree with the CM that she is good to go. You identify yourself at port with 1 document. Not with three.

 

[Mommb]

It would be a good idea for your wife to carry a copy of the marriage license showing her maiden name and your last name. It is unlikely that she will need this, but if the reservation shows her maiden name, that’s what will be on her Key to the World card, and if her photo ID shows her married name, there is a very small chance she could be questioned by local officials when reboarding the ship in a port.

Also, if your passports are from “nearly 10 years ago,” make sure they are good long enough for each port you are visiting. Some countries require passports to be good for 3 or even 6 months after entry. DCL may have checked this, but it wouldn’t hurt to double-check.

 

[MomOTwins]

Honestly you don’t really have time to fix the passport now so at this point I would just leave it as is and use her passport rather than drivers license as ID when disembarking at ports so it matches the name on the cruise docs. You don’t NEED to use a drivers license at any point on the cruise—in fact international guests use their passport at all times ID is needed as they don’t have US drivers licenses. And bring your marriage certificate with you just as a precaution so you can prove the name progression if it becomes an issue, but I don’t think it will as she will just be “Wife Maiden Name” for this trip.

It’s common for newlyweds to travel with a maiden name passport (I did this, pretty much everyone does if their honeymoon is right after to their wedding as there is no time for a passport change) so when you sent in the documents they probably just assumed you were on your honeymoon and that is why they just modified the profile without checking with you. But when you get back on your trip you totally need to update that passport!!!

 

[auntlynne]

What matters is that the name in the cruise reservation matches a valid, current ID.

Reservation name = (valid) Passport name > use the passport for ID.

Keep the DL in her wallet. Bring along a birth certificate if the passport has less than the 3- or 6-months required by your destination. (If traveling to a birth certificate as minimum requirement destination). Bring your marriage certificate. Don’t ask questions at check-in and muddle up everything.

When going into port, carry the passport for ID (not usually my recommendation, but you want it to match your cruise card.)

 

[Rob1872]

Agreed that if your reservation currently shows the maiden name, bring the out of date passport AND DON'T SAY ANYTHING UNLESS SOMEONE IN AUTHORITY QUESTIONS YOU. Yes, have the current drivers license and your marriage license with you for an emergency, but the reality of life is that if you go up to them with an attitude of, "I'm worried that we have a big problem", then the cast member might decide it must actually be a big problem. If your documentation matches the reservation, they won't even blink. Then when you get home get a new passport and reset her disney profile.

 

[otten]

Honestly if you need the passport for the cruise (ie she isn’t a US citizen or it isn’t a closed loop cruise departing from the US) you may well have a big problem. If a passport is required to cruise it has to match the name on the reservation or they can deny boarding. You might be able to plead with them to change the name on the reservation so it matches. Otherwise you need to get a new passport and it doesn’t sound like there’s time for that. If you have to fly internationally to get to the ship and the airfare is also reserved under a name that is not on the passport you wont even make it to the ship without getting the ticket changed and depending on the fare type and airline you may need to buy a new ticket.

If this is a closed loop cruise and she is a US citizen then forget the passport and use driver’s licence plus birth certificate and marriage certificate. I hope this is the case because the alternative scenario isn’t good.

If it is the first scenario you need to start making calls and escalating now.

 

[TikiThunderPirates]

Honestly if you need the passport for the cruise (ie she isn’t a US citizen or it isn’t a closed loop cruise departing from the US) you may well have a big problem. If a passport is required to cruise it has to match the name on the reservation or they can deny boarding. You might be able to plead with them to change the name on the reservation so it matches. Otherwise you need to get a new passport and it doesn’t sound like there’s time for that. If you have to fly internationally to get to the ship and the airfare is also reserved under a name that is not on the passport you wont even make it to the ship without getting the ticket changed and depending on the fare type and airline you may need to buy a new ticket.

If this is a closed loop cruise and she is a US citizen then forget the passport and use driver’s licence plus birth certificate and marriage certificate. I hope this is the case because the alternative scenario isn’t good.

If it is the first scenario you need to start making calls and escalating now.

My thoughts exactly. I was thinking more about making sure the documents matched what is required to re-enter your home country! Forget getting on the cruise, how do you plan to get home?!

 

[Mommb]

My thoughts exactly. I was thinking more about making sure the documents matched what is required to re-enter your home country! Forget getting on the cruise, how do you plan to get home?!

Getting back into the US with a passport shouldn’t be a problem, as long as the passport is still valid. The customs agent won’t know that she has a different married name.

As otten mentioned above, flying to and from the cruise could be an issue if your wife is using the passport for ID and the flight was booked in her married name. If you are flying within the US and she uses her driver’s license for ID, or if you are driving to the port, she won’t have a problem.

 

[Carohs]

It's not a problem. First cruise I used my passport for check in with my maiden name, which was also the name on the reservation. The bigger problem was that my passport is not US issued so I had to prove legal right of US entry. That document is in my married name. The agents at check in accepted both documents didn't bat an eye at the name difference or ask for a marriage license.
I'd be more worried about the change of linked profile. Wanna make sure that you have the right castaway # on the reservation or if multiple castaway #s that they are linked.

 

[Drusilla99]

We had a similar situation for our upcoming cruise in Sept. Our DD and SIL are going with us and will be celebrating their 1st anniversary onboard. We booked before their wedding and really weren't sure about how quick she'd be at changing everything over. We made all her reservations in her maiden name and asked her to wait to update her passport until after the trip, she still has a couple of years left on that. She was worried about messing anything up, so she's waiting to update her DL too until we get back. MDE still has her with the maiden name, so we know for sure she's good to go. Phew