birth certificate or passport for Canadians

[canuk8156]

We will soon be going on our first Disney Cruise with a large group, some of whom have recently been on other Disney sailings, and they assure me that they only travelled with a Canadian birth certificate. (note:we will be on 7day Western Carib). The ports of call that we will be visiting do not require Canadians to present a passport but I do realize that they would be nice to have. I am concerned about the "raised seal" on birth certificates that have been mentioned by some of the U.S.A. posts. My husband and I have Ontario birth certificates issued in the 1960s that at that time came laminated. Our children have the newer paper birth certificates but they do not have a raised seal. The "raised seal" may only apply to American birth certificates, I am not sure. Are there any other Canadians out there that have sailed within the last month who have travelled with only Canadian birth certificates? If so, I would be interested in hearing about your experiences. We will be flying from Buffalo to Orlando. We are getting close to the time limit in order to apply and receive a passport. Thanks,

 

[Cruisin]

Hi and welcome to the DISboards. Have you checked out the Canadian Visitors Board yet?

According to my documents for my Jan29 3 day cruise on the Wonder, Canadian citizens must have one of the following:

---Valid Canadian Passport

---Canadian picture ID issued by a provincial government: proof of citizenship (eg certified cirth certificate) : and oral declaration of nonimmigrant status in the US

If in the US on a work related visa, you will also need a vaild I-94 and /or copy of I-797

Hope this helps to answer your questions, when are you leaving and have a nice cruise!!

Robin

 

[canuk8156]

Thanks for responding so quick. I have checked the Canadian forum and the one post in question seems certain that passports are required, yet this does not explain the people in our group that travelled with DCL as recently as November 2003 with only Canadian birth certificates and photo i.d. (eg.drivers licence or other govt.issued i.d.) and the information contained in your cruise package. I am aware of several people in our group that will not be travelling with passports, so I find some comfort in numbers, but I would still rather be safe than sorry.

 

[canuk8156]

Hi Robin, forgot to answer your question: Jan 31 on the Magic., so I can apply early this week and still squeek in with about 3 weeks before the cruise. While I am talking to you, do you know the answer to this question? If I apply in person at the Canadian passport office (probably Kitchener or London) can I also present my husbands, and children's applications, or do they also have to be present with me. My husband will be available to pick them up with me, but not available until Thursday this week to apply in person, and I was hoping to do it on Tuesday. I am going to try and phone tomorrow to ask this question, but I bet the chances of speaking to a real live person are really slim.
Thanks,

 

[Little Twin Stars]

This is what I believe to be true. You can find the details at the second thread of this forum posted by Webmaster Penny.
__________________________________________________

"If you are a Canadian heading out on a cruise from a U.S. port you need a passport. You do not need a Passport to enter the U.S. – the Passport is required because you are leaving the U.S. through a Port and returning to the U.S. The Passport Office web site confirms: “Even though a passport is not required at this time for entry to the United States, it is essential if you decide to go on a cruise or to continue your travel to another country.”

The Consular Affairs site states: “Many Canadians enter the United States on their way to join sea cruises to other countries. You must have a valid Canadian passport for such a trip. Some of the countries you may be visiting will not permit entry without a passport. A passport is also important to re-enter the United States at the end of the cruise.”

 

[Cruisin]

canuck8156:

yes you can take your husband and children's passport applications to the office yourself without them in attendance with you. Just make sure that they are filled out properly and that you have all of the necessary paperwork available.
I took ours into the office in Windsor, they checked the forms, looked at the necessary identification papers (which they then returned to me). They will mail or messenger (UPS etc) your completed passports to you if you want them to do that. I went and picked mine up at the office again even though it was an hours drive to do it. Just felt safer to me to do it that way.

Little Twin Stars, yes I have seen that info before too, and WE do travel with passports. The info I posted earlier came directly out of the cruise documentation that is sent out from Disney Cruise Lines, I reported it word for word as they have it in that booklet.
Now, we are going on the Wonder, I don't know if the Magic has different rules because it goes to different ports or not. If that is not sufficient identification then you would think they would say so in their own publications, wouldn't they? I agree it is safer and wiser to go with the passports if you can, but according to DCL it is not a necessity.

 

[CarolAnnC]

In these days of high security alert in the U.S., I would not travel without my U.S. Passport even though it is not required for the cruise. As long as I have one, it certainly never hurts to bring it along.

Canadians definitely are required to bring their passports, however. No matter if anyone passes on information otherwise, who would want to be the person to find out that they were denied entry back from the Ports? Yikes! Not a pleasant thought for a nice cruise vacation!

 

[dizmomof2]

You can no longer pick up your passports. They will courrier them out to you. My DM got hers in a little over a week, however, they can take longer. You drop them off at the office and many times they will call to verify the person who signed your passport. (My DH is a P.Eng. and signs a lot of them, we get calls regularly now!) If you are in a hurry to get them back I would suggest having a guarenteeror who is easily reached in case they decide to phone for varification.

I was told that we were now required to have passports and with the new hightened security measures I'm really glad we have them!

BTW- Canuk8156 we're on the same cruise! You wouldn't happen to have a DD around 9 would you?

 

[Cruisin]

If Canadians definitely must have passports to board the Disney Cruise Line ships, then why does Disney not say that in the info they send out? That does not make any sense to me.
If passports were an absolute necessity, they would make that perfectly clear on their own documentation wouldn't they?
I guess I don't understand the conflicting info, when what I posted comes directly from Disney themselves.
We do use passports ourselves, but according to Disney they are not a necessity for Canadian travellers.

 

[Scratch42]

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?threadid=313503

Here is a thread worth reading.

m2cw

I have always travelled with a passport, just find it easier. It's a small price to pay for piece of mind!

Scratch

 

[Cruisin]

I have looked at that thread and I agree that it is better to travel with a passport.

I am just wondering why Disney sends out the info saying you don't need one. If they sent out info saying you don't need it and then when you got there said oh, wait you really do need one, then I think people would be getting really perturbed at that.

Just curious that's all, not disputing the merits of having a passport or not, just why Disney would send out info saying you didn't need one if you really did.

 

[Scratch42]

I think it's because they have printed the info a long time ago and with what is going on in the world, no pun intended, it is difficult to keep updated info in writing!

Heck, they can't even keep up with up-to-date info on their website!

Scratch


PS Let's hope we have "Magical" and "Wonderful" weather for our cruises!

 

[Cruisin]

Wishing for only happy weather reports for everyone with upcoming cruises, ourselves included

Have fun everyone.

 

[CarolAnnC]

taken from the DCL Website

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

It was sometime last year I believe that the Canadian Government amended their laws to require their citizens to bring their passports on the cruise. But, as the above statement indicates, always check with your country of citizenship to be sure you have the appropriate required paperwork when traveling.

 

[mississaugamom]

Another possibility as to why some Canadians were able to cruise on the Wonder with only a birth certificate - Bahamas is a fellow member of the British Commonwealth and, as such, Canadians are not currently required to have a passport.

However, the Magic is leaving the US and stopping in both Grand Cayman and Cozumel, Mexico before returning to the Bahamas. I would be certain that passports would be required for Canadians on that particular cruise.

You're probably better off applying for your passport(s) as soon as possible. One note though - the passport office has developed an obsession about the passport photos!!! If they are not EXACTLY as specified (absolutely no shadows on the face, sufficient white space around the head and shoulders) they will be rejected! (Having had CAA passport photos rejected TWICE, I know what I'm talking about!) A colleague who also had passport photos from CAA had his rejected twice as well - once when submitting them, and again when they were in the process of issuing his passport! PLEASE - get them as soon as you can; the delays can be devastating!

Hope you have a wonderful time on your cruise! Please post a trip report when you get back; I'm a fellow Canadian taking the same cruise one month later!