Closed loop with birth certificate

[mershell]

Has anyone had any trouble cruising with a birth certificate instead of a passport? We're sailing on the 4-night Bahamas in December. We used to cruise all the time with just the BC, but it's been a long time since the last DC we sailed and I just want to be sure there won't be any check-in issues.

Thanks

Michelle

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Has anyone had any trouble cruising with a birth certificate instead of a passport? We're sailing on the 4-night Bahamas in December. We used to cruise all the time with just the BC, but it's been a long time since the last DC we sailed and I just want to be sure there won't be any check-in issues.

Thanks

Michelle

Currently, the minimum legal requirement for a closed-loop cruise for US citizens is a birth certificate PLUS (for those 16 and over) a government-issued photo ID. You'll be fine.

However, I will point out, if there were some reason you needed to fly home during the cruise, you can't fly from a foreign airport without a passport.

 

[mrbudyhed]

We had no trouble with the BC and photo id for the adults this past April. My MIL only had a photocopy of the certified birth certificate and they didn't even blink an eye at it. (I was freaking out the whole time that it wouldn't be accepted because it didn't have the raised seal, but for naught.)

 

[mershell]

This is great to hear. Thanks guys

 

[over50visits]

We have never had a problem when we used birth certificates on such cruises.

You may hear about how awful it is if something happens and you need to fly home and can't because you don't have a passport. Obviously you aren't stuck overseas forever (Americans abroad have their passports stolen all the time). You'll need to get an "limited validity emergency passport" through the nearest consulate or embassy. When I worked at an embassy years ago this was not the rare exception, it was something that happened more often than you think.

However, it is a hassle, so you roll the dice and hope you don't need to fly home for whatever reason. You almost certainly won't, but if you do the US is there to help. Nice feeling.

Sorry to provide more information than you asked (!), but I'm telling you this in case someone comes along and gives out partial information.

 

[pepe3penelope]

We have done 3 cruises and all were closed loop. No problems!

 

[ForMyBoys]

We do travel with passports, but we don't feel super comfortable lugging them on excursions, especially when we will be swimming and perhaps not right by our stuff. So its funny... if we missed the boat we'd be out of luck even though we do have passports. I'm guessing many cruise passangers do this too without really thinking too much about it.

 

[ForMyBoys]

Of course I'm such a nervous nellie about missing the ship one of us carries the passports and another carries the ID and birth certificates. you never know!!

 

[mershell]

We have never had a problem when we used birth certificates on such cruises.

You may hear about how awful it is if something happens and you need to fly home and can't because you don't have a passport. Obviously you aren't stuck overseas forever (Americans abroad have their passports stolen all the time). You'll need to get an "limited validity emergency passport" through the nearest consulate or embassy. When I worked at an embassy years ago this was not the rare exception, it was something that happened more often than you think.

However, it is a hassle, so you roll the dice and hope you don't need to fly home for whatever reason. You almost certainly won't, but if you do the US is there to help. Nice feeling.

Sorry to provide more information than you asked (!), but I'm telling you this in case someone comes along and gives out partial information.

Great to know. Thanks

 

[bumbershoot]

We do travel with passports, but we don't feel super comfortable lugging them on excursions, especially when we will be swimming and perhaps not right by our stuff.

There are Witz brand "passport lockers" that say they are big enough to hold passports in them. They are waterproof, hard-plastic, and have lanyards; you could wear them on swimming excursions.



The only people who post things about how awful it would be to be stranded are the people saying "there will be people saying how awful it would be but you won't be stranded"... The people who want to remind you of the reality (that you can't fly with JUST the BC) are doing just that. Making sure people have thought it through and are making decisions based on full info. Not just "I can get on the cruise and back in the states with BC", but "I can do that, but if there's an emergency I will have to somehow get a passport". I personally choose to do the bureaucracy at home ahead of time, not in some office in Nassau when all I want to do is get on the plane.