I have posted before about a specific nightmare I have in the days before a cruise

[Disney1fan2002]

I dream that I get to the port and our passports are home on the kitchen table.

My sister and my niece are joining us for their first cruise ever. I know I told my sister months ago that she does not need a passport, but does need her government ID (driver's license) and a certified birth certificate. She lives in MA and I live in VA.

I talked to her today, and since we leave a week from Saturday, I asked her if she has her birth certificate. My heart stopped in my chest when she said " Why do I need that? I thought I just needed it to get a passport"

huh,huh,huh,huh....breathe!!!! I know I would have talked to her before next week if I didn't talk to her today, but what if I didn't? What if I assumed she was all set, and my type A personality didn't kick in to check with her?

I wonder how often this happens each week. How many people are not allowed to board because they did not bring the correct documents?

 

[MomOTwins]

I had to tell the my husband to turn the car around on one of our trips because I left the passports on the computer desk. I literally shrieked when I remembered and startled the heck out of him and my kids. So glad he didn't crash the car, and that we had left super early for the airport so we had half an hour we could spend driving home and back to get them.

My DCL-dream problem these days is that it is a year until our next Disney cruise but I keep having these amaaaaazing dreams that I'm on the cruise already and then waking up and feeling like I want to cry my eyes out because I have another year to go. Ooof.

 

[olafLover]

.

 

[Jess_S]

I would imagine it happens with some frequency. Not everyone is attentive to the legal requirements for travel.

My version of your nightmare is that we somehow lose our passports too close to the trip to replace them. (How they open the drawer where they are stored and misplace themselves is never explained in those nightmares).

 

[hpsalb]

I once watched someone ahead of us at PC trying to deal with this. The CMs at PC were trying so hard to try anything to help them board, but it still seemed so stressful! No clue if they ultimately made it onboard or not. They were even trying to find someone back home who could fax photocopies of their passports ASAP.

 

[Disney1fan2002]

I once watched someone ahead of us at PC trying to deal with this. The CMs at PC were trying so hard to try anything to help them board, but it still seemed so stressful! No clue if they ultimately made it onboard or not. They were even trying to find someone back home who could fax photocopies of their passports ASAP.

You can get by with just a picture of your passport? I thought you need the whole book, or at least the passport card.

 

[TiggerBouncy]

You can get by with just a picture of your passport? I thought you need the whole book, or at least the passport card.

A photo of a passport would not likely work. A passport card is acceptable, but you are taking on some risk that the cruise line won't bear for you.

we somehow lose our passports too close to the trip to replace them.

My passport fell out of my bag at Orlando Airport. Talk about panic. The good news is that we retraced our steps and it had fallen out around the baggage claim area down there by Disney which doesn't have a ton of foot traffic and we found it. Still cause for panic though!

 

[kj2mom]

So glad you spoke with her now and avoided a potential nightmare. I just wanted to jump in because I have really been looking forward to this trip for you girls! I can't believe it is almost here. I hope you enjoy every single second!!

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I once left my driver's license at home when we were flying out to Orlando for a WDW vacation. I had packed my "Disney" bag the night before and had completely forgotten to include my license. Thank goodness we were flying out of a small airport about 20 minutes from our house. I literally dropped DH and all our luggage at the airport curb, drove off with DS still in his car seat back to our house, ran in, got the license and made it back to the airport in time to park and get to the gate. I've never, ever made that mistake again. I did, however, once pack my departure day pants in my luggage and left the luggage outside my door the night before disembarking the Magic. Imagine my surprise when I went to get dressed the next morning and I had underwear and a shirt and no pants. And no luggage. A Disney cruise CM came to my rescue and I did disembark wearing a nice pair of DCL sweatpants. I will never ever forget my pants again either.

 

[Disney1fan2002]

I once left my driver's license at home when we were flying out to Orlando for a WDW vacation. I had packed my "Disney" bag the night before and had completely forgotten to include my license. Thank goodness we were flying out of a small airport about 20 minutes from our house. I literally dropped DH and all our luggage at the airport curb, drove off with DS still in his car seat back to our house, ran in, got the license and made it back to the airport in time to park and get to the gate. I've never, ever made that mistake again. I did, however, once pack my departure day pants in my luggage and left the luggage outside my door the night before disembarking the Magic. Imagine my surprise when I went to get dressed the next morning and I had underwear and a shirt and no pants. And no luggage. A Disney cruise CM came to my rescue and I did disembark wearing a nice pair of DCL sweatpants. I will never ever forget my pants again either.

OMG!!! YOU are the person they tell us about during the debarkation information session. LOL..I'm sorry. Too funny.

 

[Disney1fan2002]

So glad you spoke with her now and avoided a potential nightmare. I just wanted to jump in because I have really been looking forward to this trip for you girls! I can't believe it is almost here. I hope you enjoy every single second!!

YUP!!! 10 more sleeps! The last few conversations I have had with her, she seems more and more "normal". I say that as if she will ever be normal again, but she does seem to be getting excited for the trip, and she is talking about excursions and events, so I dodn't think I will worry about her wanting to be left alone, which would also be fine.

Funny story, my sister, out of 12 children, got every ounce of creativity that was assigned to my family. She is the most creative person I know, and it comes so natural for her. My niece inherited some of it. The two of them are so creative. I was telling my DD that we should have a gingerbread house making contest, us v. them. I said if she(dd) wanted to win, she should probably be on their team. She said she would stay with us to help us win. (she is AWFUL at making gingerbread houses, and always has been) I was telling my sister, thinking she would say something like "I'm not going to feel like doing festive things like making gingerbread houses". Instead she said, "Well tell Sara that maybe we don't WANT her on our team." And then laughed. It was so good to hear. I am getting so very excited for this very special cruise!

 

[kj2mom]

That is fantastic! I can't wait to hear all about your trip!

 

[mike314]

This is my I love the Passport card, fits in my wallet and I dont have to worry about anything else

 

[Karin1984]

I fly about once a month for work. In between I have the occasional dream about missing my flight. I usually dream getting lost at the airport or it is suddenly much later than expected. In reality that never happens.

Just like this time for you, your sister has time to arrange this. 'What if' never helped anyone. Your sister is a grown woman and responsible for herself. It is up to her to listen carefully when a more experienced traveler explains something like this, but even more it is her responsibility to check for herself what she has to do before the can travel.

To give you another 'what if': what if you go to an exotic country abroad. And you hadn't told her specifically not to buy and bring back exotic plants or animals. Then she cannot tell customs: 'yes, but my sister organized this trip and didn't explain the rules clearly, so go talk to her.'

I understand your type A personality very well but try not to take on all the responsiblities.

 

[smiths02]

I dream that I get to the port and our passports are home on the kitchen table.

My sister and my niece are joining us for their first cruise ever. I know I told my sister months ago that she does not need a passport, but does need her government ID (driver's license) and a certified birth certificate. She lives in MA and I live in VA.

I talked to her today, and since we leave a week from Saturday, I asked her if she has her birth certificate. My heart stopped in my chest when she said " Why do I need that? I thought I just needed it to get a passport"

huh,huh,huh,huh....breathe!!!! I know I would have talked to her before next week if I didn't talk to her today, but what if I didn't? What if I assumed she was all set, and my type A personality didn't kick in to check with her?

I wonder how often this happens each week. How many people are not allowed to board because they did not bring the correct documents?

I once left my driver's license at home when we were flying out to Orlando for a WDW vacation. I had packed my "Disney" bag the night before and had completely forgotten to include my license. Thank goodness we were flying out of a small airport about 20 minutes from our house. I literally dropped DH and all our luggage at the airport curb, drove off with DS still in his car seat back to our house, ran in, got the license and made it back to the airport in time to park and get to the gate. I've never, ever made that mistake again. I did, however, once pack my departure day pants in my luggage and left the luggage outside my door the night before disembarking the Magic. Imagine my surprise when I went to get dressed the next morning and I had underwear and a shirt and no pants. And no luggage. A Disney cruise CM came to my rescue and I did disembark wearing a nice pair of DCL sweatpants. I will never ever forget my pants again either.

Our first DCL cruise (first cruise for my ILs and kids ever), we had a few hiccups. Apparently, people over 70 from rural areas just go by whatever name and birthday their parents told them without worrying about their birth certificates. So, first issue, my FILs birth date is wrong on his birth certificate but was never officially corrected. We got past that hurtle with a month or so to spare (calling CPB and DCL). When we got to embarkation, didn't realize that my MIL just decided to go by her middle name...so her birth certificate says Jane Ann Doe, she marries a Smith and changes all her documentation to Ann Doe Smith with no actual regard to the fact that the Jane has been dropped...now documents do not match
So long story, but I made sure we had every single document we needed, but we still had a boarding problem. We did board and had a good cruise.

Then at the end of the cruise, my MIL packed her pants and left them out. Luckily she was able to wear a pair of my pants. LOL

 

[mousefan73]

Not to freak you out more but did you check also if the passports are still valid. Years ago my DS’s was expired 3 days before our trip!!!!! Funny thing is frequent travelers never check, it’s like a drivers license. It’s the once a year folks who check everything.

 

[hpsalb]

You can get by with just a picture of your passport? I thought you need the whole book, or at least the passport card.

No clue. I just know that is what they were trying. Or maybe I'm remembering wrong and it was birth certificates? Either way IDK about the fax/copy. Seems iffy at best. I hope I never have to find out!

 

[MickeyEarrings]

The first time we applied for passports we found out that what my husband believed all his life to be his birth certificate was actually an application for the birth certificate! (The lack of a raised seal should have been a clue...)

But we started the process early enough that it wasn’t a problem.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

OMG!!! YOU are the person they tell us about during the debarkation information session. LOL..I'm sorry. Too funny.

I'm the Notorious FMP! (forgot my pants, LOL!)

Not to freak you out more but did you check also if the passports are still valid. Years ago my DS’s was expired 3 days before our trip!!!!! Funny thing is frequent travelers never check, it’s like a drivers license. It’s the once a year folks who check everything.

I have a friend who was supposed to fly to Prague with her 17-year old son over the summer. They arrived at the airport and Delta wouldn't let her board because her passport expired within the next 3 months. She had to get an emergency passport the next day and re-book her ticket, at her own expense. Her 17-year old flew to Prague on his own so they wouldn't lose the value of his ticket and checked into their hotel (he has flown internationally, alone, a lot, so he was ok). My friend got to Prague two days later. While her son was there on his own, she told him NOT to leave the hotel, so, one of his only options to eat was at the NOBU in their hotel. He texted her a picture of him spending $100+ on sushi. Vey expensive lesson learned, check passports months before traveling to make sure they are valid at least 6 months beyond your return date!

 

[kiford]

I have the "at the airport, no passport" nightmare with regular frequency, even when I don't have travel plans. It's just a general all around fear of mine. DH and I have a travel routine: we each check our passports at least one month prior to departure (we always renew together at the same time) to make sure that we know where it is and that the expiry is 6 months away at least; then on the day prior to leaving we each ask each other to show passports, then we each ask each other 1-2 times more on the day of departure to show passports (claiming you have them isn't sufficient, you must actually show where it's located), then just before the airporter picks us up, then the airporter driver usually asks and we each show each other again (just in case the evil passport fairy has taken them away since the last time you checked 30 minutes ago). Then when we travel, passports go into the safe if there is one, it's checked at random times or any time we change locations. Every time we prepare to de-plane, we check before we get off. No paranoia here!

It's just soooo easy to become complacent about your passport: its "home" location and expiry, whether you had it the last time you got off some kind of transportation, if you took it out of the hotel safe. No kidding - when I've been on vacation, I've sometimes woken up in the middle of the night and just had to check my passport location to be sure I have it. I'd rather be hysterically obsessive about it than lose it, forget it or have it expired when I need it.