West Coast Passport required?

[poohs4me]

I was talking to a DCL reservationist this morning and they said that the LA ports are much stricter then the Port Canaveral and that it could take you significant time without a passport. Is this true? I told them that the adults have passports just not the children and they said as long as one person had a BC you would have to go through the long line. Can anyone provide some clarification?

 

[KaitlinsMom]

I just wanted to chime in and say that it is true - I went on a Moms Weekend Cruise in February on RCL - Some of us had passports, others only a birth certificate - The Birth Certificate line was about 3 times as long and took a really long time to get out - Even the passport line was long and took us awhile - Nothing like DCL in Florida -

RCL called out groups by color - So depending on your color, depended on what time you got off the ship - But even then, they still divided you by a Passport line and a birth certificate line - The passport line was going much faster. I don't think we got off till about 10am and there were still 4 more colors for them to call -

Definitely get a passport -

Karen

 

[DrCavin]

At this point I think your going to have to take DCL's word for it, since no one has been through the process on the left coast on DCL yet. I have seen posts that say passports are NOT REQUIRED, but highly recommended for the West Coast cruises

 

[wmjivey]

When we cruised with Carnival in 1993, DH and I had passports but not the two boys. Because both adults had passports, we were able to go through the passport line. If only one adult in your party has a passport, then you all have to go through the BC line. At least that is what we were told when we were lining up and being told which line to get into.

 

[ivanova]

Immigration and customs requirements differ from port to port, and state to state. I found this out on Carnival at Galveston, TX. Fortunately I had a passport, so going through Immigration/Customs was a snap. Disembarking was a 3 hour lesson in torture though.

I imagine LA will be stricter than Florida ports, but can't compare to TX yet. And unfortunately I won't be disembarking in LA until November (RCCL). And leaving LA in August on the repo cruise won't be affected by if you have a passport or BC.

 

[encmerk]

I agree with one of the last posters. We also traveled on RCL last Feb. and the BC line was looong. We were the first color off and we still waited 45 minutes in the BC line. The passport line was very short 5 min wait. But the thing is in LA when you get off the ship there are only two lines like the last poster said. So I believe even if you are going to have a passort be prepared to wait.

P.S. We are getting ours next week for our cruise.

Courtney

 

[TootyJane]

We just cruised on the Diamond Princess out of San Pedro (Berth 93) the week of March 21 (Spring Break). We have passports and check-in was a breeze. Those without passports definitely took longer at check-in. Upon debarkation, the line with passports moved very quickly while the line with people who had only birth certificates moved very slowly. HTH

 

[rsjj]

so if both of us (myself & DH) has passport, but our 2 DSs (3 & 6) don't have passports, we can go on the passport line?

on another note, are there children's passport? or are they all the same? sorry for the silly question...we don't travel much!

 

[ivanova]

so if both of us (myself & DH) has passport, but our 2 DSs (3 & 6) don't have passports, we can go on the passport line?

on another note, are there children's passport? or are they all the same? sorry for the silly question...we don't travel much!

children's passports look the same as adults, but expire in 5 years instead of 10 years.

 

[LiserAnn]

so if both of us (myself & DH) has passport, but our 2 DSs (3 & 6) don't have passports, we can go on the passport line?

I'd like to know the answer to this also or who to ask that might know the answer. DH and I have passports and the boys (3 and 7) don't. Both my and DH's passports expire in '07-we were hoping to hold off getting the boys passports until '07 so we could all do it at the same time...but I don't want to have a hassle for our DCL Mexico cruise either. Anyone who can help answer this question, would appreciate it!

Lisa

 

[jrabbit]

Get the Passports for the entire family - especially the kids. Yea, it's expensive proposition, but it does make life easier for traveling - even on airlines. My kids are older and traveled alone over spring break and having the passports for them made the process of getting their baggage checked and through security a breeze. There were a couple of teenagers trying to check their luggage a couple of stations over and their parents were NOT with them and they didn't have ANY ID and we don't know if they got to go on their trip or not.

Granted, ages 3 and 6 won't be traveling by themselves, but even if you go to Canada it make crossing the boarder easier.

 

[Itinkso]

We waited in the BC line in August after our RCCL cruise and applied for passports once we got home. The Homeland Security personnel did say if 1 person in the family had a passport, then the whole family could go through the passport line. I am not sure if there has been recent changes though.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

1) You should go ahead and get passports.
2) Passport is good for 10yrs (16 & older) 5yrs (15 & under)
3) Soon, ONLY a passport is good enough - no Birth Certs allowed.

4) Per US Department of State . . .

Travelers to and from the Caribbean, Bermuda, Panama, Mexico and Canada will be required to have a passport or other secure, accepted document to enter or re-enter the United States. This is a change from prior travel requirements and will affect all United States citizens entering the United States from countries within the Western Hemisphere who do not currently possess valid passports. This new requirement will also affect certain foreign nationals who currently are not required to present a passport to travel to the United States. Most Canadian citizens, citizens of the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda, and to a lesser degree, Mexican citizens will be affected by the implementation of this requirement.

The travel initiative requirements will be rolled out in phases, providing as much advance notice as possible to the affected public to enable them to meet the terms of the new guidelines. The proposed implementation timeline is as follows:
December 31, 2005 – Passport or other accepted document required for all travel (air/sea) to or from the Caribbean, Bermuda, Central and South America.
December 31, 2006 – Passport or other accepted document required for all air and sea travel to or from Mexico and Canada.
December 31, 2007 – Passport or other accepted document required for all air, sea and land border crossings.