What's the WORST that could happen...

[Marty Moose]

on a 3-night cruise with no passport??

I'm trying to decide if it's worth getting them...especially as they will cost pretty much 1/2 as much as the cruise alone!

What sort of worst case scenario am I looking at?

TIA!

 

[breakingd_awn]

Were going on a 4 day and we were thinking the same thing, we have 4 kids so it was going to be $300.00 just for passport cards for all of us $600.00 for full passportsWe decided to save the money for fun on the cruise and just use our birth certificates. As far as something bad happening...we like to live life on the edge

 

[lbgraves]

The worst that can happen is you get sick/injured and have to leave the cruise. You would then reenter the US through the emergency repatriation proceedures in place for people who were on closed loop cruises and did not need passports.

 

[disneynewbee]

I have 4 kids too and we just paid the hefty price for the passport books. Not only that but we only had the correct birth cert for one of us so I had to get 5 of those at $12 a pop and then $8 a pop for pics. For me I just couldn't relax not having them. If one of my kids get hurt outside the US I want to be able to get them home as quickly as possible.

 

[Marty Moose]

Thanks!

It's good to know that whatever happens I won't be resigned to live out my days as a cocktail waitress at Senor Frogs! lol...not that that would necessarily a BAD thing!

Lisa, do you have any idea of what the procedures are for emergency repatriation? Has anyone here on the boards gone through that?

I'm still considering getting the passport books as we plan to cruise more in the future, but it's nice to know that if I don't get them all by Jan, we should be okay.

 

[tvguy]

The worst that can happen is you get sick/injured and have to leave the cruise. You would then reenter the US through the emergency repatriation proceedures in place for people who were on closed loop cruises and did not need passports.

Another issue would be is you were accused of a crime, or were a victim of a crime and required help from the U.S. Embassy. They would need proof of citizenship.
We had a hassle 20 years ago with our son just trying to get back into the U.S. from Canada because we only had a birth certificate (Canadian Immigration took issue with the lack of a photo to prove our son was the child named on the birth certificate even though I had a letter in my hand from the Canadian consulate in San Francisco verifying a birth certificate was all that was legally required.)......so our kids have had Passports since age 2.
Also, with kids, you will find a lot of other uses for the passport, school and little league and other youth sports proof of age and citizenship, drivers licenses, jobs, and those short notice school language or band trips to some foreign land. I know when my son was in high school and the French class went to France and Spain on 6 weeks notice, a lot of parents were scrambling to find birth certificates so they could apply for passports that they hoped would get their in time.

 

[Morgey24]

I agree with TVGuy (as I usually do )

DD has had a passport since she was 4 y.o. We travel, often, and since I am divorced it was better, IMO, to have a proof of citizenship WITH HER PHOTO on it, to travel with. A single parent traveling overseas with a child is sometimes subject to more questions (that whole parental abduction thing) than two parents traveling together. Plus, it has been invaluable for little league, school, etc. No questioning authenticity or raised seals or anything with a passport.

Now that she is older, DD flies frequently by herself on Southwest; I'd rather have her use her Passport as "id."

 

[Grandma4ever]

Another possible issue: The regulations are subject to change at anytime. Meaning they can say at anytime the passports will now be required and who is to say if that happens if you will have the time to apply and recieve them prior to your vacation.

I am obessive and have had my passpport for several years. If you like to take risks go without if you perfer to have security get the passport books or cards.

 

[DLW8]

We decided to go the safe route and get passports for all (I already had one that my work paid for). We got them last summer just to spread out the spending amount before the cruise.

I know we don't NEED them, but I feel better having them and now I can use them as an excuse for other trips and cruises!

As for getting them by January, you should have no problem. We got ours back in about 3 weeks last year, so even if that is doubled, you will be fine.

We did (or should I say I did) all the paperwork online and printed them, took them with the photos to the USPS and wrote out several checks (bring checks, they don't take credit cards for the application fee!) and we were done pretty quickly.

 

[Nik's Mom]

If you are concerned, then you are better off getting the passport (or passport card). To us, it was worth it because I tend to worry about everything. We've used our passports a couple of times already and hope to use them many more times.