Is a Passport Required for a Cruise?

Is a Passport Required for a Cruise

What Citizenship Paperwork Do is Needed?

A major question asked by people cruising is do you need a passport to sail. The answer depends on the cruise and your choice.

 

Officially you need either:

·        A Passport or

·        State Issued ID and Birth Certificate.

 

Let us start by talking about the difference between a Passport Book and a Passport Card:

·         US Passport Book:

o   This is what most people think of when you say Passport. It is a book with pages that are stamped as you enter a country.

o   It is good for international travel.

o   Some people may have limitations placed on where they can go with their Passports.

·        US Passport Card:

o   It looks like a State Issued ID Card.

o   It is good for walking, driving, taking public transport such as a bus, or train to Mexico or Canada.

o   It is also good for taking a cruise ship on Closed Loop Cruise going to the Caribbean, Bahamas, Virgin Islands, Mexico or Canada.

o   It is NOT good for boarding a plane to fly in or outside of the US.

 

Here are the answer to the question “ Do I need a Passport”:

A Passport is always highly recommended! A Passport Book will allow you to fly home from another country in an emergency without waiting for the State Department to issue you an emergency Passport.

·        If you are sailing out of a US port and returning to the same port (a Closed Loop Cruise) you do not require a Passport. This is the only type of cruise you do not require a Passport.

·        If you are doing a cruise that either starting or ending port is a non-US port (a Repositioning Cruise) you will require a Passport.

·        If you are doing a cruise that starts at one US port and ends at another US port (an Open-Jaw Cruise) you will require a Passport.

·        If your cruise starts and ends in non-US ports you will require a Passport.

 

If you do not need a passport, why should you get one? If you need to fly home from another country, due to an emergency you will require a Passport Book to fly. It costs $130 to get a passport and it will be valid for 10 years. It is expensive but for peace of mind it is worth it.

Will a Passport Card suffice if doing a Closed Loop? Yes, for the sake of getting on a it will. It will not get you on a cruise starting or ending at a non-US port or to fly out of or into the US. It will NOT get you on a plane heading out of or into the US.

 

In reality all you need to sail a Closed Loop Cruise is an official copy of your Birth Certificate and government issued ID, like a Driver’s License. But again, for safety and peace of mind a Passport Book is highly recommended.

 

If you wish to get a Passport here is the US State department Website to get the information and the form to apply for a Passport. A Passport Book is $130. If you wish both it is $160.

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports.html