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
