Do children under 14 need a passport for a Caribbean cruise w/ no flight to or from Port?

Question

We want to take the children on a Caribbean cruise with stops at Bahamas, Cozumel, Key West, Grand Cayman. We plan to drive to The port of embark/ debark, so there is no flight involved. Date of planned trip is 8/08. Have gotten conflicting info. thought someone here might be able to help. Thanks.

Answer 1

Yes they do need a passport....we took royal carribean with stops in Cozumel and Grand Cayman.....had a great time!

Answer 2

I would get a passport because it would take a lot longer boarding the ship if you didn't have a passport. Also there are a bunch of new rules coming out about a passport so its better to be safe than sorry. Plus, you can use it in the future. They last ten years.

Answer 3

The following is taken directly from the State department website:

LAND AND SEA TRAVEL

The following summarizes information available on the Department of Homeland Security’s website.

    * CURRENTLY:

      U.S. citizens need to present either (a) a passport, passport card (available in spring 2008), or WHTI-compliant document; or (b) a government-issued photo ID, such as a driver’s license, along with proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate.

    * LATER:

      On June 1, 2009, the U.S. government will implement the full requirements of the land and sea phase of WHTI.  The proposed rules require most U.S. citizens entering the United States at sea or land ports of entry to have a passport, passport card, or WHTI-compliant document.

So, contrary to what some of the others have said, as of now you do not need a passport for cruises to the Caribbean, if you are a U.S. citizen and have government issued photo ID and a certified birth certificate.

Further, from the Homeland Security site:

Children ages 18 and under will only be required to present proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate.

If you had contacted a competent Travel Agent, they would have pointed you to these same sites.

Answer 4

YES they do need a passport to go on a cruise no matter how old they are.

I just went on a 2 week cruise this past March and I had to have my passport im 26.  The cruise would not even let us registar unless we had passports.  Plus we did not need them for the islands we were visiting we just needed them to get on the cruise at the embark point and have them at the debark point.  Customs asked us for them and wanted only to see our passports.

Most cruises if not all of them now require you to have a passport and this was as of dec 2006.  My father went on one and it was carnival and they made him have one.

I also knew someone who went on a cruise where there were people who got the to port where the ship would embark and they did not have their passports.  Needless to say they were sent to a waiting room and were not allowed to check into anything until the cruise line figured out what they were going to do.

Passports for children are $85 each, and $160 if you need it rushed.  Adults are $100 and $160 for rush.  Rush takes 2-3 weeks and non rush takes 4-6 weeks.

Apply now because this is the peak season where lots of people are applying for them.

Answer 5

As far as I know, everyone is required to have passports. I have an 11yo child that I did get a passport for. No big deal.

Answer 6

Check out the govt web site. As of now there is no requirement to cruise, only to fly in and out of the US (as long as you are citizens) I returned yesterday from a 7 day cruise out of miami (which we flew to from detroit) , our ship stopped at cozumel, grand caymens and jamacia, and neither myself or my 13 year old needed a passport. Now that said, if something had happened and we would have had to fly back to the US we would have been up the creek, but you do not need one at this time