My dad lost his birth certificate, we are going on a cruise tomorrow,what should he do to get on the cruise?

Question

He has a photocopy of his birth certificate with him and I have my original birth certificate with me and that has his name and birthplace on it. Would that be considered proof of citizenship?

Answer 1

Ignore any of the advise that says drivers liscence only is ok.

You need a birth cretificate with a raised seal.

Enjoy the week in Florida instead of on the ship if you show up without proper documents.

Answer 2

He doesn't need a passport, just government-issued ID (like a driver's license).  

Proof of citizenship is not required until the end of January.  Passport is not required for sea travel until the summer.

Answer 3

There are three issues that need to be addressed for you cruise with respect to proof of identity.  First you need to prove to the cruise line who you are when you check in at the port; you need positive ID.  Second you need to consider the immigration requirements for the ports you visit. and finally you need to consider the requirements to re-enter the US through US Customs and Immigration officials after your cruise.

Since you did not specify what cruise line I look at what a couple cruise lines have on their web sites about documentation of identity.  First here's what Royal Caribbean specifies:

For domestic travel which includes: the Bahamas, Bermuda, Canada, the Caribbean and Mexico, a passport (valid or expired) is highly recommended.  In the absence of a passport, a birth certificate (original or certified copy), plus laminated picture ID card issued by a federal, state, or local government agency is required. Note: Baptismal papers and hospital certificates of birth (except for new borns) are not acceptable.  For U.S. Naturalized citizens, in the absence of a passport, Naturalization papers (either original or notarized copy) plus a picture ID card issued by a federal, state, or local government agency is required.  A voter registration card or Social Security Card are not considered to be proof of citizenship.

The information  Carnival's web site is about the same:

U.S. citizens must present proof of citizenship in the form of a passport (valid or expired for less than 10 years), original birth certificate, state-issued certified copy of a birth certificate from the Department of Health and Vital Statistics, or original Naturalization papers.

The Norwegian Cruise lines requirements are:

U.S. and Canadian citizens must provide PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP and PROOF OF IDENTITY for boarding NCL cruises returning to the United States from Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and the Caribbean or returning to Canada for Norwegian Sun Alaska sailings:

PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP consists of one of the following:

Valid or recently expired passport (preferred)

Original or state certified copy of a U.S. or Canadian birth certificate (photocopies are not accepted)

Certificate of Naturalization

Certificate of Citizenship

Report of a Birth Abroad



PROOF OF IDENTITY consists of one of the following:

(applicable to everyone 16 years of age and older)

Government Issued Photo ID

Valid Driver's License that Includes a Photograph

Company policy dictates that any guest traveling without proper photo identification as described will not be allowed to board the vessel and no refund will be issued.

The Celebrity Cruise line has similar requirements:

• For domestic travel which includes: the Bahamas, Bermuda, Canada, the Caribbean and Mexico, a passport (valid or expired) is highly recommended.

• In the absence of a passport, a birth certificate (original or a certified copy), plus a picture ID card issued by a federal, state or local government agency is required.

• A voter registration card or Social Security Card are not considered to be proof of citizenship.

It appears from this that if his copy of his birth certificate is one that he made himself it will not be acceptable, but if it is one sent to him by a state agency and bearing their raised seal it is acceptable.

The second issue concerns getting of the ship and normally on all of my cruises all over the Caribbean none of the islands require anything other than the cruise card that is issued to passengers when they board and sometimes they also want to see a photo Id like a driver's license.  Never do they request passports from cruise ship passengers.

Finally there is the issue of returning into the US and the same positive ID requirements will apply until after January 1, 2008 when the US Immigration Service will be requiring passports.

Answer 4

driver's license !

Answer 5

Unfortunately....he does need a birth cert with a raised seal...from government issued office....a photo copy will not do....u will probably be denied boarding.....because...again copies are not allowed....even tho he will have a photo id as well.....good  luck......hopefully u might get a nice agent at port.....but they are getting stricter

Answer 6

you may actually be able to get his copy notorized so it has a raised seal. once when flying to mexico i brought my copy by mistake and the airlines told me to go to the bank at the airport and it notorized. i had my ss card and drivers liscence with me and i just had to fill out a few forms and pay a small fee. other wise you better go to vital stastics and get one issued

Answer 7

You need to call your travel provider NOW and explain your situation.

Don't delay!

Answer 8

Well it really depends on where you are going!  His drivers license or passport will be sufficient to get him on the boat.  I have been on many cruise and have never been asked for my birth certificate getting on the boat.  If he has a passport he should be fine.  If he does not the safe thing would be to just NOT GET OFF THE BOAT!  You don't want to take any chances.  You may be delayed in gettting back on the boat or may not be allowed on at all!  And remember the boat will NOT wait for you!  Good Luck!

Answer 9

they may not let him board..... but good luck!  Call the travel agency , they can pull strings.

Answer 10

My husband just had a copy of his b.c. when we went to Mexico a couple years ago and it was a little bit of a hassle for him, but because he had a drivers license he was able to fill out an additional form and continue on our trip (we were flying so it was at customs in the airport; while still in the states).  Get a passport as soon as your return, though. After the end of Jan, travel outside US states and territories won't be allowed without one. (well maybe still canada)

Answer 11

What Tinker Toy says above is technically absolutely correct, however the state department and customs & immigration service have been getting a lot of backlash and so the requirement to absolutely have a certified copy of the borth-certificate has been postponed till 2008, everyone states the requirement but they have forms that can be filled out and approved by customs & immigration before you board that will allow you on the ship.

We took a cruise using our birth certificates with our eldest daughter, when we got to the port we discovered to our dismay that one of the birth certrificates we grabbed was for our eldest son and not our daughter.  We explained what happened, they had a person from the border patrol come over and interview us, we filled out a form, and boarded the ship.

So you may still be able to take the cruise, bring everything that you can with you and arrive at the port early that way if things take time you may get things done before the ship finishes boarding.

There is no guarantee that you will be able to board but they are trying to be accomodating too.

I have added links to the US Border Patrol & US State Department websites that state that currently the US Border Patrol can accept Oral Declarations of citizenship and the the requirement for a certified birth certificate with raised seal has been postponed to January 2008.  Passports will be required starting sometime in the Summer of 2008 but no specific date has been set yet.