Passport for Caribbean cruise?

Question

http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20071800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2007/07-3104.htm

This document at the DHS website states that if you leave from a US port and return to the same port, then a photo id and birth certificate are all that will be required. It states

U.S. cruise ship passengers traveling within the Western Hemisphere

would be permitted to present a government issued photo identification

document in combination with either (1) An original or a certified copy

of a birth certificate, (2) a Consular Report of Birth Abroad issued by

DOS, or (3) a Certificate of Naturalization issued by U.S. Citizenship

and Immigration Services (USCIS), when returning to the United States,

under certain conditions:

The passengers must board the cruise ship at a port or

place within the United States; and

The passengers must return on the same ship to the same

U.S. port or place from where they originally departed.

Has anyone else seen this?

Answer 1

You need a passport as of the beginning of this year. Its a good thing anyway though, to be prepared.

Answer 2

Ask the cruise lines.  With the new laws requiring passports for all travel except the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, it has created a massive backlog.  Homeland Security is not wanting to make concessions but the service provider would know the situation.

Answer 3

You should always have a passport in case of an Emergency either by you or a family member. You might find yourself in a bind if you should suddenly have to return to the US without a passport.

Answer 4

Have not seen those before...but... What about if the cruise ship stops at a foreign country and you want to get off to visit...?  Also, even though the WH TI does not yet require passports for sea travel, some cruise lines do require their passengers to have passports. I figure this is for ease of I.D., and in case of emergency...if the ship has to stop in an unexpected port or if a passenger needs to be put off at an unexpected port.  You could ask one of the cruise lines...they should be experts on this and could explain their way of thinking.

Answer 5

You need a passport.

Do to the backlog of passport applications, if you have applied for a passport and still have not received it, you can go without a passport... just bring birth certificate and photo ID and proof that your application is PENDING.