Cruising w/ passport card About This Page:

[Kimmie96]

Hi!

We are taking our first cruise on May 30th (7 day westren). I am so excited. I have been reading all the information on the passports vs. passport card; and I wanted to know if anyone has sailed with the card. We are a family of 5 and the expense to get passports is equal to an excursion. I believe that once on the cruise we will finish the cruise no matter what happens. I am just curious if anyone else has a card & used it to cruise I love reading the forum post...so much wonderful information.
Kim

[Belle*]

The passport card is intended for travelers driving in and out of the continental US. It will not allow you to fly in and out of the US. While you can use it for a cruise, God Forbid you had a medical or other emergency and had to fly back from the Caribbean, you would be in trouble. Other people's experiences with it if they had no problems are not necessarily going to help you decide. But someone who used it and had a problem may convince you!

[VB_Family]

Hey Kim... this has been a very heated subject for some time.... so let me give you some hints... first of all I have only had a passport and not the card....

I travel all over the world and the Passport is the main identification used in most parts of the world other than the US. If you are in a foreign country and do not have one then you will not be able to receive services... also in order to fly out of a foreign country you will have to have a passport. So let us say you have to get home from one of the ports of call... well you have to go to the local US Embassy and receive a passport or other form of identification that would be acceptable to the nation that you are in. Then if the flight were to go into another country this problem could be compounded due to them wanting documentation that meets their needs. So as you can see this could get real ugly...

Now the reality... what is the chance of this happening... well I am sure it is rare, but are you willing to be the 1 in a .....?? For the difference in price buy the full passport and have the comfort that it brings to you!!

[Dave Marx]

There should be no problem using it. If you have one, don't sweat it.

My feeling is that it's a false economy, since if you do decide to go somewhere else at some other time where a passport is required, you still have to go back and get the regular passport - a flight to Cancun or Jamaica to take advantage of a great discount, that romantic escape to Paris... whatever. You'd need a passport if you wanted to take the Magic (or Wonder's) 2011 repo cruise from Port Canaveral to Los Angeles since it's not a closed-loop itinerary, etc.

[has]

The passports will be good for 10 years. What a great excuse to travel.
Happy sailing!
Heidi

[Enchanted]

I encourage you to do the full passport for all. I understand the extra cost. Perhaps you could justify the price by skiping a shore excursion you planned to pay for and take a picnic lunch to a local beach at that port. We've done shore excursions, and they are fun, but my family and I loved the adventure of finding it ourselves. The kids don't realize that money wasn't spent on something extra... they're thrilled to be in charge of the map.

Blessings!

[duck addict]

I, too, would get the 'regular' passport books. For those 16 and older they will be good for 10 years. For kids under 16, they are good for 5 years. Who knows where else you might get to go during the time they are good.