Closed loop on the Wish..Do I still need a passport?

[Polynesian27]

Hi all, I've read mixed comments about the documentation requirements to sail on the closed loop on the wish to Nassau, Castaway Kay, Port Canaveral. Is it true that we only need to present our birth certificates? Our passports are currently being renewed and i'm worried we won't have them back in time. Also, is a Certificate of Live Birth the same as your birth certificate?

 

[TRTRguy]

If you are a US citizen on a closed loop cruise than a certified birth certificate and ID will work. Of course people will reply in case of emergency....

 

[csmith1004]

Our upcoming cruise is our 8th and our first with passports. Yes, there is a risk in case of an emergency but we’ve never had any issues sailing with birth certificate and ID. And yes, my BC says Certificate of Live Birth.

Also, since you have had passports I’d bring a copy of the expired one if possible because if there was an emergency that would probably help.

 

[loislane]

Just make sure it's the certificate that has the raised official seal. Hospitals used to give out little "certificates" too (at least back when I was born they did) and that is NOT a legal document. Make sure you have the legal one.

Also, if you have an enhanced license, you can use that as well since that serves as proof of citizenship for land and sea crossings.

I have my passport for this trip. My husband never got around to doing his so he's still using his enhanced license.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

yep you don't need one, but it's possible you might wish you had one.

 

[lanejudy]

Yes, birth certificate plus government-issued ID for those age 16+ is accepted for that cruise. Do you have your birth certificates or did you send them in with the passport renewals? If so, you may need to get another official copy.

 

[tvguy]

Just make sure it's the certificate that has the raised official seal. Hospitals used to give out little "certificates" too (at least back when I was born they did) and that is NOT a legal document. Make sure you have the legal one.

Also, if you have an enhanced license, you can use that as well since that serves as proof of citizenship for land and sea crossings.

I have my passport for this trip. My husband never got around to doing his so he's still using his enhanced license.

Newer Birth Certificates may not have a seal, but may instead be printed on paper similar to what paper money is printed on.
And DO NOT take a photocopy of your birth certificate, it has to be the actual, original birth certificate. But we never go anywhere outside the U.S without a Passport.

 

[YourEveryDayAdam]

Hi all, I've read mixed comments about the documentation requirements to sail on the closed loop on the wish to Nassau, Castaway Kay, Port Canaveral. Is it true that we only need to present our birth certificates? Our passports are currently being renewed and i'm worried we won't have them back in time. Also, is a Certificate of Live Birth the same as your birth certificate?

Also, to perhaps put your mind at ease, I will say the passport office is getting passports out pretty quickly right now. Here is my recent experience with me getting a new passport with expedited processing all the way.

• May 10th, 2022: Passport Appointment with USPS passport office to get our photos, and send in our application via USPS with expedited processing.
• May 16th, 2022: The checks we wrote to the state department cleared the bank. That's also when the online tracker started to first report our applications and said "processing"
• I checked every few days, and no change until...
• June 9th, 2022: Online tracker switched over to "Approved" for our applications. All of them switched to approved on the same day
• June 9th, 2022: (same day as website was updated) we received all of our passports each in separate USPS priority mail overnight shipments. Only passports, no passport cards or our original documents
• At this point: from turning our applications over to the USPS passport office to when we had passports in hand was 30 days.
• June 14th, 2022: Our passport cards arrived. Good for travel to/from the united states by land and sea...no air travel. Also can be used as TSA approved ID for domestic flights.
• I don't remember the exact day, but about a week after the passport cards arrived, we got more mailings with our original documents (birth certificates, etc.)

I've seen recent reports for folks who did not do expedited processing, that it pretty much took exactly 10 weeks from passport appointment to passport delivery.

I hope this helps put your mind at ease.