Here's why you should get a passport.

[insureman]

Update. The children will finally arrive in Rhode Island tonight boarding another Carnival ship out of Cozumel after RI Senator Jack Reeds office had to get involved.

 

[JM_97]

I cruised once without a passport. Fortunately there were no issues but it was a last minute trip and there was not enough time to fill out the application, get it renewed, etc., so there was no choice. Having a passport gives so much more peace of mind should something happen.

 

[Snowwhyt]

Update. The children will finally arrive in Rhode Island tonight boarding another Carnival ship out of Cozumel after RI Senator Jack Reeds office had to get involved.

So the kids had to return by ship? Maybe Carnival offered no cost fare?

 

[insureman]

I'm sure that's what happened to cool all the bad press coverage and having a RI senator get involved probably helped with that.

 

[SteveMouse]

So the kids had to return by ship? Maybe Carnival offered no cost fare?

Unaccompanied minors on a cruise ship overnight? Passenger Vessel Services Act violation (or was there a SOS exception)?

 

[ladyofthetramp]

Update. The children will finally arrive in Rhode Island tonight boarding another Carnival ship out of Cozumel after RI Senator Jack Reeds office had to get involved.

Whoa! I thought they were being flown back Tuesday! Another 4 days! Yikes.

 

[Genie+]

Wouldn’t one option be for Mom to fly down and retrieve her children?

 

[Mommb]

Wouldn’t one option be for Mom to fly down and retrieve her children?

Yes, but that would still require passports for the kids, and additional cost.

Unaccompanied minors on a cruise ship overnight? Passenger Vessel Services Act violation (or was there a SOS exception)?

According to this article, the kids returned on a ship with their grandfather:
https://www.wpri.com/news/local-new...ded-in-mexico-returning-to-us-on-cruise-ship/

It is possible that getting an emergency passport is much more difficult/time-consuming without a parent present with the kids to sign the forms.

The Passenger Vessel Services Act might not apply since the kids left from and returned to the same port with a stop at a foreign country. If, for example, they were stranded in Texas and returned to Miami by ship that could be a PVSA issue.

 

[mjkacmom]

No, a birth certificate will also work, but it is a much more fragile document than a Passport. Our birth certificates stay locked up in the safe deposit box at the bank.

Lol ours are just in a file, all of our kids were born locally so it’s easy to get a certified copy. H made a bunch of copies when they were young for sports, camps, etc.

 

[lanejudy]

No, a birth certificate will also work, but it is a much more fragile document than a Passport. Our birth certificates stay locked up in the safe deposit box at the bank.

Whether lost or destroyed, a birth certificate is actually much easier and cheaper to replace than a passport, so I wouldn't call it "a much more fragile document." Our passports and our birth certificates all reside in the safe deposit box.

I just had to show ID for my 13 year old at the dermatologist yesterday - the only ID she has is her passport, which they copied. I don't know how they address kids that don't have a real ID. Maybe a birth certificate? I definitely don't want to hand that over to them.

Before DD had a non-drivers ID, if the doctor's office asked for ID then I simply explained she didn't have one and would they like mine. Often high schools issue IDs, though at 13 she probably isn't in high school yet. Unless it's a pediatrics practice, it's probably just a standard request and they didn't stop to think the patient was so young.

 

[Jillpie]

Here is my cruise medical emergency / passport story.

My family and the in-laws spent half a week in Los Angeles prior to getting on a DCL Mexican Riviera cruise back in 2008.

During our time in LA my mother in law was apparently sick but didn't want to be a bother so she just powered on. Keep in mind there are thousands of doctors in LA, dozens of hospitals, and hundreds of after hour clinics.

I think it was day 4 of the cruise in Acapulco Mexico when she woke up unable to easily swallow. She ended up in a hospital that catered to tourists, with a recommendation of surgery to clear an infection in her salivary glands that had progressed to a life threatening point because she did not want to be a bother back in LA.

We were not sure what was going to happen in the morning so I went with the kids to do the planned shore excursion while my wife and father in law went with my mother in law to the hospital arranged by DCL.

I came back to the ship after the shore excursion to find my wife packing up our cabin. We were all getting off in Acapulco. The mother in law was in surgery and expected to spend 2-3 days in recovery.

DCL had come and collected our passports and given them to the port agent who was getting us admitted to Mexico. I have never gone through customs and immigration before without going through customs and immigration personally but that is what happened that day. The process was much less stressful since we all had passports.

DCL helped us find a hotel, we ended up at an all inclusive, and I remember walking to the ocean at the resort to watch the Disney Magic sailaway. It was pirate night.

We ended up flying home the same day we would have arrived home from the cruise.

Not only should have have passports but you should also have trip insurance.

In my case I did not so I was out the cost of the resort, the airline change fees, and missed out on the last 3 nights of the cruise.

My in laws were out many of thousands. The hospital required payment up front of $7,000. They of course also spent another $2000 or so on the resort and airline change fees.

When they got back home they filed a claim with the health insurance. Kaiser Permanente told them they should have negotiated better and would only pay what they believe they would have been able to negotiate which was $500.

My mother in law has not learned her lesson and continues to try to not be a bother which most times ends up being a much bigger problem.

We travel internationally at least once a year and I am wondering, how do you negotiate? Do you sit down with billing and say "I'd rather pay this amount for now?" They would probably withhold treatment until you pay, correct? We've never needed medical attention and always have trip insurance.

 

[mjkacmom]

Whether lost or destroyed, a birth certificate is actually much easier and cheaper to replace than a passport, so I wouldn't call it "a much more fragile document." Our passports and our birth certificates all reside in the safe deposit box.



Before DD had a non-drivers ID, if the doctor's office asked for ID then I simply explained she didn't have one and would they like mine. Often high schools issue IDs, though at 13 she probably isn't in high school yet. Unless it's a pediatrics practice, it's probably just a standard request and they didn't stop to think the patient was so young.

Five kids, never asked for any of their ID’s, just insurance card.

 

[kdonnel]

We travel internationally at least once a year and I am wondering, how do you negotiate? Do you sit down with billing and say "I'd rather pay this amount for now?" They would probably withhold treatment until you pay, correct? We've never needed medical attention and always have trip insurance.

It was easy for Kaiser to say she should have negotiated, they were in their office.

But as you said the option was to pay or not get treated. She was told not getting treated had a high probability of death.

 

[Snowwhyt]

Five kids, never asked for any of their ID’s, just insurance card.

How young is your youngest? Didn’t they need an ID to take college classes (while in high school ) and advance placement exams?

 

[Brian Noble]

The reason to have a passport is so that you can travel more places! $130 starts to get very very cheap if you take many trips...

 

[tvguy]

Whether lost or destroyed, a birth certificate is actually much easier and cheaper to replace than a passport, so I wouldn't call it "a much more fragile document." Our passports and our birth certificates all reside in the safe deposit box.



Before DD had a non-drivers ID, if the doctor's office asked for ID then I simply explained she didn't have one and would they like mine. Often high schools issue IDs, though at 13 she probably isn't in high school yet. Unless it's a pediatrics practice, it's probably just a standard request and they didn't stop to think the patient was so young.

A Passport is physically much more durable than a paper birth certificate. Some sports like Little League require legal proof of a players age be on site for every game of a tournament, in the possession of the tournament director. That's a lot of wear and tear on a paper birth certificate if your child plays sports for more than a decade as many do. The days of just showing proof of age at the beginning of a season are long gone after the whole Danny Almonte Little League World Series in 2001.

 

[lanejudy]

A Passport is physically much more durable than a paper birth certificate. Some sports like Little League require legal proof of a players age be on site for every game of a tournament, in the possession of the tournament director. That's a lot of wear and tear on a paper birth certificate if your child plays sports for more than a decade as many do. The days of just showing proof of age at the beginning of a season are long gone after the whole Danny Almonte Little League World Series in 2001.

So... you do you. But I'm not handing over a passport to a "tournament director" to hold for the length of a tournament (presumably multiple games over multiple days). Nope. I'd order a copy of the birth certificate for $15 and give them that. Easily replaced when it gets ripped, coffee spilled, muddy or wet, etc. Not the passport. Fortunately, to my knowledge my area doesn't any youth sporting events that require proof of age be onsite. Copies turned in at registration, maybe, but not the physical document onsite held by someone else.

So my point stands that the birth certificate is more easily replaced if you are handing it off to others and not maintaining control of it yourself.

 

[tvguy]

So... you do you. But I'm not handing over a passport to a "tournament director" to hold for the length of a tournament (presumably multiple games over multiple days). Nope. I'd order a copy of the birth certificate for $15 and give them that. Easily replaced when it gets ripped, coffee spilled, muddy or wet, etc. Not the passport. Fortunately, to my knowledge my area doesn't any youth sporting events that require proof of age be onsite. Copies turned in at registration, maybe, but not the physical document onsite held by someone else.

So my point stands that the birth certificate is more easily replaced if you are handing it off to others and not maintaining control of it yourself.

Bargain at $15. They charge $32 here for a certified copy of a birth certificate. You're right though, I will do me, you do you. My perspective is as a parent with kids in sports and a Youth League Board member and from my experience, the Passport was a huge plus. Just sharing that perspective because it may help others in similar situations.

 

[Carohs]

Last I checked BC copies were $15 (plus a $3 cc fee, for your convenience, of course). But anyway, after getting the passports we found multiple uses for them. Many kids don't have an ID so there's always options, but I find having an ID available makes things much simpler in those situations.

 

[mjkacmom]

How young is your youngest? Didn’t they need an ID to take college classes (while in high school ) and advance placement exams?

Well my kids are 21, 21, 23, 26, and 27, I’d say at least a half dozen of DE classes, and 30 AP’s, they had their student ID cards, but no license until 17 (when they get them in NJ). All have passports now, they’ve all travelled internationally last year, and some do so several times a year.