Passport/Birth Certificate Question

[Leslierx]

I have heard that it is quicker and easier to have a passport than using certified copies of birth certificate. My question is....If I have a passport, but my 3 year old daughter only has a certified birth certificate , so can I still get in the passport line with my daughter or do we both have to get in the birth certificate line. I surely cant let her in line by herself!

 

[dizneykids]

a birth certificate for a child is more than sufficient. they hardly look at them (we've got three boys, have been on 5 cruises with the kids, the earliest when our youngest was 4 mo). i've never used a birth cert for dh or me as we have passports, so i can't say whether it is better for an adult to have a passport vs. birth cert.

don't go to the expense of a passport for a 3yo. it's not necessary, imho.

 

[Señor Ferrari]

Is there a separate passport line? I've never seen this. Do you mean at check-in at the port, or for the Immigration check at St. Thomas? I don't think there's a difference. I just find it easier to deal with a passport than a birth certificate.

On a side note, Costa Rica now requires a valid passport, instead of just proof of citizenship. Anyone on a cruise which calls at Costa Rica now has to have a valid passport to board the ship, whether they plan on debarking at Costa Rica or not.

 

[hydster]

Copied from http://travel.state.gov/costa_rica.html

Effective May 1, 2003, the Government of Costa Rica will require that all U.S. citizens present passports valid for at least ninety days in order to enter Costa Rica. The Government of Costa Rica has advised that, until that date, adult U.S. citizen will be permitted to enter Costa Rica upon presentation of a U.S. birth certificate and photo identification. The Government of Costa Rica has further advised that minors who are traveling with both parents will also be permitted to enter Costa Rica upon presentation of a U.S. birth certificate and photo identification. Minors traveling alone or with only one parent will need to present a passport.

Also this was on the embassy page for Costa Rica which I found interesting as well

Adults and children require following documents to enter Costa Rica:

a valid passport (expiration date has to be 30 days to 6 months after your traveling date, depending on your visa requirement)

a pre-paid airline ticket to exit Costa Rica (either to return to your country or to go to another country)

a visa (if required)

FOR U.S. CITIZENS ONLY:

Please note that after April 30th, 2003 traveling with a picture ID and a birth certificate will no longer be valid.

Nevertheless, please note that CURRENTLY children under 18 years old DO REQUIRE a valid passport, unless they are traveling with BOTH parents. In this case, they will need a picture ID and a birth certificate.

Here is the web address if you would like it
http://www.costarica-embassy.org/Documents.htm

In a few months you will need a passport but as of today and for the next 3 months you will not! I would get one regardless but for those of you going it is not until MAY!

Heidi[

 

[Leslierx]

I must have been thinking of coming into the customs area at the airport from an international flight. So, coming off the ship everyone goes thru one line at customs

Is customs at the port an area where everyone getting off various cruise ships go thru? I'm a little confused about the whole process.

Let me see if this is correct:

We set out our bags by 11pm the night before we leave

The next morning, we have breakfast then leave the ship

We pick up our luggage....somewhere and take it with us to customs ...where ever that is....then we get our luggage to the DCL bus and they take us to the airport?

I'm confused on why we put our luggage out the night before, just to pick it back up again in the morning to go thru customs? I must be missing something!
(I should probably quit worrying, and just see what goes on when I'm there, but I want to be prepared!!!)

Thanks!!

 

[hydster]

Yes you set your bags out the night before so that the room stewards can get them down into the bins that they use to load and unload the 1000's of pounds of luggage into the warehouse where you will go after you disembark the ship. With Disney you walk off the ship and into the port where you go into a big warehouse type area. They seperate the luggage by tags (for us we had Tinkerbell from room 8550) and you go to that area such as Tinkerbell. Your room steward gives you the tags the night before Disembarkation so that you know what color and character you are. You should have your customs form filled out the night before and then you grab your luggage and for the most part customs after a cruise (at least on all of our cruises) has been somewhat of a joke. You either hand them to an agent or put them in a box and walk out and leave. It would be a huge pain if everyone was carrying luggage off the ship since most people's luggage is pretty heavy so they have you put it out the night before, take it downstairs to the bottom of the ship where they put them in big metal bins so that forklifts can take them off. Then they sort them by color and tag and you walk in and pick up your luggage. This is one of the reasons people suggest that you tag your luggage with bright things so you make sure you get the right luggage since there is alot of luggage that looks the same in each area. As far as customs goes...my inlaws went with us and my father in law forgot his form and left it in his room. He informed the customs agent of that and they just waved him through. Not too thorough if you ask me. We havent gone over the limit on anything but if we had I doubt they would know. They certainly dont check too well. Another weird thing is the amount of food people try to bring off the ship. When we got off the table that people had to leave food on was full of fruit and pastries. I thought it weird that people would want to carry off food but then I dont like any kind of inconvenience!!

I hope this helps!
Heidi

 

[AnnMorin]

I am confused, why is costa rica the example? Disney does not stop there? I am sure I am missing something (not unusual )
I know that to go to any of the virgin islands a birth certificate (certified) and photo id are acceptable.

 

[hydster]

I think it was just an FYI type thing that some countries are going to start requiring passports to enter....nothing more than that. If it is more than that then I am lost as well. I only entered the passport info for "argument" sake that it isnt yet that it is required but coming soon!



Heidi

 

[AnnMorin]

Sometime I just scan the posts and don't bother to read everything. i knew I had missed something

 

[amgpmg]

On our recent cruise we used birth certificates. My DH, DS & DD all had County issued birth certificates and I had a birth certificate issued by a California Marine Base Hospital. I was told that even though the certificate is an original and has a raised seal they were no longer going to be accepting them in the future and was placed on an exception list. They would only accept County and State issued Birth Certificates. I was informed that Passports are the best thing to have and that in the future, they were going to be more strict about traveling outside of the US and may not accept birth certificates anymore either. It did not affect our cruise, but do be aware of the type of certificate that you do use. I assumed that mine was fine, but now know better.