im leaving out of new orleans to cozmel. i seen where so people had to get p/ports , i was told by the carnival people at the 1-800 # that we didnt need them ? is this true , i need to know !if i do i wont get them in time , how long if i need them will it take ,? tell me we dont need them ??

You will not need them until 2008 for cruises. Look at this website for the details.

If you are leaving on November 23rd, you will need a photo ID (driver's license) and a certified birth certificate (one with some sort of official seal or stamp on it from a government official or agency - notarized is not good enough).

Passports are not required this year, and from what I've read will not be required for cruises until June, 2009. However, I would get one as soon as you can. It makes travel much easier and you wont have to worry until it expires. For travel this year, you need your birth certificate and a driver's license or valid picture (government issued) id. It took our passport office about 4 weeks to get ours back to us. Avoid the rush and do it as soon as you can. Have a wonderful cruise!!

i don't know about the states however in Canada if you go to a government pasport agency in your city then it takes about 10 days. As far as needing one I would call back a few times getting ahold of a few different people so that you have different opinions. It has been my experiance that you should always travel with a passport though. drivers licence and birth cert they can may argue with however they can never say anything about a valid passport.

thanks we sailed a year an half ago , to the same place. we had id and b/cer. i dont know if they had the stamp on them ill have to check.i booked yesterday pretty late. only 18 days left.i was going to go out west to pet. forest ,metor crater,sedona,grand canyon,mesa verda,then to vail co. all in 6 days. driving 4500 miles total.i was going to spead friend ashes at all the stops.she passes away after long battle with cancer.me and my wife though that was alot of ground to cover in short amout of time , so we decide on this cruise at the last minute. we are bring some of her ashes on the cruise to spread in the gulf and at mexico. before she passed , she went on a cruise to coz/carmon. so i think she will like it there.this trip deicated to her.

If there is a married woman in your party, or anyone who has changed their name, he/she may be asked to show a certified marriage certificate or name change document, if the names on the birth certificate and photo ID are not the same. It's rarely asked for, but has happened.

I agree with Penny and others who have said it's a good idea to get a passport anyway. The official timeframe between application and receipt of the passport is 6-8 weeks, and it generally now seems to be taking at least 4 weeks. If your departure is soon, make sure you have the official birth/name change certificates (hospital birth certificates are not acceptable, nor are xerox copies); otherwise, I recommend that you spring for the passports.

I'm sorry to hear about your friend, Gary (I missed your last post when I was writing my first reply). Very loving gesture you are giving, and I hope she is pleased with your choices of locations!

quote:

Originally posted by Karen Knowlton:
I'm sorry to hear about your friend, Gary (I missed your last post when I was writing my first reply). Very loving gesture you are giving, and I hope she is pleased with your choices of locations!

thanks karen,she will like it there, im going to go to the other places to for her also , my wife dont have enough time off from work to make the trip and time allowing.so we booked this cruise. im not working at the moment.she was my wife best friend , i new her for 18 years too. she was my friend too. we both love her dearly.

I read somewhere that starting January 2007 a passport is needed. I got one for my cruise earlier this year thinking that is when it started. It works out better for me to have a passport than a birth certificate as mine is tearing up and the hospital is no longer around. It took about 3 weeks to get and cost me 90. Going on Freedom in October 2007 so I have to take a plane so the passport will be used. have a great week

quote:

Originally posted by pandaruth27:
I read somewhere that starting January 2007 a passport is needed.

That has been pushed back at least another year.

Ya it's only us canadians that have to have passports to travel through the states by jan 07, and since we need to go through the states pretty well every time we travel we just got them

The requirement for passports is Jan 2007 if you are traveling by air to Mexico, Bermuda, Caribbean, Canada, and Central or South America. It is January 2008 if you are traveling by air or sea. Therefore, you don't need a passport for cruises until Jan 2008. However, if you are on a cruise and get hurt and have to fly back from one of these countries you would need a passport. Solution-just get a passport now.

Yes indeed, the best thing is to stop procrastinating and apply for passports now. This goes for every U.S. citizen. Sooner or later it will finally be a requirement. Frankly I wish they'd stop screwing around with the implementation date and just do it. A scream of indignation is going to occur sometime - it may as well be now.

I know many people think this is some sort of infringement on their rights. Well, all I can say is that I knew some people in the early 1980's who felt the IRS was illegal, so they stopped paying their income taxes. After they lost their homes, property, and in two cases their freedom via prison sentences, they may have still thought the IRS was illegal but did it really matter?