Cruise

Definitely, you need a passport anytime you leave the country

You don't need a passport for a cruise that leaves and comes back to the US. If there was an emergency and you needed to fly out from another country, however, you would have issues.

I think it depends on the cruise line. I know Royal Caribbean has an option where passports are not required, but you would have to bring your official birth certificate along with a government issued ID (like a drivers license) instead.

It depends on the cruise line! I suggest getting one anyways to spare you some potential trouble. If you decide to get one, make sure to start the process early on! I almost missed my first trip out of the country because I waited too long to get my passport.

Yes or a birth certificate but that would be at the discretion of the company you use. International trips need passports.

No. Not if the cruise originates and returns to the U.S. But you will need original documents such as a birth certificate and government I.D.

Just took a Royal Caribbean cruise to the Bahamas in October for our honeymoon. With them at least, as long as you leave and come back to the same US port (we left/came back to Port Canaveral near Orlando), you can just use an official birth certificate and ID. This is what we did and we had no problems at all. However, PP's are correct that if for some reason you miss getting back on the ship while out of the country or need to fly for some reason, you will have trouble without a passport.

So this depends on who the cruise line is and where you are going. *Most* of the time, no, you don't technically need a passport if you are leaving from and coming back to the US. However, I know we will need a passport for our cruise that leaves and comes back to Ft. Lauderdale because we are crossing into the southern hemisphere (seemed like a really odd rule to me). But, I really don't recommend leaving the country without a passport, because like PPs said, heaven forbid something happen and you get stuck. We talked to customer service about this for our last cruise (FH didn't have one at that time) to see what they recommended, and they said it is much easier to travel with the passport vs. your legal documents. Especially now with some states requiring the start on your driver license to get through security.

Thanks on yalls feedback!

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You can also buy a Passport Card, which is cheaper than a passport and works in Mexico and Canada. It's also a valid form of identification that will last you for 10 years.

We took a Carnival cruise to Mexico in 2018 and they required we had a Passport Card at minimum. They wouldn't accept our Birth Certs. Hope this helps!

You’d need a passport card if anything. But yes you will need one to get off the boat


I highly recommend just getting the passport book. We got the card for our cruise last November and regretted it because we need the book to go on our honeymoon