Question about Passport and Birth Certificates

[Tanya1220]

We were told by my travel agent that our cruise does not require a passport. She told us a valid Driver's Licence and Certified Birth Certificate was all that was necessary. The cruise is on the Celebrity Constellation, December 1, 2008 to the Western Carribean to the following ports: Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Cartegena Colombia, Colon Panama and Costa Rica. She told us that a passport was not required until June 2009 at this time.

We just booked and will be applying for our passports on Monday...but was told that the delay was much longer than what is mentioned here. We were told it would take 3-4 months at the latest.

If the worst happens, am I correct to believe the travel agent and that a birth certificate and driver's licence is all that is required to board ship?

Your input is greatly appreciated. Thank you!

[f-mattox]

If your cruise begins and ends at the same U.S. port you do not need a passport. You should get another certified copy of your birth cirtificate beside the one you send in with your passport application. 3-4 months sounds awfully long to get a passport; but I won't argue the point: it's better to err on the side of being safe.

Have you considered espediting? It costs more (about $50 more) but you should have it in weeks, not months.

[Tanya1220]

Thanks for your fast and helpful reply. We are looking into using the expediting methods since we were told it was taking this long.

I will go ahead and get another copy of my birth certificate just in case. That is a good idea....I just want to cover myself to make sure there is no problems whatsoever and getting another copy will definitely help....

Thanks for your input. I really, really appreciate it.

[Sandy]

Tanya, I applied for a passport renewal and got expedited service. They give you an ID number to check the progress of your application. From the time they said they received our material until the time the new passport was in my hand was about 10 days. It costs extra but it bought me peace of mind, and a speedy return.

Sandy

[Dwayne]

The site says here it is less than four weeks. I hope this is true, or I will need to get an extra certified BC too.

Dwayne

[f-mattox]

That sounds much more reasonable; that 3-4 months just did not sound right. It didn't take that long during the big crush last year.

[rworrell]

The five of us applied for passports on a Monday (last week), and we received them this week. This was not with the expedited service. We live one "mail day" away from Philadelphia, so that obviously helped move things along. But, I am very pleased with the speedy turnaround.

[MamaofEnS]

I'm glad you got your passports so quickly. Please check them over, and make sure all the information is accurate. I got mine about 2 weeks before a cruise, and noticed that the gender was wrong. I had to take a day off to go to a federal building passport center to get a new one in time for the cruise. It was very stressful, but everything worked out fine.