How to Get a Passport for Going on a Cruise

Going on a cruise requires lots of preparation on what you need to bring with you. Packing your clothes, gadgets, and other personal stuff is mostly your main concern. To make your travel smooth-sailing and secure, you need to consider the important requirements and documents that you should bring with you. You also need to know whether your cruise is an inter-island, closed-loop, or open-jaw cruise so that you can bring with you the necessary passport requirements specific for that cruise. Here are the passport requirements for going on a cruise.

Procedure:

Inter-island Cruise

 

You are not required for a passport if you sail on any NCL America inter-island cruise. You are only required to bring a government-issued photo I.D. or a valid driver’s license with a photo if your sail does not go beyond the islands of Hawaii. When you travel to Canada, you are crossing the U.S./Canadian border so you are required to bring a valid passport, U.S. or Canadian Enhanced Drivers License, or any other WHTI compliant document. Standard, first-time passports costs $100 and are valid for 10 years. Passport for U.S. citizens 15 years old and younger costs $85 which is valid for five years.

Passport

 

Closed-loop Cruise

A closed-loop cruise is a cruise that departs from a specific U.S. port and returns to that same U.S. port. If you go on a Bahamas, Bermuda, or Caribbean cruise, you should return to the port where your sail departed. For this cruise, you need to bring a valid passport, a valid government-issued photo I.D., a proof of citizenship, or any WHTI compliant document. A driver’s license with a photo is an example of a valid government-issued photo I.D. Examples of proof of citizenship includes certificate of U.S. naturalization, an original or state certified copy of a U.S. or Canadian birth certificate, a U.S. Consular report of your birth abroad, or an original certificate of U.S. citizenship

Open-jaw Cruise

An open-jaw cruise is a cruise that departs from one U.S. port and returns to a different U.S. port. If you cruise from Alaska and your sail ends in New England, you need to bring additional requirements aside from a valid passport, U.S. or Canadian Enhanced Drivers License, and a U.S. passport card. You also need to bring all relative visas like usa investor visa that pertain to your travel itinerary. If you are a permanent resident of U.S., you are required to carry your ARC cards for boarding and passport from your country of citizenship if it is available. If you are a current passport holder, you can apply for the card renewal that costs $20. For those younger than 16 years old and has a passport, the card costs $10.

A cruise in Europe and South America requires you to bring a valid passport and in some cases, a tourist visa is also required. The Latin America Travel Company offers luxury escorted tours South America. Visit their website to see their tour packages.