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You can cruise to quite a few destinations without a passport, as long as you have proof of citizenship and a government-issued photo ID. A variety of documents are accepted as proof of citizenship, including a state-certified U.S. birth certificate. Customs and Border Protection, and their recent publication also explains the requirements for taking a cruise without a passport.
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Examples of Cruise Destinations That Do Not Require a Passport
In the Eastern Caribbean, find dream destinations like Amber Cove in the Dominican Republic and Grand Turk in the Turks and Caicos archipelago. In Amber Cove, you can tour the Dominican outback, soak up the sun on Coconut Cove Beach, or ride the Waterfalls of Rio de Damajagua. On Grand Turk, enjoy swimming with stingrays, riding horses along the coast, or touring the island by ATV. If you don't currently have a passport and need one for your upcoming cruise, the good news is that the application process is relatively straightforward.
New England and Canada
U.S. departure ports vary widely; they include Baltimore, Bayonne (Cape Liberty), Charleston, Fort Lauderdale (Port Everglades), Galveston, New York (Manhattan), Miami, New Orleans, Orlando (Port Canaveral) and Tampa. Los Angeles and Norfolk also offer occasional one-off, closed-loop sailings to the Caribbean. Home to beaches, water sports, casinos and the famed Atlantis resort, cruising to the Bahamas is great for traveling without a passport. Note that the government-issued photo ID must show your photo, name, and date of birth. Any cruises where you need to fly to or from a foreign country, including Canada, will necessitate a passport. Princess Cruises' 16-day Hawaiian Islands voyage from San Francisco visits Hilo, Honolulu, Kauai, and Maui before five days at sea and a stop in Ensenada on the return to San Francisco.
International Travel
Those are likely to be point-to-point cruises that happen to include Bermuda. Mexican Riviera voyages are a great choice for passport-less would-be cruisers who live on (or cruise from) the West Coast. Not only does Mexico offer some spectacular food and culture, but sailings to the region tend to be more affordable than those to Hawaii, a region that's also frequently accessed via West Coast homeports. Known for their leaf-peeping opportunities, maritime history and ultra-friendly locals, these voyages don't necessitate passports. From Nova Scotia's famed Peggy's Cove to lobster in Bar Harbor, there's plenty to enjoy about these sailings. While not common, it’s certainly not out of the realm of possibility for a cruise ship to need to make a sudden, unplanned stop at the nearest port.
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You won't need a passport for these closed-loop sailings, but you do need to be prepared for multiple days at sea as you cross the Pacific from California to Hawaii. Passport-free cruises to Bermuda include ample five- to 10-night sailings from the East Coast ports of Baltimore, Bayonne, Boston and Manhattan. Occasional itineraries also pop up throughout the Bermuda season departing from Norfolk, Virginia; Charleston; and the Florida ports of Miami, Port Canaveral (near Orlando) and Jacksonville.
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For some travelers, trying to cruise without a passport just isn’t worth it. You cannot leave Miami, visit a few Caribbean islands, go through the Panama Canal and Mexico, and then hop off the ship in California. While, yes, you would have started and ended your journey in the United States, that’s still not good enough. An enhanced driver's license is another alternative that you can use for land and sea port crossings, but not for international flights.
As travelers, we are accustomed to meticulously planning what we can and cannot bring in our carry-on luggage, ensuring compliance with airline regulations and security protocols. However, amidst the focus on carry-on restrictions, it’s easy to overlook the limitations imposed on checked baggage. Surprisingly, there is a long list of TSA prohibited items that are strictly banned from being stowed away in the checked compartment of a plane.
Canada and New England
You'll also need a passport for a cruise that begins and ends in different U.S. ports. While most closed-loop cruises do not require a passport, there are a few exceptions. If you are heading on a closed-loop cruise to any of the following destinations, you will need a passport to disembark the cruise ship and enter the country. Yes, there are several cruises without passport requirements that you can book.
A Beginner’s Guide to Traveling on Points and Miles
Located 570 miles east of North Carolina in the Atlantic Ocean, Bermuda is a convenient cruise destination from the East Coast ports of New York City, Baltimore, Charleston, Boston, Port Canaveral, Miami, and Norfolk, Virginia. A stop in Victoria, British Columbia offers a whole new set of adventures. Visit castles, take a ride on a horse-drawn trolley, stroll through beautiful Butchart Gardens or get your fill of shopping and dining downtown.
You have options to cruise without a passport because not every sailing requires them. Keep in mind that cruise passport requirements can change based on shore excursions, too. For example, any time you cross a land or sea border into a foreign country, you’ll need a passport, whether it's riding Alaska's White Pass and Yukon Railway or taking day trips to smaller Caribbean islands. Additionally, it's a good idea to check entry requirements of all individual ports in your itinerary, as you might need a visa as well.
All of the above considered, you should always check with your cruise line regarding what documents you may need for an upcoming cruise. The cruise line will be able to inform you of its policies, as well as requirements that will apply to your specific itinerary. Most cruise lines, however, do greatly encourage travelers to bring a passport as their primary form of ID. Cruise lines recommend that every passenger have a passport when traveling, even on closed-loop cruises when one isn't strictly necessary. It's the best way to prove your identification and citizenship and is an essential item if you unexpectedly get stranded abroad. It's also less cumbersome than carrying the required documents and papers with you wherever you go.
If you don't have a passport, these documents may also be sufficient to show customs officials in some Caribbean islands. The U.S. Customs & Border Protection agency states that if you're cruising without a passport, you'll need proof of identity and U.S. citizenship in the form of a state-issued birth certificate. It also requires a government-issued driver's license or a photo ID with your name and date of birth. The good news is that you can cruise to quite a few popular destinations without a passport, including Alaska, the Bahamas, Mexico, Bermuda, Hawaii, the Caribbean, Canada, and New England. Just be sure that your cruise begins and ends in the same U.S. port, and double check your identification and proof of citizenship documents.
If there is a passport requirement, each person needs to have one, including infants and toddlers. Impact on your credit may vary, as credit scores are independently determined by credit bureaus based on a number of factors including the financial decisions you make with other financial services organizations. This four-night departure aboard Royal Caribbean’s Voyager of the Seas makes a visit to Cozumel before returning back to Texas. If you’re looking for culture and history in the northeast, cruises that depart New England for parts of Canada are a great option.
If you want to cruise without a passport, choose itineraries where you know you can get off the ship and enjoy your day in port. The Hawaiian islands are about 3,700 miles from the West Coast, so cruises from the mainland to Hawaii and back involve four or five days at sea in each direction. Closed-loop cruises depart from Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, and San Diego. There are also cruises that originate in Honolulu and tour the other islands. Celebrity Cruises’ 12-night New Orleans & the Caribbean cruise departs from and returns to Tampa after stops in New Orleans, Key West, and Honduras as well as Costa Maya and Cozumel. Princess Cruises offers a seven-day Mexican Riviera with La Paz voyage that includes Ensenada, Cabo San Lucas, and La Paz.
Quick three- to five-day hops to the Bahamas bring you to white-sand beaches and cruise lines’ private islands at an affordable price, with no passport required. If you are on a longer cruise that visits other Caribbean islands, you’ll want to check with your cruise line about any passport requirements. If you are on a closed-loop cruise that begins and ends in the U.S. and visits Canada, Mexico, or the Caribbean, all you need to do is prove you are a U.S. citizen, and this applies to everyone in your party.
Children’s passports are issued for 5 years, adult passports for 10 years. It's accepted as legal identification, negates the need to bring multiple forms of ID and provides peace of mind if the worst should happen — such as flying home unexpectedly or docking elsewhere during your trip. That said, some may require a passport if you want to disembark at ports in any Caribbean destination. And if you're starting and ending your cruise at different ports within the U.S. — or flying in to or out of a Caribbean country — you will need a passport. All cruises everywhere else in the world that sail in destinations outside the United States require a passport. To cruise without a passport, you need to stay in the Western Hemisphere and sail from the United States on a “closed-loop” itinerary, which means you leave from and come back to the same U.S. port.
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