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Travelers with Passports vs. Birth Certificates


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Let me start that I'm not asking about trying to cruise without a passport.  We always take our passports to cruise and I think it's the only way to go.

 

This is more of a curiosity question that maybe Matt or one of the resident travel agents knows the answer to:  What percentage of cruisers use a passport to board vs a birth certificate?

I had seen the story last week about folks on a Princess sailing getting denied boarding due to the places they were going requiring a passport, even though it was a closed loop cruise.  Many commenters I've seen on various forums and news sites argue that the cruise lines should just mandate passports for all travelers.

Yet, they don't.  I have to conclude that there is a large enough fraction who don't have/use passports that the cruise lines feel imposing a blanket passport requirement would put a big hit on sales and be a big deterrent to getting first time cruisers.

So, while I would bet most of us as regular cruisers (or at least wannabe regulars like myself) take having a passport for granted, I'm curious if we're really the minority?

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I don't have an answer to your question but an interesting story.

I went on my first cruise last month and while I was packing I asked my husband to grab my passport for me and I put it in my bag, right in front, where I knew right where it was. I get to the port, he drops me off (girls cruise), and lo and behold he had handed me my expired passport. I start freaking out but they have one of the managers I guess come over to help and she tells me that if I can get someone to send me a picture of my birth certificate, that will do. Luckily my MIL was at my place watching my daughter and she snapped a picture and texted it. The manager looked at it, said "yep, that looks real, you're good" and let me on the ship. I couldn't believe it. She then jokingly said "I can make things more difficult for you if you want..." We were on the ship before 11am.

For this cruise, 2/3 of the ports were US ports so maybe that's why it was so relaxed? I was a little nervous not having my passport, but I didn't get off at the non-US port and had my husband bring my current passport when he picked me up just in case I had any issues with customs, but the agent just lectured me about traveling internationally without a passport.

The whole thing was kinda crazy. The interesting thing though is that even if I had to wait for my husband to drive home, get my passport, and drive back, he still would have made it before all aboard...

I wonder how many people unintentionally sail with a birth certificate (or photo of) because of issues with their passports...

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That would be an interesting stat to know.

Another would be how many book their cruise without a passport but have one by sail time.  I think that's where the cruise lines benefit from not requiring a passport.  Many first timers might not book if they "have to go through the hassle" to get a passport.  Seeing that it is not required, they book and then as they move through their learning process, go ahead and get one anyway.  Not requiring it allows for it not to be a barrier to initial purchase even if a person's good sense takes over throughout the planning process.

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Betting that this will be a difficult item to get an accurate count, for a few different reasons. 

First, likely only the cruise line will probably have this info not the travel agents.  Starting at the agents, they probably could give you a very good estimate on how many of their clients they typically book that have passports vs. not.  That will require the individual agents to roll client information up to a larger pool.  I'm doubting that sharing of information is happening.  A large agency might aggregate information but again there is a pretty low chance that gets shared.  Unless someone polls agencies and agents for a conference presentation it is pretty unlikely they are getting a percentage.  They just want to know the processes to book guests with and with out passports since the trends will vary also.  

As for the cruise lines, there is likely variability between lines and times of the year.  My guess is Princess and Holland likely have more passport guest and Disney has one of the lower ratios.  So one cruise line might have a large number of cruisers with passports and some may not.  Even Royal likely has a dip in number of passports on shorter, weekend, or at common vacation/holiday cruises.   

My guess is cruisers with passports outnumber those with Birth Certificates.  If I had to guess, it probably is somewhere between the 2/3 to 3/4 ratio.  

 

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I, too, would guess that passports outweigh birth certificates these days. I travel with my Global Entry card when I fly - I wonder if the cruise lines would know what that even is and would accept it as a form of ID.

I always use my passport for cruises but I'm just curious if anyone has ever tried to use their Global Entry (government issued and you have to have a passport to get it, I think) for a cruise?! There was one time, coming back from a cruise to Cuba that my Global Entry got me to the front of the customs line - I've never seen it work outside of airports so this was a nice benefit - saved us over 2 hours and they let the rest of my party go to the front of the line with me too!

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Cant really answer the question about percentage of passport holders but I would wager there are more passport holders than not. There are always some number of international travelers that are pretty certain to have a passport.

As a side note, I just returned to Port Canaveral and customs agents have been replaced by facial recognition. On arrival, once you had all your luggage in hand and IF you had a passport, you just walked up to a fixed camera, you image displayed on a screen while graphics high lighted your face, a green "Walk" through came on and out the door you went. No bag check, nothing. That is not to say there was not more tech taking place in the back ground but it was super easy, IF you had a passport. This was the path I would guess 90% of the people were taking. Others with birth certificates etc went through a different process.

Another factor is Real ID. That was supposed to go into effect this year but it has been postponed. It would make sense to me if Real ID replaced birth certificates since that is one of the requirement to get a Real ID.

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16 minutes ago, Maggie M said:

I, too, would guess that passports outweigh birth certificates these days. I travel with my Global Entry card when I fly - I wonder if the cruise lines would know what that even is and would accept it as a form of ID.

I always use my passport for cruises but I'm just curious if anyone has ever tried to use their Global Entry (government issued and you have to have a passport to get it, I think) for a cruise?! There was one time, coming back from a cruise to Cuba that my Global Entry got me to the front of the customs line - I've never seen it work outside of airports so this was a nice benefit - saved us over 2 hours and they let the rest of my party go to the front of the line with me too!

Is a global entry the same as a TWIC card? I have a twic card and it allows for TSA precheck automatically. I didn't bother to try for my upcoming flight because no one else has one, but if they let my whole party through then I may use it! 

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52 minutes ago, MJ_ said:

I don't have an answer to your question but an interesting story.

I went on my first cruise last month and while I was packing I asked my husband to grab my passport for me and I put it in my bag, right in front, where I knew right where it was. I get to the port, he drops me off (girls cruise), and lo and behold he had handed me my expired passport. I start freaking out but they have one of the managers I guess come over to help and she tells me that if I can get someone to send me a picture of my birth certificate, that will do. Luckily my MIL was at my place watching my daughter and she snapped a picture and texted it. The manager looked at it, said "yep, that looks real, you're good" and let me on the ship. I couldn't believe it. She then jokingly said "I can make things more difficult for you if you want..." We were on the ship before 11am.

For this cruise, 2/3 of the ports were US ports so maybe that's why it was so relaxed? I was a little nervous not having my passport, but I didn't get off at the non-US port and had my husband bring my current passport when he picked me up just in case I had any issues with customs, but the agent just lectured me about traveling internationally without a passport.

The whole thing was kinda crazy. The interesting thing though is that even if I had to wait for my husband to drive home, get my passport, and drive back, he still would have made it before all aboard...

I wonder how many people unintentionally sail with a birth certificate (or photo of) because of issues with their passports...

I did this same thing in 2019.  Stupidly grabbed my expired passport only realized it when I handed it over.  My husband joked that it was my ploy to get to go to Disney instead.  The workers at the port were so kind.  My mom was less than kind...she was on her way to my uncle's funeral and had to go to my house to take a picture of my birth certificate.  The whole thing only added maybe 45 minutes on to our boarding process...and most of that time was waiting for my mom to get herself ready and get to my house.

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13 minutes ago, ScottD said:

Is a global entry the same as a TWIC card? I have a twic card and it allows for TSA precheck automatically. I didn't bother to try for my upcoming flight because no one else has one, but if they let my whole party through then I may use it! 

What's a TWIC card?  Sorry, I don't know that acronym. Yes, Global Entry automatically includes TSA pre-check and is good for 5 years - the cost is around $100. I think it was a fluke that they let my party go with me (pre-COVID). Because now, if someone in our party doesn't have it, they have to wait in the regular line at the airports. The TSA agents are much more strict with pre-check but you could always try. 

I'm renewing my Global Entry this week and had to wait over 8 months for the interview slot so if you want to get it before an upcoming trip - I would do the application ASAP as they are way behind with the interview process...

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11 minutes ago, Maggie M said:

What's a TWIC card?  Sorry, I don't know that acronym. Yes, Global Entry automatically includes TSA pre-check and is good for 5 years - the cost is around $100. I think it was a fluke that they let my party go with me (pre-COVID). Because now, if someone in our party doesn't have it, they have to wait in the regular line at the airports. The TSA agents are much more strict with pre-check but you could always try. 

I'm renewing my Global Entry this week and had to wait over 8 months for the interview slot so if you want to get it before an upcoming trip - I would do the application ASAP as they are way behind with the interview process...

TWIC is a Transportation workers Identification Card. You need it to work at certain areas in Ports, airports and other points of entry in the country. I am going to enter the "known traveler" number that is on the card onto my flight info just so its in the system at least. I just googled it, says my kid can come through TSA pre check with me but my wife would need her own. I'll try it and maybe they'll let her slide, too! 

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This is an in depth question and it all depends on your ports of call, and whether or not you are on a "closed looped cruise" 

Sure there are places you can go without a passport, but the bottom line here is cruise with a passport. Period. Just think if there is an emergency... a passport will make the situation much easier. 

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23 minutes ago, Censored said:

This is an in depth question and it all depends on your ports of call, and whether or not you are on a "closed looped cruise" 

It would also depend on the makeup of the passenger manifest. There are some cruises that are made of up a higher-than-usual number of non-Americans, who by default will use a passport and not a birth certificate. I was on a cruise once which, despite being closed loop from an American port, was made up of roughly 33% non-Americans according to the captain's announcement - mostly Canadians and Brits. 

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1 hour ago, MJ_ said:

I don't have an answer to your question but an interesting story.

I went on my first cruise last month and while I was packing I asked my husband to grab my passport for me and I put it in my bag, right in front, where I knew right where it was. I get to the port, he drops me off (girls cruise), and lo and behold he had handed me my expired passport. I start freaking out

How did you do the cruise check-in online or on the app?   They ask for Passport number and expiration date.

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I think it is actually a lower number than people believe when it comes to Americans. The average American doesn't have a passport of really any need of one. The numbers are getting higher, but I know so many people without one or who just got theirs in the last year or so. Whenever I see the line for BC at port, it is mostly American families with their children.

I would say that less than 50 percent of Americans who cruise will use a passport while it will be at 95-100 percent of non-Americans. This will average out the total to maybe 70-75% of cruise pax using a passport over a BC........this is just my estimates.

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1 hour ago, Psycho and Barb said:

How did you do the cruise check-in online or on the app?   They ask for Passport number and expiration date.

She had a valid passport with valid expiration date for check-in.  When packing, her husband put the expired passport in her bag.  My wife and I have our old passports also and they are in the same safe as our current passports.  This story makes a good argument to stop doing that!

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31 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

I think it is actually a lower number than people believe when it comes to Americans. The average American doesn't have a passport of really any need of one. The numbers are getting higher, but I know so many people without one or who just got theirs in the last year or so. Whenever I see the line for BC at port, it is mostly American families with their children.

I would say that less than 50 percent of Americans who cruise will use a passport while it will be at 95-100 percent of non-Americans. This will average out the total to maybe 70-75% of cruise pax using a passport over a BC........this is just my estimates.

That would jive with my feeling as well.  Given the responses so far, I guess I should have been more specific with my question.  Naturally, anyone coming to the U.S. to sail from a U.S. port is going to have a passport, so that is going to drive the overall percentage up.

But, as you noted - I don't think most Americans have a passport and I think that's a big factor is why the mainstream cruise lines don't make them mandatory regardless of what U.S. law allows.

 

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17 minutes ago, Atlantix2000 said:

She had a valid passport with valid expiration date for check-in.  When packing, her husband put the expired passport in her bag.  My wife and I have our old passports also and they are in the same safe as our current passports.  This story makes a good argument to stop doing that!

Guess I missed that but can see how it could happen.  Barb would kill me if I did it to her.

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