Passport nightmare - won’t let me rebook

[Michellebno]

One of our expedited passports got held up due to the unprecedented demand this summer. It took well over the 7-9 weeks plastered on everyone’s sites. I called constantly from 8am-10pm for a week to get an in person appointment. There were none to be had across the country. I had to get my congressman involved and  they finally mailed it Monday. It’s arriving today or tomorrow - too late for us to make our sailing tomorrow.   What I don’t understand is why Royal Caribbean won’t allow us to rebook. They have availability for the next two weeks. I did everything humanly possible to make it on that ship. This is not my fault; we applied in April.  The airline let us rebook.   Now we’re out $3,000 and we don’t get a vacation. This really sucks!   Do I have any recourse at all?

UPDATE!!!  Today we were able to arrange to catch the boat at the second port.   We fly out in the morning.  Hooray!

Edited July 7, 2023 by Michellebno
Update. Resolution.

[HeWhoWaits]

Royal will certainly allow a rebooking (with the change fee and any difference in cruise fare) for an open spot on the same or another ship.

[Rackham]

3 hours ago, Michellebno said:

One of our expedited passports got held up due to the unprecedented demand this summer. It took well over the 7-9 weeks plastered on everyone’s sites. I called constantly from 8am-10pm for a week to get an in person appointment. There were none to be had across the country. I had to get my congressman involved and  they finally mailed it Monday. It’s arriving today or tomorrow - too late for us to make our sailing tomorrow.   What I don’t understand is why Royal Caribbean won’t allow us to rebook. They have availability for the next two weeks. I did everything humanly possible to make it on that ship. This is not my fault; we applied in April.  The airline let us rebook.   Now we’re out $3,000 and we don’t get a vacation. This really sucks!   Do I have any recourse at all?

Because with Royal, and I'm assuming other cruise lines as well, once you're inside the final payment date, there's cancellation penalties for switching cruises (and possibly a change fee on top). Inside of 30 days to the sailing, the cancellation penalty is 100% of your cruise fare which was spelled out in the cruise contract.

[Momof4crazytocruise]

Perhaps you can cruise with your birth certificate and driver's license instead of the passport? You don't say where you are cruising out of - if it is a closed loop cruise out of US port, that might be your only option.  I imagine you sent a copy of your birth certificate to the passport office, can you order another one online and pick it up? 

[Xaa]

Are you sailing on a closed loop cruise from the US and are you a US Citizen?  If so, you can sail with your Birth Certificate and Photo ID.

Did you check the Post Office Informed Delivery to see if it is scheduled to be delivered today?  If it is, it sounds like you're in business with the passport.

https://www.usps.com/manage/informed-delivery.htm

It seems like there are more things humanly possible for you to try before giving up on your trip.

[tjcruisers]

My understanding is you can apparently rebook (for a fee and differences), but given the cruise is tomorrow that window could be closed. Royal does specify their policies on your cruise contract. As some have said you might be able to cruise on a birth certificate and photo id. In the end it's not Royal's fault if somebody doesn't have the proper documentation.

[Jolly Ogre]

These are the same people that call me for refills with only 1 pill left.

Why wait until the last minute to get these things done?

It is not Royal's fault or issue. It is not State Dept's fault.

I am sorry but you waited way to long to ask for help.

[teddy]

19 minutes ago, Jolly Ogre said:

These are the same people that call me for refills with only 1 pill left.

Then you must talk to my wife a lot

[twangster]

11 hours ago, Michellebno said:

This is not my fault; we applied in April.

Sorry to be blunt but it is your fault.  You are exclusively and entirely responsible to have the proper documentation.  

It is not the cruise line's fault you waited until April. The passport waiting game has been an issue since 2021.   

Every week someone has a reason (in their mind) why they should be granted an exception.  You are way down a long list of people who think the contract that was accepted should now not apply to them.  

If they did grant an exception for a [delayed passport] (or insert something else here) it would spread like wildfire on social media... just tell them you [didn't get your passport back in time] (or something else inserted here) and you can change cruises!  Suddenly thousands of people who don't like the weather forecast would claim [their passport is delayed] (or insert some other excuse here).   Everyone on social media would love it!  Then the cruise lines would have to buckle down and enforce the contract, just like they are doing. 

 

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

22 hours ago, Michellebno said:

One of our expedited passports got held up due to the unprecedented demand this summer. It took well over the 7-9 weeks plastered on everyone’s sites. I called constantly from 8am-10pm for a week to get an in person appointment. There were none to be had across the country. I had to get my congressman involved and  they finally mailed it Monday. It’s arriving today or tomorrow - too late for us to make our sailing tomorrow.   What I don’t understand is why Royal Caribbean won’t allow us to rebook. They have availability for the next two weeks. I did everything humanly possible to make it on that ship. This is not my fault; we applied in April.  The airline let us rebook.   Now we’re out $3,000 and we don’t get a vacation. This really sucks!   Do I have any recourse at all?

You can rebook…you just have to pay for it.  Sounds like you already cancelled tomorrow’s cruise…there goes your money…no refunds.  Rebook and repay and you’re all set.

Oh and just like everyone else has already stated…it is NOT Royal’s fault nor is it the US Government’s.  You are at fault for this missed timing on applying for your passports.   
Very sorry for your dilemma.

We are sailing at the end of this month and I hounded my daughter about getting passports beginning late last year!  She finally sent all 5 applications in January (not expedited) and received all of them in April.   Also, in April several news outlets were reporting passports were taking almost double the time to process!  So my “hounding” paid off…at least for my family!

Edited July 7, 2023 by PPPJJ-GCVAB
Changed and Added info

[CanHardlyWait]

It's nobody's fault but your own. I've seen news stories that say plan 6 months in advance because of the backup in passport processing.

If you returned to read these posts you might have been able to use a birth certificate and driver's license. Some have reported getting away with just a license. Maybe with paperwork showing passport has been processed and was approved. Who knows?

By the way. Does anyone know what the cut off date for a date/sailing change with fee would have been? I say date of final payment.

[TXcruzer]

WOW, 12 hours and no reply from the OP.

Another whine and run post

[Michellebno]

3 hours ago, Jolly Ogre said:

These are the same people that call me for refills with only 1 pill left.

Why wait until the last minute to get these things done?

It is not Royal's fault or issue. It is not State Dept's fault.

I am sorry but you waited way to long to ask for help.

Have you tried getting a passport lately?  They had my expedited paperwork in the agency on April  25th for a 7-9 week turnaround. Do the math. 2 other passports arrived with weeks to spare. The agency is so slammed they will not take your call until 2 weeks before you travel. I called them. They put an “urgent tag on the request. I then called my congressman for help and put in an inquiry. At their 5 business days before travel deadline I was allowed to try to book an online appointment. There were none anywhere in the country. I called for 5 days, from 8am to 10pm over and over in hopes one would open. Ultimately, the congressman’s inquiry did the trick. Otherwise I don’t think. it would be here now. 

[Ampurp85]

I would think the cutoff would be at least a week.........maybe 3 days. I believe when the planner shuts down then the cruise is shut down. Ideally, they could sale the cruises up until they need to turn in the manifest. 

[CanHardlyWait]

59 minutes ago, Michellebno said:

Have you tried getting a passport lately?  They had my expedited paperwork in the agency on April  25th for a 7-9 week turnaround. Do the math. 2 other passports arrived with weeks to spare. The agency is so slammed they will not take your call until 2 weeks before you travel. I called them. They put an “urgent tag on the request. I then called my congressman for help and put in an inquiry. At their 5 business days before travel deadline I was allowed to try to book an online appointment. There were none anywhere in the country. I called for 5 days, from 8am to 10pm over and over in hopes one would open. Ultimately, the congressman’s inquiry did the trick. Otherwise I don’t think. it would be here now. 

So it came today? Your going tomorrow?

[luv2sail]

14 hours ago, Michellebno said:

One of our expedited passports got held up due to the unprecedented demand this summer. It took well over the 7-9 weeks plastered on everyone’s sites. I called constantly from 8am-10pm for a week to get an in person appointment. There were none to be had across the country. I had to get my congressman involved and  they finally mailed it Monday. It’s arriving today or tomorrow - too late for us to make our sailing tomorrow.   What I don’t understand is why Royal Caribbean won’t allow us to rebook. They have availability for the next two weeks. I did everything humanly possible to make it on that ship. This is not my fault; we applied in April.  The airline let us rebook.   Now we’re out $3,000 and we don’t get a vacation. This really sucks!   Do I have any recourse at all?

I have no advice but I feel bad for you. Sometimes life stinks.

[SemperMom]

It doesn't sound like you have a travel advisor or you may have known your options sooner. They don't cost anything. You may want to consider finding a good one for the future. I think @Ampurp85 pretty much nailed it. A travel advisor may have let you know that if you didn't have the passport by at least 5 days prior that it would be best to rebook and eat the change fees (or if it was a US Port Closed Loop that you could just go the DL/BC route). Then you would have only been out a couple hundred instead of a few thousand (or be headed to the port). We are finally going on a cruise this October that we booked 2 years ago for a June 2022 sailing because we had to lift and shift 3 times due to Covid and other unavoidable conflicts. We have a TA and were fully informed upfront about our options and the consequences, supplemented by the wise folks on this very forum who set me straight when I got confused about what the TA advised . It sucks to pay more for our trip, especially when we got a really good price but we didn't lose anything, we just paid extra for the convenience of flexibility.

For those that might be following for passport info, the processing time is exactly as long as it states and you will definitely want to plan for two or more weeks beyond the stated processing window to be on the safe side. We applied for both our kids the 2nd week of April, they were received by the agency on April 19th (thats when you start counting processing time). I checked the status tracker on the agency site weekly and it finally went from processing to approved on July 1. We got them today. So it took 11 weeks and 1 day for non-expedited with the current 10-13 week window. Back in Feb of 2022, my husband and I applied and had ours in hand within 5 weeks. Playing it safe I booked my sons birthday cruise for the first week in August so now we have 27 days of worry free but anxious anticipation leading up to embarkation. 

[WAAAYTOOO]

I’ve sailed my last 2 cruises using my birth certificate and drivers license.  No problem whatsoever.  Patiently waiting for my passport to come but if it takes a while….oh well.  

[Michellebno]

7 hours ago, Jolly Ogre said:

These are the same people that call me for refills with only 1 pill left.

Why wait until the last minute to get these things done?

It is not Royal's fault or issue. It is not State Dept's fault.

I am sorry but you waited way to long to ask for help.

Have you tried getting a passport lately?  They had my expedited paperwork in the agency on April  25th for a 7-9 week turnaround. Do the math. 2 other passports arrived with weeks to spare. The agency is so slammed they will not take your call until 2 weeks before you travel. I called them. They put an “urgent tag on the request. I then called my congressman for help and put in an inquiry. At their 5 business days before travel deadline I was allowed to try to book an online appointment. There were none anywhere in the country. I called for 5 days, from 8am to 10pm over and over in hopes one would open. Ultimately, the congressman’s inquiry did the trick. Otherwise I don’t think. it would be here now. 

[Jolly Ogre]

11 hours ago, Michellebno said:

Have you tried getting a passport lately?  They had my expedited paperwork in the agency on April  25th for a 7-9 week turnaround. Do the math. 2 other passports arrived with weeks to spare. The agency is so slammed they will not take your call until 2 weeks before you travel. I called them. They put an “urgent tag on the request. I then called my congressman for help and put in an inquiry. At their 5 business days before travel deadline I was allowed to try to book an online appointment. There were none anywhere in the country. I called for 5 days, from 8am to 10pm over and over in hopes one would open. Ultimately, the congressman’s inquiry did the trick. Otherwise I don’t think. it would be here now. 

No, I have not, however when I last renewed it I started the process in April for a then next January sailing. So I had 9 months to get it done. I had my passport in about 3-4 months. I never was really concerned as I have my DL and birth certificate to use as backup.

Nobody plans to fail but a lot fail to plan.

[Jolly Ogre]

8 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

I’ve sailed my last 2 cruises using my birth certificate and drivers license.  No problem whatsoever.  Patiently waiting for my passport to come but if it takes a while….oh well.  

Exactly...winner winner chicken dinner!!

[TXcruzer]

17 hours ago, Michellebno said:

Have you tried getting a passport lately?  They had my expedited paperwork in the agency on April  25th for a 7-9 week turnaround. Do the math. 2 other passports arrived with weeks to spare. The agency is so slammed they will not take your call until 2 weeks before you travel. I called them. They put an “urgent tag on the request. I then called my congressman for help and put in an inquiry. At their 5 business days before travel deadline I was allowed to try to book an online appointment. There were none anywhere in the country. I called for 5 days, from 8am to 10pm over and over in hopes one would open. Ultimately, the congressman’s inquiry did the trick. Otherwise I don’t think. it would be here now. 

Any time i have renewed my passport, before i send in the old book and the application, I make sure my birth certificate is handy just in case.

 

I assume this is a closed loop cruise

[tjcruisers]

6 hours ago, Jolly Ogre said:

Nobody plans to fail but a lot fail to plan.

Extremely wise words. My youngest's passport expired in early 2021 and we renewed it immediately. Kept getting asked why would we do that seeing travel is essentially grounded. My response was 99% of the people think like that so the passport office is empty (we got it in a few weeks) and we'll be able to hit the ground running when it opens up. Fast forward to 2022 and you have lineups at the passports offices a KM line and people getting in line at 4 am.

[Jolly Ogre]

7 minutes ago, tjcruisers said:

Extremely wise words. My youngest's passport expired in early 2021 and we renewed it immediately. Kept getting asked why would we do that seeing travel is essentially grounded. My response was 99% of the people think like that so the passport office is empty (we got it in a few weeks) and we'll be able to hit the ground running when it opens up. Fast forward to 2022 and you have lineups at the passports offices a KM line and people getting in line at 4 am.

Awsome!!

[twangster]

Another story of missed cruises due to passport delays:

https://www.kcci.com/article/passport-delays-missed-vacation/44464176

2 women out thousands of dollars, missed vacation over passport application delays

 

[AshleyDillo]

One thing I always recommend to anyone applying for a passport is to order a certified copy of their birth certificate first. That way you have that in case there is a delay in passport processing or your original birth certificate gets lost in the mail when they are mailing it back. Bonus is you still have a birth certificate to do a closed loop cruise in the meantime.

[Xaa]

Hate it for them, but this is what I find most relevant.

"It's a trip the women planned a year ago — "

A year ago but waited until the home stretch to renew their passports.

 

"I definitely think the State Department needs to come before Congress and explain," Raynor said. "People in our position, they want answers to this. Why does it take so long?"

I think she should also go before congress and explain why she waited so long....

[Atlantix2000]

And NEVER, EVER send you only copy of your birth certificate with your passport application.  Seriously, you should never have only one copy of important documents.  Have multiple birth, marriage, and death certificates so you can use them whenever they are needed.  Legally, there's nothing special about the original birth certificate.  A certified copy is a certified copy.  (And of course, a copy machine copy is worth nothing)

[tingtang]

Glad the OP got it sorted!  

[barbeyg]

It looks like the OP got this straightened out?  I agree with others. Never cut it too close.  Heads up for those renewing and reading this, you don’t need your birth certificate for renewals, unless there are certain mitigating circumstances.

And my husband was born in Canada. If you order a “backup certificate” in the province he was born in, it invalidates the previous one. Strangest thing to this American, where we can order all the certified copies we want. So, depending on the country, you can’t have an extra copy on hand.

 

[USCG Teacher]

49 minutes ago, barbeyg said:

If you order a “backup certificate” in the province he was born in, it invalidates the previous one. Strangest thing to this American, where we can order all the certified copies we want. So, depending on the country, you can’t have an extra copy on hand.

 

Okay, stupid question, but how would a non-governmental agency possibly know if you were holding an older copy of your Canadian birth certificate if there was a newer one issued?  To the best of my knowledge, the cruise line simply compares the information on the form with your ID, they don't contact the issuing agency to confirm while you're checking in at the pier or anything.  Not encouraging anyone to do this, just genuinely curious.

[TXcruzer]

15 minutes ago, USCG Teacher said:

Okay, stupid question, but how would a non-governmental agency possibly know if you were holding an older copy of your Canadian birth certificate if there was a newer one issued?  To the best of my knowledge, the cruise line simply compares the information on the form with your ID, they don't contact the issuing agency to confirm while you're checking in at the pier or anything.  Not encouraging anyone to do this, just genuinely curious.

Thank You, I was pondering the exact same question.

[twangster]

1 hour ago, USCG Teacher said:

Okay, stupid question, but how would a non-governmental agency possibly know if you were holding an older copy of your Canadian birth certificate if there was a newer one issued?  To the best of my knowledge, the cruise line simply compares the information on the form with your ID, they don't contact the issuing agency to confirm while you're checking in at the pier or anything.  Not encouraging anyone to do this, just genuinely curious.

 

Here is what I am thinking...

While the cruise line does not have the means to validate each document themselves, when it becomes part of the official manifest it could cause a red flag when the manifest is submitted to the government.  Just as someone who has a criminal history, citizenship or other background issues can cause a red flag, submitting a bogus, fake or invalidated document could cause a red flag.

It's like asking if someone has a fake drivers license or fake birth certificate they bought online, how would the cruise line know?  The cruise line themselves may not, but it will raise a flag when the manifest is submitted to a government entity that can check each document.  

[barbeyg]

1 hour ago, USCG Teacher said:

Okay, stupid question, but how would a non-governmental agency possibly know if you were holding an older copy of your Canadian birth certificate if there was a newer one issued?  To the best of my knowledge, the cruise line simply compares the information on the form with your ID, they don't contact the issuing agency to confirm while you're checking in at the pier or anything.  Not encouraging anyone to do this, just genuinely curious.

I wondered that too, but didn’t want the province to invalidate the one we have.  Maybe someone in Canada knows.  And Twangster has a great point. My hubby has a US passport (dual citizenship) so we are just glad we don’t have to send the BC in for renewal, that’s for sure.

[twangster]

21 hours ago, barbeyg said:

It looks like the OP got this straightened out?  I agree with others. Never cut it too close.  Heads up for those renewing and reading this, you don’t need your birth certificate for renewals, unless there are certain mitigating circumstances.

And my husband was born in Canada. If you order a “backup certificate” in the province he was born in, it invalidates the previous one. Strangest thing to this American, where we can order all the certified copies we want. So, depending on the country, you can’t have an extra copy on hand.

 

Maybe a provincial thing.  Ontario doesn't have this verbiage on their website nor was it present when applying for a replacement BC using their online portal.  

[amanalo217]

Is a passport card valid for boarding?

[Pattycruise]

30 minutes ago, amanalo217 said:

Is a passport card valid for boarding?

I have a current cruise and that’s in the top 4 ID selections for check in.

[Matt]

14 hours ago, amanalo217 said:

Is a passport card valid for boarding?

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/passport-card-vs-book