You’ve booked your cruise, bought your airline tickets, and now you’re wondering if you need a U.S. passport book or a passport card (or both) for future travel. Take the wrong documents and your holiday could be in jeopardy.
You must have the proper documents for your trip, otherwise the airport or cruise port will prevent you from reaching your ship.
Take it easy. We will explain to you in simple terms the difference between a passport booklet and an identity card, so that you can choose the means of identification that suits you best.
List of What You Read
What is a passport booklet?
The U.S. passport book is a small book with a blue cover and your picture in it that has 28 pages, most of which are blank to be stamped by customs and immigration when you enter a foreign country. It serves as an identification document for travel between the United States and foreign countries by air, land or sea.
The US passport is essentially a one-time photo identification document. Wherever you travel in the world and whatever means of transport you use, your passport booklet is accepted as valid identification.
But you have to pay for that flexibility. The adult passport book is valid for 10 years and costs $145 for the first copy and $110 for an extension. Minors under 16 can get a five-year passport book for $115.
What is a passport card?
(Photo courtesy of Flickr/oregondot)
The U.S. passport is a wallet-sized identification card with a passport photo, similar to a driver’s license, that allows entry into the country at the land border with Canada and Mexico. For cruise passengers, passport cards are also accepted at seaports when returning by ship from destinations in Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda.
However, the -passport card cannot be used when traveling abroad by air or when returning to the United States by air from an international destination.
What does this mean for cruise ships? You cannot use your passport to travel to a foreign cruise port, including neighbouring countries. For example, if your cruise departs from Barbados and you have to fly overseas to reach the ship, your US passport card is not a valid means of identification. If your cruise departs Florida, calls in the Caribbean islands (including Barbados) and returns to Florida, a passport card is an acceptable form of identification.
Also, if you plan to travel to Canada’s Yukon as part of an Alaskan tour, you can show your passport card at the border when you cross on a tour bus or the White Pass and Yukon Railway. However, if you decide to charter a flight from Skagway to Whitehorse, Yukon, you will need a passport book.
Passport cards are cheaper than passport books and are also valid for 10 years. They cost $65 for the first passport or $30 for a renewal (or if you already have a passport book). Minors under 16 pay only $15 for a card that is valid for five years.
Passport card or passport booklet: Which one should I choose?
How do I choose a passport card or book? If you can afford a passport book, we recommend you apply for one as it is the most versatile form of identification.
Example: You leave Boston for Bermuda, where you technically don’t need a passport, but an emergency situation forces you to abandon ship in Hamilton and fly home. You cannot enter the United States by air if you do not have a passport booklet.
You need a passport booklet for any trip involving travel abroad. If you think you want to go abroad in the next ten years, choose the most expensive option.
