Don’t leave it to chance — Pack your passport

Disney Cruise Line sparked an online uproar this past week over the requirement for original birth certificates on closed-loop cruises. Disney did not change anything, only reinforced a long-held policy for original documentation.

For background, a closed-loop cruise departs and returns to the same U.S. port and remains in the Western Hemisphere. U.S. Customs and Border Protection allows passengers on such sailings to travel with a birth certificate and driver’s license or government-issued photo ID.

That’s possible, but it is not advisable. Any time you leave the United States, you should have a passport, period.

Too much can happen on a cruise, or at a foreign port, and our Customs service does not write the rules for other countries. You could miss the boat, literally, or a medical emergency could leave you stranded without documentation to fly back to the U.S.

We ALWAYS recommend a passport for any cruise that will enter international waters or a non-U.S. port. It’s well worth the expense and effort. For added benefit, get the passport card and book — you can use the card as a Real ID if your driver’s license is not.