do Canadians need more ID then a passport to do Disney cruise?

[1funmum]

hi
I have a pass port but I don't drive. I saw on the Disney cruise site that all passengers over 16 must have additional ID then they said ie drivers license. I have a health card. Will that count? My travel agent has zero answers. And said we only needed passport when we bought the ticket. But she's never used the Disney cruise line.

 

[disneymath]

I don't have a license either and have only needed my passport on both DCL cruises I've taken. Those were Alaska in 2011 and Norway/Iceland in 2015.

 

[papertraveller]

You will be fine with your passport.
The only issue is that you will need to take it with you whenever you leave the ship -- they check ID on the way back onboard. I do not believe your health card would be sufficient to get you back on the ship -- but you could ask them when you're there!

 

[Gigi22]

Not sure which province you are in, but I had similar issues and obtained a "non-driver's license" from my province. This I.d. serves as my second government photo I.d. I highly recommend getting one, as they are very handy for travel, opening a new bank account, etc.

 

[rjmaple]

We took a Disney cruise in 2005 so the policy could be very different now BUT what we needed was a 2nd photo ID to get back on the ship as they collected the passports when we boarded and they were given back by US Customs when we disembarked. It may depend on what countries are involved. We did the Caribbean leaving from Canaveral. If that is still the policy, then perhaps a photocopy of your passport will suffice. Maybe the health card if it has a photo on it. In any case, your travel agent should be finding out for you.

 

[lizzyb]

Just a passport

 

[rjmaple]

lizzy, did you go on the Carribbean cruise and do they not hold the passports any longer?

 

[minnie mum]

Our last Disney cruise was quite a few years ago, but I can't remember our passports ever being kept by the ship, whether it was Disney or another line. You show them at check in and they scan them. Then they give you your Ship card. From the DCL website :

For Your Security
All adult Guests are required to show a picture I.D. and their Key to the World card to board and disembark the ship in all ports, including Castaway Cay.

If you take your passport off the ship with you, have some secure method of carrying it, such as a money belt or neck wallet. Don't just put it in your pocket or bag.

If you don't drive, you can still get a government issued photo ID from any provincial office that issues DLs. If you don't take your passport with you when you leave the ship, bring along a colour photocopy of the front page along with your ID, in case anything happens while you're ashore.

 

[Starwind]

We have cruised with Disney 4 times in the last few years, most recently Dec 2015, and never once have they held our passports. We show them as ID when checking in at the port, and they give them back to us.

I second what other posters have suggested about getting an identification card from your province. I did not drive until I was in my 20's, and the Ontario ID card I had was invaluable for so many things. Also, should you ever lose your passport or other documents, having the ID card can be very helpful in starting the process of replacing things. HOWEVER, the provincial photo card may not be valid for travel purposes -- in Ontario it is "not valid as travel documentation". I don't know what that means in terms of the photo ID needed to reboard ship: you may be able to write to Disney and ask them.

Here is the webpage for Ontario's Photo Card: https://www.ontario.ca/page/ontario-photo-card Each province issues their own. In Ontario the cost is $35 and valid 5 years.

To be honest, if considering that, for the extra $15, the $50 NEXUS card, also valid 5 years, may be a worthwhile consideration. It is acceptable as travel documentation in some circumstances. It gives you access to NEXUS lines, and US CBP's Global Entry lines/program. It makes you eligible to be chosen for TSA's PreCheck lines, which are usually faster and certainly easier. At Canadian airports that have them, you can use NEXUS lines for clearing security, which are usually considerably shorter than the normal lines.

SW

 

[kiford]

We took a Disney cruise in 2005 so the policy could be very different now BUT what we needed was a 2nd photo ID to get back on the ship as they collected the passports when we boarded and they were given back by US Customs when we disembarked.

They no longer hold onto foreign passports. They did up until 2005; I remember having to get up at 6:30 am to go down to one of the bars or the theatre to pick them up and clear immigration. Now they simply scan them when you check in and return them.

It is helpful to have a secondary photo ID to take off the ship rather than your passport, but if you don't have any other photo ID, you can use your passport. Just keep it in a safe place while you have it off the ship.

 

[disneymath]

They no longer hold onto foreign passports. They did up until 2005; I remember having to get up at 6:30 am to go down to one of the bars or the theatre to pick them up and clear immigration. Now they simply scan them when you check in and return them.

It is helpful to have a secondary photo ID to take off the ship rather than your passport, but if you don't have any other photo ID, you can use your passport. Just keep it in a safe place while you have it off the ship.

They actually did collect passports at one point from the entire ship during our 2015 DCL Iceland cruise ... it had to do with British immigration if I recall. Our passports had to be turned in by a certain time on one day and then we were given designated times (by floor) a day or two later to present ourselves at the theatre to pick them up and pass through immigration inspection.

This is aparently not typical practice, but it can happen. (DCL did provide each stateroom with copies of our passports and I think we used these copies to reboard in Akureyri ... but again, this was not a usual situation for DCL.)

 

[kiford]

They actually did collect passports at one point from the entire ship during our 2015 DCL Iceland cruise

They did the same for us when we were on the Med cruise in Greece apparently because we went from Greece to Turkey back to Greece. That has more to do with a specific port and that country's rules where you're visiting. That's different than what rjmaple is referring to and what they used to do. When any non-US citizen checked in for Bahamian or Caribbean cruises, they took your passport for the entire cruise and you had to get up early on disembarkation day, go down to one of the bars or theatre where they had US immigration officials and wait in line to retrieve your passport and do immigration. Then when you disembarked the ship they had two different lines - one for US and one for non-US citizens. Now it's all one line and everyone passes through at the same time. I was glad when they stopped doing that because you had to be up at an incredibly early hour to retrieve them. I recall when we went on our 2008 cruise and they didn't take our passports and we asked the person checking us in about it and she looked at us like we were crazy.

 

[Kogo Shuko]

It should be noted that cruise lines suggest having a second form of ID because if you lost a piece of ID while at a destination, it's a lot more complicated to replace the passport and get back into the country (both the US and then later Canada) than it is to lose a driver's license, hunting license, etc.

And it CAN happen. I went on one expedition that involved tubing and swimming in a cave. Some man decided to keep his driver's license and credit card in his bathing suit pocket instead of using a locker, and it slipped out while we were swimming in the cave.

 

[1funmum]

Not sure which province you are in, but I had similar issues and obtained a "non-driver's license" from my province. This I.d. serves as my second government photo I.d. I highly recommend getting one, as they are very handy for travel, opening a new bank account, etc.

I am going to get the age of majority card. I'm in Ontario. I hope that's going to be ok. If not I will take my passport. I didn't understand why they needed the extra ID but now I get it. Thanks

 

[1funmum]

We have cruised with Disney 4 times in the last few years, most recently Dec 2015, and never once have they held our passports. We show them as ID when checking in at the port, and they give them back to us.

I second what other posters have suggested about getting an identification card from your province. I did not drive until I was in my 20's, and the Ontario ID card I had was invaluable for so many things. Also, should you ever lose your passport or other documents, having the ID card can be very helpful in starting the process of replacing things. HOWEVER, the provincial photo card may not be valid for travel purposes -- in Ontario it is "not valid as travel documentation". I don't know what that means in terms of the photo ID needed to reboard ship: you may be able to write to Disney and ask them.

Here is the webpage for Ontario's Photo Card: https://www.ontario.ca/page/ontario-photo-card Each province issues their own. In Ontario the cost is $35 and valid 5 years.

To be honest, if considering that, for the extra $15, the $50 NEXUS card, also valid 5 years, may be a worthwhile consideration. It is acceptable as travel documentation in some circumstances. It gives you access to NEXUS lines, and US CBP's Global Entry lines/program. It makes you eligible to be chosen for TSA's PreCheck lines, which are usually faster and certainly easier. At Canadian airports that have them, you can use NEXUS lines for clearing security, which are usually considerably shorter than the normal lines.

SW

Thank you very much for the link and the information about the nexus card. I will google it and see what I come up with. If it's easy to obtain before I travel I will get both. Then I'm covered either way.

 

[Maple Leaf]

You will be fine with your passport.
The only issue is that you will need to take it with you whenever you leave the ship -- they check ID on the way back onboard. I do not believe your health card would be sufficient to get you back on the ship -- but you could ask them when you're there!

We will need to take our passports since most of our travellers are children. No problem, grandpa can carry them.

 

[disneymath]

Just thought I would mention that it's a good idea to leave photocopies of passports at home with someone you trust, just in case. We also took cellphone photos of them so we would have a digital copy if needed.

 

[isabellea]

Our second ID will be our NEXUS card (adults and kids). That way our passports can stay in the safe.