Most people taking a cruise know what crucial documents they need. In most cases, that means a passport or an original birth certificate and a driver's license.
Some people wear medical-alert bracelets in case they're in an emergency and can't communicate. Others may have documents specific to their situations.
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Someone might bring a marriage certificate if the name on their license and/or passport does not match their new legal name. Others may have notarized letters permitting them to travel with a child who is not theirs (or who has a different last name).
Some people pack alternative identification, like a passport card, in case they lose their main option. Others will make photocopies of their passports.
(A photocopy of a key document won't serve as a replacement but it might help you get a new one faster in the event you lose the original.)
A recent emergency on a Carnival Cruise Line ship suggested that there's one other key document anyone who has one should travel with.
Image source: Shutterstock
Carnival passenger donates blood
Cruise ships are essentially floating small cities, and they have doctor's offices and limited medical supplies on board. In the event of an emergency, however, they might ask passengers for help since getting supplies from land when a ship is out at sea takes time.
"If you’re like me, before leaving on a trip, I clean out my wallet of anything I won’t need while traveling. I just debarked from the Carnival Panorama which traveled from Singapore to Long Beach," posted Reddit user OhioBornCAraised.
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While he was on the trip, something happened that will make him rethink what goes in his wallet on future trips.
"During the trip from Hawaii to California, there was an announcement that blood was needed for an emergency, and they asked if any passengers who had the matching blood type, donate blood regularly, had a blood donor card, and were willing to donate their blood, to report to staff. First time on a cruise I have had heard of this happening," he wrote.
Other passengers had faced the same experience.
"We had it last fall in the South Pacific. They accepted us pulling up the online record from the blood bank. Keep in mind, the blood bank for us allows donations every 8 weeks, the cruise line rejects anyone who had given within 12 weeks," shared Xiginous.
There are other ways to prove your blood type and other rules.
"We had two calls (different types) on the recent 16-day Sun Princess. You also needed to have donated within the last six months," added BStrauss3.
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Elegant_Bluebird_460 was also able to donate without her blood donor card.
"I was able to donate on my last cruise without my card because I was able to give the ship's doctor one-time access to my medical records via MyChart," she posted.
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