Hi,

I am going to Grand Caymen and Cozumel on a cruise this summer. Do I need a passport? I've been to Mexico several times and only needed a certified birth certificate and driver's license.

If I need a passport, where is the best place to get them? Everywhere I've seen is about $200 - $300. Is there a cheaper spot on line or anything?

Thanks for any suggestions!

I don't know if you need a passport or not, but go to this website for info:
http://travel.state.gov/passport_services.html
It will tell you where you can go locally. You can get passport photos at a lot of places, but the website can tell you where you can go to do it all at once (ie some post offices). We went to our city courthouse and were able to do everything there. Total cost was $95 per person.

Thanks Leigh... I'll start there.

While you may not technically have to have a passport for either of these places, I have found it is just easier to go through customs in Mexico with the passport rather than birth certificate. They really seemed to have to examine the birth certificate (and this has been years ago before 9/11). With a passport, they just run it through their machine.
The expensive places to get passports are charging more to get the passport sooner. You should be able to go to the courthouse, fill out the forms and send them--it only has taken 2 weeks or so when I have done it to get the passport back.

Where did you see $200-$300? The fee for a new U.S. passport is $85 for anyone over the age of 16 or $70 for anyone under 16. There's an extra $60 fee if you need expedited service.

If you've never had a passport before, you have to apply directly in person. Here are the instructions to do so:

http://travel.state.gov/passport_obtain.html

NO.
you don't need a passport.

I just went out of Tampa to these exact same spots just 5 months ago.

Call your cruise line they will tell you the same.

As always, thanks for all of your help! I downloaded the passport docs and figured out (with your help) where to get one at a reasonable price!