There's a cruise leaving out of Miami in one month to Jamaica and the Mexican Caribbean that my mom wants to take. Can anyone tell me if she will need a passport? Thanks!

No, she will not--just photo ID and proof of citizenship.

I believe passports are not required until Jan. 1, 2007. Still, why not just get a passport now knowing she will need it for all future travel? Everyone should have one....you never know when you'll need it spur of the moment. Come January you'll need it even to go to Canada.

A passport is best, hands down. But if your mom must use a birth certificate and photo ID, the names must match, otherwise she needs proof of the name change, such as marriage license.

Get a passport and it will be much easier and less complicated.

If she is a U.S. citizen, a passport is preferred but won't be required until Jan. 8, 2007 for air/sea travel to or from Bermuda, the Caribbean, Canada, Mexico, Central and S. America. She can use her federal/govenment issued photo ID with an original or certified copy of her birth certified that MUST have a raised seal.

Actually, a bill has been passed that will push the passport requirement for cruises back to June of 2009. Should be signed into law within the next couple of weeks. The delay also applies to land crossings.

However, you will need a passport to return to the US by air, so if you do an Alaska cruise from Seattle, you'll need a passport to fly home from to the US from Vancouver.

Thanks, everyone. Do you all agree that she will also need marriage license(s) to document the difference in her last name from the one on her birth certificate? She is 70 years old, and this will be her first time to leave US soil (pretty much the first time out of the state of Florida for that matter). She refuses fly, but has wanted to see Mexico for as long as I can remember. It's been all I could do to (finally) convince her to take the plunge and go on this cruise. You would have to know her to understand, but getting the passport makes it sound "hard" to her. I just want her to experience travel...even if it's only one time.

Yes, she definitely needs the marriage license if she does not have her name at birth. Otherwise, how do they know that "Mary Smith" and "Mary Jones" are the same person?

I hope she has a blast.