Non-raised seal birth certificate

[Rustedone]

I had to get a copy of birth certificate from Dept of Vital Statistics, State of Va. When they mailed a copy back to me, it was not a raised seal- instead it is on paper that is multicolored and has a water mark, and has an IMPRESSED seal- NOT raised. They sent a letter with it( as i had asked for raised seal) and said that in 2000, the state stopped doing raised seals and went with cost effective watermark paper. They said it would be the same as a raised seal as it is certified, from the State of Vital Statistics.

I called Carnival, they said it is ok as well, However, always the pessimist, and only 7 days till sail, has anyone else faced this?? I'm looking for reassurance so i can Sleep this week !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks !!

[Darcy]

You'll be fine. A lot of states have gone to the watermark over the raised seal.

[jleq]

My birth certificate [which I used for my Passport] is on Watermarked paper with multi-colored seal.

[Lisa]

If it is the official birth certificate and has the security feature you will be fine. Many states are going away from raised seals to other security features. This will be moot anyway by the end of the year when passports will be required for any caribbean cruise.

[Rustedone]

thanks for your help guys !! now maybe i can relax and enjoy preparing for the trip !!

i think your are fine. i have been concerned about some of our birthcertificates in our group of 11. some of ours haave not parents listed on them for the younger kids and some of the older ones like mine and my husbands from the 1940s have everything listed on them. in the 70s and 80s in pa. they told me they only havae the names of the person born and the date. some of them you can see the seal really clear and some you practicly need a magnefying glass to make things out. i also called carnival and they seemed like ya whatever, if it is a vital statistics certified issued thing even from the city where you were born that is even fine with some sort of seal raised or not raised no problem.

i talked to someone recently who told me that when they boarded no one even wanted to look at any of their documents. so quit worrier, but i am a worrier too, so i know how you feel. patticake

[Rustedone]

yep, i am the king of worriers !! Guess i won't be totally relaxed till i get on board- THEN, I'll be worrying about losing sign & sail card !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[KYCruiser]

Thanks for asking this question . . . I've wondered the same myself. I got DH and DD's birth certificates from Vital Statistics and they aren't raised either so . . . now I won't worry that they'll be left on the dock so I'd have to "use" that suite by myself!!!!!

[Paralegal]

I had to ask for a certified copy of my birth certificate, as I never even had the original. The thing I had been using all this time was what you receive from the hospital. Anyway, my doesn't have a raised seal on it either, and I used it in September, 2004 for our Carnival cruise out of Tampa. I had no problem using it. In fact Carnival never even blinked an eye. You will be fine. The only thing you need to worry about now is how many of those foo foo drinks you are going to consume on your cruise. Have a great time.

I too have the same type of birth certificate from Florida and was hoping there would be no problem so I'm glad to hear that Carnival told you it would be fine. I am taking my two daughters on this cruise and one of their dogs got a hold of her driver's license (who knows how!!!) and chewed it up. You can still see her picture and make out most of her name and address but now I'm wondering if this will be a problem. I am afraid if she goes to get a replacement that they will confiscate her one with her picture and give her the temporary paper one which obviously does not have a picture. I guess I better call Carnival on this one. We too are leaving in 7 days on the Ecstacy....how about you???

Nanapas,

I live in Florida also and got my renewed license back while I waited.

sls

[Jim Bragg]

It is fine. Many States do this and it is acceptable. Remeber that if you are cruising NEXT year to go ahead and get your Passports as a BC will not be sufficent to cruise with. Just use that BC to get your passport!
Jim

I was born in Florida but now live in Texas so we are sailing out of Galveston. Hopefully the DPS office here will do the same! Thanks and have a great voyage!

[BruceT]

Well, just one other question about birth certificates, A couple of people in my group are bringing the credit card sized certificate with a raised seal. I assume this is OK, but seeing as we're on the subject...what do you think?