Is a passport required for travel to the caribbean island via sea vessel?

Departing/Returning to the US.

Supposedly it is, but due to the backlog, the government is making other provisions. check with the passport office, and see what they recommend.

Starting Jan. 2008 you will need a passport for cruise travel. Currently until that date as long as it is round trip a US port you are not required to have a passport.

Keep in mind though if an emergency occurs while on this cruise that requires you to fly home, your cousin will not be able to go home until after the cruise because you will be at International ports and there will be no exceptions to this no matter what the reason for the emergency that requires you to travel home.

You should be ok with this, but you just never know! I would go out and apply right away just so in the future you won't have to worry about this.

technically, passports are not yet required for cruise travel, but some cruise lines do choose to require them. Call the cruise line and ask for sure. if you do need a passport , you can apply and if the passports won't be ready on time, you can travel wothout them y following the instructions for the current "flexibility" program. see website below.

At this point in time you do not need a passport for cruise travel in the Caribbean (US only) provided you are leaving from a US port. (Puerto Rico is part of the US). The rules regarding cruise travel do not go into effect until January 2008 and there is talk of pushing that date back because of the backlog problem. The air requirement has also been temporarily changed, so if you have applied for your passport and just not received it on time you will be able to reenter the country. So at this time it is never too late to apply for a passport.

No. Not if you return before Jan.1st 2008!

Not until the beginning of the year at the earliest