Hi Monet!
It's so wonderful to welcome you back to the Disney Parks Moms Panel! Whenever my family has a voyage with Captain Mickey on the horizon, we start talking about all the fun we're planning to have onboard to help make the days go by more quickly leading up to embarkation.
It's great that you're thinking about taking passports along with you on your voyage! Children under the age of 16 who are U.S. citizens, sailing with their parents on roundtrip voyages from a U.S. port and returning to that same U.S. port, are only required to have an original (or copy) of their state-issued birth certificates as their proof of U.S. citizenship. With that being said, yes! Disney Cruise Line strongly recommends that all Guests bring a valid passport along with them when they sail, even when their specific itinerary doesn't require it. Take a look at the
Passports & Travel Documentation information to make sure everyone in your family has the required documents.
No matter which itinerary we're sailing on, each member of my family cruises with their passport. For example, if an emergency occurs back at home and we need to fly home from a different port of call, or something happens and one of us needs emergency medical attention at a hospital in another country and then needs to fly home from that country, having valid passports will allow us to get home quickly and with ease. It just gives us peace of mind while we travel that we have the correct documentation needed for our entire family to get home from other countries in the event of an unlikely emergency.
Monet, if you have time before setting sail, I hope you'll look into getting your entire family U.S. Passports! If you have any future questions, please don't hesitate to come back and visit us again!
Beth