passport vs passport card for dc

We will be going on a Disney cruise out of florida this summer that goes to Tortola, BVI, and their island in the bahamas. My dd's will be 1.5 and 4.5.

Should I get them a full passport ($105 each), or just the passport card ($40 each)? A children's passport is only good for 5 years. I don't anticipate us traveling abroad in the next 5 years and money is tight, but I want to be sure they are fully "protected" (I'm not lying, the current state of affairs in our country has me really spooked...).

THis is the description of the card:
The U.S. Passport Card CANNOT be used for international air travel. This travel document can be used to enter the United States from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Bermuda at land border crossings or sea ports-of-entry.

Re: passport vs passport card for dc

We just got back from a Western Caribbean Disney Cruise two weeks go. I did a ton of research on the passport cards before we left. (SD's mother would not sign off on the passport so we had to find a way) For DH, DD and I, We opted to get the passport cards since money was tight and we aren't going to be traveling for quite some time. We were able to use them to get off the ship at Grand Cayman and Castaway Cay, Bahamas.

What you might want to do is give Disney Cruise Line an e-mail (they are very responsive and helpful) OR a call regarding the port of call at Tortola, the BVI website makes it look like they need an actual passport. Also with some cruises if it is a closed circuit cruise (starts and end at the same port IE: Miami) They will let you use just a birth certificate, but double check with DCL regarding the Tortola stop.

Also a great resource is DISboards, the cruise board, there's a lot of people on there with great advice.

Re: passport vs passport card for dc

thank you thank you! I will check out disboards and email disney! Great ideas!