Expired Passport for ID?

[Loonbeam]

While the ports technically will let you in without a passport, depending on the agent you get (I have gotten some doozies in countries over the years) without a passport you may get selected for additional screening, or its possible they may decide not to accept a document. For me, better safe then sorry.

 

BTW, I didn't quote the state department, I pulled those from the government tourist pages of each of the countries in question directly.

 

 

OP - definitely a wise choice to get your visa processed after your cruise.

 

Sueb - Your daughter's passport is fine for your upcoming RT cruise from FLL; the 6 mo. Rule is not applicable in Caribbean cruise destinations.

 

Loombeam - while you accurately quote the State Dept. Info pages, the information is spotty at best. One will never go wrong following their stated guidelines, but one can easily be misled into thinking passports are required when they are not. In the case of St.Lucia, St. Maarten and the Bahamas, ALL may currently be visited on round trip cruises with just a BC and ID. Private sea travel needs a passport, but not RT cruise travel.

 

Hydrodriver - you only quoted a portion of the full details of the document requirements on the Princess webpage; the paragraph continues with the listing of the BC/ID for round trip cruises below the portion you quoted

http://www.princess.com/learn/faq_answer/pre_cruise/prepare.jsp

[FLACRUISER99]

The Official web page http://www.dhs.gov/xnews/releases/pr_1206635771151.shtm

Scroll down to:

Traveling By Sea

 

How will the final WHTI requirements affect passengers going on cruises?

U.S. citizens on closed-loop cruises (cruises that begin and end at the same port in the U.S.) will be able to enter or depart the country with proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate and government-issued photo ID. A U.S. citizen under the age of 16 will be able to present either an original or a copy of his or her birth certificate, a Consular Report of Birth Abroad issued by DOS, or a Certificate of Naturalization issued by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Please be aware that you may still be required to present a passport when you dock at a foreign port, depending on the islands or countries that your cruise ship is visiting. Check with your cruiseline to ensure you have the appropriate documents for the stops you’ll be making on your cruise.

[Woobstr112G]

You must have a valid (not expired) passport with 6 months left on it before expiring for your cruise. I just got back from my Eastern Caribbean cruise and they check when you leave at the port upon check-in and when you come back at customs but not at each individual port.

 

You also won't even be able to register your immigration information on your personalizer if you try using a passport that expires within six months prior to sailing. I personally experienced this when we sailed on the Emerald in 2008.....

 

Bob

[teripp]

I dont think you can even board the cruise with out a valid Passport longer than 6 months to expire. There is no way they would be able to take you on a cruise. You can not just stay on board. That I believe is a thing of the past along with the B/C and DL for Id.

[sueb]

You also won't even be able to register your immigration information on your personalizer if you try using a passport that expires within six months prior to sailing. I personally experienced this when we sailed on the Emerald in 2008.....

 

Bob

 

Well, I'll have to say our immigration info went in fine and All Docs look ok. I'll let everyone know what happens.

[cherylandtk]

Sueb and others re the 6 month limit. Used to be the Princess system locked out a passport with less than 6 months validity and people had to call to have it added manually. I think they must have reprogrammed the software recently, as I no longer see those posts.

 

Loombeam, that is very interesting. I have often wondered why the state site had such a mish-mash of instructions on their travel section, perhaps they are taking it directly from the tourism sites....in any event the State site tends to be overbearing in it's instructions. That is fine, as anyone following their suggestions will have more than enough documentation. I just find it disappointing that their site cannot be accurate with the details as everyone would expect it to be.

[Loonbeam]

I even checked with the third-party visa clearance site my company uses. For St. Maarten a passport is tagged as required, recommended for most others. Unfortunately its a paid service so I can't repost.

 

Still when it comes down to it, why risk a entire cruise over an $80 passport..

 

 

Sueb and others re the 6 month limit. Used to be the Princess system locked out a passport with less than 6 months validity and people had to call to have it added manually. I think they must have reprogrammed the software recently, as I no longer see those posts.

 

Loombeam, that is very interesting. I have often wondered why the state site had such a mish-mash of instructions on their travel section, perhaps they are taking it directly from the tourism sites....in any event the State site tends to be overbearing in it's instructions. That is fine, as anyone following their suggestions will have more than enough documentation. I just find it disappointing that their site cannot be accurate with the details as everyone would expect it to be.

[Loonbeam]

The 6th month may still apply if air travel is involved via Princess with an arrival airport outside the US...

 

 

 

Well, I'll have to say our immigration info went in fine and All Docs look ok. I'll let everyone know what happens.

[cherylandtk]

I even checked with the third-party visa clearance site my company uses. For St. Maarten a passport is tagged as required, recommended for most others. Unfortunately its a paid service so I can't repost.

 

Still when it comes down to it, why risk a entire cruise over an $80 passport..

Separating out the opinion or advice, wise as it may be, your third party site is incorrect as far as the actual rules go. St. Maarten does require passports from everyone except day visitors on a RT cruise ship; people are going there every weekend on cruises from Florida with just DLs and BCs.

 

Now, moving on to why risk it, that goes into a wide variety of reasons, many of which are the same as why folks don't buy trip insurance, don't read their cruise contracts and don't fly to their ports at least a day early.

 

Many threads have gone into the opinion and advice in far greater detail than we need to repeat here, but if we just stick to the facts of the rules, without discussion of its advisability or digressing into the advice, St. Maarten, among others does not require passports of cruise passengers on RT cruises from the US. Unfortunately, the State dept. Website and many tourism websites do not accurately reflect this.

[sueb]

Thanks for all the advice...Heading out to the port in a few minutes...I'll let all of you know how it goes. We do have cruise insurance...unexpired passports although my daughters only has 3 months left on it....brought certified/embossed copy of birth cert. Checked with my TA and her advice was should not be a problem at all as the itinerary/location/type of cruise only does not mandate a passport. Didn't feel 2 days (one of which was a weekend day) was long enough to expedite a 24 hour (not guaranteed) passport. Will get her's renewed when we return home...then, learning from this experience...read read read the fine print ALWAYS. Happy Cruising : )

[hydrodriver831]

OP - definitely a wise choice to get your visa processed after your cruise.

 

Sueb - Your daughter's passport is fine for your upcoming RT cruise from FLL; the 6 mo. Rule is not applicable in Caribbean cruise destinations.

 

Loombeam - while you accurately quote the State Dept. Info pages, the information is spotty at best. One will never go wrong following their stated guidelines, but one can easily be misled into thinking passports are required when they are not. In the case of St.Lucia, St. Maarten and the Bahamas, ALL may currently be visited on round trip cruises with just a BC and ID. Private sea travel needs a passport, but not RT cruise travel.

 

Hydrodriver - you only quoted a portion of the full details of the document requirements on the Princess webpage; the paragraph continues with the listing of the BC/ID for round trip cruises below the portion you quoted

http://www.princess.com/learn/faq_answer/pre_cruise/prepare.jsp

 

Thanks, after posting I realized I probably should have just posted the link. Thanks for posting it.:)

[sueb]

My daughters passport was not an issue at all. The person checking us in did point out that she should think about getting a new one as she only had a few months left, so they did look, but also stated it wasn't a problem for this cruise. Thanks for all your help.

[cherylandtk]

Sueb,

Thanks for the follow-up; your posting this will be of great help to many others worrying about the 6 months 'rule' when using passports on this sort of trip.

[CruiseAdict218]

I'll look into it. According to the Princess info we should be ok with a valid liciense and original birth certificate because it is a closed loop (Ft. Laud to Ft. Laud) cruise to Eastern Carib. I'll call my TA in the morning. We have traveled so much...not sure how that got past us. Just traveled on it last weekend. Dumb dumb dumb..

 

What would u do if an emergency happened at home and u needed to fly home wat would you do with out a passport?

[cherylandtk]

What would u do if an emergency happened at home and u needed to fly home wat would you do with out a passport?

You missed a couple of key points:

1. Poster HAS a passport, it just happens to be with less than 6 months expiry. She was worried if it was acceptable or not. It was.

2. Note past tense; Sueb has returned from the cruise where her daughter took both the passport and the BC/DL. All she ever needed to show was the passport.

[Colo Cruiser]

You missed a couple of key points:

1. Poster HAS a passport, it just happens to be with less than 6 months expiry. She was worried if it was acceptable or not. It was.

2. Note past tense; Sueb has returned from the cruise where her daughter took both the passport and the BC/DL. All she ever needed to show was the passport.

 

 

Think the OP referred to an expired passport.

[cherylandtk]

Ahh, Keith you are right. I should not have said OP, my bad. I meant Sueb as quoted in the prior post....and that poster clearly had no idea what the conversation was even about.

[CruiseAdict218]

You missed a couple of key points:

1. Poster HAS a passport, it just happens to be with less than 6 months expiry. She was worried if it was acceptable or not. It was.

2. Note past tense; Sueb has returned from the cruise where her daughter took both the passport and the BC/DL. All she ever needed to show was the passport.

 

did u read the top part about the Princess Info

[cherylandtk]

did u read the top part about the Princess Info

Yes, in fact I posted the correct full-length reply to it (Posts #1, #3 and #24. The first part of this thread was about the first poster asking about the use of an expired passport. You quoted an entirely different question/poster, SueB who was asking about using a passport with less than 6 months expiration. post #9, 14, 17. Several people replied (incorrectly) that she needed a full 6 month expiration on her passport to take the cruise.

 

The two part reply to your post was specific to your question as to what SueB would do if there were an emergency. She (or rather her daughter) did have a passport, and has already returned and posted that the lack of 6 months expiry was not an issue. Post #37. You started at post #39, quoting her post #14.

[CruiseAdict218]

Yes, in fact I posted the correct full-length reply to it (Posts #1, #3 and #24. The first part of this thread was about the first poster asking about the use of an expired passport. You quoted an entirely different question/poster, SueB who was asking about using a passport with less than 6 months expiration. post #9, 14, 17. Several people replied (incorrectly) that she needed a full 6 month expiration on her passport to take the cruise.

 

The two part reply to your post was specific to your question as to what SueB would do if there were an emergency. She (or rather her daughter) did have a passport, and has already returned and posted that the lack of 6 months expiry was not an issue. Post #37. You started at post #39, quoting her post #14.

 

I commented on it b/c she said on a closed loop cruise u dont need a passport but only a D/L and a birth certif. my post had nothing to do with an expired passport stated above. I was trying to say if u didnt take a passport with u then how would you fly home? per say if she lived in Florida and need to fly home from one of the islands(work with me) she cant fly without a passport

[cherylandtk]

Thanks for clarifying your intention; it was not clear to me that your focus was on strictly the DL and BC use as so much additional information was subsequently posted within the thread by that member prior to your post.