Panama Canal 15 Day Cruise

[Travelling_Bob]

We need your experience.

 

We are taking the October 2, 2016 15 Day with 2 Day Canal Experience cruise from Fort Lauderdale to Los Angeles on the Island Princess.

 

Today we received an email from Princess Cruises titled Visa Requirements,

(confusing).

 

We will be stopping at Aruba, Cartagena, Fuerte Amador (Panama), Puntarenas and Puerto Chiapas Mexico.

 

Our question:

 

Do we need a Visa or multiple Visas for this trip or will our Passports be enough?

 

Thank you all in advance for your help.

[reedprincess]

We need your experience.

 

We are taking the October 2, 2016 15 Day with 2 Day Canal Experience cruise from Fort Lauderdale to Los Angeles on the Island Princess.

 

Today we received an email from Princess Cruises titled Visa Requirements,

(confusing).

 

We will be stopping at Aruba, Cartagena, Fuerte Amador (Panama), Puntarenas and Puerto Chiapas Mexico.

 

Our question:

 

Do we need a Visa or multiple Visas for this trip or will our Passports be enough?

 

Thank you all in advance for your help.

 

What's confusing? It Completely depends on your nationality. If you're a US citizen, you don't need Visas for any of those stops. If you're another nationality, then it depends on what nationality you are and what each country requires for that nationality.

It's a blanket email as many nationalities sail Princess. Usually there's wording regarding US Citizens, and then for others to check their documentation.

Edited July 6, 2016 by reedprincess

[fishywood]

Umm, a little more information would be nice:

 

What nation are you a citizen of?

 

What if anything specific did the e-mail say about visa requirements beyond the usual disclaimer that knowing them is entirely your responsibility?

 

Assuming you are a US Citizen you have nothing to worry about, no Visa required.

[Colo Cruiser]

Where are you from?

[Travelling_Bob]

I am very sorry I did not think of the Nationality concern.

 

My wife and I are both US Citizens.

 

Thank you all for any help or information you can share.

[Colo Cruiser]

I am very sorry I did not think of the Nationality concern.

 

My wife and I are both US Citizens.

 

Thank you all for any help or information you can share.

 

We just did this cruise on the Coral Princess in Oct 2015.

You won't need to do anything extra (visas). Passport only. ;)

Edited July 7, 2016 by Colo Cruiser

[paul929207]

I am very sorry I did not think of the Nationality concern.

 

My wife and I are both US Citizens.

 

Thank you all for any help or information you can share.

You are good to go. Princess gives the wide brush comments on visas as they do not want to be responsible for identifying the needs of every possible combination of nationality and country visited

[GranJean]

All you will need is valid passports with an expiration more than 6 months after you finish your journey. In other words, if your passport expires before June of 2018, you should get it renewed now. You won't be able to get through the online check in if your passport expiration is too close to your cruise.

But hay, it is a great cruise. Enjoy!

[emmak8]

I'll be on the October 2 cruise with you! I received the same email and can understand the confusion. Princess usually adds a note about US citizens, but not this time. I have done this cruise before. US passport is all that you need. :)

[Treven]

Another supporting post of all you need are your valid passports. I did that cruise and I didn't need any visas, just my passport, but quite frankly the only time I remember using it was when I got an entry stamp during the final leg into San Francisco, my first US port after leaving FLL.

[Pam in CA]

Make sure your passport is valid for at least six months after disembarking. That's the only requirement for US citizens.

[jackieo]

We did this cruise a couple of years ago. The two day experience was excellent. It gave us time to have a day in Panama City. We did the walking tour of old Panama. We did the morning tour (it got extremely hot later in the day).

 

Make sure you are up early on the morning you transit. We got up at 4:30 and took up 'house' at the front of the ship. Brilliant views. Enjoy.

 

 

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[partybarbie]

I just renewed my passport for my November Panama cruise. The turn around time was just two weeks. I am very happy.:)

[thinfool]

Can one of you knowledgeable folks document for me which country on this itinerary requires the 'plus six month' passport validity for US, in-transit, passengers, please?

 

I have sailed this itinerary and no one looked at my passport until we arrived in San Pedro.

 

Thanks!:)

[partybarbie]

Can one of you knowledgeable folks document for me which country on this itinerary requires the 'plus six month' passport validity for US, in-transit, passengers, please?

 

I have sailed this itinerary and no one looked at my passport until we arrived in San Pedro.

 

Thanks!:)

 

I'm not sure about the country, but this is off my cruise personalizer:

 

PASSPORT REQUIREMENTS

A passport is required and must be valid for six months after the completion of travel. Please ensure the name on your passport matches your name as it appears on your booking. Additionally, make certain that your passport contains blank pages for entry and exit endorsements and any visas that may be required. If necessary, allow sufficient time to renew your passport and/or obtain additional pages.

There may be occasions where we retain your passport at check-in. This is to ensure that you are not inconvenienced by immigration clearance during your cruise and where face to face inspection is not required. We recommend you bring a second government issued photo ID if you wish to have one with you while in port.

 

Princess checks your passport in Ft Lauderdale before you are allow to board the ship, so if you don't have the six months left on your passport, they could possibly deny boarding. I wouldn't want to take a chance.

[neverbeenhere]

https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/country.html

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T0RqyF1nsE

 

 

 

Info from the Department of State.

[thinfool]

I'm not sure about the country, but this is off my cruise personalizer:

 

PASSPORT REQUIREMENTS

A passport is required and must be valid for six months after the completion of travel.

 

Nice quotation, thanks!

[Yehootu]

We did this cruise a couple of years ago. The two day experience was excellent. It gave us time to have a day in Panama City. We did the walking tour of old Panama. We did the morning tour (it got extremely hot later in the day).

 

Make sure you are up early on the morning you transit. We got up at 4:30 and took up 'house' at the front of the ship. Brilliant views. Enjoy.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

I hope you let other guests into "your house". We did the reverse in April, I had a fun time watching the "early house setters" drop like flys from the heat. I kinda hoped they'd suffer little from heat exhaustion for their hogging the view attitude. The Island DID have a lot of places for great viewing and picture taking. The worst place was behind those blue wind breakers where all the homes were set-up.

Drink a lot of water.

[jackieo]

We are British and do the right thing. We are always open to sharing areas with late comers!

 

 

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[erni]

Should I assume a passport card is not enough and we will need to get a passport.

[paul929207]

Should I assume a passport card is not enough and we will need to get a passport.

That is correct.