Passport Renewal

[ryanbarckley]

Hi Everyone!

 

I have an 11 night cruise coming up on Jan 5, 2020. My passport expires June 7, 2020, which is a bit past the recommended 6 month window to get it renewed. I'd love to wait until after the cruise to renew, but wondered if I would run in to any issues or what everyone's recommendations are with that?

Thank you!

[Clarea]

If your cruise is departing and returning to the same US port, you are fine, there's no 6 month requirement.

[matj2000]

I don't think they are going to deny you boarding if you have a valid passport.

 

Even if it only has 6 months left...

[Polomom]

Just an FYI-  if you want to get it renewed before your cruise, allow some time! I just did mine and it took over a month to get it back. The last time I renewed it, the time was only about 2 weeks!

[karena1]

I agree, you will be fine.  Our passport did not expire until Nov, but we renewed in July just because we had so many cruises booked we were worried we would not get them back in time.  But you should be totally okay

[lovesthebeach2]

We’re going on a cruise on Oct 21 from Rome and our old passports were due to expire April 20. That was too close for comfort for us so I renewed them. Now I don’t need to worry about that

[akcruz]

Are you a US citizen, where is your cruise going to, is it closed loop?

 

If you are a US citizen sailing to the Bahamas, Carribean, Mexico from a US port on a  closed loop cruise you will be fine without the 6 month left.  The only caveat is if for some reason you need to leave your cruise early and fly home, if you cannot get a direct flight back to the US you could have issues.  Small concern, absolutely but does exist.  As long as your passport is valid on the day you return to the US direct flights are good.

 

We sailed on a last minute cruise earlier this year to the Bahamas with passports that expired in less than 2 months without issue.

Edited September 21, 2019 by akcruz

[akcruz]

1 minute ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

We’re going on a cruise on Oct 21 from Rome and our old passports were due to expire April 20. That was too close for comfort for us so I renewed them. Now I don’t need to worry about that

 

Good call.  As I understand the rules you need to have 6 months validity at the end of your travel which I believe you would not have in your case.  Since you are flying, I assume, they may have stopped you before even getting on the plane.

[lovesthebeach2]

2 minutes ago, akcruz said:

 

Good call.  As I understand the rules you need to have 6 months validity at the end of your travel which I believe you would not have in your case.  Since you are flying, I assume, they may have stopped you before even getting on the plane.

 

Thats what I thought! So glad I got new ones!

[Charles4515]

23 minutes ago, akcruz said:

Are you a US citizen, where is your cruise going to, is it closed loop?

 

If you are a US citizen sailing to the Bahamas, Carribean, Mexico from a US port on a  closed loop cruise you will be fine without the 6 month left.  The only caveat is if for some reason you need to leave your cruise early and fly home, if you cannot get a direct flight back to the US you could have issues.  Small concern, absolutely but does exist.  As long as your passport is valid on the day you return to the US direct flights are good.

 

We sailed on a last minute cruise earlier this year to the Bahamas with passports that expired in less than 2 months without issue.

 

Closed loop, open loop does not matter if they have a valid passport. 

Edited September 21, 2019 by Charles4515

[akcruz]

4 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

 

They can fly home from Bahamas, Caribbean, Mexico to the US if they have a valid passport. Closed loop, open loop no loop etc. 

 

Direct flight yes, however remember a situation a while back where direct flights were not available and because the stopover was not in the US there were issues.  Don't remember the details but the situation stuck with me.  Maybe with more flights now this isn't a concern, or where they are traveling to but I can't say that for sure.

 

I would rather give the outlying info and say chances are it won't happen than tell someone it will be 100% fine and them hit that .01% chance and have an issue.  For me I was willing to take that tiny chance but others may not.

[Clarea]

11 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

 

Closed loop, open loop does not matter if they have a valid passport. 

 

Not sure about that.  If the ship is ending the cruise in a foreign country, then the passengers are legally entering that country, as opposed to simply being "in transit".  I believe that foreign country can require 6 months on the passport.

[Charles4515]

1 minute ago, akcruz said:

 

Direct flight yes, however remember a situation a while back where direct flights were not available and because the stopover was not in the US there were issues.  Don't remember the details but the situation stuck with me.  Maybe with more flights now this isn't a concern, or where they are traveling to but I can't say that for sure.

 

I would rather give the outlying info and say chances are it won't happen than tell someone it will be 100% fine and them hit that .01% chance and have an issue.  For me I was willing to take that tiny chance but others may not.

 

I may not have been completely clear. Closed loop or open loop would  not make a difference whether there was six months left or not.  If they could not take a flight because they had less than six months left then they could not take the flight whether the cruise was open loop or closed loop, 

[Charles4515]

13 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

 

Not sure about that.  If the ship is ending the cruise in a foreign country, then the passengers are legally entering that country, as opposed to simply being "in transit".  I believe that foreign country can require 6 months on the passport.

 

Closed loop and open loop are only meaningful in that on a closed loop cruise you can travel on a closed loop cruise without a passport. You can travel with a birth certificate as your documentation on a cruise that is closed loop. 

Edited September 21, 2019 by Charles4515

[suzk2275a]

Here is whAt I found on USA.gov

 

Tips on When to Renew Your Passport

• Renew your passport approximately nine months before it expires.
• Check the expiration date because certain countries require passports to remain valid for up to 6 months after travel. Also, some airlines do not allow you to board if you don't meet this requirement.

[akcruz]

15 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

 

I may not have been completely clear. Closed loop or open loop would  not make a difference whether there was six months left or not.  If they could not take a flight because they had less than six months left then they could not take the flight whether the cruise was open loop or closed loop, 

 

I had responded before you updated the comment I quoted so had not seen your update.  Since there are very few cruises that leave from a US port and return to another US port, and they have other unique restrictions which I am not sure of I stick to close loop cruises in my example whenever the original question comes up.  

[Clarea]

28 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

 

Closed loop and open loop are only meaningful in that on a closed loop cruise you can travel on a closed loop cruise without a passport. ...

 

I believe open loop is meaningful if the cruise is ending in a foreign country that requires 6 months on the passport.

[Charles4515]

2 minutes ago, suzk2275a said:

Here is whAt I found on USA.gov

 

Tips on When to Renew Your Passport

• Renew your passport approximately nine months before it expires.
• Check the expiration date because certain countries require passports to remain valid for up to 6 months after travel. Also, some airlines do not allow you to board if you don't meet this requirement.

 

That is a general recommendation. It really depends on the ports. If the cruise is in the Western Hemisphere most likely all they need is a valid passport. There are many countries with other requirements, some countries require a visa so the government makes a general recommendation to cover all possibles. I would not say what OP needs one way or another without knowing the itinerary. 

 

 

[voyager70]

1 minute ago, Host Clarea said:

 

I beleive open loop is meaningful if the cruise is ending in a foreign country that requires 6 months on the passport.

 

You are exactly correct.

 

[Charles4515]

1 minute ago, Host Clarea said:

 

I beleive open loop is meaningful if the cruise is ending in a foreign country that requires 6 months on the passport.

 

If you are in the foreign country and flying back to the US, all the US requires is a valid passport. 

[Clarea]

5 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

 

If you are in the foreign country and flying back to the US, all the US requires is a valid passport. 

 

That's correct, but before you can fly back to the US, you have to enter that foreign country and are therefore under their rues for entering their country.

[Charles4515]

7 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

 

That's correct, but before you can fly back to the US, you have to enter that foreign country and are therefore under their rues for entering their country.

 

But open loop or closed loop does not matter once you have entered. Once you are in they expect you to leave. The airline will only care about the rules of the country you are flying to. People are overthinking this. 

Edited September 21, 2019 by Charles4515

[ryanbarckley]

21 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

 

That is a general recommendation. It really depends on the ports. If the cruise is in the Western Hemisphere most likely all they need is a valid passport. There are many countries with other requirements, some countries require a visa so the government makes a general recommendation to cover all possibles. I would not say what OP needs one way or another without knowing the itinerary. 

 

 

 

Cruise goes out of Bayonne, NJ and stops at:

San Juan, Puerto Rico

Philipsburg, St. Maarten 

St. Johns, Antigua

Castries, St. Lucia

Basterre, St. Kitts & Nevis

and Returns to Bayonne, NJ

 

I live in NJ so no flying is required for me. Based on what I've read, it seems that I should generally be fine?

 

Thanks for all of your responses!

[Charles4515]

4 minutes ago, ryanbarckley said:

 

Cruise goes out of Bayonne, NJ and stops at:

San Juan, Puerto Rico

Philipsburg, St. Maarten 

St. Johns, Antigua

Castries, St. Lucia

Basterre, St. Kitts & Nevis

and Returns to Bayonne, NJ

 

I live in NJ so no flying is required for me. Based on what I've read, it seems that I should generally be fine?

 

Thanks for all of your responses!

 

You will be fine. And in the unlikely event there is an emergency and you have to fly back from one of those ports you will be fine.

[Clarea]

16 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

 

But open loop or closed loop does not matter once you have entered.  ....

 

You are absolutely correct.  However, you keep skipping over the problem of entering that country.  You may not be able to enter that country if the passport does not have 6 months of validity.  The cruise line has a responsibility to make sure you can enter the country where the cruise will end.  If the cruise line sees that you don't have the documents needed to enter the country where the cruise will end, they will deny you boarding.