Passport Renewal

[Charles4515]

11 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

 

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 to which 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.

 

The OP has now posted an itinerary.  It is one that does not even require a passport.  Passengers could use a birth certificate and photo ID as documents. The cruise line is not going to deny boarding. 

Edited September 21, 2019 by Charles4515

[Clarea]

16 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

 

The OP has now posted an itinerary.  It is one that does not even require a passport.  Passengers could use a birth certificate and photo ID as documents. The cruise line is not going to deny boarding. 

 

Correct, but before the OP posted the itinerary, you made a statement that said something to the effect that open loop / closed loop does not make a difference.    So you expanded the discussion to something beyond the OP's itinerary and I thought it was important for others that may read this thread that the distinction was clear.

[rimmit]

I got on a cruise with two months remaining only passport out of the US.  They just reminded me to renew it soon.

[Charles4515]

32 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

 

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.

 

I am not skipping over anything. The answer to OPs question had nothing to do with open loop or closed loop cruises! A closed loop cruise might call at a country that requires a passport with six months validity. I said we can’t answer without the itinerary. It would not matter if it were closed loop or open loop.  It matters what countries. 

Edited September 21, 2019 by Charles4515

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, Charles4515 said:

It would not matter if it were closed loop or open loop.

On a closed loop out of the US you don’t even need a passport so it doesn’t matter if the passport has less than 6 months validity. 

[Charles4515]

23 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

On a closed loop out of the US you don’t even need a passport so it doesn’t matter if the passport has less than 6 months validity. 

 

You would need a passport if the cruise went to Guadalupe or Martinique. There are exceptions.  

[Biker19]

42 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

 

You would need a passport if the cruise went to Guadalupe or Martinique. 

And Cuba, but there are no ports that I know to which RCI ships go to from US where you need a passport. 

[Clarea]

1 hour ago, Biker19 said:

And Cuba, but there are no ports that I know to which RCI ships go to from US where you need a passport. 

 

How about Barcelona, Civitavecchia, Southampton?

[Biker19]

27 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

 

How about Barcelona, Civitavecchia, Southampton?

I think we were talking about closed loop cruises from the US. 

[mayleeman]

@ryanbarckley My question on this would be why it would be important to wait if you are renewing it anyway?

 

Renewing 9 months before your expiration, rather than immediately before, will not likely cost you any more money in your entire lifetime, unless you are in your teens and keep using a passport long past your 100th birthday.

[SRF]

10 hours ago, akcruz said:

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.

 

This would only be the case if you had to actually enter that other country, not just transit.

 

I transit through countries where I would require a visa if I left the airport, but since I did not leave, I did not need a visa.

 

The US is about the only country where you have to actually legally enter the country, even if you are in transit.

[SRF]

9 hours 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.

 

Although, they tend to be very lenient when there are extenuating circumstances, such as injury or illness requiring leaving the ship.  Or even missing the ship.  Especially as you will be trying to leave ASAP.

[cruisingpluto]

Thank you OP for asking this question.  I also have a similar question. 

 

I am going on the Jan 16 Anthem sailing and it is stopping at the same exact ports.  The only difference is that my passport is going to expire about 5 months after we get back to Bayonne so I won't have the 6 months needed.  I can bring my US birth certificate and driver's license and also passport, but wondering if I should do a passport renewal rush in case.  I was hoping I could use my current passport and not need to do the rush.  Has anyone boarded with a passport that expired less than 6 months recently?  

 

This is the itinerary.  What do you guys think?  I've never sailed with a birth certificate before so I'm a bit concerned, more so about being allowed to board.  Thank you all in advance.

 

Cruise departs from 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

[wl2cruise]

On 9/21/2019 at 1:25 PM, 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. You can travel with a birth certificate as your documentation on a cruise that is closed loop. 

 

Yes and NO. Depends on the countries you visit. 

[sparks1093]

6 hours ago, cruisingpluto said:

Thank you OP for asking this question.  I also have a similar question. 

 

I am going on the Jan 16 Anthem sailing and it is stopping at the same exact ports.  The only difference is that my passport is going to expire about 5 months after we get back to Bayonne so I won't have the 6 months needed.  I can bring my US birth certificate and driver's license and also passport, but wondering if I should do a passport renewal rush in case.  I was hoping I could use my current passport and not need to do the rush.  Has anyone boarded with a passport that expired less than 6 months recently?  

 

This is the itinerary.  What do you guys think?  I've never sailed with a birth certificate before so I'm a bit concerned, more so about being allowed to board.  Thank you all in advance.

 

Cruise departs from 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

None of those ports require 6 months validity remaining on your passport. If it were me I'd wait to renew unless I had another trip scheduled immediately after this one. (I wouldn't bother with bringing the birth certificate either, that's what the passport is for.) If you think about it they aren't about to deny you boarding with a valid passport just because of the expiration date while at the same time they are embarking folks who don't have a passport at all.

[Clarea]

8 hours ago, cruisingpluto said:

Thank you OP for asking this question.  I also have a similar question. 

 

I am going on the Jan 16 Anthem sailing and it is stopping at the same exact ports.  The only difference is that my passport is going to expire about 5 months after we get back to Bayonne so I won't have the 6 months needed.  I can bring my US birth certificate and driver's license and also passport, but wondering if I should do a passport renewal rush in case.  I was hoping I could use my current passport and not need to do the rush.  Has anyone boarded with a passport that expired less than 6 months recently?  

 

This is the itinerary.  What do you guys think?  I've never sailed with a birth certificate before so I'm a bit concerned, more so about being allowed to board.  Thank you all in advance.

 

Cruise departs from 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

 

You are fine with your passport.  If you would be OK with birth certificate and DL, then you are fine with a valid passport, no matter how close it is to expiring.

[Desert Cruizers]

For my peace of mind, it isn't whether a cruise is closed loop or not, it is more whether I have to interrupt the trip and need to fly back to the States. I have renewed a year out from my passport expiring when I see I will be cruising close to the date. Since I take my PP every time I cruise, it has to do with the ports I will be visiting and whether I have to fly home from one of them. 

[bouhunter]

9 hours ago, cruisingpluto said:

Thank you OP for asking this question.  I also have a similar question. 

 

I am going on the Jan 16 Anthem sailing and it is stopping at the same exact ports.  The only difference is that my passport is going to expire about 5 months after we get back to Bayonne so I won't have the 6 months needed.  I can bring my US birth certificate and driver's license and also passport, but wondering if I should do a passport renewal rush in case.  I was hoping I could use my current passport and not need to do the rush.  Has anyone boarded with a passport that expired less than 6 months recently?  

 

This is the itinerary.  What do you guys think?  I've never sailed with a birth certificate before so I'm a bit concerned, more so about being allowed to board.  Thank you all in advance.

 

Cruise departs from 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

You're fine.  But now that the thread has been revived we may see more discussion of open loop/closed loop, what if the ship ports in Berlin, etc...……..😋

Edited December 21, 2019 by bouhunter

[sparks1093]

2 minutes ago, Desert Cruizers said:

For my peace of mind, it isn't whether a cruise is closed loop or not, it is more whether I have to interrupt the trip and need to fly back to the States. I have renewed a year out from my passport expiring when I see I will be cruising close to the date. Since I take my PP every time I cruise, it has to do with the ports I will be visiting and whether I have to fly home from one of them. 

The previous poster was concerned about being denied boarding with only five months remaining on his/her passport. As stated the cruise line won't deny boarding to that passenger when other passengers don't even have passports (which is only possible on a closed loop cruise).

[S.A.M.J.R.]

On 9/21/2019 at 3:45 PM, akcruz said:

Since you are flying, I assume, they may have stopped you before even getting on the plane.

OK, can someone explain this?  Where would they stop you?  Lets say you're flying in January and your PP expires in Feb.  When I've flown international, they've asked to see the PP at the check in desk and at the gate.  I guess they'd stop you IF you are flying to a country that requires 6 month validation (which the US does not).  Would the airline works know the PP requirements of a specific country? 

[Clarea]

8 minutes ago, S.A.M.J.R. said:

 ... Would the airline works know the PP requirements of a specific country? 

 

Yes, and they would be heavily fined if they let someone board the airplane in violation of the destination country's passport requirements.

 

[Desert Cruizers]

47 minutes ago, sparks1093 said:

The previous poster was concerned about being denied boarding with only five months remaining on his/her passport. As stated the cruise line won't deny boarding to that passenger when other passengers don't even have passports (which is only possible on a closed loop cruise).

I am aware of the cruise line not denying boarding and being a closed loop cruise and not needing a PP I only mentioned for the OP, if they need to fly home suddenly from their cruise and having  PP. Being 6 months from its expiring, shouldn't be a problem for them.

[akcruz]

2 hours ago, S.A.M.J.R. said:

OK, can someone explain this?  Where would they stop you?  Lets say you're flying in January and your PP expires in Feb.  When I've flown international, they've asked to see the PP at the check in desk and at the gate.  I guess they'd stop you IF you are flying to a country that requires 6 month validation (which the US does not).  Would the airline works know the PP requirements of a specific country? 

I have a work associate who was stopped at the airport in the US before a trip to Europe because their passport was not valid for the 6 months so yes they do check.  They were not allowed to board the plane.

[Charles4515]

3 hours ago, S.A.M.J.R. said:

OK, can someone explain this?  Where would they stop you?  Lets say you're flying in January and your PP expires in Feb.  When I've flown international, they've asked to see the PP at the check in desk and at the gate.  I guess they'd stop you IF you are flying to a country that requires 6 month validation (which the US does not).  Would the airline works know the PP requirements of a specific country? 

The airlines know the requirements of each country and won’t let you fly if the countries requirements have not been met because if the passenger is flown to a country and not admitted they will have to fly that passenger back. 

Edited December 21, 2019 by Charles4515

[Seville2Cabo]

1 hour ago, Charles4515 said:

The airlines know the requirements of each country and won’t let you fly if the countries requirements have not been met because if the passenger is flown to a country and not admitted they will have to fly that passenger back. 

I find airlines do not know all the requirements so they default to the 6 month rule.  I’ve been on a number of flights where they did not ask to see visas.  

Also, there is no 6 month rule to fly out of a country and no issue with a US passport holder flying into the US with 1 day left on passport.