Passport dilema ...What would you do?

[hpeabody]

I am booked on the World Cruise 2020.   I have discovered that I do not have a plethora of blank pages, maybe 5 (which some countries require a full blank page) remaining in my passport which is not due to expire until 2024.  They NO LONGER add pages to passports.  I could forfeit the remaining years and request a passport renewal .... BUT, I have another 1 week closed loop Caribbean cruise on Dec 1st.  I have checked with cruise line and I can get by with real id and original birth certificate. So, I could send in the passport renewal request ASAP and get it back in plenty of time for the World Cruise.  I suspect the stamping requirements might be a little looser being on a ship, than arriving by air.  Am I being overly concerned?  Would you send in the passport renewal request?

[CruzinNoony]

YES!

[c-boy]

Yes

[Shmoo here]

#3 for "yes"

[S1drfl]

Was on a world cruise in 2016.  Different line, longer, more port intensive, but still many similarities.  5 pages seems too small.  At that time Brazil and India required visas to be obtained in advance that took up a full page each, as well as stamping passport inbound and outbound.  A quick check of additional legible stamps include South Africa, Tanzania, Namibia and Thailand.  Many more fairly illegible.  Please check current visa requirements for your itinerary ASAP, in particular if your cruise leaves in January.  Would recommend starting passport renewal at once.  Visa applications require submission of passport and thus must be done sequentially.  Good luck and enjoy.  For us it was indeed a "cruise of a life time."

[scott4020]

Passport renewal is pretty fast these days. 

My last one only took three weeks. 

[Cruiser_1977]

Yes, if you expedite today, 10/22, you'd likely have it back by Thanksgiving. 

[Orangefan]

1 hour ago, hpeabody said:

I am booked on the World Cruise 2020.   I have discovered that I do not have a plethora of blank pages, maybe 5 (which some countries require a full blank page) remaining in my passport which is not due to expire until 2024.  They NO LONGER add pages to passports.  I could forfeit the remaining years and request a passport renewal .... BUT, I have another 1 week closed loop Caribbean cruise on Dec 1st.  I have checked with cruise line and I can get by with real id and original birth certificate. So, I could send in the passport renewal request ASAP and get it back in plenty of time for the World Cruise.  I suspect the stamping requirements might be a little looser being on a ship, than arriving by air.  Am I being overly concerned?  Would you send in the passport renewal request?

 

I don't know where you live.You might  be a few hours away from a passport office. I know someone who had needed a passport renewal immediately. He found and called the Buffalo office and drove to Buffalo to get it done that day. I don't know if it cost extra but it might have.

Sali

 

[CineGraphic]

And here I thought I had problems.

Anyone want a free dog!?

[Kaia]

25 minutes ago, CineGraphic said:

And here I thought I had problems.

Anyone want a free dog!?

OUCH! Moving my passport up higher and in the office where the "we'll eat anything" French bulldogs don't go.

[donaldsc]

41 minutes ago, CineGraphic said:

And here I thought I had problems.

Anyone want a free dog!?

 

You need to get a chihuahua instead of whatever type of dog you have.  They can't reach more than 10" high.  LOL!!!

 

DON

[CineGraphic]

12 minutes ago, Kaia said:

OUCH! Moving my passport up higher and in the office where the "we'll eat anything" French bulldogs don't go.

 

It's usually in a safe, but I had it on my desk to send for renewal.

Since it's damaged, renewal by mail isn't possible. I had to go in person, which I was trying to avoid because the department of vital statistics lost all copies of my birth certificate years ago, so I have a certified letter instead of an actual birth certificate, which always seems to slow things down to a crawl.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

I just renewed my passport and it took 2 weeks, NOT expedited. We have a Thanksgiving cruise.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

47 minutes ago, CineGraphic said:

And here I thought I had problems.

Anyone want a free dog!?

 

can we get a pic of the dog? :) LOL

my dogs are angels. 

[CineGraphic]

3 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

can we get a pic of the dog? 🙂 LOL

my dogs are angels. 

This is the culprit, Woodley, a Wheaten Terrier

He was on his way to audition for the all dog production of "Fiddler on the Woof".

 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

3 minutes ago, CineGraphic said:

This is the culprit, Woodley, a Wheaten Terrier

He was on his way to audition for the all dog production of "Fiddler on the Woof".

I'd forgive him because he is a Wheaten and he is beyond adorable. I have a special place in my heart for any bearded dog. So, fine, I'll take a free dog! 

Wait, did I see you at the Roswell Area park last week?

Edited October 22, 2019 by Itchy&Scratchy

[CineGraphic]

1 minute ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

Wait, did I see you at the Roswell park last week

Nope, we're in Duluth

[Itchy&Scratchy]

Just now, CineGraphic said:

Nope, we're in Duluth

there was a wheaten that looks EXACTLY like yours at the (obviously) Roswell Area park... We stopped and chatted for a minute. Too bad it wasn't you. Would be fun if I actually met another CC person in real life but not on a cruise. :)

[hpeabody]

It looks like renewing is the thing to do.  I would happily go to the Los Angeles Passport Office, but they only accept in person visits if your international travel is within 2 weeks.  Time to get a new passport photo, UGH!

[hpeabody]

3 hours ago, S1drfl said:

Would recommend starting passport renewal at once.  Visa applications require submission of passport and thus must be done sequentially.  Good luck and enjoy.  For us it was indeed a "cruise of a life time."

 

Thank You.  I realized my dilema as I was doing visa research.  According to my research and confirmed with special travel dept at Princess it seems I need to get ETAs for NZ, OZ and Sri Lanka on line and Tanzania, Madagascar and Maldives are done on board.   Brazil no longer requires a visa for US (though I have mine, which I got the hard way before the recent on-line version)

[brisalta]

3 hours ago, S1drfl said:

Was on a world cruise in 2016.  Different line, longer, more port intensive, but still many similarities.  5 pages seems too small.  At that time Brazil and India required visas to be obtained in advance that took up a full page each, as well as stamping passport inbound and outbound.  A quick check of additional legible stamps include South Africa, Tanzania, Namibia and Thailand.  Many more fairly illegible.  Please check current visa requirements for your itinerary ASAP, in particular if your cruise leaves in January.  Would recommend starting passport renewal at once.  Visa applications require submission of passport and thus must be done sequentially.  Good luck and enjoy.  For us it was indeed a "cruise of a life time."

 

Make sure you check with the actual government of the countries you will be visiting whether you will need a visa or not, and how to apply for one. Do not rely on third party sites for such information.  A colleague of mine foolishly relied on information from a third party site and went on a business trip to India without getting a visa. He never made it past immigration and was deported for lack of a visa.

[doverboy]

55 minutes ago, hpeabody said:

It looks like renewing is the thing to do.  I would happily go to the Los Angeles Passport Office, but they only accept in person visits if your international travel is within 2 weeks.  Time to get a new passport photo, UGH!

Costco does passport pictures in a jiffy, like next! that will be a few dollars. Can't mean more than 10 minutes total

[hpeabody]

1 hour ago, brisalta said:

 

Make sure you check with the actual government of the countries you will be visiting whether you will need a visa or not, and how to apply for one. Do not rely on third party sites for such information.  A colleague of mine foolishly relied on information from a third party site and went on a business trip to India without getting a visa. He never made it past immigration and was deported for lack of a visa.

 

Agree and I don't want any complications.  I pretty much went country by country to their visa section of the gov't websites.

[Aus Traveller]

I am going against the trend here and suggesting that five blank pages would be enough. It is only a couple of the countries you will be visiting that require a full page, but most countries either put a stamp on a page where there is a tiny bit of space or do not even stamp the passport.

[hillslife]

37 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

I am going against the trend here and suggesting that five blank pages would be enough. It is only a couple of the countries you will be visiting that require a full page, but most countries either put a stamp on a page where there is a tiny bit of space or do not even stamp the passport.

Agree.. I was excited to get lots of new and interesting stamps on our WC... hardly anyone stamped it, and if they did, they had no ink and it was unreadable 🥵. Plus they put several stamps on each page.. even overlapping.. I would just have a full page for any precruise visas and enjoy the cruise !!