Passport Question

[Trishalinn]

I just realized my 4 kids passports expire 5 months from our cruise date (May 21). We are from the US and are supposed to cruise out of London and around Ireland.

 

I’s too late for expedited passports given the current processing timeframes on the website. We will try to call 14 days before traveling for a last minute apt at the passport center in Detroit however I’m not very hopeful (a neighbor said she tried last month and was told the only apt they had was in Tx!).

 

Im so upset we have probably lost so much money in travel for our family. Why does the cruise line insist the passport must not expire for 6 months when both the UK and Ireland both say the passport only needs to be good for the duration of your stay!? 

[dexddd]

Welcome to CC.  Sorry for the dilemma.  I can't help but have seen the six month thing talked about for years but never a real reference to a given country code.  Most here speculate if you get held over.

 

Only thing I can add is LHR vastly improved immigration with auto readers of passport and gates.  Southampton we showed passports at checkin but not sure if they checked dates.

[Charles4515]

9 hours ago, Trishalinn said:

 

Im so upset we have probably lost so much money in travel for our family. Why does the cruise line insist the passport must not expire for 6 months when both the UK and Ireland both say the passport only needs to be good for the duration of your stay!? 

You would have to get that answer from NCL but I would guess that they have that policy because they have decided it is too complicated for them to check passports for every specific countries rules of duration. While the UK does not require six months they probably have some rule of duration. Six months is safe for NCL. Airlines have the rules too. NCL can have a more restrictive rule than the country you are cruising from.  

[NellB]

It is not the cruise line that has the 6 months policy. Whether you fly or cruise;  if a passport is required, than it has to have more than 6 months before expiry. It has been this way for many years. People should be advised of this during booking but, unfortunately, it rarely is. Plead with your closest passport centre and they may be able to help you under the circumstances. 

[mjkacmom]

13 minutes ago, NellB said:

It is not the cruise line that has the 6 months policy. Whether you fly or cruise;  if a passport is required, than it has to have more than 6 months before expiry. It has been this way for many years. People should be advised of this during booking but, unfortunately, it rarely is. Plead with your closest passport centre and they may be able to help you under the circumstances. 

What countries have this rule? Definitely not all. Ok I found a table online but couldn’t cut and paste, less than half?

[hawkeyetlse]

1 hour ago, NellB said:

It is not the cruise line that has the 6 months policy. Whether you fly or cruise;  if a passport is required, than it has to have more than 6 months before expiry. It has been this way for many years.

It's a rule of thumb, but absolutely not true across the board whenever you fly or cruise. Easiest example for most in this forum: as an American citizen, you can fly back to the US with a passport that expires the day of your arrival. And for US round-trip cruises, if you travel with an American passport, NCL only requires it to be "valid", not "valid for 6 months after the end of the cruise". They only mention the 6 month thing for non-US citizens on all cruises, and for US citizens on non-US cruises.

 

Carriers (airlines, cruise lines, etc.) can impose stricter rules than the actual authorities of the countries visited, but it is not in their commercial interest to do so. Sure, it costs them money if they transport passengers who are denied entry for invalid documents, but it is also a headache for them when they refuse boarding to passengers whose documents turn out to be completely valid for travel.

 

For the OP, I don't know what the entry requirements are for the UK and Ireland. But if you are confident that your kids' passport are sufficient, then go to the terminal and be prepared to state your case. They don't just apply some blanket rule from the website and say "boarding denied, final answer". They know what's at stake for you financially (and to a lesser extent for them). They will look at your exact circumstances and make a determination based on whatever they see in Timatic or some similar database of current travel requirements.

 

Of course, if you manage to get an emergency travel appointment before sailing, that's the best option, since it's time to renew those passports anyway. But I don't know if that's even a thing for child passports.

Edited April 14, 2023 by hawkeyetlse

[fredflint]

Check with the country you are going to be visiting and see if you can find a policy in writing.

Also of course go for an expedited passport bite the bullet and pay the extra cost to do it right.  Do the checking with the  country as a backup.

 

As a matter of practicality you will probably be fine but as always YMMV

 

  When we traveled with my wife and minor daughter we had 3 different last names we were never questioned about taking her out of the country but she always had her divorce papers with her if she was asked!

[njhorseman]

6 minutes ago, fredflint said:

 

As a matter of practicality you will probably be fine

No, they won't be fine. It's not at all uncommon for cruise lines to impose passport validity requirements beyond those required by the countries on the itinerary, and if you don't meet the cruise line's requirement you'll be denied boarding.

[cruiseny4life]

Here's a little bit of hope. My husband was granted his citizenship nine days before we were to cruise. He had to use the emergency, walk-in passport appointment system to receive his passport in time (he had a name change so his driver's license wouldn't have worked). Anyway, he called as early as possible, 14 days prior to our cruise. He planned to go to the agency in NYC, however all time slots were filled up. But, he was able to secure a time slot in Buffalo, NY. Everything worked out and we went cruising! 

 

Best wishes to you! Call early on that 14th day and be flexible with the passport agency location. Ok, maybe not Texas flexible, but hey if it's the difference between cruising, or not, then I'd be Texas flexible. 

 

[njhorseman]

25 minutes ago, hawkeyetlse said:

 

For the OP, I don't know what the entry requirements are for the UK and Ireland. But if you are confident that your kids' passport are sufficient, then go to the terminal and be prepared to state your case. They don't just apply some blanket rule from the website and say "boarding denied, final answer". They know what's at stake for you financially (and to a lesser extent for them). They will look at your exact circumstances and make a determination based on whatever they see in Timatic or some similar database of current travel requirements.

Yes, they do apply a blanket rule in the case of passport requirements. The six month rule is used by many cruise lines regardless of whether the law requires it.

 

The OP is from the US and is booked on a cruise that departs from the UK. Do you really think it's a good idea for them to fly to the UK on the hope that somehow the cruise line will overlook their stated requirement only to find that they're denied boarding at the cruise terminal?

[hawkeyetlse]

Detroit-to-Texas flexible with 4 kids (I assume they'd all have to show up in person for the appointment), I don't know…

 

What I would not do is call anyone at NCL and ask them what to do, or if there are more specific document requirements for this particular cruise, or anything at all. Pretty sure that can only lead to bad things, or at best a waste of time. One big question I have is whether the online check-in thing will throw up red flags when you put in the passport expiration dates for your kids. I guess we'll find out soon (please report back, OP, we are all crossing our fingers for you!)

[Laszlo]

11 hours ago, Trishalinn said:

I just realized my 4 kids passports expire 5 months from our cruise date (May 21). We are from the US and are supposed to cruise out of London and around Ireland.

 

I’s too late for expedited passports given the current processing timeframes on the website. We will try to call 14 days before traveling for a last minute apt at the passport center in Detroit however I’m not very hopeful (a neighbor said she tried last month and was told the only apt they had was in Tx!).

 

Im so upset we have probably lost so much money in travel for our family. Why does the cruise line insist the passport must not expire for 6 months when both the UK and Ireland both say the passport only needs to be good for the duration of your stay!? 

Google passport agencies near you. My son's passport was lost in a move a few months ago. He didn't realize it until a month before a trip to Slovenia. He able to get a passport in 5 days. It did cost him about $300

[hawkeyetlse]

10 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

The OP is from the US and is booked on a cruise that departs from the UK. Do you really think it's a good idea for them to fly to the UK on the hope that somehow the cruise line will overlook their stated requirement only to find that they're denied boarding at the cruise terminal?

I have already said that they should pursue emergency renewal. But if that doesn't work out, and they don't have some amazing insurance that allows them to cancel their flights and their cruise one month out for lack of travel documents, then yes, I think the best option is go ahead and fly to London and try their luck at the terminal. It will not escape the terminal staff's attention that this family has at that point already been admitted to the UK (and therefore to the Common Travel Area, which includes Ireland), so unless the cruise is 5 months long, NCL risks nothing by transporting these passengers.

 

I don't want to get their hopes up too much, there are no guarantees here. Maybe they can channel the stress and uncertainty in the meantime into imagining how they might make the best of the situation if the ship does decide to sail without them. Spend a week in London? Rent a big car and tour around the UK? Take the train back and forth to Paris 20 times and fill up everyone's #*%@! passports with stamps?

Edited April 14, 2023 by hawkeyetlse

[njhorseman]

2 minutes ago, hawkeyetlse said:

I have already said that they should pursue emergency renewal. But if that doesn't work out, and they don't have some amazing insurance that allows them to cancel their flights and their cruise one month out for lack of travel documents, then yes, I think the best option is go ahead and fly to London and try their luck at the terminal. It will not escape the terminal staff's attention that this family has at that point already been admitted to the UK (and therefore to the Common Travel Area, which includes Ireland), so unless the cruise is 5 months long, NCL risks nothing by transporting these passengers.

It's not a question of the cruise line risking anything. It's simply a question of enforcing their published requirements, which they have every right to do...and it does happen.

 

As a former travel agency owner, I would not recommend anyone take that risk, particularly a family with four children.

 

 

[Charles4515]

22 minutes ago, hawkeyetlse said:

I think the best option is go ahead and fly to London and try their luck at the terminal. It will not escape the terminal staff's attention that this family has at that point already been admitted to the UK (and therefore to the Common Travel Area, which includes Ireland), so unless the cruise is 5 months long, NCL risks nothing by transporting these passengers.

I don't think they should go ahead and fly to London with a family on the hope that such logic would prevail. The family would be taking the risk, not NCL. Their best option now is to take all measures to get renewed passports.

 

Actually traveling to Texas should be on the table. 

Edited April 14, 2023 by Charles4515

[poohbare19]

You have find out the exact date they are releasing the passport appointments. Midnight keep trying to connect, I did this in may 2021 and at 2am I got the choice of Detroit and Buffalo (I picked Buffalo)

 

[KeithJenner]

7 hours ago, NellB said:

It is not the cruise line that has the 6 months policy. Whether you fly or cruise;  if a passport is required, than it has to have more than 6 months before expiry. It has been this way for many years. 

Not true at all. I am from the UK and I could fly to the US tomorrow with a passport that expires at the end of this month, as long as my return is before then. I believe that the reverse is also true for US citizens (although I don’t know that one for sure).

[Trishalinn]

24 minutes ago, poohbare19 said:

You have find out the exact date they are releasing the passport appointments. Midnight keep trying to connect, I did this in may 2021 and at 2am I got the choice of Detroit and Buffalo (I picked Buffalo)

 

Any idea where you can find this out? 

[poohbare19]

1-877-487-2778

 

Make an appointment by calling 1-877-487-2778 from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday. Our appointment line is closed on the weekend and on federal holidays. We do not charge a fee to make appointments.

[Trishalinn]

13 minutes ago, poohbare19 said:

1-877-487-2778

 

Make an appointment by calling 1-877-487-2778 from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday. Our appointment line is closed on the weekend and on federal holidays. We do not charge a fee to make appointments.

 

Thanks, I had that already with reminders in my phone for exactly 14 days before travel to call and try to make an appointment (their website says they won't make an appointment for you unless you're within 14 days of travel). 

 

But I thought you were saying there were specific days/times they release those appointments besides just their normal business hours?

[bluesea777]

52 minutes ago, KeithJenner said:

Not true at all. I am from the UK and I could fly to the US tomorrow with a passport that expires at the end of this month, as long as my return is before then. I believe that the reverse is also true for US citizens (although I don’t know that one for sure).

 

Keith may be correct. Last October I went to UK and Denmark on my UK passport that was to expire in early Feb (less than 4 months left).

 

Perhaps you want to ask the airline if it's okay to travel by air to the UK with them with passports that are due to expire in less than 6 months.

 

 

[aubie1996]

Please see this link for travel requirements.

 

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/UnitedKingdom.html

 

[poohbare19]

the appointment times are released after midnight on online

 

 

[poohbare19]

[KeithJenner]

49 minutes ago, bluesea777 said:

 

Keith may be correct. Last October I went to UK and Denmark on my UK passport that was to expire in early Feb (less than 4 months left).

 

Perhaps you want to ask the airline if it's okay to travel by air to the UK with them with passports that are due to expire in less than 6 months.

 

 

Unfortunately we are on a side discussion which doesn't answer the OP's initial question. I'm quite sure they can get into the UK, but the problem is then getting on the ship.