MSC cruise from NYC to Bahamas - needed documents

[Ag2003]

Hello Everyone,

 

On a day of our departure, my husband will have his US passport valid for the next 3.5 months. Will they allow him to board? Their website states that 6 months valid passport is preferred. MSC customer service is horrible, they barely speak english. I regret now that I booked it. 

This will be closed loop cruise. 

 

Thank you

[ColeThornton]

6 minutes ago, Ag2003 said:

Hello Everyone,

 

On a day of our departure, my husband will have his US passport valid for the next 3.5 months. Will they allow him to board? Their website states that 6 months valid passport is preferred. MSC customer service is horrible, they barely speak english. I regret now that I booked it. 

This will be closed loop cruise. 

 

Thank you

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic.  For questions pertaining to MSC post them on the MSC forum located here:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/49-msc-cruises/

 

This is the technical help forum.   😉

[Essiesmom]

His passport will be fine.  EM

[Host Kat]

9 hours ago, Ag2003 said:

Hello Everyone,

 

On a day of our departure, my husband will have his US passport valid for the next 3.5 months. Will they allow him to board? Their website states that 6 months valid passport is preferred. MSC customer service is horrible, they barely speak english. I regret now that I booked it. 

This will be closed loop cruise. 

 

Thank you

 

Welcome @Ag2003 to Cruise Critic and the message boards!

 

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[Illbcruzn4life]

12 hours ago, Ag2003 said:

Hello Everyone,

 

On a day of our departure, my husband will have his US passport valid for the next 3.5 months. Will they allow him to board? Their website states that 6 months valid passport is preferred. MSC customer service is horrible, they barely speak english. I regret now that I booked it. 

This will be closed loop cruise. 

 

Thank you

He's good to go.

[MsTabbyKats]

@Ag2003i'd check with a TA.  I know of someone who wasn't allowed to leave the country due to a passport that expired in less than 6 months.  It wasn't for a cruise....but...you never know.

[capriccio]

21 minutes ago, MsTabbyKats said:

@Ag2003i'd check with a TA.  I know of someone who wasn't allowed to leave the country due to a passport that expired in less than 6 months.  It wasn't for a cruise....but...you never know.

As others have said, that won't be a problem.

 

As far as the US is concerned, a US passport only needs to be valid on the day of re-entry back into the country.  Countries have different requirements upon entry; frequently they must be good for 3 to 6 months.  The US State Department website lists passport requirements (and lots of other information) for each country.  Here is the entry for the Bahamas (https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Bahamas.html):

 

PASSPORT VALIDITY:

Passports must be valid at time of entry through departure (throughout the duration of stay).

 

 

[RalphWiggum]

I had this issue on a Holland America cruise to Bermuda years ago.  As you noted the closed loop exception is available.  Your husband can bring his birth certificate and a drivers license and you’d be able to use that to board.  Also, any valid US passport (heck, even a recently expired US passport) would also satisfy the closed loop exception since it is being used not for travel abroad but for proof of US citizenship.   The problem with this, and the arbitrary “six or three month rule”, which some airlines and cruise lines sometimes insist on across the board because a few countries require it,  is that ultimately it is up to the folks who work the NYC port to apply the law.  So you can argue that the the passport with less than six month expiry will work.  Or show proof that Bahamas doesn’t require six months on passports, but the person at the gate might insist anyway.  
 

I wound up using my passport and was fine with the Manhattan agent (Brooklyn uses the same company to field port agents). But I also had my drivers license and birth certificate with official seal as a back up, but didn’t need it.   After my passport expired I waited a couple of years before getting a new one.  I took a cruise using my birth certificate and drivers license.  One cruise line did make me sign an acknowledgment that if i for whatever reason missed getting back on board at a foreign port, that I was on my own.  Not sure if MSC does this as well. 

Edited May 6, 2023 by RalphWiggum