Passport expiring before 6 months.

[carefree lady]

I may not have enough time between cruises to renew my passport so that's it good for 6 months. The cruises would be from Fort Lauderdale visiting the Caribbean. Has anyone used a passport that expired in less than 6 months?

[markeb]

Two separate questions:

 

No, I have not.

 

And no, it shouldn't be a problem. What are your actual stops? You generally don't even need a passport to travel in the Caribbean to begin with (on a closed loop cruise). The six month "rule" is mostly for Europe, parts of Asia, and some distant stops in Central and South America. With the actual countries, it's pretty easy to look up their individual requirements, but the typical Caribbean stops do not require six months.

[Bo1953]

A third question: what happens if you need to get off the ship to return home (hopefully not)?

 

Not sure how that works...

 

bon voyage

[omeinv]

In the Caribbean, the 6 months before expiration is recommended by Celebrity, but none of the countries you visit require it.  Some Countries, including EU nations, do require the passport have at least  month validity. 

 

Harris

Denver, CO

[prmssk]

Just now, Bo1953 said:

A third question: what happens if you need to get off the ship to return home (hopefully not)?

 

Not sure how that works...

 

bon voyage

Unless you need to travel through a third country with a six month rule, all a US citizen needs is a valid passport to get back into the US. The six month rule is not a US rule for its own citizens returning home. 

[bigbenboys]

It is my understanding that sailing the Caribbean on a closed loop cruise all you need is valid ID (Drivers License) and a legal birth certificate. Best to check with Celebrity.

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=Celebrity+cruise+ships+valid+ID+for+closed-loop&gs_ivs=1#tts=0

[mahdnc]

8 hours ago, prmssk said:

The six month rule is not a US rule for its own citizens returning home. 

 

Imagine if it was!

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

I have done this on a Panama Canal cruise.  None of the countries we visited required six months remaining on the passport (I believe I had four or five at the time).  I also checked with Celebrity who confirmed that their only requirement was that the passport be valid through the date of your return.

[superduper123]

I was faced with this same dilemma a few months ago, having seven weeks between cruises. I had a choice to expedite passport renewal and hope I got it in the seven week time frame, or sail the Southern Caribbean with a passport due to expire in three months. From conversations with TA friends, I was worried I would be denied boarding, so I chose to renew. I got it back with a week to spare. But I was certainly nervous during the waiting period. Based on a lot of CC responses, I probably would have chosen differently.

[Ferry_Watcher]

I do check-in for Alaska cruises.  This week I literally checked-in a passenger using their US passport that was expiring the day the cruise returned.  The passenger did have their US gov't issued birth certificate with them as back-up

Edited May 17, 2023 by Ferry_Watcher

[NutsAboutGolf]

International flights can be the problem but it appears you'll be fine flying domestically

 

The six month rule are usually from airlines when flying to certain foreign places.  A friend was unable to fly Delta from LAX to Cabo Mexico because their passport was less than six month from expiring; they could catch a bus to Tijuana Mexico and fly from there to Cabo since it was now a Domestic (Mexico to Mexico) flight

[russianmom]

I just sailed Solstice (Mexican Riviera) with my son and when I did the online check in realized his passport was expiring at the end of the month. No problems but I did have his birth cert as back up.

[anabella95]

We are set to travel to Spain, France, and Italy this August.  My son's passport expires this December. We haven't had time to renew it because of back-to-back cruises.   I am afraid to renew it now since we won't have enough time for our trip this August.  Should we be okay with it being before the 6 months?

[lostchild]

5 minutes ago, anabella95 said:

We are set to travel to Spain, France, and Italy this August.  My son's passport expires this December. We haven't had time to renew it because of back-to-back cruises.   I am afraid to renew it now since we won't have enough time for our trip this August.  Should we be okay with it being before the 6 months?

I think Spain, France and Italy only need 3 months so you should be fine.   Although if you renew it now with expediated service, you will probably get it back before end of July.   Not sure if you want to risk it or not.

[Ferry_Watcher]

17 minutes ago, anabella95 said:

We are set to travel to Spain, France, and Italy this August.  My son's passport expires this December. We haven't had time to renew it because of back-to-back cruises.   I am afraid to renew it now since we won't have enough time for our trip this August.  Should we be okay with it being before the 6 months?

 

I would check because if it is a 6 month requirement your son would denied at the ticket counter for the international flight.

This happened to a relative of mine traveling from the US to England for the Christmas holiday, and found out at the airport that their passport didn't have enough time remaining on it.. 

It was pre-pandemic so they were able to go to the passport office in Seattle, get a same day issued passport, rebook their flight, but lost their business class seats.  Fortunately, they still made it there for Christmas.

 

Can your son use his US birth certificate for the upcoming B2B cruises, assuming your cruises are US closed loop sailings?

[NutsAboutGolf]

59 minutes ago, lostchild said:

I think Spain, France and Italy only need 3 months so you should be fine.   Although if you renew it now with expediated service, you will probably get it back before end of July.   Not sure if you want to risk it or not.

 

Absolutely agree, although it should noted it isn't just 3 months, it's three months after your planned stay

 

@lostchild, once you find the flight you want you should call the airline to be 100% sure before booking

[kathynorth]

Has anyone had experience with a less than 6 months expiration for a cruise out of Vancouver? I was researching a potential cruise for July but found conflicting information. My passport would have 4 months left on the date cruise leaves Vancouver 

[anabella95]

35 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

Absolutely agree, although it should noted it isn't just 3 months, it's three months after your planned stay

 

@lostchild, once you find the flight you want you should call the airline to be 100% sure before booking

Thank you for the information.  The passport expires on 12/14/2023. We are traveling from 8/16/20 to 8/27/23.  I made an appointment with the post office for this Friday.  We plan to expedite this.  I also called Boston Passport Agency for the appointment but they said it needs to be 14 days prior to going in person.  They shared that if I don't get in 2 weeks prior to we leave, I should call and go in person.  What a headache. 

[NutsAboutGolf]

15 minutes ago, kathynorth said:

Has anyone had experience with a less than 6 months expiration for a cruise out of Vancouver? I was researching a potential cruise for July but found conflicting information. My passport would have 4 months left on the date cruise leaves Vancouver 

 

FYI, this took me 5 seconds to google...

 

[kathynorth]

1 minute ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

FYI, this took me 5 seconds to google...

 

Thanks for your response. Yes I found that same summary via Google. I also found one that said 3 months and another that said 6 months from date cruise leaves Vancouver. Yet another said cruisers can take a bus from Seattle and enter Canada via an enhanced drivers license then just need a passport that hasn’t expired before boarding. This is why I was wondering if anyone had actual experience taking an Alaskan cruise fron Vancouver with less than 6 months before their passport expires.

[NutsAboutGolf]

8 minutes ago, anabella95 said:

Thank you for the information.  The passport expires on 12/14/2023. We are traveling from 8/16/20 to 8/27/23.  I made an appointment with the post office for this Friday.  We plan to expedite this.  I also called Boston Passport Agency for the appointment but they said it needs to be 14 days prior to going in person.  They shared that if I don't get in 2 weeks prior to we leave, I should call and go in person.  What a headache. 

 

I can imagine it's a pain...I renewed in 2018, paid for the expediated service and got it in five business days.  Hoping they eventually come up with a faster and better process

[lostchild]

2 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

I can imagine it's a pain...I renewed in 2018, paid for the expediated service and got it in five business days.  Hoping they eventually come up with a faster and better process

5 days!   You would be lucky if it is 5 weeks now with expediated service.   I just renewed mine, earlier this year, with routine service and it took 12 full weeks.

[bigbenboys]

Back in the day....... LOL. Yes, the year was 1984. With a letter from the company I worked for. I went to the Seattle federal building at 10am and picked up my 1st passport at 4pm the same day.

[markeb]

45 minutes ago, kathynorth said:

Thanks for your response. Yes I found that same summary via Google. I also found one that said 3 months and another that said 6 months from date cruise leaves Vancouver. Yet another said cruisers can take a bus from Seattle and enter Canada via an enhanced drivers license then just need a passport that hasn’t expired before boarding. This is why I was wondering if anyone had actual experience taking an Alaskan cruise fron Vancouver with less than 6 months before their passport expires.

 

Part of the challenge with what you're reading is the proverbial "it depends". You can enter Canada or return to the US by land or sea with an enhanced driver's license; you can't enter by air on either end without a passport (or Nexus or Sentri). And you can enter the United States as a US citizen with any valid passport. There's no time requirement. 

 

And if you go to the actual government site in Canada and complete the document questionnaire for a US citizen, it just says bring identification, such as a valid passport. No timeline mentioned. If you put in other countries, you get visa requirements of varying costs for 6 months. I don't see any language that resembles that Google hit on the Canadian government's web page.

 

https://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/visas.asp

Edited May 17, 2023 by markeb

[The Traveling Man]

7 hours ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

I have done this on a Panama Canal cruise.  None of the countries we visited required six months remaining on the passport (I believe I had four or five at the time).  I also checked with Celebrity who confirmed that their only requirement was that the passport be valid through the date of your return.

We recently were on a cruise which had a port stop in Panama. We were informed that Panama requires visitors to carry a passport with them which is valid at least six months beyond the planned date of their exit from Panama.