Passport help needed urgently

[Lisamac669]

Hi everyone, 

I only have 30 hours to book a great deal with NCL, I’ll be flying out to Lisbon with 5 months remaining on my passport (no problem) and the other 4 European countries I will travel to

have no problem. Will I have a problem with NCL? Getting an answer from them is like pulling teeth. 
Their policy says that I should have requirements and visas for each country visited. I will, as all countries allow 3 months remaining. I’m scared to book a holiday and then THEY won’t allow me to board. 
thanks everyone

Lisa 

[hawkeyetlse]

NCL (more precisely the check-in agents at your embarkation port) will apply the entry requirements for the countries visited

on your cruise. It is not some blanket, one size fits all 6 months rule. 

 

If you are correct that 3 months is sufficient (which it is, in general, for US passport holders visiting Schengen countries, for example), then that is what they will be looking for at check-in, and you will be fine to board with 5 months left. 

[Lisamac669]

Hi! The 4 countries I will be visiting ( I am from the UK anyway so Southampton does not apply) are all on this list 

And thanks for replying 

[StellaTN]

Check the airline policies as well if you will have to fly home!

[njhorseman]

3 hours ago, Lisamac669 said:

Hi everyone, 

I only have 30 hours to book a great deal with NCL, I’ll be flying out to Lisbon with 5 months remaining on my passport (no problem) and the other 4 European countries I will travel to

have no problem. Will I have a problem with NCL? Getting an answer from them is like pulling teeth. 
Their policy says that I should have requirements and visas for each country visited. I will, as all countries allow 3 months remaining. I’m scared to book a holiday and then THEY won’t allow me to board. 
thanks everyone

Lisa 

You asked the same question in a thread you started a few days ago on this board. have you checked the responses to that question?

[njhorseman]

2 hours ago, hawkeyetlse said:

NCL (more precisely the check-in agents at your embarkation port) will apply the entry requirements for the countries visited

on your cruise. It is not some blanket, one size fits all 6 months rule. 

Are you sure? That is not what NCL's website says. There are cruise lines and airlines that impose a blanket 6 month passport validity requirement regardless of whether it is required by law. Here's NCL's statement:

https://www.ncl.com/freestyle-cruise/cruise-travel-documents

Non-U.S. Citizens

 

ALL GUESTS MUST CARRY A VALID PASSPORT.

All Non-U.S. Citizen Guests Must Carry A Valid Passport, (Not Expiring within (6) Months of Return Of Your Cruise). In addition, a tourist visa may be required for entry into certain countries/ports of call. 

 

 

 

[Lisamac669]

Hi njhorseman, I couldn’t find my original post, there were no notifications on replies?????

[Lisamac669]

Here it says MOST 

PLEASE NOTE:  In order to travel abroad, a valid passport is required for all Nationalities.  Most countries require that passports be valid for at least (6) months beyond the date of your return to your Country of Residence. 

the ones I’m travelling to don’t, spain, Netherlands, Belgium and France. I already live in the UK.

[BirdTravels]

2 hours ago, hawkeyetlse said:

NCL (more precisely the check-in agents at your embarkation port) will apply the entry requirements for the countries visited

on your cruise. It is not some blanket, one size fits all 6 months rule. 

 

If you are correct that 3 months is sufficient (which it is, in general, for US passport holders visiting Schengen countries, for example), then that is what they will be looking for at check-in, and you will be fine to board with 5 months left. 

 

No. The check in agents don't check the entry requirements for each country visited. 

 

Yes. It is a blanket one-size-fits-all policy. 

 

All Non-U.S. Citizen Guests Must Carry A Valid Passport, (Not Expiring within (6) Months of Return Of Your Cruise). In addition, a tourist visa may be required for entry into certain countries/ports of call. 

 

Now,,,, whether they would enforce their own rules is another matter. 

 

And,,, there is the matter of ensuring that your air carrier will allow you board with your passport. 

[hawkeyetlse]

4 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

Now,,,, whether they would enforce their own rules is another matter. 

Yes, and that is the matter that the OP is asking about. I’m sure she has already read the website.

 

I boarded a TA this spring with less than 6 months left on my passport. No issue whatsoever. I once boarded with someone who didn’t show a passport at all (EU citizen traveling around the Mediterranean). 

 

It’s useful for them to put a simple, conservative rule on the website. And to make passengers 100% responsible for figuring this stuff out on their own. But it’s not in their interest to deny boarding to people who in fact have the correct documents for their cruise. 

 

People do get left behind on probably every sailing, because they clearly have insufficient documents or because they have an unusual situation and the cruise line decides that it’s too risky. Or occasionally because the cruise line screws up and applies stricter rules than they need to. This can happen with airlines, too. But a UK citizen traveling to Europe is not a strange situation, and all carriers know exactly how to handle it. 

[hawkeyetlse]

29 minutes ago, Lisamac669 said:

Hi njhorseman, I couldn’t find my original post, there were no notifications on replies?????

It looks like you have found the other thread. As I mentioned there, you also need to check the start date of your passport, because they no longer accept any extra months that may have been added on beyond the standard 10-year validity. 

[Lisamac669]

Hey again, 

I fly into Lisbon on the 6th September and board the cruise the same day - return on the 12th to the uk where I live.

My passport expires on 20/01/24 

what do you think? 🙏

im gonna miss out on a great deal if they don’t reply soon 😪

[MeHeartCruising]

You won't know until you either try it or not.  No one here can, with certainty, tell you what is going to happen.

[bluesea777]

27 minutes ago, Lisamac669 said:

Hey again, 

I fly into Lisbon on the 6th September and board the cruise the same day - return on the 12th to the uk where I live.

My passport expires on 20/01/24 

what do you think? 🙏

im gonna miss out on a great deal if they don’t reply soon 😪

 

You'll be fine flying back to the UK on your British UK passport that is expiring less than 4 months later.

 

We flew to the UK and Denmark and then back home to Bermuda (where we live) last October when my British UK passport had less than 4 months (closer to 3 months!) left.

 

 

[ziggyuk]

31 minutes ago, Lisamac669 said:

Hey again, 

I fly into Lisbon on the 6th September and board the cruise the same day - return on the 12th to the uk where I live.

My passport expires on 20/01/24 

what do you think? 🙏

im gonna miss out on a great deal if they don’t reply soon 😪

 

Is your passport within 10 years?
As @hawkeyetlse says if you have a passport with over 10 years which is common in the UK, the EU will not accept the excess over 10 years, this alone may put the kibosh on your plans. 

[Lisamac669]

UPDATE- Tapairportugal just replied to my tweet saying that airlines and travel companies cannot decide it must be the government guidelines only! 
would you guys book now? 

[Asawi]

2 minutes ago, Lisamac669 said:

UPDATE- Tapairportugal just replied to my tweet saying that airlines and travel companies cannot decide it must be the government guidelines only! 
would you guys book now? 

I am a EU citizen and have made two NCL cruises (Alaska and Northern Europe) with my passport that expired in less than 6 months (but not more than 10 years old). No problem. 

I would book.

[Lisamac669]

Thank you thank you thank you! I’ve had such a bad year and really need this time away (hence why I forgot to check my passport!) 

[BirdTravels]

1 hour ago, hawkeyetlse said:

Yes, and that is the matter that the OP is asking about. I’m sure she has already read the website.

 

I boarded a TA this spring with less than 6 months left on my passport. No issue whatsoever. I once boarded with someone who didn’t show a passport at all (EU citizen traveling around the Mediterranean). 

 

It’s useful for them to put a simple, conservative rule on the website. And to make passengers 100% responsible for figuring this stuff out on their own. But it’s not in their interest to deny boarding to people who in fact have the correct documents for their cruise. 

 

People do get left behind on probably every sailing, because they clearly have insufficient documents or because they have an unusual situation and the cruise line decides that it’s too risky. Or occasionally because the cruise line screws up and applies stricter rules than they need to. This can happen with airlines, too. But a UK citizen traveling to Europe is not a strange situation, and all carriers know exactly how to handle it. 

 

One person's experience blatantly violating the cruise line policy does not answer the OP's question. 

[Asawi]

Just now, Lisamac669 said:

Thank you thank you thank you! I’ve had such a bad year and really need this time away (hence why I forgot to check my passport!) 

I think you'll be fine! But do book a passport renewal appointmen ASAPt! 😄 I've got my appointment in two weeks and will have my brand new passport i hand for my UK/Ireland cruise in October. 😄 

[dbrown84]

30 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

 

One person's experience blatantly violating the cruise line policy does not answer the OP's question. 

actually, this exactly answers the OP's question.  and they are not blatantly violating anything.  It's your rude comment that is adding nothing here

[mjkacmom]

48 minutes ago, Asawi said:

I think you'll be fine! But do book a passport renewal appointmen ASAPt! 😄 I've got my appointment in two weeks and will have my brand new passport i hand for my UK/Ireland cruise in October. 😄 

No appointment needed, renewal can be done through mail.

[Asawi]

23 minutes ago, mjkacmom said:

No appointment needed, renewal can be done through mail.

Convenient! We have to show up and have our picture and fingerprints taken at ever renewal (5 years). The picture is the hardest bit to have it comply with biometric requirements. "Don't smile!" "I'm not! This is how I look"...

[phillygwm]

OK, I need to ask:  Why do you only have 30 hours to book?  If you're looking at the "sale" on the website, fear not.  Another sale will replace it once it expires.

[njhorseman]

2 hours ago, Lisamac669 said:

UPDATE- Tapairportugal just replied to my tweet saying that airlines and travel companies cannot decide it must be the government guidelines only! 
would you guys book now? 

The person who responded to your tweet has no idea what they're talking about. TAP may do things that way, but I'm just going to give one example of many where a travel company goes beyond government requirements: Oceania cruises, which is a corporate sibling of NCL, require everyone on every cruise itinerary worldwide with no exceptions to have a passport with at least six months remaining validity. If you don't meet Oceania's requirement you will not be permitted to board .