Passport Expiration

[cruisedaze1929]

Just read some postings regarding passport expirations. My wife has a valid passport. We sail May 07 to Bermuda and the Carribean and her passport expires March 08. We just called RCI and they stated she should be fine. Right now a passport needs to be "GOOD" for 6 months after your trip. Has anyone heard anything different?? Has anyone traveled recently with a passport "DUE TO EXPIRE"? Thanks

[madforcruising]

A year should be fine, however the rule varies from country to country and every country can make their own laws about how long the passport has to be valid for entering the country. In many cases it´s six month.

 

In most cases it has to do with how long a country will allow you to stay as a tourist and without a visa. They want to make sure that your passport is valid for that time range.

[Konstancin]

Six months is all that is required, so no problem. If she is a U.S. citizen, she doesn't yet need a passport to cruise to those destinations.

[amybear912]

I travelled with a passport that had expired two months before we cruised... I was fine... The six month rule is valid...

[waterrats]

I hope this is all true. We plan to use only our passports as our documentation. Our passports expire 6 months to the day of when the cruise ends so we are hoping Royal Caribbean won't give us a hard time.

[chaswelf]

Just read some postings regarding passport expirations. My wife has a valid passport. We sail May 07 to Bermuda and the Carribean and her passport expires March 08. We just called RCI and they stated she should be fine. Right now a passport needs to be "GOOD" for 6 months after your trip. Has anyone heard anything different?? Has anyone traveled recently with a passport "DUE TO EXPIRE"? Thanks

 

I did a little research on this just today because I'm leaving in a week and would be very close to the 6 month limit when I return. What I read on other sites is the 6 month rule has nothing to do with the U.S. but is a restriction put by some countries your entering but not all. For example if I remember right UK is one without the restriction, so as long as your passport is will not expire while your planned to be in the UK you can get in. In some countries it is a 3 month window.

 

You can re-enter the US with your passport right up to the day it expires.

 

Here's the .gov with the rules for all countries:

 

http://travel.state.gov/travel/tips/brochures/brochures_1229.html

[Sheffie]

Since you don't HAVE to have a passport to re-enter the US from a cruise to the Caribbean, the expiration does not apply to this situation. For example, my dad's passport expired years ago, and he still uses it to go back and forth to Canada.