Passport question

[CrazyTownVA]

Hello all-

 

We have a cruise planned in April out of Tampa to the Caribbean and Mexico.   According to the Department of State website, you need to have at least 6 months left on your passport from the last day of your planned travel.   My wife and I are fine as ours don't expire for a few years, but my 2 kids will each have roughly 5 months of time left on their passports when we go.   Do you think we need to get them new ones since they won't have the required 6 months time left?  Or will they let it slide since ours are ok and theirs will only be off by a month of what is required?   Seems like it's not worth taking the chance but wanted to ask the opinion of others.  Thank you

[Shmoo here]

7 minutes ago, CrazyTownVA said:

Hello all-

 

We have a cruise planned in April out of Tampa to the Caribbean and Mexico.   According to the Department of State website, you need to have at least 6 months left on your passport from the last day of your planned travel.   My wife and I are fine as ours don't expire for a few years, but my 2 kids will each have roughly 5 months of time left on their passports when we go.   Do you think we need to get them new ones since they won't have the required 6 months time left?  Or will they let it slide since ours are ok and theirs will only be off by a month of what is required?   Seems like it's not worth taking the chance but wanted to ask the opinion of others.  Thank you

Typically, US citizens on a closed loop cruise (begins and ends in the same US port) in the Caribbean do not have to have a passport.  For those that have passports, they only need to be valid upon re-entry to the US.

 

On some cruises, some countries require a 6 month past departure date (from that country) on passports, but most Caribbean countries do not have that requirement.

 

That said, some cruiselines require passports on cruises that they are not legally required for.

 

What cruise line?  What's your itinerary?

 

If there is, indeed, a 6 month requirement for one of the countries that you are visiting, no leeway will be given, there MUST be 6 months left.

 

Are you sure the State Department is REQUIRING 6 months? Or is it RECOMMENDING 6 months?

Edited January 7, 2019 by Shmoo here

[CrazyTownVA]

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond.

 

We leave Tampa on Monday, April 15>>>Key West>>.Cozumel>>.Return to Tampa on Saturday, April 20.

 

My kids passports were issues Sept 3, 2014, and are valid for 5 years so they each expire on Sept 3, 2019- about 4.5 months from the last day of our cruise.

 

[CrazyTownVA]

Forgot to mention....Royal Caribbean.

[lifes-a-beach]

You don’t need a passport to go ashore in Mexico.  Just certified birth certificates.  That said, unless the kids are fixin to be the age they can get the grownup passports that are good for 10 years and you don’t want to waste the money before then, I think I’d get them renewed.

[CrazyTownVA]

Kids will be 13 and 8.  

I'm asking the question here but I honestly just don't see it as a chance worth taking and will likely just get them renewed- even if not necessary.

[Shmoo here]

11 minutes ago, CrazyTownVA said:

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond.

 

We leave Tampa on Monday, April 15>>>Key West>>.Cozumel>>.Return to Tampa on Saturday, April 20.

 

My kids passports were issues Sept 3, 2014, and are valid for 5 years so they each expire on Sept 3, 2019- about 4.5 months from the last day of our cruise.

 

In my opinion, you are not required to have a passport on this cruise, UNLESS the cruise line requires it.  Have you checked with their ID requirements?

[thinfool]

The six month requirement is for faraway places like Europe and Asia.  There is no port in the Caribbean other than Cuba that has this requirement for cruise passengers.

As stated, a passport is not required for US citizens on a close loop cruise...so your kids, while having passports, can effectively board and complete a closed loop cruise in the Caribbean without them, as can you.

[Shmoo here]

10 minutes ago, CrazyTownVA said:

Kids will be 13 and 8.  

I'm asking the question here but I honestly just don't see it as a chance worth taking and will likely just get them renewed- even if not necessary.

Certainly you can renew at any time.  Be aware the new expiration date will not be 5 years past the old one, but 5 years from the new passport's issuance date.

 

But I don't think you need new ones for the kids on this cruise.

Edited January 7, 2019 by Shmoo here

[Shmoo here]

1 minute ago, thinfool said:

so your kids, while having passports, can effectively board and complete a closed loop cruise in the Caribbean without them, as can you.

Well, as long as they each, at least, have a birth certificate and photo IDs for the adults.

[CrazyTownVA]

Thank you all for the feedback.   I have not call Royal C yet so will add that to my list of to-do's to get their thoughts.

 

Again, thanks for taking the time to respond.  I very much appreciate it.

 

[wheezedr]

Bring the passports. There is no harm in taking them and they are still the single best source of ID if or when you are asked for some. Do not waste your time renewing them now.  Unless you have other exotic ports of call planned you can put off renewal until such time as travel makes it necessary.  Basically your cruise has a single port in Mexico and you will not need a Passport for that.

[kristapb]

44 minutes ago, thinfool said:

The six month requirement is for faraway places like Europe and Asia.  There is no port in the Caribbean other than Cuba that has this requirement for cruise passengers.

As stated, a passport is not required for US citizens on a close loop cruise...so your kids, while having passports, can effectively board and complete a closed loop cruise in the Caribbean without them, as can you.

That's what I thought, but not quite true.  We are on the Rotterdam for a Caribbean cruise from Tampa which stops in Guatemala - Guatemala requires 6 months on a passport.  

[SbbquilterUT]

Generally it is the company you are visiting which sets the requirements for validity of passports and that rarely applies to cruise visitors who are there for the day.  None of the ports you are stopping at require passports to visit.

[sparks1093]

10 hours ago, CrazyTownVA said:

Thank you all for the feedback.   I have not call Royal C yet so will add that to my list of to-do's to get their thoughts.

 

Again, thanks for taking the time to respond.  I very much appreciate it.

 

Royal also makes the same recommendation, so you'll be no closer to your answer (if the CS Rep has been around awhile they might emphasis that it's only a recommendation, but it's usually scripted). Personally I would let my travel plans dictate when I renewed. If we had subsequent travel within the 4.5 months then I'd likely renew, but if we weren't traveling again for a year or longer than I'd wait, especially since the new passports are only going to be valid for 5 years.

[thinfool]

10 hours ago, kristapb said:

That's what I thought, but not quite true.  We are on the Rotterdam for a Caribbean cruise from Tampa which stops in Guatemala - Guatemala requires 6 months on a passport.  

No...Guatemala has no such requirement for 'in transit' cruise passengers on a port call.

If you were entering Guatemala as a tourist, then the requirement would apply. 

[akcruz]

I would wait to renew the passports, however i would bring the kids birth certificates along with the passports just in case.  The main reason for using passports over birth certificates on a cruise is if you need to leave the ship early.  If this does happen the passports would still be valid and usable to get you all home.  The birth certifucates on their own would not.  

[Herfnerd]

I would not have any issues using my kid's BC's to check in with but I would also bring their passports.  Even if it does expire in less than 6 months, it is still valid and neither of your ports of call requires the 6-months validity

[navybankerteacher]

Because it is a closed loop, you do not NEED passport to sail, but you do need proof of citizenship;  I would bring childrens birth certificates and their passports (to serve as ID, which is required along with birth certificates) - then renew passports just short of their expiration date - no point losing time on them.

[sparks1093]

27 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

Because it is a closed loop, you do not NEED passport to sail, but you do need proof of citizenship;  I would bring childrens birth certificates and their passports (to serve as ID, which is required along with birth certificates) - then renew passports just short of their expiration date - no point losing time on them.

Because the children are 13 and 8 they do not need photo ID. 

[zqvol]

18 hours ago, CrazyTownVA said:

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond.

 

We leave Tampa on Monday, April 15>>>Key West>>.Cozumel>>.Return to Tampa on Saturday, April 20.

 

My kids passports were issues Sept 3, 2014, and are valid for 5 years so they each expire on Sept 3, 2019- about 4.5 months from the last day of our cruise.

 

 

No need to be concerned. On that cruise as long as it is valid on the day you return to the US any passport is usable. Remember my of your fellow cruisers will only have birth certificates for their children. The only thing that is likely to happen is that upon return the CBP agent ill remind you to renew them

[jocap]

I was unable to check into my cruise on line because I only had 5 months left on my passport; this was with a UK managed ship out of the UK, to European countries where I could have used the EU passport until the final day of the 5 months.

So it was the cruise line which decided that I needed 6 months, not the ports of call.

[SRF]

Yes, cruise lines can have their own rules.

 

Such as some cruise lines require passports even for closed loop Caribbean cruises.

[Racer70]

 

 

[Elaine5715]

It is always important to note on government sites the exact wording they use.  They do note the difference between "recommended"  and "required".  They recommend passports for closed loop cruises but they require passports returning by air from outside the US.  They recommend 6 months left on passports in case of emergency preventing you from returning on the ship as planned.