Passport Question

[kelly0525]

Has anyone went on the Caribbean cruise when your us passport was valid but expiring in less then 6 month. We are scheduled to go on the  Caribbean cruise in December and my husbands passport will expire in May and I have been getting conflicting information if he needs to renew his passport or we can go on cruise with his current one. Any advice on this issue is highly appreciated. Thanks 

[Paul Bogle]

If your cruise is a roundtrip starting and ending in the same USA home port you do not need to worry about the passport expiring next May. If your cruise ends in, or you plan to debark permanently  in a foreign country it is possible you may have an issue.

 

It is too close to sailing to renew the passport without paying for expedited processing. If you are on the typical closed loop cruise you are fine. Have hubby renew next year after you return.

Edited November 17, 2019 by Paul Bogle

[smplybcause]

I believe it depends on which countries you're visiting. For the ones usually hit on the 7 day cruises you shouldn't have a problem. I'm vaguely remembering my parents saying one of the countries on their 11 day that included the Panama canal that they needed it. 

[SandyMc]

According to NCL guidelines, passengers going to the Panama Canal must have a valid passport, period.  Expiration date is not noted unless you are a non-US citizen.  I hope that's true - our trip returns March 1st and my passport expires May 19th.  Has this ever actually been an issue for anyone?

[zqvol]

2 hours ago, kelly0525 said:

Has anyone went on the Caribbean cruise when your us passport was valid but expiring in less then 6 month. We are scheduled to go on the  Caribbean cruise in December and my husbands passport will expire in May and I have been getting conflicting information if he needs to renew his passport or we can go on cruise with his current one. Any advice on this issue is highly appreciated. Thanks 

 

It is not an issue.

 

Look at it this way. He could take that Caribbean cruise just using his birth certificate and driver's license, thus he doesn't need a passport. Since he doesn't need the passport to begin with, as long as it is valid ont eh day he returns to the US he is good to go. (Please note that most passport rules apply to people entering the country to stay, not to people who are in transit like cruise ship passengers.)

[julig22]

1 hour ago, smplybcause said:

I believe it depends on which countries you're visiting. For the ones usually hit on the 7 day cruises you shouldn't have a problem. I'm vaguely remembering my parents saying one of the countries on their 11 day that included the Panama canal that they needed it. 

I've done Panama canal and that's the only place I remember having to take a passport onshore - but I don't remember which country it was (thinking Columbia or Nicaragua).

 

I will have to renew my passport between upcoming cruises but fortunately will have a 4-month window.  Just out of curiosity, I went ahead and did my check-in to see if anything was flagged - nothing.  But since I will be flying home from Europe on that cruise, I figure I'd better get it renewed (expires 3 months after the cruise).

[smplybcause]

3 minutes ago, julig22 said:

I've done Panama canal and that's the only place I remember having to take a passport onshore - but I don't remember which country it was (thinking Columbia or Nicaragua).

 

I will have to renew my passport between upcoming cruises but fortunately will have a 4-month window.  Just out of curiosity, I went ahead and did my check-in to see if anything was flagged - nothing.  But since I will be flying home from Europe on that cruise, I figure I'd better get it renewed (expires 3 months after the cruise).

 

Oh yes you probably need to do that. Most European countries require 6 months on your passport in order to enter. If your cruise ends in Europe not having that might prevent you from boarding!