Passport expiration question

[helencw]

I'm on a cruise leaving from Ft Lauderdale to the Western Caribbean in April.

 

My passport expires in May. (The expiration date is 1 month after I return.) Will this passport be OK, or do I have to get a renewal?

 

Thanks for your help!

[ORV]

I'm pretty sure you need to renew it, but I'm not an expert. Don't they need to be valid 6 months beyond your travel date?

[Grayce]

Some countries prefer that your passport have at least 6 months until expiration. I just ran into the same issue. My cruise is in April and my passport expires in July so to be on the safe side I went ahead and renewed it.

[eh2zed]

I am not sure if you need a passport at all for that cruise. You should check with your TA. If, however, you do need one then I believe you will need a new one. You need 3-6 months left on your passport on your last date in the country that requires it. Different countries have different rules. Personally I would never travel with less than 6 months.

[Treven]

According to the "Cruise Answer Book" I received yesterday, for my upcoming cruise, it says:

PASSPORT VALIDITY: ... US and Canadian citizens sailing on a domestic cruise should ensure passports or other travel documents are valid through the completion of travel.

[paul929207]

If a passport is required, it usually must be good for at least 6 months after travel. To be safe, I would renew it now.

[Ephraim]

For Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean with the exception of Cuba, you don't need a passport at all... at the moment. None of these countries have yet retaliated against the US for the WHTI. Basically to come to Canada you need proof of citizenship and valid government issued photo ID. That isn't set to change at the moment.

 

The requirement is set to change for the US only. In other words you need your passport to fly in and out of the US, now. As of the 1st of June, you will need your passport to get into the US. (There are conflicting instructions on different government websites about the need for passports on cruises.)

 

(Which basically means that if you are Canadian travelling to Mexico or to the Caribbean, directly, you don't need your passport... but you do if you are stopping in the US (now) or you are an American citizen travelling after the 31st of May.)

[CaptData]

You would be smarter to renew now as things could change again. The 6 months thing is in case of accident or illness. On the connie last week we had one woman taken off in grand Cayman because she broke her arm when getting back on the ship in the rough water. The Captain stopped the tenders immediately after this accident.

[Bonnie J.]

It took 6 days for us to get our renewed passports! Renew right away and there will be no problems any where!

[helencw]

Sounds like good advice to renew now. Thanks, everyone!

[LindaKE]

For Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean with the exception of Cuba, you don't need a passport at all... at the moment. None of these countries have yet retaliated against the US for the WHTI. Basically to come to Canada you need proof of citizenship and valid government issued photo ID. That isn't set to change at the moment.

 

(Which basically means that if you are Canadian travelling to Mexico or to the Caribbean, directly, you don't need your passport... but you do if you are stopping in the US (now) or you are an American citizen travelling after the 31st of May.)

 

Has there been any change in this? I just realized that my passport expires in April, 2011, 6 months after our October Canada/New England cruise. Since I'm American traveling to Canada, I don't need to worry about renewing before the cruise. Is this correct?