2 Cruises close together, passport renewal needed when?

My passport expires early July 2019

Sailing on a closed loop Caribbean cruise out of Florida in November.--- That one's easy.

Late January (so 5.5 months prior to passport expiration) Sailing out of SJU to St Kitts, Anguilla, St Thomas, DR, Grand Turk. Ends in FLL. NOT closed loop and not sure if SJU falls under that rule anyway.

Do I renew now, almost a full year in advance? Or do I renew when I get back from Thanksgiving cruise and hope it gets back in time? Third option?

Your passport is still valid for your January cruise. You are assuming that it needs to be valid for 6 months or more, but I would check on that requirement. Many countries do not require it.

Renew after the second cruise. You need the passport because it's not a closed loop, but you don't need a passport to visit those places on a closed loop, and those places don't know you aren't on a closed loop... EM

My passport expires early July 2019

Sailing on a closed loop Caribbean cruise out of Florida in November.--- That one's easy.

Late January (so 5.5 months prior to passport expiration) Sailing out of SJU to St Kitts, Anguilla, St Thomas, DR, Grand Turk. Ends in FLL. NOT closed loop and not sure if SJU falls under that rule anyway.

 

Do I renew now, almost a full year in advance? Or do I renew when I get back from Thanksgiving cruise and hope it gets back in time? Third option?

If you'll have 5.5 month remaining before the second cruise you'll be fine- none of the ports you'll be visiting requires 6 month validity and as long as it's valid when you arrive back to the US you'll be fine. So third option is renew it after the second cruise and before your next planned travel (so if you aren't planning any travel for a year after you get back renew it prior to that trip).

My passport expires early July 2019

Sailing on a closed loop Caribbean cruise out of Florida in November.--- That one's easy.

Late January (so 5.5 months prior to passport expiration) Sailing out of SJU to St Kitts, Anguilla, St Thomas, DR, Grand Turk. Ends in FLL. NOT closed loop and not sure if SJU falls under that rule anyway.

 

Do I renew now, almost a full year in advance? Or do I renew when I get back from Thanksgiving cruise and hope it gets back in time? Third option?

Renew after the second cruise. No need to have six months left on a passport for that second cruise.

I would renew now as my preference would be to 'waste few months of validity (no big deal), than to stress one little bit about when to do it and will it be back in time. JMO I would prepare the application and have it mailed this week.

I'd wait until after the second cruise. We had the same type of scenario with DH's passport a couple of years ago. It expired in May and we cruised in February. I checked to make sure the countries we went to would be OK with a passport that expired in three months. All were.

OP must be stressing o r why ask now and why as k if it is not on their mind and niggling a t them??? Get it done now. :)

OP must be stressing o r why ask now and why as k if it is not on their mind and niggling a t them??? Get it done now. :)

Asking the questions =/= stressing.

OP must be stressing o r why ask now and why as k if it is not on their mind and niggling a t them??? Get it done now. :)

IF the OP is stressing, yes, renew it now. But if the OP isn't stressing then there is no harm in waiting, especially if there are no immediate plans for further travel after the second cruise finishes. (Full disclosure- I use a vice grips to get the last bit of toothpaste out of the tube so I wouldn't be in a hurry to renew;).)

Thank you for all of the inside. I have decided to send in my renewal application as soon as I return from the first cruise. My husband renewed his passport last year and it was back within two weeks. I still have almost 2 months so we should be OK.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums