Passport Expiration Date

[Berk987]

I just noticed on my passport this morning that it expires May 4, 2011. Our cruise is Dec 5, 2010. Just shy of 5 months. I've heard that you should have a passport 6 months past your cruise date. We've always done that in the past "just in case". Do you think I need to renew before my trip or wait until we get back and do it in 2011?

 

If I can recall, I've never taken my passport onto the islands and I've never shown our passport again once we boarded the ship and only to get back on the Southwest flight to go home. We've kept the passports in our safe the entire cruise. Thoughts? Thanks.

[lettienets]

I just noticed on my passport this morning that it expires May 4, 2011. Our cruise is Dec 5, 2010. Just shy of 5 months. I've heard that you should have a passport 6 months past your cruise date. We've always done that in the past "just in case". Do you think I need to renew before my trip or wait until we get back and do it in 2011?

 

If I can recall, I've never taken my passport onto the islands and I've never shown our passport again once we boarded the ship and only to get back on the Southwest flight to go home. We've kept the passports in our safe the entire cruise. Thoughts? Thanks.

When you fill in the info for your Fun Pass that goes to Homeland Security, your date of expiry will be there, not sure how it would work for getting back in the country. ??? I would renew it for sure.

[CruiserBruce]

Renew it. Save yourself any complications, or gray hairs, for that matter.

 

Several people have issues with short expiration dates. Just easier to renew it.

[sail7seas]

Renew it. Some countries require you have six valid months remaining on your passport for them to permit entry to their country. HAL also requires the six months of you are sailing to location for which you must have a passport. Why fool around about it? Get it renewed. You have plenty of time.

 

[luvs2travl]

Renew it. Why cut it so close when you're going to have to renew it anyway? We did ours 6 months before the date they would've expired, and we both had them back within 3 weeks. The old ones were mailed back to us under separate cover with holes punched in them so they could not be used.

 

Once less thing to stress over - right? :)

[Berk987]

My goodness, what quick responses. OK. Done. I'll renew.

It is just a pain since I'm Canadian and living in the USA so I have to send it to Ottawa and I have to take my pix in Canada (because the formating is different) which isn't a problem since I'm going back to Toronto on Friday for the weekend. I'll pop into Loblaws or Walmart and get my $9 pix done. I'll call the CDN embassy for the forms and get it all put together and mailed out by after our August Toronto trip which will give me plenty of time. Thanks All.

[jhannah]

OK. Done. I'll renew.

Very wise. You won't have any worries in this regard for many years now.

[Sue from Canada]

My goodness, what quick responses. OK. Done. I'll renew.

It is just a pain since I'm Canadian and living in the USA so I have to send it to Ottawa and I have to take my pix in Canada (because the formating is different) which isn't a problem since I'm going back to Toronto on Friday for the weekend. I'll pop into Loblaws or Walmart and get my $9 pix done. I'll call the CDN embassy for the forms and get it all put together and mailed out by after our August Toronto trip which will give me plenty of time. Thanks All.

 

FYI - The Canadian Passport Offices have become much more efficient in the last year and now have a quick turnaround time. Glad to see you're going to renew.

[leeh]

My goodness, what quick responses. OK. Done. I'll renew.

It is just a pain since I'm Canadian and living in the USA so I have to send it to Ottawa and I have to take my pix in Canada (because the formating is different) which isn't a problem since I'm going back to Toronto on Friday for the weekend. I'll pop into Loblaws or Walmart and get my $9 pix done. I'll call the CDN embassy for the forms and get it all put together and mailed out by after our August Toronto trip which will give me plenty of time. Thanks All.

 

 

You can go online and get the renewal forms to print out...still need the picture taken tho.

 

Lee

[Sulo]

Berk987, you can download and print the passport forms from the Internet at http://www.ppt.gc.ca/form/index.aspx

 

No need to have them sent out. Or if you're in Toronto you can pick the forms up at any post office and sometimes at a travel agency.

 

Good luck.

[Berk987]

Thanks All.

[Typhoon1]

Better safe than sorry. Renew.

 

My passport didn't expire until December several years ago, I submitted it for renewal in June.

[Gunther1]

This brings up a question I hadn't thought of before.

 

Let's say your passport expires 12-31-10 and you renew on 06-31-10.

 

Will the new renewal date be 12-31-20 or 06-31-20 ? IE, are you "losing" six months when you renew six months before the expiration date ? If so, any way around losing those six months...short of waiting (which is not really an option) ?

 

Thanks in advance to those that know :).

[luvs2travl]

This brings up a question I hadn't thought of before.

 

Let's say your passport expires 12-31-10 and you renew on 06-31-10.

 

Will the new renewal date be 12-31-20 or 06-31-20 ? IE, are you "losing" six months when you renew six months before the expiration date ? If so, any way around losing those six months...short of waiting (which is not really an option) ?

 

Thanks in advance to those that know :).

 

Your passport will renew on 6-30-20 (only 30 days in June -;)) It renews 10 years from the day, month and year in which the renewal is granted. If you don't have a trip planned within 6 months of the expiration date, I would guess that you can wait until the last possible minute, if saving those last "six months" is important to you.

[Gunther1]

Gracias :) !!!

[bulgargirl]

My goodness, what quick responses. OK. Done. I'll renew.

It is just a pain since I'm Canadian and living in the USA so I have to send it to Ottawa and I have to take my pix in Canada (because the formating is different) which isn't a problem since I'm going back to Toronto on Friday for the weekend. I'll pop into Loblaws or Walmart and get my $9 pix done. I'll call the CDN embassy for the forms and get it all put together and mailed out by after our August Toronto trip which will give me plenty of time. Thanks All.

 

Just an FYI - when I lived in Dublin, my passport was expiring while I was there. I renewed my passport at the US Embassy in Ireland. It was cool. My passport said that it was issued in Dublin! Neat. And I had no problems with it. I think I renewed it the day before it expired. I wouldn't recommend cutting it quite that close, though.

 

If there is a Canadian Embassy closer to you, you could go there?

[jtl513]

This brings up a question I hadn't thought of before.

Renewal is $75, so losing 6 months costs you just $3.75! :)

[BlessedX7]

This post has me worried because I'm supposed to leave on my first cruise to Alaska (roundtrip Seattle) on 5/23 (7 day cruise), and my passport expires in July. Since I'd heard it takes a few weeks to get a new passport, I've been afraid to send my old one in not knowing for sure I'd get my new one back in time. I have my birth certificate if I need to take it in addition to my passport. Should I call HAL? Please don't tell me I may have a problem with my much needed vacation! Please help! Thank you.

[Berk987]

This post has me worried because I'm supposed to leave on my first cruise to Alaska (roundtrip Seattle) on 5/23 (7 day cruise), and my passport expires in July. Since I'd heard it takes a few weeks to get a new passport, I've been afraid to send my old one in not knowing for sure I'd get my new one back in time. I have my birth certificate if I need to take it in addition to my passport. Should I call HAL? Please don't tell me I may have a problem with my much needed vacation! Please help! Thank you.

 

 

If you're leaving from the USA and going to another USA destination (Alaska) why would you need a passport? Wouldn't just a driver's license and/or birth certificate be sufficient for ID? There's no international port for this trip right?

[sail7seas]

Every cruise departing a U.S. port and returning to a U.S. port must have a stop in a foreign port. That cruise will stop in a Canadian port before returning to U.S. It has to.

 

[NMLady]

If you're leaving from the USA and going to another USA destination (Alaska) why would you need a passport? Wouldn't just a driver's license and/or birth certificate be sufficient for ID? There's no international port for this trip right?

 

All Alaska cruises must have a port stop, no matter how short, at a Canadian port in order to fulfill the Jones Act. So, a passport is needed for Alaska cruises. Even if you don't plan on getting off in Canada the cruise line will still need to see your passport in order for you to embark.

Online check-in for Alaska cruises asks for passport number and expiration date.

[margretha]

BlessedX7: Thank heavens for the expedited passport process. Year before last I found I was in the same situation: we were going on our "dream" transatlantic cruise and my passport expiration date meant I would not be 6 months out on our return to the states. I raced to CVS for picture, raced to PO for forms and express overnighted it to office. It arrived about 4 days before we left. Whew. There is always the other emergency dire need process which we did once when we needed a passport for our young son for an overseas funeral. We live in MA so went to Boston at zero dark 30 with all our paperwork/pictures/birth certificate, etc. And that processing office does a "get it that day" emergency (which finding out at the last minute before a cruise certainly could be) passport process. It took hours of being there, sitting there, going to lunch, coming back... but we left with a new passport in our hot little hands. Good luck! But remember: send it overnight express with a signature requirement and tracking. And you can track where it is in the process online. margretha

[RuthC]

Are you certain that a passport is required (as opposed to desirable) for an Alaskan cruise, with only the stop in Victoria?

This may not be as critical as Blessed is being led to believe.

[NMLady]

Are you certain that a passport is required (as opposed to desirable) for an Alaskan cruise, with only the stop in Victoria?

This may not be as critical as Blessed is being led to believe.

 

Never having been to Alaska before I don't know that it is required. I am just going by what I was told for my Alaska cruise next month, that a passport would be needed for boarding because of the stop in Victoria.

 

It wasn't a problem for me since I have a passport that doesn't expire until 2014. So I didn't ask how really necessary that was.

[TLHB70]

I hope it is not a requirement. DH and I both have passports . We are sailing on an Alaskan cruise next month with our friends. The wife does not have a passport. When we booked we asked the HAL rep if she needed one. The rep said that it was not necessary; we were told that our friend just needed a birth certificate and driver's license. As you can see below, we sail in 38 days. She does not have a passport.