Passport Expiry Question

[mcduck]

Betty - thanks for your comments and suggestions. For our particular cruise we arrive in Costa Rica on Feb 08 and they require a passport that is valid for six months from the date of entry, so an expiry date of August 11 should not be a problem. All other ports just require a vaild passport.

 

What I am trying to determine is "who" is making the call at embarkation as I agree with your comment that the airline/cruise ship must ensure that the passengers that they carry into each country meets the requirements of that country. Airlines routinely check passports to ensure that you have a valid passport/ID as they will be responsilble for returning you back if you are refused entry.

 

HAL has stated in an email that "it will not be HAL denying boarding". It seems that it is HAL's responsibility to ensure that all passengers have the proper ID for all the ports that they will be visiting at time of embarkation, and if this is so, then HAL must have the details as to what is required for each country and will be verifying/enforcing compliance. Possibly, I received an incorrect/incomplete answer from the HAL rep?

[serendipity1499]

Betty - thanks for your comments and suggestions. For our particular cruise we arrive in Costa Rica on Feb 08 and they require a passport that is valid for six months from the date of entry, so an expiry date of August 11 should not be a problem. All other ports just require a vaild passport.

 

What I am trying to determine is "who" is making the call at embarkation as I agree with your comment that the airline/cruise ship must ensure that the passengers that they carry into each country meets the requirements of that country. Airlines routinely check passports to ensure that you have a valid passport/ID as they will be responsilble for returning you back if you are refused entry.

 

HAL has stated in an email that "it will not be HAL denying boarding". It seems that it is HAL's responsibility to ensure that all passengers have the proper ID for all the ports that they will be visiting at time of embarkation, and if this is so, then HAL must have the details as to what is required for each country and will be verifying/enforcing compliance. Possibly, I received an incorrect/incomplete answer from the HAL rep?

 

I agree with you that it is definitely HAL's responsibility to check each passport & if it does not meet the criteria for the ports they must deny boarding!

In the International Airline business, we had to check that all passports/visa's were in order & met the requirements of the country we were transporting the passenger to..Once in a while a Check in Agent made a mistake & boarded a passenger without the proper documents,:( we (the airline) automatically received a hefty fine for allowing the passenger to travel... In addition we had to hire armed guards to stay with the Psgr in a Hotel overnight..We paid for the hotel, meals & the transportation to & from the airport.. We then had to carry the passenger on our next flight out of that city back to the origination point..It could get to be very expensive as sometimes the passenger had to be guarded in a hotel for a couple of day's, if we did not have daily flights out of the destination city..:eek:

Based on what I know, I believe the HAL Agent was wrong about not permitting a passenger to board if their documents were not in order..

As a matter of fact, several years ago, when we were boarding a HAL ship, another Passenger was detained due to something similar..It was either an expired passport or they did not have the proper visa..Wish I could remember the details, but remember that a HAL Supervisor helped them & fortunately, got them a cab to Miami & spoke to someone who was able to expidite either a new passport or the necessary visa before the ship left...Now that I think about it it must have been a Visa..However believe it cost the passenger lots of $$$ to get his papers in order..

IMO, benchmarklearning is taking a big chance of being denied boarding in a few weeks, with a passport which expires in January.. I may be wrong, but I would never travel with a passport which is due to expire within 6 months unless it was an emergency..In their case I think the hassle of getting a new passport is well worth the peace of mind!

cheers....:)Betty

Edited October 31, 2010 by serendipity1499

[benchmarklearning]

OK - even though TA said we would be OK with birth certificates, we decided to bite the bullet and get the passports renewed. But, I got to thinking as I was going through this arduous process. Can anyone tell me WHY we have to pay for passports? I can understand paying for expedited service, but why the basic (and ridiculous) fee? I am overtaxed to the max and this type of service should be free to people who pay taxes. After all, the person who does the processing is already well compensated whether they process my application or not...

 

Just wondering on this election eve...

:eek:

[serendipity1499]

OK - even though TA said we would be OK with birth certificates, we decided to bite the bullet and get the passports renewed. But, I got to thinking as I was going through this arduous process. Can anyone tell me WHY we have to pay for passports? I can understand paying for expedited service, but why the basic (and ridiculous) fee? I am overtaxed to the max and this type of service should be free to people who pay taxes. After all, the person who does the processing is already well compensated whether they process my application or not...

 

Just wondering on this election eve...

:eek:

 

 

LOL..:):)

Paying for Passports is not something new...I'm on my 11th passport & got my first Passport in 1959...Even then we had to pay for it & in those days it was only good for 5 years..;);)

Glad you decided to renew your passport & hope you enjoy your cruise..

Cheers....:)Betty

Edited November 1, 2010 by serendipity1499

[sail7seas]

I think you made a wise decision to renew your passport. Why take the risk and endure any avoidable risk?

 

Hope you have a great cruise worrying about nothing more than what to order for dinner. :)

 

[GOLDENBONNY]

http://www.ppt.gc.ca/support/faq.aspx?lang=eng&id=1102

 

2.I just called HAl and got the answer that its RECOMENDED not must be for 6 month .

[mcduck]

The email that I received from HAL stated: "Holland America Line recommends all guests travel with a passport that is valid for six months beyond the duration of the cruise. HAL does not have this information, it is the guests responsibility to check all passport requirements. It will not be HAL denying boarding if guests do not have proper identification, customs will not allow passangers to travel without proper identification. Those arriving at the pier without proper identification will be denied boarding by customs and immigratiion."

 

As I mentioned earlier, I do not think US customs will care what the expiry date is, or what the requirements might be for a foreign country, so HAL must be checking and denying boarding.

 

I dropped into my TA and she had recently spoken to HAL about passport expiry dates for another client and was told that as long as the passport expired THREE months after the cruise for Caribbean itineraries there should be no problem. She logged into a travel agent site and the information for Costa Rica was that passports needed to be valid for 3 months. However, the Costa Rica tourist bureau site contains a government document that requires six months from the date of entry.

 

Our travel agent mentioned that the passport number and expiry date is required by HAL when on-line tickets are being issued so if there was a date problem it should be flagged at that time.

 

Confusion abounds, but it would be interesting to know who is doing the verification on embarkation. What is the current procedure when checking in for a HAL cruise? Does the HAL agent look at it and return it and then you board or does a US customs official also review it before you are allowed to board?

[doodlefan]

We are Canadians on a Westerdam southern carribean cruise from FLL Dec 3 - Dec 17.

Our passports expire early Mar 2011 and we were advised by both HA and TA that the 6 mo would not be an issue since the only ports are carribean.

Do any US/CDN travelers have experince with this issue?

 

 

I know this is an old thread but I see you are online. Did you have any trouble with a passport that expired less than 3 months from the time you cruised? We are going this Saturday and our passports expire early February but were assured by our TA that this was fine and the online check in accepted our passports on the HAL online check in. If you'd like to email me privately thats fine. It's doodlelover@sympatico.ca

 

Thanks