Ruby Princess Big Passport Problem

[Pam in CA]

If the traveller meets all the requirements of the countries visited on the cruise their is no legal issue, if anything, it would be a simplistic policy issue by Princess.

Princess, other cruiselines, and tour operators have standardized policies. It's not unusual for over 20 nationalities to be represented on a cruise; maintaining what mathematically could be a thousand different possibilities when you consider all of the nationalities cruising to all of the ports offered by Princess in an ever-changing world would not be cost-effective. Thus, they simplify the policy and the responsibility for reading the documentation is up to the passenger. This is where a TA can be invaluable.

[DougH]

It's not unusual for over 20 nationalities to be represented on a cruise; maintaining what mathematically could be a thousand different possibilities when you consider all of the nationalities cruising to all of the ports offered by Princess in an ever-changing world would not be cost-effective. .

 

When I sailed to Antarctica on the Star Princess the Captain made an announcement that for the first time in his career there were more countries represented by the passengers than the crew. Believe there were about 48 countries by passenger and 45 by crew. Interesting fact

[irenez]

Back from Boston. All is well. It turns out that I am not the only one that has done this although the passport angents with dumb founded looks on their faces kept saying to me "you do know the passports are still valid, right". made me feel better that I was not the only one that did not know this! We are all renwed and up to date, took the whole day. found out that you can walk in wthout an appointment so I could have go to Norwalk... They tried to make me come back tomorrow to pick the new passports up so I had to beg a little. They said that one day service is reserved for people flight on the same day... So the moral: yes, you can do this in a day, but better not and pay attention next time to the small print:)

 

P.S. Wonder what else I missed...

 

Thank you all so much for your support!

[jean s]

Have a great trip. So glad you were able to work this all out.

[Sandy R]

One more reason the CC family is so great... we were all rooting for you. So happy to hear all is well. You and your family are going to have a wonderful trip... enjoy!

[tennisobo]

I've been following your Passport Saga. I would have been in a panic with soaring blood pressure in your situation. I'm so glad everything is okay now. After all that, you need a cruise! Have a great time. :)

[quincytoo]

Back from Boston. All is well. It turns out that I am not the only one that has done this although the passport angents with dumb founded looks on their faces kept saying to me "you do know the passports are still valid, right". made me feel better that I was not the only one that did not know this! We are all renwed and up to date, took the whole day. found out that you can walk in wthout an appointment so I could have go to Norwalk... They tried to make me come back tomorrow to pick the new passports up so I had to beg a little. They said that one day service is reserved for people flight on the same day... So the moral: yes, you can do this in a day, but better not and pay attention next time to the small print:)

 

P.S. Wonder what else I missed...

 

Thank you all so much for your support!

 

:) :) :) I was frantically reading the last two pages....HOPING that all turned out well. Have a great cruise!

[megs1954]

Fantastic. Enjoy the Ruby. Just got off her and loved her.

[Cruzin-K]

I'm so glad the story had a happy ending.

 

I did plenty of research for my upcoming cruise and each country that I will be visiting has no more than a three month requirement (or no time restriction at all) for the validity of passports. Mine would have been good for just over three months but I opted to get a new one anyway, just in case :rolleyes: So I lost out on nine months of my 10 year passport.

 

I do wonder though, if every single country visited on a cruise has a requirement that a passport be valid for three months, why would a cruise line deny you boarding if you have a passport valid for five more months? Who died and made them foreign Customs officials?

[SJ27]

I live in SA, and we visited the US last year. The US does not have a 6-month rule for SA citizens so I thought I would be OK... Only to find out a few weeks before our trip that KLM would not allow me to board the plane without a 6-month validity because of a transfer in Amsterdam even though we weren't leaving the airport!! So I can totally sympathize with th OP's panic.

Incidentally: we got caught in the snowstorms on the way home, missed our connecting flight and and to overnight in Amsterdam - where I would not have been allowed out the airport without 6 months on my passport! So as one of the other posters said, it is also because the unexpected happens sometimes.

So glad it is working out for the OP.

[Whimsy]

I'm so glad it all worked out.

[cruiseluv]

Ditto to what everybody else is saying, so glad it worked out! Enjoy your cruise!

[Gettingwarmer]

I'm so glad the story had a happy ending.

 

I did plenty of research for my upcoming cruise and each country that I will be visiting has no more than a three month requirement (or no time restriction at all) for the validity of passports. Mine would have been good for just over three months but I opted to get a new one anyway, just in case :rolleyes: So I lost out on nine months of my 10 year passport.

 

I do wonder though, if every single country visited on a cruise has a requirement that a passport be valid for three months, why would a cruise line deny you boarding if you have a passport valid for five more months? Who died and made them foreign Customs officials?

 

In England if we renew a passport early the expiry date is still stated as ten years from the expiry of the original so we don't lose any months.

[MichCook]

Back from Boston. All is well. It turns out that I am not the only one that has done this although the passport angents with dumb founded looks on their faces kept saying to me "you do know the passports are still valid, right". made me feel better that I was not the only one that did not know this! We are all renwed and up to date, took the whole day. found out that you can walk in wthout an appointment so I could have go to Norwalk... They tried to make me come back tomorrow to pick the new passports up so I had to beg a little. They said that one day service is reserved for people flight on the same day... So the moral: yes, you can do this in a day, but better not and pay attention next time to the small print:)

 

P.S. Wonder what else I missed...

 

Thank you all so much for your support!

 

So glad you were able to get this resolved! Bon Voyage!

[Coolmama_1]

I have been following this situation for days and am glad that all has worked out. Now you can relax and enjoy your cruise!

[recyclelady]

Now I can breathe.

 

Have a wonderful cruise!

[hillslife]

Wow - great lesson for all. Glad it had a happy ending.

 

We just renewed - ours didn't expire til Nov, but when I entered the info for our August TA cruise - the personalizer rejected it. So we had plenty of time and got the passports the regular mail in way with plenty of time to spare - only took a couple weeks.

 

Our new dates are May - not the Nov date like the expiring passport - so we did lose 6 months....but we are set to go for 10 more years...hopefully!!

 

Enjoy your cruise - umbrella drink is called for here.

[Pia1913]

Back from Boston. All is well. It turns out that I am not the only one that has done this although the passport angents with dumb founded looks on their faces kept saying to me "you do know the passports are still valid, right". made me feel better that I was not the only one that did not know this! We are all renwed and up to date, took the whole day. found out that you can walk in wthout an appointment so I could have go to Norwalk... They tried to make me come back tomorrow to pick the new passports up so I had to beg a little. They said that one day service is reserved for people flight on the same day... So the moral: yes, you can do this in a day, but better not and pay attention next time to the small print:)

 

P.S. Wonder what else I missed...

 

Thank you all so much for your support!

 

Exhale Irene; it's over. :D Good to hear everything turned out OK. Have a wonderful cruise.

[carqueen1]

Wow! Lesson learned.....Have a great cruise!!!

[CruisinFinsUp]

What a relief! Have a great cruise!

[robsaw]

Princess, other cruiselines, and tour operators have standardized policies. It's not unusual for over 20 nationalities to be represented on a cruise; maintaining what mathematically could be a thousand different possibilities when you consider all of the nationalities cruising to all of the ports offered by Princess in an ever-changing world would not be cost-effective. Thus, they simplify the policy and the responsibility for reading the documentation is up to the passenger. This is where a TA can be invaluable.

 

Airlines handle it without issue, so could Princess. There are on-line systems available to airlines that take nationality, issuing passport country/expiry, departing country, arriving country and all intermediate stops and indicate exactly what the limiting factors are for passports and visas. It is complex but has already been solved. Princess has to handle this too for visa requirements even though they don't necessarily provide those details in advance to other than US/Canadian passengers and reiterate that it is the passengers responsibility to confirm they have valid travel doc's.

 

My main response was the suggestion from another post that you can't leave on an airline from Canada to a foreign destination with less than 6 months validity on a passport - a claim that is simply incorrect. The same rules apply to sea travel and Princess is taking a simplistic approach that costs passengers to renew passports earlier than necessary, particularly in places like Canada where they are valid for only 5 years (thankfully, it looks like that is going to change).

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

From my understanding from previous trips, passenger's passports must have over 6 months before expiration for them to accept them at boarding. I hope someone else can say they got away with less, but from what we have found, there were no exceptions or they will not allow you to board the ship.

You are right

[CHOPPERTESTER]

Starting late 2012 Canada will be issuing ePassports upon new applications or renewals (of course a fee increase) that will be valid for 10 years. Unfortunately, child passports (according to their web site) will stay be valid for only five years until they hit 16 when they can get a 10 year ePassport.

[travelerbr]

Glad it worked out. You will enjoy the Ruby. Have a wonderful cruise.

[Immebsmom]

We are leaving in December for Hawaii with a stop in Mexico, so passports are recommended. Mine is good through 2013, the other adults through 2015, and the 19 year old expires in April 2011. My childs, ok 18 year old, had a child's passport that expired, so we went ahead and renewed hers. After reading about this and then going to the Princess site and talking to our TA, the 19 year old who is good through April is getting her's renewed so there are no problems or questions.

 

Just wanted to let others know that their potential lost vacation, has made sure that we have saved ours!

 

Thanks so everyone who posted!!!