Check your passport for Euroland

[Ex-Airbalancer]

- Travelling to Europe? Check your passport!

[Jul 30, 2014]

Notice to passengers travelling to Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland:

 

The European Union requires a passport that must be valid for at least three (3) months beyond the expected date of return. Passengers without valid travel documents will be refused boarding or entry into the destination country. Other countries have similar requirements. For all destinations, it is the responsibility of passengers to ensure they possess the necessary travel documents.

 

This is for Canadians, I do not know if it applies to US people

[Fouremco]

Passport and other entry requirements, including passport validity beyond the period of your visit, are established by the country you are visiting, not the country issuing your passport. All 26 of the European Schengen Area countries have a 3 month requirement, as do many other countries internationally, but there are others that have a six month requirement. These include China, Indonesia, Russia, India, Argentina, Ecuador (including the Galapagos), Belize and Honduras to name but a few. When in doubt, check for each country you are visiting.

Edited August 1, 2014 by Fouremco

[Jane2357]

I personally won't let mine get lower than 6 months before I renew. Why take a chance.

[Fouremco]

I personally won't let mine get lower than 6 months before I renew. Why take a chance.

Ditto! I'm looking forward to my next renewal and getting the new 10 year passport.

Edited August 1, 2014 by Fouremco

[Phxazzcruisers]

Yes, we never travel with a passport that does not have at least 6 months left due to travel restrictions in many countries. it is sometimes a bummer, as we had a valid Brazil Visa that was still good for another 2 years, but had to lose it as we needed new passports....

[Tom47]

Yes, we never travel with a passport that does not have at least 6 months left due to travel restrictions in many countries. it is sometimes a bummer, as we had a valid Brazil Visa that was still good for another 2 years, but had to lose it as we needed new passports....

It depends on the country, but some countries will let you use unexpired visa in an expired passport when presented w. new pp.

Tom:)

[Merriem]

Ditto! I'm looking forward to my next renewal and getting the new 10 year passport.

 

Me too! I lost 60 pounds, and they always look at that picture and then look at me!

[Fouremco]

Me too! I lost 60 pounds, and they always look at that picture and then look at me!

Some of us lose weight (congrats), some of us just lose hair! :)

[rotator101]

One warning... new passport covers are very stiff so be prepared to change how or where you carry them .... bit of a shock compared to my nice old worn-in one that was easy to carry in a shirt pocket without being very noticeable.

[fleckle]

It depends on the country, but some countries will let you use unexpired visa in an expired passport when presented w. new pp.

Good to know. Thanks for the info.

So you can just bring along both passports and be all set, but check with the particular country in question first of course.

 

Edited August 1, 2014 by fleckle

[shofer]

I thought the cruise line requirement was the 6 months option. Passport can't expire within 6 months of the sailing date.

 

Renewing mine after the holidays for my May cruise. Looking forward to the new picture. I may be 10 years older but I'm 40 lbs lighter.

 

Sue

[kdooley]

One warning... new passport covers are very stiff so be prepared to change how or where you carry them .... bit of a shock compared to my nice old worn-in one that was easy to carry in a shirt pocket without being very noticeable.

 

 

And you also have an option of upgrading (for free) to a 52 page book. We are recent empty-nesters so we figured we needed extra pages!

[Chunky2219]

I thought the cruise line requirement was the 6 months option. Passport can't expire within 6 months of the sailing date. ...............

 

Sue

Agreed! When I read the very first post, I thought this was a complete non-thread.

 

 

.

[upwarduk]

I thought the cruise line requirement was the 6 months option. Passport can't expire within 6 months of the sail date.

 

Sue

 

Last time I renewed, I was ' given those extra 6 months.' (U. K)

 

My passport originally should have expired in May, but now expires in November.

 

There were so many complaints about the loss of the 6 months; it is costly enough to renew anyway.

[ghstudio]

And you also have an option of upgrading (for free) to a 52 page book. We are recent empty-nesters so we figured we needed extra pages!

 

Excellent advice....10 years of travel can fill a passport more than you think...and very few seem to know that the price is the same whether they issue you the standard passport (28 pages) or the one with many more pages (52 pages). If you do run out of pages you can get more pages for $82...but those pages were free if you just checked the correct box on the passport application to get the larger passport in the first place.

[uktog]

I was not able to renew my passport which had less than four months to run before my July cruise. The reason I could not renew was because I had an expensive unexpired multi entry business visa in it and needed to make one more business trip soon after the cruise.

 

Anyway boarded the ship no issue at all - it is an EU passport and the cruise was in the EU though so the 6 month rule does not apply in every case

 

And yes the passport is now renewed having paid a rapid buy fee those in the UK will know how awful the delays are in renewals just now so there is only one way to be sure you get your passport

[BosoxI]

Yes, we never travel with a passport that does not have at least 6 months left due to travel restrictions in many countries. it is sometimes a bummer, as we had a valid Brazil Visa that was still good for another 2 years, but had to lose it as we needed new passports....

 

Yup, and it's a bit of a pain getting a Brazilian visa. Ah, well. We weren't planning a return to Brazil anyway in the foreseeable future..

[olemissreb]

My DH had to fly to Dubai on business and got "caught" by this. He didn't even realize that his passport was within a month of expiring until this. Luckily, it was caught before he flew to Dubai and he was able to go to the passport office in downtown Atlanta and pay through the nose for expedited service. He had his new passport in 3 days! He's good for 9 years and 6 months now! :)

[go fish 44]

Yes, we never travel with a passport that does not have at least 6 months left due to travel restrictions in many countries. it is sometimes a bummer, as we had a valid Brazil Visa that was still good for another 2 years, but had to lose it as we needed new passports....

 

 

In Canada when we had to get our new pasports and still had 3 years left on our Brizalian Visa the passport office cut the corners and all the pages Except the one with the Visa and then we traveled with Both passports.

We did not need the expense and hassel of getting new Visa.

[Fouremco]

I thought the cruise line requirement was the 6 months option. Passport can't expire within 6 months of the sailing date.

 

Agreed! When I read the very first post, I thought this was a complete non-thread.

Given the state of the website, you may well be right, but in two separate sections it recommends six months, except for Ecuador.

 

FAQ

Passport

A valid passport is required for travel. Ensure there are sufficient blank visa pages within the passport for visa stamps. For additional passport information look here. [link to

 

For your protection, we recommend that your passport expiration date not occur within six (6) months of the sailing termination date.

 

TRAVEL DOCUMENTS - PASSPORT REQUIREMENTS

Before leaving home, please take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with the required travel documents you will be asked to provide prior to boarding the ship.

 

CAUTION: The requirements described below are government regulations and policies. They are subject to change without notice. It is the sole responsibility of the guest to identify and obtain all required travel documents and have them available when necessary. These appropriate valid travel documents, such as passports, visas, inoculation certificate and family legal documents, are required for boarding and re-entry into the United States and other countries. For your protection (and if traveling to Ecuador, it is required), we recommend that your passport expiration date not occur within six (6) months following the voyage termination date.

 

As they don't even address the minimum 3 month requirement for most countries, Celebrity's website isn't very helpful. Someone with only two months left might look there and think that they'll be OK heading off for a TA to Europe!

 

Whether a requirement or a recommendation by Celebrity, all travellers would be wise to use a 6 month expiry buffer as many have posted here.

[seastar2]

And you also have an option of upgrading (for free) to a 52 page book. We are recent empty-nesters so we figured we needed extra pages!

 

Miss getting my passport stamped...very few countries stamp them now and on a cruise there is even less of a chance...:( I saved all the old passports that have the stamps and visas.

[dani negreanu]

It depends on the country, but some countries will let you use unexpired visa in an expired passport when presented w. new pp.

Tom:)

 

I have an US Visa valable for another 4 years in my [israeli] expired passport and I carry both the expired passport and new one when travelling to US - no problem at all. It has been so for at least 30 years.

[bigbenboys]

And you also have an option of upgrading (for free) to a 52 page book. We are recent empty-nesters so we figured we needed extra pages!

 

I'm on my 2nd 52 pager. I just hated getting according pages added to my past passport. You do know that you can have 2 USA passports. The 2nd one will only be for 2 years. This can help when passport 1 is out getting a visa. I came home from China and was leaving for India in 4 days. Had I had the 2nd passport I would have not had to fly to San Francisco to get my visa for India.

[pris993]

I personally won't let mine get lower than 6 months before I renew. Why take a chance.

 

We have always done the same.