Do I really need to renew my passport?

[motraveller]

Our family of 5 is going on a cruise the first part of June. All of our passports expire sometime in August. I was going to shell out the 600 bucks to renew the passports b/c I do feel better travelling to other countries with a passport but I really hate to spend the money right now. Then it dawned on me. As long as I don't use the passports as my "cruise documents" (but instead use DL and birth certificates) I would be fine, right? I'll still have passports to use if I get stuck in some foreign country, but since they expire within the 6 month window I just won't use them to cruise with. Is there any reason I SHOULD go ahead and renew the passports now? I realize if we get detained in another country for over 2 months...then I'll wish I had gotten the passports but I don't see this to be likely.

 

Secondly....I've never bothered taking my proof of citizenship off the ship before when we port..so how much help is having a passport on a cruise anyways? If I miss my ship I wouldn't have the documents (would hate for them to get stolen while ashore) Do you usually take yours with you when the ship stops? I've never really given it much thought before.

 

Thanks!

Julie

[njhorseman]

To fully and accurately answer your question we need to know the cruise line, itinerary and which country's passport you hold.

 

Some cruise lines require all passengers to have a passport with six months remaining validity even if laws and regulations don't require it.

 

Some countries require six months validity.

 

Citizens of different countries can be held to different standards.

 

Regardless of the above, we leave our passports locked in our cabin safe unless the country we're visiting requires you to carry your passport ashore...which is very rare. Some cruise lines actually hold all passengers' passports, and on others they may be held by the cruise line if the itinerary calls for it.

[motraveller]

Sorry. US passports, cruising on Carnival on a closed loop cruise that only requires drivers license and birth certificate.

[njhorseman]

Sorry. US passports, cruising on Carnival on a closed loop cruise that only requires drivers license and birth certificate.

 

 

Then there's no need to renew your passports in advance of your cruise, but you if you want to, you have plenty of time to do it for a June cruise.

[leaveitallbehind]

njhoresman is correct - to properly answer your question you need to tell us more information. But a general rule of thumb is with many cruise lines (RCI and Celebrity as two) that for US citizens traveling on a US based closed loop itinerary (departing from and returning to the same port) a birth certificate and valid picture ID are all that is required for identification. But this will vary by cruise line, so please give us some more information.

 

Edited to add: Sorry, just saw your post # 3 as I posted mine. And again, njhorseman is correct.

[sparks1093]

Our family of 5 is going on a cruise the first part of June. All of our passports expire sometime in August. I was going to shell out the 600 bucks to renew the passports b/c I do feel better travelling to other countries with a passport but I really hate to spend the money right now. Then it dawned on me. As long as I don't use the passports as my "cruise documents" (but instead use DL and birth certificates) I would be fine, right? I'll still have passports to use if I get stuck in some foreign country, but since they expire within the 6 month window I just won't use them to cruise with. Is there any reason I SHOULD go ahead and renew the passports now? I realize if we get detained in another country for over 2 months...then I'll wish I had gotten the passports but I don't see this to be likely.

 

Secondly....I've never bothered taking my proof of citizenship off the ship before when we port..so how much help is having a passport on a cruise anyways? If I miss my ship I wouldn't have the documents (would hate for them to get stolen while ashore) Do you usually take yours with you when the ship stops? I've never really given it much thought before.

 

Thanks!

Julie

 

 

The 6 month rule only pertains to certain countries and I doubt you will be visiting any of those in the Caribbean, so you may present your passports at check-in. Most cruise lines "recommend" 6 months because some countries do impose that requirement. Whether to take the passport ashore with you or not is a personal decision and you need to do what you are comfortable with. Conventional wisdom says if you miss the ship the staff will retrieve your passports from the safe and turn them over to the port agent.

[Flatbush Flyer]

To fully and accurately answer your question we need to know the cruise line, itinerary and which country's passport you hold.

 

Some cruise lines require all passengers to have a passport with six months remaining validity even if laws and regulations don't require it.

 

Some countries require six months validity.

 

Citizens of different countries can be held to different standards.

 

Regardless of the above, we leave our passports locked in our cabin safe unless the country we're visiting requires you to carry your passport ashore...which is very rare. Some cruise lines actually hold all passengers' passports, and on others they may be held by the cruise line if the itinerary calls for it.

 

 

One more tidbit: for countries that are really tough in the six month rule, most use the day of EXIT (not ENTRY) as the calendar marker. To be safe, count six mi the back from the day you return home.

 

 

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[easyboy]

Secondly....I've never bothered taking my proof of citizenship off the ship before when we port..so how much help is having a passport on a cruise anyways? If I miss my ship I wouldn't have the documents (would hate for them to get stolen while ashore) Do you usually take yours with you when the ship stops? I've never really given it much thought before.

 

Thanks!

Julie

 

 

When getting off in ports of call, we only bring our cruise cards and government-issued ID. We keep our passport book inside the cabin safe.

[space_bar]

My passport expired this coming November, but I decided to renew it last month so I wouldn't forget to do it later on.

 

I overnighted my passport renewal on Feb 1, the check was cashed on Feb 10 and I received my new passport in the mail on Feb 14. That's a 2 week turnaround and I didn't pay for the expedited service. Very impressive!

 

FYI - I got my passport photos at Costco for about $5. The photo was really good!

[zqvol]

Our family of 5 is going on a cruise the first part of June. All of our passports expire sometime in August. I was going to shell out the 600 bucks to renew the passports b/c I do feel better travelling to other countries with a passport but I really hate to spend the money right now. Then it dawned on me. As long as I don't use the passports as my "cruise documents" (but instead use DL and birth certificates) I would be fine, right? I'll still have passports to use if I get stuck in some foreign country, but since they expire within the 6 month window I just won't use them to cruise with. Is there any reason I SHOULD go ahead and renew the passports now? I realize if we get detained in another country for over 2 months...then I'll wish I had gotten the passports but I don't see this to be likely.

 

Secondly....I've never bothered taking my proof of citizenship off the ship before when we port..so how much help is having a passport on a cruise anyways? If I miss my ship I wouldn't have the documents (would hate for them to get stolen while ashore) Do you usually take yours with you when the ship stops? I've never really given it much thought before.

 

Thanks!

Julie

 

 

You have mentioned that you are on a closed loop Caribbean Cruise on Carnival. In that situation as long as your passports are valid on the day you return to the US there is no need to renew ahead of time.

 

 

Please don't let anyone tell you about six months or things like that. You don't even have to have a passport for this cruise, much less one with six months validity.

[telnshell]

We cruise the Caribbean on the Equinox in September this year. My husbands Passport expires Feb 18 (roughly 5 months from date of travel) many people have told me he must renew. Can anyone on here please confirm yes or no? He is a UK passport holder if this makes a difference.

[navybankerteacher]

We cruise the Caribbean on the Equinox in September this year. My husbands Passport expires Feb 18 (roughly 5 months from date of travel) many people have told me he must renew. Can anyone on here please confirm yes or no? He is a UK passport holder if this makes a difference.

 

 

If he is not a US citizen the birth certificate/ID option does not apply, and he will have to travel on his UK passport. While it strikes me as unlikely that the 6 month requirement would apply, he really should get information re: acceptable documentation from the cruise line and not from the amateurs on sites like this. While I understand a reluctance to renew earlier than absolutely necessary, does he plan to let it expire before getting a new one - and is he aware of how much time renewal might take?

[SteveH2508]

UK passport can get up to 9 months of unexpired time added.

 

https://www.gov.uk/renew-adult-passport/renew

[telnshell]

Was hoping to avoid as he also has a valid ESTA but think realistically he's gonna have to sort [emoji51]

 

 

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[capriccio]

Secondly....I've never bothered taking my proof of citizenship off the ship before when we port..so how much help is having a passport on a cruise anyways?

 

Some islands in the Caribbean (unfortunately I can't remember which ones other than St. Thomas a number of years ago because I didn't have mine with me and had to sweet talk the security officer and have my embarassed DH vouch for me) do demand to see a government ID when reboarding so take your driver's license with you. There will probably be a notice in your ship's daily newsletter too.