Passports.

[wowzz]

49 minutes ago, emam said:

 

I was wondering about this. So on a cruise you go to multiple ports, are they stamping your passport at every port? So if an average 14 night med cruise has six ports that will soon use up your empty pages, especially for those who cruise a few times a year. 

No need to stamp the passports. All your details are on the ship manifest, which is given to immigration officials at each port.

[jeanlyon]

On 4/26/2022 at 11:20 AM, cruise saint said:

How long ago was that Jean?  Mine was also done online and while I agree it was an easy process to apply, I haven't had any email from the passport office yet.

Yes, that was 2 years ago, sorry I wasn't clear.

[jeanlyon]

So having read this thread again, I am still confused.  Although not planning to do our cruise next April, our friend has her passport issued May 2013 with an expiry date of February 2024, so am I right in thinking her passport will not be valid for travel in April 2023?  (10 years would be up in May 2023)

[wowzz]

3 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

So having read this thread again, I am still confused.  Although not planning to do our cruise next April, our friend has her passport issued May 2013 with an expiry date of February 2024, so am I right in thinking her passport will not be valid for travel in April 2023?  (10 years would be up in May 2023)

According to Simon Calder's article, as the passport will be valid when your friend leaves the UK,  and will have more than three months validity on her return,  she will be OK to travel.

BUT, you have to hope that the P&O check in staff are fully cognisant of the rules.  I would want written confirmation from P&O that all is in order,  so as to nake sure there is no last minute arguments. 

[jeanlyon]

1 minute ago, wowzz said:

According to Simon Calder's article, as the passport will be valid when your friend leaves the UK,  and will have more than three months validity on her return,  she will be OK to travel.

BUT, you have to hope that the P&O check in staff are fully cognisant of the rules.  I would want written confirmation from P&O that all is in order,  so as to nake sure there is no last minute arguments. 

yes, I think she will have to get a new passport. It would be simpler.

 

[yorkshirephil]

3 hours ago, wowzz said:

According to Simon Calder's article, as the passport will be valid when your friend leaves the UK,  and will have more than three months validity on her return,  she will be OK to travel.

BUT, you have to hope that the P&O check in staff are fully cognisant of the rules.  I would want written confirmation from P&O that all is in order,  so as to nake sure there is no last minute arguments. 

Are you sure about this? I thought that any extra months beyond 10 years were lost once we left the EU. As I understand it a is UK passport is valid for 10 years from its issue date, if this is correct Jean's friend will need a new passport.

[wowzz]

2 minutes ago, yorkshirephil said:

Are you sure about this? I thought that any extra months beyond 10 years were lost once we left the EU. As I understand it a is UK passport is valid for 10 years from its issue date, if this is correct Jean's friend will need a new passport.

I am going by the article written by Simon Calder, which I posted on this thread a couple of days ago. 

[Angel57]

Just now, yorkshirephil said:

Are you sure about this? I thought that any extra months beyond 10 years were lost once we left the EU. As I understand it a is UK passport is valid for 10 years from its issue date, if this is correct Jean's friend will need a new passport.

I must admit that was my understanding, but it has got very muddled just recently so best to check and double check if going away close to the 10 year anniversary of issue.

[yorkshirephil]

5 minutes ago, Angel57 said:

I must admit that was my understanding, but it has got very muddled just recently so best to check and double check if going away close to the 10 year anniversary of issue.

It is very muddled, I looked into this as our passports were issued Feb 2014 and expire Oct 2024, we have a cruise in Mar 2024, pre brexit our passports would have been fine  however now with the post brexit rules our passports expire Feb 2024 therefore we need to replace them. 

[wowzz]

On 4/29/2022 at 8:33 AM, wowzz said:

While your passport is still valid up to and including its expiry date for travel to the US, Australia and many other nations, for travel to the European Union it must pass two more stringent tests: 

1. On the day of entry to the EU: issued less than 10 years ago (for travel today, your passport must be dated 30 April 2012 or later).
2. On the intended day of return from the EU: at least three months before expiry.

That is all. The rules are independent of each other, so your passport can celebrate its 10th birthday perfectly happily in Barcelona or Berlin as long as the expiry date works

The above is what Simon Calder wrote. No mention of the 6 month rule.  

[Angel57]

On 4/29/2022 at 8:33 AM, wowzz said:

• On the day of entry to the EU: issued less than 10 years ago (for travel today, your passport must be dated 30 April 2012 or later).
• On the intended day of return from the EU: at least three months before expiry.

So unless I am being extremely thick ( and that is not beyond the realms of possibility) the day we leave the UK to travel to the EU, our passports must be no older than 10 years from the date of issue - regardless of expiry date potentially being 9 months later.

[wowzz]

13 minutes ago, Angel57 said:

So unless I am being extremely thick ( and that is not beyond the realms of possibility) the day we leave the UK to travel to the EU, our passports must be no older than 10 years from the date of issue - regardless of expiry date potentially being 9 months later.

That is how I understand it.  But will the check in staff at P&O know that ?

[yorkshirephil]

This is what the Gov,UK site says. So things are still fluid with words like "may" as opposed to "must" being used. With this in mind there is no way I would travel to the EU on my existing passport based on whether Shengen border guards are updated

Passport validity

If you are planning to travel to an EU country (except Ireland), or Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Andorra, Monaco, San Marino or Vatican City, you must meet the Schengen area rules.

Your passport must meet 2 requirements. It must be:

• less than 10 years old on the day you enter (check the ‘date of issue’)
• valid for at least 3 months after the day you plan to leave (check the ‘expiry date’)

We are asking the European Commission to clarify the 10-year rule. Their guidance for Schengen border guards may not be updated until the spring of 2022. Until then, for some Schengen countries your passport may need to be less than 10 years old during your whole visit, and the 3 months at the end of your visit may need to be within 10 years of your passport’s issue date.

Check both the issue date and the expiry date in your passport. If you renewed your passport early, extra months may have been added to its expiry date. This could affect the requirement for your passport to be less than 10 years old.

[jeanlyon]

Typical!

[Edith1950]

Just copied this off the GOV.UK website which was updated 20 April 2022 still current 1 May 2022.

Check your passport and travel documents before you travel

Check with your travel provider to make sure your passport and other travel documents meet their requirements.

Passport validity

If you are planning to travel to an EU country (except Ireland), or Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Andorra, Monaco, San Marino or Vatican City, you must meet the Schengen area rules.

Your passport must meet 2 requirements. It must be:

• less than 10 years old on the day you enter (check the ‘date of issue’)
• valid for at least 3 months after the day you plan to leave (check the ‘expiry date’)

We are asking the European Commission to clarify the 10-year rule. Their guidance for Schengen border guards may not be updated until the spring of 2022. Until then, for some Schengen countries your passport may need to be less than 10 years old during your whole visit, and the 3 months at the end of your visit may need to be within 10 years of your passport’s issue date.

Check both the issue date and the expiry date in your passport. If you renewed your passport early, extra months may have been added to its expiry date. This could affect the requirement for your passport to be less than 10 years old.

Contact your travel provider or embassy of the country you are visiting if you think that your passport does not meet both these requirements. Renew your passport if you need to.

 

[wowzz]

11 minutes ago, yorkshirephil said:

This is what the Gov,UK site says. So things are still fluid with words like "may" as opposed to "must" being used. With this in mind there is no way I would travel to the EU on my existing passport based on whether Shengen border guards are updated

Passport validity

If you are planning to travel to an EU country (except Ireland), or Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Andorra, Monaco, San Marino or Vatican City, you must meet the Schengen area rules.

Your passport must meet 2 requirements. It must be:

• less than 10 years old on the day you enter (check the ‘date of issue’)
• valid for at least 3 months after the day you plan to leave (check the ‘expiry date’)

We are asking the European Commission to clarify the 10-year rule. Their guidance for Schengen border guards may not be updated until the spring of 2022. Until then, for some Schengen countries your passport may need to be less than 10 years old during your whole visit, and the 3 months at the end of your visit may need to be within 10 years of your passport’s issue date.

Check both the issue date and the expiry date in your passport. If you renewed your passport early, extra months may have been added to its expiry date. This could affect the requirement for your passport to be less than 10 years old.

Which is what Calder said.

There is no need for your passport to have 6 months validity when boarding a cruise, just that it must be current, and still have three months validity on your return.

P&O are applying their own rules.

[yorkshirephil]

8 minutes ago, wowzz said:

 

P&O are applying their own rules.

Nowt new there then

[Edith1950]

I think this is probably the best advice rather than relying on whether the guidance has been updated.    
 

We are asking the European Commission to clarify the 10-year rule. Their guidance for Schengen border guards may not be updated until the spring of 2022. Until then, for some Schengen countries your passport may need to be less than 10 years old during your whole visit, and the 3 months at the end of your visit may need to be within 10 years of your passport’s issue date.

 

[zap99]

31 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Which is what Calder said.

There is no need for your passport to have 6 months validity when boarding a cruise, just that it must be current, and still have three months validity on your return.

P&O are applying their own rules.

A few others seem to be ignoring the 3 months and insisting on 6 months. Apparently Ryanair.

Edited May 1, 2022 by zap99

[emam]

So if gov.uk say you only need 3 months left on your passport but P&O say you need six are you willing to run the risk of denied boarding by not abiding by their rules?

[wowzz]

23 minutes ago, emam said:

So if gov.uk say you only need 3 months left on your passport but P&O say you need six are you willing to run the risk of denied boarding by not abiding by their rules?

No, I wouldn't.  But P&O should not be arbitrarily imposing rules for no reason.

[yorkshirephil]

21 minutes ago, emam said:

So if gov.uk say you only need 3 months left on your passport but P&O say you need six are you willing to run the risk of denied boarding by not abiding by their rules?

And there lies the problem, for me NO. P&O may just be taking the 6 months that you need for some countries and applying a blanket rule across the board. However they are a travel company and should have people in place that monitor travel rules and regulations and apply them accurately. 

[MickD]

14 minutes ago, yorkshirephil said:

And there lies the problem, for me NO. P&O may just be taking the 6 months that you need for some countries and applying a blanket rule across the board. However they are a travel company and should have people in place that monitor travel rules and regulations and apply them accurately. 

P&O are not sticking to their 6 month rule and will let you board with 3 months if that is the rule of the countries that you are visiting, and yes I can speak from recent experience 😁

[yorkshirephil]

5 minutes ago, MickD said:

P&O are not sticking to their 6 month rule and will let you board with 3 months if that is the rule of the countries that you are visiting, and yes I can speak from recent experience 😁

Good to know, however this is what their web site says;

Passports

As with all holidays to foreign countries, you will need to have a valid biometric (E-passport) or machine-readable passport with a minimum of six months validity after the date of your return, and sufficient blank pages for entry and exit stamps (applicable to the length and ports of call in your itinerary). 

[MickD]

3 minutes ago, yorkshirephil said:

Good to know, however this is what their web site says;

Passports

As with all holidays to foreign countries, you will need to have a valid biometric (E-passport) or machine-readable passport with a minimum of six months validity after the date of your return, and sufficient blank pages for entry and exit stamps (applicable to the length and ports of call in your itinerary). 

Yes, we thought we were going to have to get an appointment for emergency passport, but made a phone call to customer services, and the chap I spoke to stated that he had taken many phone calls about this.

He said he’d already consulted with senior management and they agreed only 3 months was needed as the cruise was only visiting France & Spain

He put a note on the booking for check in staff, and there were no issues boarding at all.