Passport expires in five months-schengen

[shirie.]

We are considering booking a generations Uniworld cruise at the end of this month for our family with teens. My daughters passport expires in five months. We are only visiting countries with a three month passport requirement. Uniworld seems to think this is ok but I worry as other cruise lines I have seen require a six month passport. Thank you. 

[Fouremco]

2 minutes ago, shirie. said:

We are considering booking a generations Uniworld cruise at the end of this month for our family with teens. My daughters passport expires in five months. We are only visiting countries with a three month passport requirement. Uniworld seems to think this is ok but I worry as other cruise lines I have seen require a six month passport. Thank you. 

If none of the countries to be visited require more than 3 months, and Uniworld only requires 3 months for this itinerary, you needn't worry about what other cruise lines might or might not require.

[Host Jazzbeau]

You should also check with your airline, as they might have their own requirements.

[Canal archive]

Don’t just go by the month either go by the actual day date. We were nearly caught out because of the channel tunnel requirements, so our friends had a trip to London to arrange a fast new passport. Most won’t understand this but we’re so green because it is blue!

[shirie.]

thank you. I could not find written information from Uniworld. Will call them again. Appreciate the help. Airlines refer to IATA website which states three months ok. we have five. Keeping fingers crossed.

 

 

[milling73]

To ease the stress of worrying about it, I would pay for a rapid renewal of her passport. 
perhaps it depends where you live, but our airline stated passport must extend 6 months beyond travel date. 

[shirie.]

thank you. curious which airline was that?

[Deb922]

I recently renewed our passports. 3 weeks from when I sent them to when I received them in the  mail. Did not pay any extra, that was my normal processing time. I suspect if expedited, it would be even less 

Edited June 5, 2022 by Deb922

[Canal archive]

In the U.K. recently there was a threat to put the work of the passport office out to public tender because renewals were taking so long and the backlog was horrendous. Was the threat tongue in cheek or not?

[NinaBlue22]

Our Uniworld cruise leaves next weekend, and this information was part of our cruise documents-

 

Passports
All Uniworld river cruises require a passport. In most cases, passports must be valid for six (6) months after the scheduled return date from the trip. Each guest is fully responsible for obtaining and carrying the travel documents necessary for his or her travel itinerary. Uniworld will not be responsible for any delays, damages and/or losses, including missed portions of your trip,

[hihandycap]

On 6/4/2022 at 5:09 PM, shirie. said:

Uniworld seems to think this is ok but I worry as other cruise lines I have seen require a six month passport

Ii is not worth the risk and anxiety.  Pay for an expedited renewal!

 

Our experience:

A few years ago, we had booked a three week HAL ocean cruise that circumnavigated OZ with a little over 4 months before passport expiration as of the date of sailing.   We had obtained "e visa" tourist entry permits for Australia without any issue.

 

When we arrived in Sydney's port, we were initially refused boarding.   After appealing up the ship's hierarchy,  we were only allowed to board if we agreed to disembark in Darwin and reboard several days later in Broome, Western Australia 1,900 kms away, because the itinerary included a one-day tender stop in Indonesia.  Indonesia has a six-month passport expiration policy, and supplies a significant percentage of HAL's  crews.  HAL had absolute control over anyone trying to board a tender at Komodo Island but that did not matter.

 

Fortunately, HAL did provide us cost-free internet access. During the days before arrival in Darwin, we were able to prevail on Indonesia's Ministry of Tourism that we were no threat of illegally emigrating to his wonderful country.  Only after we asked the Minister to email directly the Hotel Manager, were we allowed to remain on board while the ship was in Indonesian waters for less than 24 hours.  

 

It was a traumatic experience, trying to make travel and lodging arrangements in an unfamiliar country with a tight deadline.  It taught us that paying customers are at the bottom of the food chain in the travel business; lower-level staff have broad discretion and are invariably risk averse--it matters little what someone else in the organization may have told you .

 

Our recommendation:  anyone who plans to travel internationally needs to apply for passport renewal nine months before the (seemingly  meaningless) expiration date!

 

P.S. We were 4 star HAL customers well on our way to the 5th but won't be using any CCL cruise line again.  YMMV

Edited June 12, 2022 by hihandycap
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