passport question.

[salty dingo]

20 hours ago, Homosassa said:

Your experience was ten years ago and no longer reflects Celebrity's requirement for stops in Cartagena.

 

A passport is required.

The ship has the ability to flag a traveler so they would not be allowed to pass off the ship when they tried to exit at the gangway. I suppose this is not sufficient for some countries.

[Homosassa]

1 hour ago, salty dingo said:

The ship has the ability to flag a traveler so they would not be allowed to pass off the ship when they tried to exit at the gangway. I suppose this is not sufficient for some countries.

My most recent Celebrity cruise (cruise line mentioned in ten year old experience post) stopping in Colombia was two months ago.

 

No one was allowed to embark in Tampa without a passport.

[sparks1093]

2 hours ago, salty dingo said:

The ship has the ability to flag a traveler so they would not be allowed to pass off the ship when they tried to exit at the gangway. I suppose this is not sufficient for some countries.

When you are in that country's waters you are in the country and need the documents required by their law.

[teachtocruis]

On 3/29/2024 at 4:11 AM, sparks1093 said:

Actually, you can fly back without a passport. There will be a delay while things get sorted out, of course, but there are provisions in the regulations that allow the waiver of the passport requirement for emergencies or humanitarian reasons. Fortunately for most cruisers the risk of having to leave in the middle of a cruise is low enough to be tolerable.

Thank you for this! I must say it was my thought this was more than likely what would happen. 

[aborgman]

On 3/25/2024 at 6:27 AM, sparks1093 said:

someone visiting by air only needs a passport that is valid for the duration of their trip.

 

Yeah - doesn't make any sense for a cruise.

 

For air travel - even when the arriving country doesn't require a 6 month valid passport, the AIRLINE often does.

[SRF]

11 hours ago, aborgman said:

For air travel - even when the arriving country doesn't require a 6 month valid passport, the AIRLINE often does.

 

What airline does this?

 

I travel a lot internationally and have never seen this.  They go by the country requirements.

 

I have heard of a couple cruise lines that enforce a 6 month validity.

[crazyank]

17 hours ago, aborgman said:

For air travel - even when the arriving country doesn't require a 6 month valid passport, the AIRLINE often does.

This is simply not true. Airlines enforce the country's rule.

[sparks1093]

10 hours ago, SRF said:

 

What airline does this?

 

I travel a lot internationally and have never seen this.  They go by the country requirements.

 

I have heard of a couple cruise lines that enforce a 6 month validity.

The luxury lines seem to be the ones that do this most, whilst also requiring all passengers to have a passport regardless of itinerary. (I know, I didn't need to reply, but come on, pass up the chance to use "whilst" in a sentence? 🤣.) Most carriers are not going to impose a stricter standard than that required by law, even if they do have that right. 

[aborgman]

12 hours ago, SRF said:

 

What airline does this?

 

I travel a lot internationally and have never seen this.  They go by the country requirements.

 

I have heard of a couple cruise lines that enforce a 6 month validity.

 

I've seen it happen with both Delta and United, with people flying to Mexico - which has no 6 month requirement.

 

It's related to the fact that if you are refused entry to a country upon arrival (for most non-criminal reasons), it is the airline's responsibility to return you to your place of origin.

[sparks1093]

7 minutes ago, aborgman said:

 

I've seen it happen with both Delta and United, with people flying to Mexico - which has no 6 month requirement.

 

It's related to the fact that if you are refused entry to a country upon arrival (for most non-criminal reasons), it is the airline's responsibility to return you to your place of origin.

Very true, but the passenger is responsible for paying for that return (my understanding only, of course). Since many will already have a return ticket it is a matter of adjusting the price. 

[Elaine5715]

On 4/2/2024 at 10:06 PM, teachtocruis said:

Thank you for this! I must say it was my thought this was more than likely what would happen. 

Except that isn't accurate.  You would be required to obtain an emergency passport before returning, requiring you to travel to the Consulate.  

 

[sparks1093]

9 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:

Except that isn't accurate.  You would be required to obtain an emergency passport before returning, requiring you to travel to the Consulate.  

 

Not necessarily. Klfhngr needed to catch up with the ship, which required him to go to the Embassy/Consulate in Nassau. But if you are on an island with an Embassy/Consulate you will get your passport in a number of hours (which does generally require an overnight stay). Many islands do not have one, so either you get stuck on the island or something happens that allows you to get home. The authorities have two choices in that case. 1) they can authorize you to fly to an island with a State Department presence, which would require a passport which you don't have, or 2) they can authorize you to fly directly back to the US where you can be cleared through secondary inspection. In either case you need a waiver to travel without a passport and the easiest way to deal with you is the second option. I have read a number of times where exactly that happened- the authorities exercised their authority to grant a waiver.

[Elaine5715]

48 minutes ago, sparks1093 said:

Not necessarily. Klfhngr needed to catch up with the ship, which required him to go to the Embassy/Consulate in Nassau. But if you are on an island with an Embassy/Consulate you will get your passport in a number of hours (which does generally require an overnight stay). Many islands do not have one, so either you get stuck on the island or something happens that allows you to get home. The authorities have two choices in that case. 1) they can authorize you to fly to an island with a State Department presence, which would require a passport which you don't have, or 2) they can authorize you to fly directly back to the US where you can be cleared through secondary inspection. In either case you need a waiver to travel without a passport and the easiest way to deal with you is the second option. I have read a number of times where exactly that happened- the authorities exercised their authority to grant a waiver.

There is a Consulate in the every country and you are required to present yourself there in person. 

[IntrepidFromDC]

On 3/25/2024 at 10:30 AM, sparks1093 said:

Thanks, I knew that, most people define "rule" differently and overlook the "general" part. It isn't the end of the world if someone renews their passport when they don't have to, but they should know that they don't have to when they choose to do it.

[sparks1093]

40 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:

There is a Consulate in the every country and you are required to present yourself there in person. 

Not on every island/port, though (there may be a Consulate on another island that is responsible for it, but then how do you get there if you don't have a passport?). 

Edited April 4 by sparks1093

[crazyank]

57 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:

There is a Consulate in the every country and you are required to present yourself there in person. 

Not true, there are a number of countries that do not have U.S. consulates.

[IntrepidFromDC]

2 minutes ago, crazyank said:

Not true, there are a number of countries that do not have U.S. consulates.

Agreed!  All aboard the next cruise to Iran and North Korea, a journeys cruise!

[aborgman]

2 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

Very true, but the passenger is responsible for paying for that return (my understanding only, of course). Since many will already have a return ticket it is a matter of adjusting the price. 

 

That is actually a very interesting thing... it turns out that surprisingly often the airline is on the hook.

[sparks1093]

3 minutes ago, aborgman said:

 

That is actually a very interesting thing... it turns out that surprisingly often the airline is on the hook.

Do you know how often? It seems to me that it would be relatively rare but since that's only a gut feeling it could just be that I am hungry. 

[mz-s]

1 hour ago, crazyank said:

Not true, there are a number of countries that do not have U.S. consulates.

 

When does the Carnival Celebration or whatever stop at those countries?

[aborgman]

2 hours ago, Elaine5715 said:

There is a Consulate in the every country and you are required to present yourself there in person. 

 

Both false.

 

32 minutes ago, mz-s said:

 

When does the Carnival Celebration or whatever stop at those countries?

 

Last I knew - Cozumel doesn't have a consulate... and they closed down the consulate in Playa Del Carmen.

 

So - lose your passport in Cozumel, you need to go to Merida to the consulate.

 

... but traveling without your passport is illegal, and the Yucatan due to it's high tourist population has been massively cracking down on visa overstays - to the point of literally running checkpoints on the main road on Cozumel and arresting tourists who aren't carrying their passport on their person.

 

[aborgman]

1 hour ago, sparks1093 said:

Do you know how often? It seems to me that it would be relatively rare but since that's only a gut feeling it could just be that I am hungry. 

 

It's pretty rare that it happens at all - that is why the airlines are so interested in scrutinizing your passports to prevent it.

 

The reality of it is -  the airline is almost always liable (in a legal sense), but they will very aggressively try to recover the cost from the passenger, and they usually cover their risk by putting that in the contract of carriage.

 

...but initially - the airline IS on the hook, and they have to TRY to recover money from the passenger.

 

[aborgman]

1 hour ago, IntrepidFromDC said:

Agreed!  All aboard the next cruise to Iran and North Korea, a journeys cruise!

 

Current countries with no embassy or consulate -

 

Bhutan
Iran
North Korea
Antigua and Barbuda

Dominica

Grenada

St. Kitts and Nevis

St. Lucia
St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Guinea-Bissau

 

Carnival stops in Antigua, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts, and St. Lucia.

 

 

[Elaine5715]

7 hours ago, aborgman said:

 

Current countries with no embassy or consulate -

 

Bhutan
Iran
North Korea
Antigua and Barbuda

Dominica

Grenada

St. Kitts and Nevis

St. Lucia
St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Guinea-Bissau

 

Carnival stops in Antigua, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts, and St. Lucia.

 

 

Consular Presence

The United States maintains no official presence in St. Kitts and Nevis. A U.S. consular agent residing in nearby Antigua, however, assists U.S. citizens in St. Kitts and Nevis. U.S. EMBASSY TO BARBADOS, ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA, DOMINICA, GRENADA, SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS, SAINT LUCIA, AND SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES-https://bb.usembassy.gov/contact/#emergencies

There is always a US Consular agent in countries where cruise ships visit.  

[Elaine5715]

9 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

Not on every island/port, though (there may be a Consulate on another island that is responsible for it, but then how do you get there if you don't have a passport?). 

Boat and car but why would you need a passport to fly inside a country?