Passport near expiration question

[Minniemiss]

As noted, the "6 months past travel date" is not a given. If you are on a Caribbean cruise, the requirement is just that the passport must be valid. There are ports, primarily in Europe, where 3 months or 6 months past the date you plan on departing that country must be on the passport.

If you are on a cruise that has a port with such a requirement, and your passport does not qualify, then, yes, you would be denied boarding.

Just checked the requirements for Mexico as one of our stops is Cozumel. Mexico, Six months minimum validity required for entry.
http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/country/mexico.html

 

[Minniemiss]

Has anyone experienced a problem checking in on the DCL website with a passport that will expire within the 6 month time frame? I thought I had read on here that it was an issue. Our current passport info is in DCL's system as we have cruised before. We are renewing our passports but there is a chance we won't have the new ones in hand before our check in online date.

 

[mom2jcg]

Well thank you for this! We fly out tonight for our cruise that leaves Saturday. I had no idea...thought if they weren't expired, they were valid. Our kids have 2 months left on theirs, so I grabbed certified copies of their birth certificates. Thanks for saving us!

 

[Minniemiss]

Well thank you for this! We fly out tonight for our cruise that leaves Saturday. I had no idea...thought if they weren't expired, they were valid. Our kids have 2 months left on theirs, so I grabbed certified copies of their birth certificates. Thanks for saving us!

Were you able to check in online without an issue?

 

[mom2jcg]

Were you able to check in online without an issue?

Yes! My only clue that we might have an issue is that the title of this thread caught my attention and I read it. It surprises me that Disney has had all of my information and didn't notify me.

 

[lanejudy]

U.S. residents may cruise to Cozumel with just a birth certificate. Therefore, I suspect the requirement for 6-month-to-expiration on Passports is not enforced when arriving on a major cruise line. For U.S. residents. While I haven't done this personally I also haven't read any reports over the years that passengers had any issues at Cozumel, either due to passport expiration date or cruising with just a birth certificate and ID.

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[mom2jcg]

U.S. residents may cruise to Cozumel with just a birth certificate. Therefore, I suspect the requirement for 6-month-to-expiration on Passports is not enforced when arriving on a major cruise line. For U.S. residents. While I haven't done this personally I also haven't read any reports over the years that passengers had any issues at Cozumel, either due to passport expiration date or cruising with just a birth certificate and ID.

Enjoy your cruise!

Thank you! I am a huge planner, but somehow missed this one, so it completely freaked me out when I read it. Thank goodness we have multiple copies of the boys' certified birth certificates, because I don't want to leave anything to chance.

 

[Alexle2007]

We have passports. And, our passports are going to expire about 7 to 8 months AFTER our sail date. I know that you are supposed to have a passport that has at least 6 months left on it. So, we should be fine. But, I was wondering, if you are within 6 months of the expiration date, would they deny boarding using that passport?

We just cruised on Fantasy and DS's passport expires at the end of July and we had no problems with boarding. That reminds me I need to get him a new one now.

 

[bumbershoot]

Well thank you for this! We fly out tonight for our cruise that leaves Saturday. I had no idea...thought if they weren't expired, they were valid. Our kids have 2 months left on theirs, so I grabbed certified copies of their birth certificates. Thanks for saving us!

If I were in your shoes I would have the BCs but use the passports. Just to see.

IMO if you can go to a place with just a BC, they aren't going to be picky about passport expiration.

 

[jiminy14]

My DD and I just cruised in April and both of our passports expire in September. One of our stops was Cozumel and we had no problem with check-in or boarding. I had brought BCs with us just in case but we were never even asked to show them.

 

[mom2jcg]

If I were in your shoes I would have the BCs but use the passports. Just to see.

IMO if you can go to a place with just a BC, they aren't going to be picky about passport expiration.

That's the plan...I'm keeping the bcs as a backup. You would think that would be the case, but I sure don't want to find out the hard way! I'll try to remember to update when I get back for anyone else who might be in the same situation. Thanks!

 

[CamColt]

We sailed in Feb to Cozumel and what was supposed to be CC, but ended up being Nassau. Our passports expired in May, 3 months after the cruise, and there was no issue at all.

 

[houseofduck]

We sailed in Feb to Cozumel and what was supposed to be CC, but ended up being Nassau. Our passports expired in May, 3 months after the cruise, and there was no issue at all.

That's good to know. I would have been very surprised if the 6 month rule would have been enforced when you don't even need a passport to do a closed loop cruise.

 

[houseofduck]

Yes! My only clue that we might have an issue is that the title of this thread caught my attention and I read it. It surprises me that Disney has had all of my information and didn't notify me.

I don't think online checkin cares what is in the passport information. One time, I hadn't received some of our passports before the online checkin date. I used made up numbers so that I could get a port arrival time. (This was for a cruise that required passports.). I had no problem checking in. Then, when the passports arrived, I changed them to the correct numbers. Again, no problems.

 

[kiford]

Yes! My only clue that we might have an issue is that the title of this thread caught my attention and I read it. It surprises me that Disney has had all of my information and didn't notify me.

FYI - If you read the fine print (don't ask me where it is, but it does exist), Disney isn't responsible for ensuring you have the right paperwork (including passports and visas). That's your responsibility. They will deny you boarding if you don't have the right paperwork but they won't give you advice beforehand and their check in definitely won't give you any warning of a passport expiry or insufficiency. I've entered bogus information or expired information into my check-in when we're in the process of renewing passports. Every cruise line requires that you check out the passport and visa requirements yourself and obtain visas if necessary if there isn't a blanket visa available for the ship.

Also, if your passports are insufficient, a certified BC is irrelevant. If you were actually required to have a passport and are required to have one that has 6 months expiry on it, a BC would not be acceptable. However, not only might there be an exception for a closed loop cruise (the US government site referenced above seems to imply it), but US citizens visiting Mexico need only have a passport that is valid through the duration of their visit so you'll be fine.