When to renew passport that expires January 2017?

[bumbershoot]

I like check countries here: https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/country.html because it's the State Department's job to keep this info up to date.

Plenty of countries I want to go to where they only require the passport be valid during your trip (like Ireland).

Even the Schengen countries don't ALL require 6 months. Some do, some require 3 months.

I could go to Mali with a passport just good for the trip. I don't want to, but I could. Botswana is a country I could be convinced to visit, and they do require 6 months. Duly noted. It's all worth knowing.


But none of this matters for a closed loop, US-based, cruise for US citizens, because those cruises for those citizens don't even require a passport for the cruise itself LOL.


Anyway, I'm a country-facts person (for fun I look at the CIA World Fact Sheet website), I'm a passport person, I'm a hope-springs-eternal-for-a-surprise-trip person, but I would never send my passport away for renewal 8-9 months before I had plans for it. If only the US would do what I read Canada does, where they extend the expiration time by the amount of months you're "losing" when you send it for renewal!



And guys, hate to tell you, but...

https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/country/the-bahamas.html

PASSPORT VALIDITY:

• Must be valid at time of entry

And that's for flying. "Those traveling to The Bahamas on a cruise may use another Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) compliant document."

http://www.bahamas.com/entry-requirements

US Citizens
For current information on regulations for international travel, visit the Travel Section of the US Customs and Border Protection Home Page: www.cbp.gov.

http://www.grandbahamavacations.com/about-the-island/entry-requirements/

Says the same thing as bahamas.com.

Which as far as I can tell leads me here: https://www.cbp.gov/travel/us-citizens/western-hemisphere-travel-initiative which gives me no info on Bahamas and passport requirements.

I cannot find an official type of website that states anything about 3 months for The Bahamas for a US citizen.

 

[scubadiver]

My passport was set to expire in May. My travel agent stated a bulletin has been issued that there will be a hiring freeze in December at the State Department, with the arrival of the new White House occupant. Her suggestion was to renew early. I put my renewal in the mail on Nov 15 and received my new passport on Nov 30. However, I put my daughter's passport in the mail at the same time and her's has not arrived. Both were just a renewal, but sent to different addresses, as she is a minor.

 

[twodogs]

Would you need your passport to re-enter the US if you were on a closed loop US based cruise but had a medical problem in a foreign port and had to be evacuated directly to the US from that port without coming back via the cruise ship??