Don’t Forget Your Passport!

Now this may seem a silly thing to say, you would be surprised at how many people do!

One of the most important questions we ask a client when booking, is do you have a valid passport with at least 6 months of validity on this?   Are you a British Citizen? Again, seems a silly question however, a British Citizen is different to a British Subject and therefore different rules do apply.

The validity of a passport always has people asking why do we ask for at least 6 months.  Simple truth is, most of the cruise lines have this as a booking requirement, plus on a cruise, you are travelling to a lot of different countries. For example one minute your in Greece who currently say 3 month is fine, the next day your in Turkey where you need 6 month.

Now we come to blank pages on passports. Some clients of mine have told me of having only one page left, waiting for a long time in immigration, then reluctantly getting an entry into the country. Did you know for example that for South Africa, some officials insist on 2 blank pages, whereas the South African authorities say only one page?

What about visa’s? Another minefield, which changes all the time.  I guess you all know that you need a Esta for arriving into the United States, but did you know you also need a visa to arrive into Turkey, or Australia, Bahrain,Cambodia, China, India, Cuba and Egypt to name a few!  If you don’t’ need a visa,  you may need one after so many days, so always best to check.

What about if your going to St Petersburg in Russia as part of a Baltic Cruise.   Cruise passengers can normally visit on a visa – waiver scheme, provided the port of call does not exceed 72 hours. Clients must of course stay overnight on the ship and any excursions they wish to take must be booked with the cruise ship, and taken with the Cruise directors. Some clients do of course want to do their own thing in Russia, sorry, unless you have paid for a separate visa you will not gain access into the country.

For a smooth passage, it is wise to check the situation in advance on the FCO’s website, country-by-country guide. If you are travelling outside of Europe, please don’t cut it fine, when it comes to passport renewal!