Don’t make the passport mistake these Princess cruise ship passengers made. You’re in the danger zone if your passport has less than six months left before it expires.
Bob Gersna and his wife planned to spend last Christmas on a Princess cruise through the Panama Canal. Unfortunately, a tiny mistake he made on his passport renewal application caused the couple to miss the cruise completely. Instead of sailing through tropical seas aboard Coral Princess, they spent the holidays in snowy Ohio.
But sitting at home when they should have been on a festive cruise wasn’t the worst part of this misadventure. Not by a long shot.
Although the couple knew Princess would not refund their canceled cruise, they assumed their travel protection provider would. They filed a claim under the cancel-for-any-reason (CFAR) clause and then waited for the refund to arrive.
But that refund would never arrive. The couple soon learned the fate of the $6,170 they’d invested in the cruise.
Gersna says Travel Insured International rejected their claim entirely, and he’s unsure why.
Now, he’s asking Consumer Rescue to investigate whether or not the insurance company correctly denied his claim. Additionally, he’s wondering why Princess didn’t allow him to board the cruise without a passport. After all, he had alternative identification and even offered to stay on the ship at all times.
So, what’s up with that travel protection plan that didn’t protect this couple at all? And should Princess have allowed him to board the ship sans passport?
Those are the questions for today.
A festive holiday on a Princess cruise
Unfortunately, the Gersnas haven’t had very good luck with cruising. In fact, their last cruise could only be described as a disaster. Gersna’s wife Gail became ill very early into the trip.
“Gail spent 17 out of 21 days sick in our cruise cabin,” Gersna told me. “When we returned, she continued to be ill for several months. We really didn’t think we’d travel out of the country again.”
However, in October, Gail finally began to feel well and the landlocked Buckeyes’ thoughts turned to the sea again. Perusing the Princess website, the couple zeroed in on a 16-night Panama Canal cruise embarking in Los Angeles and ending in Ft. Lauderdale.
By all accounts, it was an ambitious endeavor, given the couple’s past cruising experiences.
After booking the trip through Direct Line Cruises, the Gersnas excitedly started looking forward to their adventure. Wisely, Gail went straight for the drawer where she kept their passports and checked the expiration dates.
As she suspected, both of their passports were dangerously close to expiring. But with just four weeks before the cruise was set to embark, Gail knew they would need to act fast.
Applying for expedited passport renewals before the cruise
Heading to the U.S. Passport online renewal portal, Gail read through all the instructions.
Although there were no longer massive delays in passport processing as we saw during and just after the pandemic, she quickly realized they had no time to renew through the mail.
Since it’s not possible to apply for an expedited passport renewal online, Gail printed out the applications and the couple filled them out.
They would need to pay $130 each by check or money order for the renewal and an extra $60 per application for the expedited passports. After completing all steps of the process, Gail put all the documents into a big envelope and sent them off to the National Passport Office.
The expedited passport renewal process from start to finish should have taken 2 to 3 weeks. That should have given the couple plenty of time to have their new passports safely in their possession before they flew off to Los Angeles to begin their Princess cruise to the Panama Canal.
But then their expedited application process hit a bump in the proverbial road – Bob’s passport renewal was rejected.
The U.S. Passport Office says there is a mistake
About a week before the couple was set to sail, Gail received her new passport. At the same time, Bob received an unusual message. His passport application had been rejected. The page where he would sign to take the oath that is necessary for passport processing had a problem.
“I remember signing it, so I’m not sure what went wrong,” Bob told me. “But the Passport Office sent me a new form and told me that I needed to sign it before my passport renewal would be approved.”
With a sinking feeling, the couple realized there was no time for Bob to sign the document, send it off and have his passport approved and received.
“I called our agent at Direct Line Cruises and told her what happened,” Bob recalled. “I asked if we could still take the cruise if I agreed to stay on the ship at all times. We didn’t want to miss this trip.”
Unfortunately, for the couple, joining this cruise without a passport was an impossibility.
When you can cruise without a passport and when you can’t
What Bob was asking Princess Cruises to do was impossible.
It is true that travelers can take some cruises without a passport, but that would never be an option on a trip like the one the Gersnas were scheduled to take.
Closed-loop cruises (ones that begin and end in the same U.S. port) are the only cruises where travelers who are citizens of the United States can cruise without a passport. However, it’s important to note that not all closed-loop cruises can be taken without a passport. Always check the requirements for every country on your cruise itinerary to determine if a passport is needed. Of course, even if a passport isn’t required, official identification proving residency and citizenship is still necessary(typically a birth certificate and photo ID like a driver’s license).
Related: We had our Real ID! Why couldn’t we board our Carnival cruise?
But a passport is always highly recommended on a closed loop cruise because you’ll be visiting international destinations. Cruise ship passengers must always be aware that although you can cruise without a passport to limited international destinations, if you need to fly home for some unforeseen reason, you will not have the documents you to do that.
However, in Gersna’s case, his cruise wasn’t a closed-loop cruise. The trip through the Panama Canal started in California and ended in Florida. It visited multiple foreign countries.
Every passenger on Coral Princess was required to have a valid passport. No exceptions.
Gersna wasn’t denied boarding his cruise by mistake. But I wanted to look at that travel protection policy he purchased via Direct Line Cruises.
What does this Princess customer’s “Travel Protection” cover?
Because Gail had been so sick during and after her last cruise, the couple wanted to make sure they were protected in case they needed to cancel.
“Our agent at Direct Line Cruises offered us what I thought was cancel-for-any-reason coverage,” Gersna told me. “But after we filed a claim it was rejected.”
When I went through Gersna’s paper trail, I saw a devastating mistake regarding that “travel insurance.”
Travel Insured International offers cruise passengers three types of travel protection. The most basic, and least expensive, does not offer CFAR protection.
The Gersnas had purchased the Travel Insured International “Essential” policy. This policy, which is only slightly less expensive than the “Deluxe” policy, doesn’t include CFAR.
The Gersnas did not have a cancel-for-any-reason protection. That left their entire cruise fare in jeopardy when they needed to cancel at the last minute because of the passport fiasco.
Travel Insured had rejected the couple’s claim properly. There was no way for Consumer Rescue to claw back their cruise fare.
How to make sure a passport mistake doesn’t ruin your cruise plans
In the end, the Gersnas accepted their fate graciously. In fact, they wanted me to tell their story so you don’t fall victim to the same passport mistake and insurance error they made.
Here’s what they wished they knew before their cruise fiasco.
Always give yourself plenty of time for a passport renewal
Current passport renewals, according to the Passport Office, take about 3 to 4 weeks. But you should always give yourself a wide buffer. Never wait until the last minute to apply for your passport renewal.
Note: The expiration date on your passport is a bit misleading because many international destinations require you to have three to six months validity left from the date of your ticket back home.
Related: This passport mistake will ruin your vacation every time!
It’s a good practice to apply for your new passport before you enter the six month danger zone. And no, you can’t ever cruise or fly with an expired passport.
Be careful about home printers and filling out those passport documents
It’s unclear what caused Bob’s passport rejection, but it seems that a missing signature was the issue. If you intend to apply for your passport online or with documents printed at home, make absolutely certain that you’ve double checked everything for accuracy before submission.
If worse comes to worse, try same-day passport processing
In the end, if you’ve made a mistake on your passport application, all isn’t lost. There are 26 passport offices around the country that offer same day processing. Yes, it will be expensive, but not as expensive, emotionally or financially, as a missed cruise. (You can read about my family’s passport misadventure and my husband’s pursuit of a same-day passport here.)
The bottom line
I wish this couple had contacted Consumer Rescue at the moment Bob received his passport rejection. I would have recommended he try for a same-day passport. It would have been fairly simple based on their location and would have ensured the couple didn’t lose the $6,170 they’d invested in their Princess Cruise.
Unfortunately, they didn’t, which led to the complete loss of the funds they invested in their holiday Princess cruise. But hopefully by sharing their story they can prevent others from suffering a similar fate.
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If you have a problem with a cruise line you can’t resolve on your own, send your request to our consumer advocacy team. We will be happy to investigate your complaint. Our mediation is always fast, friendly and always free of charge. (Michelle Couch-Friedman, Consumer Rescue)
Yep as you mention, a same day passport would have been the solution here. Not sure where they live or how long of a drive that would have been for them but it would have certainly been worth the effort. Living in NJ, you and I are lucky that we have 3 passport offices within a 90 min drive but not everyone is as fortunate.
This is also why I don’t use cruise line’s travel insurance. Too many loopholes. I use Allianz for years. We had issues fr a hurricane delaying us getting back to Port. They paid our claim with no issues, covering hotel and airline fees and shuttle transportation.
I don’t think the issue was that the policy was bought through the cruise line – when I was shopping for a yearly policy, even Allianz had policies that didn’t cover trip cancellation or covered only cancellation for covered reasons , which would not have included this situation.
Again proof that using your local Travel Agent would have prevented this heartache. I had a similar situation and helped the gentleman secure a same day appointment. Also your local Travel Agent would have pointed out the differences in the insurance offered by the cruise line (they offer standard and platinum) both have CFAR with future cruise credits. Booking online or without your local TA can come with potential liability that could all be easily avoidable.
So sad they lost all that money, and the cruise! BUT… you need to check your passports BEFORE booking a cruise!
The did but screwed up the renewal application.
“They”
I wouldn’t call losing six grand a “tiny“ mistake. They made two “tiny” mistakes here, first, not filling out the passport renewal application correctly and second, not realizing they had not purchased a cancel for any reason insurance policy..
The mistake itself is tiny (leaving off a signature). The repercussions were giant and expensive.