Cruise confusion as firms invent their own rules on passport validity
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Exclusive: One cruise firm claimed British passports could not be used for travel to Europe beyond nine years and six months – but has now corrected the assertion. Cruise lines and agents are inventing rules on passport validity, The Independent has found.
One of the leading UK cruise lines, Fred. Olsen, currently asserts on its website: “EU countries consider the expiry date of a passport as the date 10 years after it was issued.”. This is not true, and never has been. European Union nations, like every other country, consider the expiry date to be as printed on the passport. The rule for the EU (and wider Schengen Area) is that least three months’ validity must remain on the intended day of return.
The EU imposes an additional condition: that British passports must not be more than 10 years old on the date of arrival. But that is not the same thing as deeming a passport to expire on its 10th birthday if it has months longer to run. Providing correct advice on the validity of UK passports is essential to ensure that travellers are properly documented for their destination – while avoiding passengers feeling pressurised into renewing a passport unnecessarily, possibly paying a premium for Fast Track renewal.
Clare Ward, commercial and product director at Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines, said: “We ask our guests to ensure that, when travelling to Europe with us, their passport issue date is within 10 years of the date they will arrive into any European country.
