Question about applying for passports for my husband and myself

[csziggy]

One of the sections ask for travel plans - specific dates and countries to be visited.

We're planning to take a short cruise, maybe this year, and then probably in 2019 visit the British Isles. But we have no idea when either trip will be.

The short cruise will be to the Bahamas and I don't even know if we need passports to get off the ship for the one day it will be there. Just in case, we won't book the cruise until we have our passports in hand and it's not worth it to us to ask for expedited handling.

It's way to early to even guess at the dates for the 2019 trip - the cruise line I would like to take doesn't even have all their dates posted yet.

So do you have to fill in that section even if you just want a passport for future trips?

[MLAA]

1. As I recall been many years since I got mine and the renewal doesnt ask that...

it is checking to see if their standard processing times meet your needs. I would just put 3 months in the future for your estimated date of cruise. If you need a passport sooner (doesn’t sound like you do) you can pay an expedite fee.

[lunasun]

2. No

[jberryhill]

3. Then you don't have any specific plans

Plans are plans. Plans can change. You are not swearing a solemn vow to go, or not to go, to any particular place - and what I would suggest to you is that you do not have any travel plans, and that if you are worried about leaving it blank then you could perfectly well say "none".

"Just in case, we won't book the cruise until we have our passports in hand" - then, no, you do not have any plans. (And yes, you need your passport to enter and exit another country - even if it is a "just a cruise stop" (for you, but an actual country to the people who inhabit it and administer the laws thereof).

[csziggy]

7. OK, that makes sense - I just hate leaving blanks in official forms

I pretty much knew that we'd need passports to go to the Bahamas.What I should have said was that maybe we could take the cruise and not get off the ship in the Bahamas - but that would be a much lesser experience.

The Bahamas trip is an experiment to see how we like cruising. Our last experience flying was a night mare. That was in 1990 without TSA and the increased security and before the airlines started cutting seat space and offering fewer amenities.

I'd wanted to take a long train trip but we took an overnight trip from Florida to Arlington and back which my husband hated. So before we book a 7 night cruise to England, we want to take a trial cruise to see how we will enjoy it. I still think a cruise across the Atlantic will be more fun than flying and know it will be cheaper than flying first class!

Aaaaannnndddd of course, we will not be able to submit our applications in the immediate future, with the government shutdown.

Thank you!

[Major Nikon]

4. My guess is they use the data to help determine if you will be put on the do-not-fly list

I wouldn't worry about it too much.

[LeftInTX]

5. I'm pretty sure you will need a passport in the Bahamas

We were going to go to Alaska and needed passports for Canadian ports.

[DFW]

6. Just fill in estimated dates

Often, the passport office uses that info to decide if the passport issuing is urgent (i.e. imminent departure) or not. In general (not always!), you get it quicker than their estimated arrival date.

[csziggy]

8. Who knows if we can even submit the forms right now!

I've been after my husband to dig out our birth certificates for two weeks. He waited until yesterday.

Oh well, we can wait. See my reply above for our plans. Which of course are all up in the air.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

9. I applied just a couple months ago and I didn't provide travel plans.

Apparently that question is to determine how fast to expedite the processing. Though I still got my new passport back in well under a month.
Here's some info that might help:
https://www.us-passport-service-guide.com/is-question-19-travel-plans-a-required-field-on-form-ds11.html

[csziggy]

10. You know, I spent a lot of time reading stuff on their site

And didn't think about checking for that question!

Of course my searching on their site was three months and two operations ago...

[sarge43]

11. That must be a new Trumpist requirement

I got my passport about a year ago and nothing like that was on the application

Put down "Unknown at this time" because right now you're not sure.