The bottom line, say travel experts: Everyone for whom international travel is even a vague possibility should get a passport now and keep it up to date. Processing a passport takes an average six weeks unless you pay a premium for expedited service. Passport offices are expected to be swamped as travelers awake to the new regulations. The U.S. State Department estimates that fewer than one-third of Americans have valid passports.

Cruise companies are urging all travelers to get valid passports even if their itinerary does not include international travel because there's always the chance that some emergency might require a passenger to disembark early and fly home from a foreign port, or an entire ship might have to dock at a foreign port because of mechanical problems. Islanders should be aware that the longer around-the-Islands itineraries of the NCL America cruise ships here include a visit to Fanning Island, which requires a passport.

Yahoo! Travel, the online travel agency, suggests you download passport forms before you visit the passport office; you can fill them out while you wait (and you will have to wait).

All passport fees are nonrefundable and only some of the 9,000 passport facilities in the U.S. will accept exact cash. Be sure to have your checkbook, credit, or debit/check card (no ATM cards accepted) when visiting your local passport office, Yahoo! Travel suggests.

If you need expedited service, you must call the National Passport Information Center for an appointment (number below), which will allow you to get your passport processed in less than two weeks. Or you can pay one of the private services that push passports through in 24 hours.

For example, American Express Vacations Plan-Ahead Services offers same-day passport service for last-minute travelers and those who lose their passports, or have them stolen; information at www.americanexpressvacations.com.

Members of AAA can get expedited passport service plus travel-planning assistance through their AAA service center. A commercial company called Passports andVisas.com offers online help with rapid passport processing at fees that begin at $59 (in addition to the government's fee for passport processing).

While you can take your own passport picture, there are very specific guidelines for these and it's safer and less hassle to have this done by a photo shop or at the drugstore. If your photo doesn't meet the guidelines, your application will be rejected. For photo guidelines, check the Web site travel.state.gov.

In Honolulu, the Regional Passport Agency is in the Prince Kuhio Federal Building, 300 Ala Moana, Suite 1-330, and is open 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. weekdays.

The National Passport Information Center number is (877) 487-2778; service agents can answer questions on weekdays, 2 a.m. to 7 p.m. (Hawai'i time).