Passport Delays Cause Maryland Couple to Miss Once-in-a-Lifetime Trip: 'Devastating' (Exclusive)

Connie and Duane Raynor were planning a Mediterranean cruise with 79 friends to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries and, for Connie, being cancer free

Connie Raynor was looking forward to the trip of a lifetime.

The Pasadena, Maryland-based event planner, 52, was going to embark on a Mediterranean cruise with her husband, Duane, and a large group of 79 friends on July 5 — but the couple didn’t receive their passport renewals in time, despite applying three months in advance.

Connie had originally hoped to travel overseas with a small group in 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic canceled those plans. Then in 2022, the couple began planning their dream trip along with many more of their friends to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries and other life events. Connie, who lost her mom to cancer, was also celebrating being cancer free herself after a 2015 diagnosis with the disease.

The cruise destinations included Italy and Greece, and Connie had created a spreadsheet full of must-see attractions, even booking dinner reservations in advance.

“It was really special,” she tells PEOPLE. "It was very important to us. And for that to all be taken away because of this circumstance, for us, it was devastating."

When Connie and Duane applied for their passport renewals at a local UPS store on April 6, she says they were told by a staff member that the wait time was six to nine weeks for regular service. While the applications they sent overnight were received on time, they didn’t show up in the passport processing database until April 12. That’s when she was alarmed to see a wait time of 10-13 weeks listed.

Connie says when she tried calling the U.S. State Department, she typically waited between one and two-and-a-half hours to speak with someone, and was told she couldn’t expedite service until two weeks before her trip. When she reached the two-week window, she asked to make an in-person appointment, even offering to fly to another state, but says she was told she couldn’t make an appointment until five days out from the trip.

After she reached out to Maryland Rep. John Sarbanes on June 19, she says she and her husband were entered into the system as emergent travelers to expedite the process. Five days before the trip, they still didn’t have their passports, so they began calling the State Department repeatedly every day from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., but no appointments were available.

In March, the State Department announced that the processing time for passports had “changed several times” in the past few months, due to high demand post-pandemic. The processing time for routine applications was extended to 10-13 weeks, and seven to nine weeks for expedited applications — and that doesn’t include mailing times, which may add up to two weeks for applications to arrive and another two weeks for the completed passport to reach the applicant.

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A State Department spokesperson told PEOPLE in an email, "As more Americans are traveling internationally again, we continue seeing unprecedented demand for passports. In Fiscal Year 2022, we issued nearly 22 million passports — more than ever before — and we are on track to break that record again for Fiscal Year 2023.

"The Department is experiencing a surge in passport demand, and during some weeks we are seeing twice as many applications pending compared to the same point in FY 2022."

The spokesperson added that they’re receiving approximately 400,000 applications each week, following "higher-than-normal volumes" in January through May that exceeded 500,000 applications a week.

"We are working hard to get back to our pre-pandemic processing times by the end of calendar year 2023," the spokesperson said, adding that the measures they’re taking include increasing hiring and training, authorizing overtime, and investing in automation and other technologies. Before the pandemic, standard passport processing times were six to eight weeks for routine service and two to three weeks for expedited service.

The State Department is also urging citizens to apply at least six months in advance of travel or their passport’s expiration date. However, procedures are in place for Americans who must travel within three business days due to a "qualifying emergency" — for example, an immediate family member outside the U.S. has died, is dying, or has a life-threatening illness or injury.

The total cost of the Raynors' trip was more than $10,000, which included two days in Rome they’d scheduled before the cruise to ensure they’d have plenty of time to get to the ship after flying to Europe. The couple had prepaid for the cruise in installments leading up to March and Connie says they "worked [their] butts off" for the money, and had even bought new wardrobes to make the trip extra special.

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Connie says the couple requested travel insurance through Norwegian Cruise Line, but were told it wasn’t applied to their package due to an agent’s error. They’re not seeking a monetary refund, but are hoping the company will rebook their cruise. Of the 81 people in their original travel group, only the Raynors and their friends Vicki and Dan Heller missed the trip due to passport delays.

"We just want to be able to have the experience that all of our closest friends got to do and experience," she says. "My husband and I still want to make this special. We still want to see something and experience something that we spent years planning."

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