Documents to Carry while visiting ports

Hi Does anyone know what type of docs you should keep on you while visiting different ports in Italy? We will be on Carnival Vista Med cruise in Aug 2016 and are from Los Angeles. Do we need to carry passports on us or is Ca. Drivers license and Ship card enough?

If you are on a ship's excursion, I would take DL and ship's card. If you are going to be free lancing, I would take passport.

small chance but not unheard of for tourists to be targeted in Italy...so I would leave my passport on the ship but take a photocopy of it.

you need to take photo id so drivers licence

I also email myself a scanned copy of our passports..if they go lost this would help in getting an emergency replacement..which by the way costs a bunch

Technically you are required to have a "government issued" identity document on your person at all times while in Italy.

In the States driving licenses are issued by individual states rather than the federal government and there is a lot of discussion over on Trip Advisor that this does not meet the standard for Italy, that only a passport, a passport card, or a military ID is considered sufficient.

Make your own risk assessment. Having your passport on your person is only an issue if you are stopped and asked for it by police or if you need to make a report to the police. If you miss the ship and need to spend the night in a hotel before meeting your ship at the next port a passport will be necessary to check in.

There's a difference between what the law theoretically says, and what's normal.

In theory even visitors from other Schengen countries are supposed to carry their passport or passport card.

But in practice folk don't. And cruise lines, embassies etc all recommend leaving passports & ID cards in your cabin safe or hotel-room safe, unless instructed otherwise.

Ship's staff will tell you that you don't need to carry your passport in Italian ports.

Except Venice :rolleyes:

Presumably because the port authorities there stick to the letter of the law, in Venice you do need to carry ashore your passport (or mebbe passport card - I don't know, we Brits don't have them).

We reckoned that we knew the law & were convinced that Princess had got it wrong, so we didn't take our passports & we weren't challenged. .............................. until we got back to the ship!

But we weren't alone, we had to join a little line of others for a Princess rep and a port authority rep to go thro a passenger manifest and tick us off :o (pun intended :D).

If you need to rent a car, or mebbe make an expensive card purchase, or for us EU citizens to get seniors' discounts at museums, a passport may be needed.

Other than that - and grief-free embarkation in Venice ;) - your ship card & preferably a govt-issued photo ID like a driving licence is good enough.

JB :)

Just for the record, I would never consider taking my passport off the ship with me unless specifically directed to do so. I think the risk of it being lost or stolen is a whole lot higher than the odds of me needing it while ashore. Here is a link to a recent thread on the Celebrity boards regarding this subject. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2310641&highlight=passport

There is no 100 % fool proof answer that will satisfy every Officer ! However, having said that , a color photocopy of the photo and details pages [ laminate for effect and preservation ] has helped many many many folks , esp when you lose the orig and need to visit the Consulate to get an emergency replacement . Don't leave home with out one !!!!!!!!!!!!

I believe but not 100% as there have been some different reports but my personal experience carnival will take your passport and give to u night before debarked. The last three cruises I have been on in Europe ( one left Venice, two left Barcelona) have all taken my passport. Three different cruise lines..one was carnival. The agent even told me this past cruise that NCL would not hold the passport but they did. Anyhow, moral of the story is just take your dl and a copy of passport and ship card.

Thanks for the link and advice.

Our cruise line holds our passports so we never take them and I think the risk of losing or having your passport stolen is far greater than the benefits.

We often don't even take our drivers license. But sometimes we do. Depends where we are touring.

Keith

There's a difference between what the law theoretically says, and what's normal.

...

When I visit a foreign country I like to follow their laws. It is rude not to do so. More importantly, I have no wish to provide someone an excuse to give me a difficult time.

Travelers from Schengen countries do not have to carry passports when traveling in the area. They do have to carry an identity document approved by a Schengen state. This would include a national identity card. Something most Europeans routinely carry.

We take our DL, ship card and a copy of our passport.

broberts

You are correct. Within the EU you are required to carry photo ID. A couple of years ago we were in Spain in a hire car and got stopped by the Guardia Civil. My sister got fined because she did not have any photo ID on her.

I do normally carry my passport with me. We often take the car to France and I still have an old style drivers licence without a photo.

Although I have a chip and pin CC I have been asked for ID quite a few times when using my card.

I guess I will be in the minority here. We always, always carry our passports on our person when travelling abroad. It is the most important personal document we own. I am no more fearful of having it stolen than any of my other important items. If it were to get stolen or misplaced, I do have copies in the hotel or cruise safe. We take extra measures with our personal items and do not feel any more secure leaving passports in a safe than on our persons.

Although a color copy may be of some use think of this scenario - you are driving in the US and get pulled over by law enforcement. You hand over a full color copy of your license because your original is locked at home for "safekeeping". Would it be then end of the world, probably not. Will it delay you and cause you unecessary aggravation - probably. If you are comfortable having a medical emergency in a foreign country, getting in an accident, experiencing a legal issue, act of terrorism or other emergency, etc., without your passport, and feel it is most helpful for you to leave it somewhere else, then go with that plan.

Be aware that there are some countries that have a law that you must carry it with you at all times. We have only had ours taken once, that was on our river cruise for a very short period of time. We were advised to leave them onboard and the Captain was "unaware" that it is a law in Hungary to carry them.

As far as Italy, I found this but it is not stated on the US site one way or another.

Italy requires you to carry official I.D. with you, and a driver's license from another country doesn't count. This means that, in Italy, even though you're unlikely to be checked, you must have your passport with you at all times.

Do not rely on the cruiseline or anyone else to come to your aid. We had friends left behind in Belize due to a medical emergency. No, the cruiseline did not get their passports from the safe for them before leaving port.

Weigh your own comfort level and be aware to the laws - lots of good info on the US State Department website. Only you can decide what works for you.

sippican

I think I am with you on this one. I am lucky to have travelled extensively and have never yet lost my passport anywhere, even though I do normally carry it with me.

In our case the ship holds the passports so that makes the decision quite easy for us.

We only take them with us when required, which is the exception not the norm.

I see no benefit carrying them around.

But I see risk either having them stolen or lost.

Does it happen? Yes.

There are several ports where we are very careful about valuables that we carry and limit it to just a few items.

Again, don't see any need but like all things in the end each person will do what they think best.

Keith

I guess I will be in the minority here. We always, always carry our passports on our person when travelling abroad. It is the most important personal document we own. I am no more fearful of having it stolen than any of my other important items. If it were to get stolen or misplaced, I do have copies in the hotel or cruise safe. We take extra measures with our personal items and do not feel any more secure leaving passports in a safe than on our persons.

Although a color copy may be of some use think of this scenario - you are driving in the US and get pulled over by law enforcement. You hand over a full color copy of your license because your original is locked at home for "safekeeping". Would it be then end of the world, probably not. Will it delay you and cause you unecessary aggravation - probably. If you are comfortable having a medical emergency in a foreign country, getting in an accident, experiencing a legal issue, act of terrorism or other emergency, etc., without your passport, and feel it is most helpful for you to leave it somewhere else, then go with that plan.

Be aware that there are some countries that have a law that you must carry it with you at all times. We have only had ours taken once, that was on our river cruise for a very short period of time. We were advised to leave them onboard and the Captain was "unaware" that it is a law in Hungary to carry them.

As far as Italy, I found this but it is not stated on the US site one way or another.

Italy requires you to carry official I.D. with you, and a driver's license from another country doesn't count. This means that, in Italy, even though you're unlikely to be checked, you must have your passport with you at all times.

Do not rely on the cruiseline or anyone else to come to your aid. We had friends left behind in Belize due to a medical emergency. No, the cruiseline did not get their passports from the safe for them before leaving port.

Weigh your own comfort level and be aware to the laws - lots of good info on the US State Department website. Only you can decide what works for you.

Since the ship holds your passport it is tough to have the original.

Since the ship holds your passport it is tough to have the original.

This varies some by cruise line, but the cruise lines we have been on (HAL and Princess outside of the US starting points, add RCI for US originating cruises) only hold passports for as long as needed to facilitate fast clearances in those ports that have stricter requirements. In 18 cruises (220+ days on cruise ships), I don't recall a cruise line holding our passport for longer than 3 days, and absolutely never for the entire cruise. I don't think more cruise lines want to hold your passport any longer than they have to..

The only time a cruise line has held our passports was when we sailed the Med while the G8 summit was going on in Italy. That was a pretty unusual situation and it's never happened again.

The holding of passports varies by cruise line.

Either way I don't recommend carrying them with you.

Keith

When a cruise line insists on holding my passport I try to get it back as soon as possible.

I have had a passport my entire life and whenever possible I carry it on my person when in a foreign country. But we each have to reach our own conclusion as to the risk of breaking local identity laws and losing or have stolen ones passport.

I would be curious to learn from those who leave their passports on ship, what they would think of a foreign visitor in New York city showing a photocopy of their xyz country passport photo page or abc state DL when asked by a police officer for id.

When a cruise line insists on holding my passport I try to get it back as soon as possible.

 

I have had a passport my entire life and whenever possible I carry it on my person when in a foreign country. But we each have to reach our own conclusion as to the risk of breaking local identity laws and losing or have stolen ones passport.

 

I would be curious to learn from those who leave their passports on ship, what they would think of a foreign visitor in New York city showing a photocopy of their xyz country passport photo page or abc state DL when asked by a police officer for id.

As a USA citizen, I do not expect anyone on our country to carry their passport around.

When they enter our country they should present their passport but once in I think they should keep it a home or in a safety deposit box.

Again, on the cruise lines I sail they hold our passport and I am very happy for that.

I don't want to be carrying mine around.

A lot of passports are stolen or lost.

Keith

our drivers licences are fairly secure. they have photos on them. they are not pieces of paper easy to fabricate nor are they handed out to illegals like almost 50% of California dls are.

photocopy of passport is not worth much...other than a fact along with the fact that you have a dl, a cruise ship card, likely have credit cards in that name, money and are a tourist spending $. legally may not be worth a lot but I doubt a cop is going to waste time on you unless you are stopped for a reason in the first place.

sorry to get a bit preachy but I come from a long line of English tradition of independence from Government. the French can demand you have papers, the Germans certainly will but in the long run that has not worked out well for either

FYI there are joke elements to this posting....some people take me far to seriously

Hi Does anyone know what type of docs you should keep on you while visiting different ports in Italy? We will be on Carnival Vista Med cruise in Aug 2016 and are from Los Angeles. Do we need to carry passports on us or is Ca. Drivers license and Ship card enough?

We have spent lots of time in Italy on cruise port days and lengthy land driving trips. We carry cash (Euros), at least 1 (2 if we are driving ) major credit cards, our drivers license (not smart to drive without one), and a copy of the main page of our Passports. We seldom carry our real Passports (which are kept locked in our cruise cabin safe or at our hotel safe) unless it is absolutely necessary. Bottom line for us is that if we were held-up, and everything we had was taken, we would still have enough documents to continue our trip without a major disruption. Perhaps that is why we have been happy international travelers for over forty years.

Hank

I'm with Keith and hank. If I ever got asked for my passport in a port and the ship has it ( which they have held for every one of my cruises, NCL, rcl,and carnival beginning in Europe), I'd call the ship ( I carry numbers) and have them deal with it😄