Retention of Passports by Costa Staff

[bigpeewee]

My wife and I are booked on the Deliziosa out of Dubai on 9 May 2010.

 

I have read somewhere on this Forum that the Costa staff will retail our Passports on boarding?

 

Is this correct?... And if so, how do we get on for various shore excursions without a Passport. It seems a dangerous situation to be required to surrender such an important document.

[mummsie]

My wife and I are booked on the Deliziosa out of Dubai on 9 May 2010.

 

I have read somewhere on this Forum that the Costa staff will retail our Passports on boarding?

 

Is this correct?... And if so, how do we get on for various shore excursions without a Passport. It seems a dangerous situation to be required to surrender such an important document.

 

Not sure about Costa as we are taking our first cruise with them in a few weeks. Star lines do it for all their cruises. No big deal as we rarely take our passports off the ship anyway. We do however, always take a photocopy and keep it with us - mummsie

[peabody99]

I don't know why, but this is standard practice on cruises for non EU members and they seem to know what they are doing. We were actually told to pick up ours up for Barcelona--good thing b/c in port we were asked to show it with every credit card purchase. We noted the same policy in Madrid on an independent trip in November. We returned them upon return to ship and took them again in Tunisia. We ended up keeping them the remaining few days of the cruise. Generally on independent international travel, I do not walk around with my passport. I prefer to secure it in a safe and carry a copy. If it stolen (more likely to happen if on your person than in a safe) you are in for a world of trouble, whereas the odds of something going wrong b/c you are walking around with a copy are almost nil.

[BrucieNB]

I know it seems alarming, but in practice we found it no problem when on Deliziosa in Dubai.

 

Passports are certainly not needed for the UAE stops - but looking at the date, are you on the return voyage to Savona?

 

I can't think it is a problem as it seems to be common practice.

 

I have two thoughts as to why they do it.

 

1) they can smooth the process of shore trips by having them

 

2) more likely - you don't get your passport back until you have paid the onboard bills. ;)

[Cruisin D]

My wife and I are booked on the Deliziosa out of Dubai on 9 May 2010.

 

I have read somewhere on this Forum that the Costa staff will retail our Passports on boarding?

 

Is this correct?... And if so, how do we get on for various shore excursions without a Passport. It seems a dangerous situation to be required to surrender such an important document.

 

 

We sailed with Costa last year in Europe and our passport was retained, the only time they gave passengers their passports back was our stop in Egypt.

Costa informed us that all non EU passengers have there passports retained for customes checking;)

 

If you keep a copy of it with you at all times your wil be fine.

 

Have a great trip, we also sailing on the Deliziosa but in September, cant wait.:)

[DoubleDutch]

We just got back from a Costa cruise in Asia. There they kept the passports as well, and for every country we now have a stamp in our visa.

I always carry a copy as well, just to be sure in case of problems.

Some people had difficulty changing money at banks without their passport, but we didn't. We discovered that any ID with a photo will do for that, so we showed a drivers license and that was fine (as long as they can write down any kind of number of a document of yours).

I think it is with most cruise lines that they keep the passports, not just for customs, but probably also to make sure you will get back to the ship. There seem to be have been some people who have gone of the ship without telling anyone that they wouldn't come back in the past, I heard, that might be a reason as well (this gives not only problems with the bill, but also at the customs clearance). And of course if anyone would loose their passport while in a port, they would have the problem what to do next, since without the passport they can't take you onboard anymore.

 

So: don't worry, just bring along some other form of ID if you want to change money at a bank and a copy of your passport just for you own reassurance.

[Capricruiser]

I've only cruised with Costa and MSC and both lines take your passport at the start of all cruises out of the European Union and issue you a stamped photocopy. Why do they do this? The answer is simple. Prior to arriving in a new country's port, e.g. Egypt, Israel, Jordan, UAE, Oman, Yemen, etc., etc., police and immigration officials come aboard and review all the passports. Assuming your name isn't on their blacklist, your passport will be stamped with that country's visa. Depending on the country, Egypt for example, your stamped passport will be returned for any shore excursions there. Other countries may let you go ashore with just the photocopy and your passport will remain aboard. In any case, not to worry. At the end of the cruise your passport will be returned to you before disembarkation.

[BrucieNB]

police and immigration officials come aboard and review all the passports

That all makes sense.

 

However

I've only cruised with Costa and MSC and both lines take your passport at the start of all cruises out of the European Union and issue you a stamped photocopy

We were in Dubai and we had no stamped photocopy. We didn't need one mind.

[marilyn71]

We cruised with Costa on the Concorida from Rome to Alexandria. The reason they keep them on this cruise is for Egypt. An Egyptian official comes onto the boat and checks/stamps each passport. I'm assuming it's the same for visits to other countries in the region.

We were given a copy of the passport for the trips through Greece, Turkey, etc. and had no problems.

Although we had no problems, I would still prefer to have mine on my person, I trust myself more than them, but I do understand as the Egyptians seemed very serious about checking each one.

Just enjoy, you're gonna have a great time.

[marilyn71]

P.S. They do return your passport when going into Alexandria, which is required as our passports were recorded by our driver, and the guards at the port gate, I believe they also checked them at a checkpoint between Giza/Alexandria. So they will be returned for good at that stop.

Marilyn

[Moeve]

Since 9/11 I no longer part with my passport - it goes no where with out me. Bear in mind if you get caught up in any sort of trouble and need to head to the safety of your embassy - the ONLY way you are going to get in is with you passport - once in secur mode like in Mumbai during the attacks there. A photocopy just won't cut it. As a member of the EU I can then also take cover in ANY other Embassy of the Union but same story there you will need a passport to get in.

 

I will rather wait an show up for Immigration officals than hand this documnet over for "safe keeping" Cruising within the EU it no big deal because then I still have my gov ID card.

[bigpeewee]

Thanks everyone for the info.........A further question please.

 

I note several people have said they take "copy of their passport" with them.

 

Do you mean a copy (photocopy) of the whole passport or just the "Front Identifying Page"??

[CtheW0rld]

P.S. They do return your passport when going into Alexandria, which is required as our passports were recorded by our driver, and the guards at the port gate, I believe they also checked them at a checkpoint between Giza/Alexandria. So they will be returned for good at that stop.

Marilyn

 

they will return the passport at each stop where the country requires you carry an original.

 

Thanks everyone for the info.........A further question please.

 

I note several people have said they take "copy of their passport" with them.

 

Do you mean a copy (photocopy) of the whole passport or just the "Front Identifying Page"??

 

costa will issue you a photocopy of the front page when they take the original from you. i always take a few copies with me - one in each piece of luggage.