RCI Collecting Passports ?

[pb3053]

I have just printed of my ticket booklet for our forthcoming 10 night Canary Cruise on IOS and I notice two 'strange' advice items which I wonder if anyone can suggest a likely explanation for.

 

Under the heading of PASSPORT is the following

" Since the ship will collect your passport to speed the clearance formalities at each port of call, we suggest you bring with you a few photocopies of your passport's personal information page which includes the picture, and that you carry one of these photocopies with you each time you leave the ship"

 

We are also asked to bring with us two passport size photo's. There isnt any explanation in the ticket booklet as to why they want us to do this, has any experienced RCI travellers any idea what this is about please?.

 

We have never sailed with RCI before so both of the above seems somewhat strange. We haven’t ever encountered this when sailing with P&O.

 

I definitely do not intend going ashore without my passport...should we miss the boat for whatever unforeseen reason how would we travel home etc etc. Most definitely not on some photocopy of a passport.

[cruisenfever]

I have just printed of my ticket booklet for our forthcoming 10 night Canary Cruise on IOS and I notice two 'strange' advice items which I wonder if anyone can suggest a likely explanation for.

 

Under the heading of PASSPORT is the following

" Since the ship will collect your passport to speed the clearance formalities at each port of call, we suggest you bring with you a few photocopies of your passport's personal information page which includes the picture, and that you carry one of these photocopies with you each time you leave the ship"

 

We are also asked to bring with us two passport size photo's. There isnt any explanation in the ticket booklet as to why they want us to do this, has any experienced RCI travellers any idea what this is about please?.

 

We have never sailed with RCI before so both of the above seems somewhat strange. We haven’t ever encountered this when sailing with P&O.

 

I definitely do not intend going ashore without my passport...should we miss the boat for whatever unforeseen reason how would we travel home etc etc. Most definitely not on some photocopy of a passport.

Unfortunately that is what happens on certain itineraries. It is not so much a rule set by RCI, but the rules of the Port Authorities in the different ports of call.

 

It makes it easier for Customs & Immigration to sit down and go through several boxes of passports than to have to visually see each and every passenger.

 

This has happened to us several times........when we did South America and when we cruised from Auckland to Sydney. We didn't like it, but had no choice.

[pcur]

I always keep a copy of my passport page with me if I don't have the passport.

 

We had ours collected on our Australia cruise, too. However, the two passport size photos is a new one to me. I need to go check this out, because we are going on two transatlantics this year, and I'll need to know if we need to do the photo thing, too.

 

Thanks for the info!

[heatherb1958]

Hello,

 

The wording is a blanket statement for all RCI cruises/ itineraries but on Independence out of Southampton they will not take your passport , you will just show it at check in then it is yours to keep :).

We always take our passports with us when we go ashore for the same reason you state but it is wise to have a photocopy just in case the original gets lost for some reason.

Enjoy your cruise, we have done the same ship and itinerary:)

Sorry, I am assuming you are British as you mention P&O.

[cruisenfever]

Hello,

 

The wording is a blanket statement for all RCI cruises/ itineraries but on Independence out of Southampton they will not take your passport , you will just show it at check in then it is yours to keep :).

We always take our passports with us when we go ashore for the same reason you state but it is wise to have a photocopy just in case the original gets lost for some reason.

Enjoy your cruise, we have done the same ship and itinerary:)

Well, there you go..........confirmation that no passports will be taken for the OP's upcoming cruise. :D Thank you so much.

[rafinmd]

I have just printed of my ticket booklet for our forthcoming 10 night Canary Cruise on IOS and I notice two 'strange' advice items which I wonder if anyone can suggest a likely explanation for.

 

 

I definitely do not intend going ashore without my passport...should we miss the boat for whatever unforeseen reason how would we travel home etc etc. Most definitely not on some photocopy of a passport.

 

As others have said, this depends on the itinerary, and is probably progressively more likely as the number of countries increases. Fortunately, I have no first hand experience but my understanding is that if you miss the ship your passport will be left with the port agent to return to you.

 

Roy

[jcl410]

More than likely this is a requirement of the Immigration officials of one or more of the ports you will be visiting require the ship to do this. It's unlikely you will be allowed to board unless you allow the purser to hold your passport.

 

This is quite normal on some cruises. I've had to do this 2 different times; the most recent was in December on my cruise on the Royal Clipper R/T from Barbados.

 

The other was a Royal Caribbean 14 day trip R/T from Singapore. On this cruise, one of the countries we visited required us to have our passport with us; on that day, we picked them up on the way off the ship and turned them in as we reboarded

 

In each port, the most important thing I took was the phone number for the Port Agent. You need to let them know if you will be missing the ship. This is the case whether or not you have your passport with you.

 

Aloha,

 

John

[cruisenfever]

As others have said, this depends on the itinerary, and is probably progressively more likely as the number of countries increases. Fortunately, I have no first hand experience but my understanding is that if you miss the ship your passport will be left with the port agent to return to you.

 

Roy

That is correct. If someone misses the ship for any reason, and the passports have been collected, it makes it much easier to find the passport for the missing person.

[Ocean Boy]

Hello,

 

The wording is a blanket statement for all RCI cruises/ itineraries but on Independence out of Southampton they will not take your passport , you will just show it at check in then it is yours to keep :).We always take our passports with us when we go ashore for the same reason you state but it is wise to have a photocopy just in case the original gets lost for some reason.

Enjoy your cruise, we have done the same ship and itinerary:)

Sorry, I am assuming you are British as you mention P&O.

 

That may be true for you being British and sailing out of Southampton but it may not apply to folks not traveling on a British or non-European Community passport. I have been on cruises departing from the US where they did collect passports from any non US and Canadian citizens. I have also been on US sailing where they did not collect any passports.

 

I, personally, hate the thought of giving up my passport to the cruise line. I have much more faith in ME taking care of it than I do in the ship taking care of it along with 3600 other passports.

[upwarduk]

We have always retained our British passports, but have had to wait in line for officials to inspect them when entering Isreal, Egypt & N.Zealand, where the officials had a 2 day cruise across the Tasman Sea.

Personally, I have found registering on line before we sail, prevents lengthy check in, as they already have your details, but they still scan the passport.

[pb3053]

Hello,

 

The wording is a blanket statement for all RCI cruises/ itineraries but on Independence out of Southampton they will not take your passport , you will just show it at check in then it is yours to keep :).

We always take our passports with us when we go ashore for the same reason you state but it is wise to have a photocopy just in case the original gets lost for some reason.

Enjoy your cruise, we have done the same ship and itinerary:)

Sorry, I am assuming you are British as you mention P&O.

 

 

Well thats cleared up the passport aspect, and your quite right Heather, I am a 'Brummie' sailing from Southampton. Thanks everyone for your replies.

I'm still wondering about the two photo's though. Wonder what they want those for!.

[talio1]

As others have said, this depends on the itinerary, and is probably progressively more likely as the number of countries increases. Fortunately, I have no first hand experience but my understanding is that if you miss the ship your passport will be left with the port agent to return to you.

 

Roy

 

Very good information as most of us don't take the ship/port agent's info with us when leaving the ship. (Including myself)

 

Our passports have been held by RCCL, Princess & several other cruise lines depending on the ports of call. Last summer on cruise out of Rome that docked in Turkey and last month on Windstar out of Barbados.

 

:)

[pcur]

Very good information as most of us don't take the ship/port agent's info with us when leaving the ship. (Including myself)

:)

 

If you pick up the flyer for the port as you get off the ship, or take the one from your cabin that they give you, the port agent's address and telephone number is printed on them. I just pop it in my bag so I have it for the map and the agent's info.

[negc]

On our first westbound transatlantic (Brilliance of the Seas in 2002) our US passports were collected when we boarded in Harwich, UK and returned to us as we went through US Customs and Immigration onboard one day before we landed in Boston. On one other cruise which left out of Aruba on the Seawind Crown, our passports were taken when we checked in for the cruise but returned to us a few days later. Other than on those two occasions, we have retained possession of our passports for the duration of the cruise. Of course we have yet to take any cruises to more exotic destinations where local regulations may require different passport policies.:)

[cruisenfever]

Very good information as most of us don't take the ship/port agent's info with us when leaving the ship. (Including myself)

 

Our passports have been held by RCCL, Princess & several other cruise lines depending on the ports of call. Last summer on cruise out of Rome that docked in Turkey and last month on Windstar out of Barbados.

 

:)

Sorry, have to hijack for one second.

 

Hi Jim how are you and Mary Ann?

 

OK, back to collecting passports.:p

[RDC1]

i have had my passport collected once.

 

 

A couple of years ago I was on a cruise from Barcelona to Venice. They collected the passports the night before we entered Greek waters and then returned them after we left Greece. They stated that it was a requirement by the Greek Government.

[uksimonusa]

On sailings from the US when using British passports years ago, they held them for the duration of the cruise, since we have hd Amaericn passports they ahve not held tem. When we sailed the med on Navigator, we thought we would use our British passports (EU) as we were sailing from an EU port, they held our passports but did not hold any American ones, go figure:confused:

[Cruise-Nut]

Just a suggestion: I have scanned my passports and e-mailed them to myself so I can always print out a copy whenever I need a copy of them. You can always access your e-mail from virtually anywhere. Just a suggestion.

[Merion_Mom]

I have just printed of my ticket booklet for our forthcoming 10 night Canary Cruise on IOS and I notice two 'strange' advice items which I wonder if anyone can suggest a likely explanation for.

 

Under the heading of PASSPORT is the following

" Since the ship will collect your passport to speed the clearance formalities at each port of call, we suggest you bring with you a few photocopies of your passport's personal information page which includes the picture, and that you carry one of these photocopies with you each time you leave the ship"

 

We are also asked to bring with us two passport size photo's. There isnt any explanation in the ticket booklet as to why they want us to do this, has any experienced RCI travellers any idea what this is about please?.

 

We have never sailed with RCI before so both of the above seems somewhat strange. We haven’t ever encountered this when sailing with P&O.

 

I definitely do not intend going ashore without my passport...should we miss the boat for whatever unforeseen reason how would we travel home etc etc. Most definitely not on some photocopy of a passport.

 

Well thats cleared up the passport aspect, and your quite right Heather, I am a 'Brummie' sailing from Southampton. Thanks everyone for your replies.

I'm still wondering about the two photo's though. Wonder what they want those for!.

 

I have two highly probable guesses:

 

1. If it turns out that you need a visa for any port, a photo is necessary.

 

2. If you lose your passport, or it is stolen, and must be replaced, having correct photos really speeds the process along.

[talio1]

Sorry, have to hijack for one second.

 

Hi Jim how are you and Mary Ann?

 

OK, back to collecting passports.:p

 

Doing great, sent an e-mail.

 

Jim & Mary Ann

[dirtgirl]

Are you going to a country that requires a Visa stamp? On the Brilliance in December, they took our passports at check-in to stamp them with the Visa for Egypt. We got them back the day before we were supposed to go to Egypt (we never made it, though).

 

I have never taken my passport off of the ship, nor will I unless instructed to (I would have had to have taken it with me in Egypt). Having been the victim of theft on one of my cruises, where my driver's license was stolen along with my friend's bag, I'm just thankful my passport wasn't with me, too. I have never come close to missing a ship.

[pb3053]

Just a suggestion: I have scanned my passports and e-mailed them to myself so I can always print out a copy whenever I need a copy of them. You can always access your e-mail from virtually anywhere. Just a suggestion.

 

A good idea, but, all banks and credit card companies discourage revealing any account details of a sensitive nature via e-mail for security reasons so I am a bit reluctant to employ that method of detail access. It seems that the photocopy idea left in your room safe is going to be the most practical.

 

Carol suggested that the passports may be collected if we were going to visit a country needing a visa or for some other security reason. Our itinerary from start to finish is EU only so that aspect doesn’t arise.

 

Heather answered my original query anyway as she has been on the cruise in question and indicates that we will retain our passports. The suggestion that RCI will need to retain out passports is obviously a 'blanket' indication to cover those cruises or passengers where they are obliged to collect a passport. Wished I was dual nationality passport holder ;).

 

And despite the risk of theft or loss ( same risk as your wallet or purse) I would still feel more secure carrying my actual passport with me while abroad as opposed to a photostat.

[Carolrd]

In this case, it might be worth it to get the passport card. It is the size of a credit card, so it will fit easily into your wallet.

 

Carol

[KreiderCarter]

In this case, it might be worth it to get the passport card. It is the size of a credit card, so it will fit easily into your wallet.

 

Carol

 

Doesn't do you much good on a European itinerary.