Here's Why You Don't Take Your Passports Off The Ship

[Nowisthetime1]

Don't be so rude. Life is too short!

 

You obviously don't get it, or refuse to listen to the majority of the people here who have experience in this matter. No one is saying not to use your passport when going through required passport control points. That is when it should be on your person. But when it is not needed, it is safer in your stateroom safe. If you miss your ship, the cruise line knows who you are because your sea pass card will not have been swiped to get you back on board. If that happens, the ship's security staff will remove your passport from your safe and give it to their agent in the port, the very same person who you will be complaining loudly to that the captain has deliberately left you stranded. So, you will have it - courtesy of the ship's staff, even if it was in your safe - where it should be for safety.

 

I have been on two cruises where my passport had to be surrendered to the ship's officials. In some ports of call, such as in Ecuador, Peru and Chile, the ship must show every passenger's passport to the port officials in order for the ship to be cleared to disembark passengers, so they collect them well ahead of time and retain them until they no longer have to show them. You will spend your time ashore without your passport. If you refuse to surrender your passport, you are not allowed to leave the ship. Same thing happened during our 5-day Nile river cruise, as well as at every hotel we stayed at during the rest of our two week visit to Egypt.

 

By all means don't let sound logic get in the way of your opinions. Go right ahead and take your passport with you. I really don't care. It makes no difference to me that you don't place a high value on such an important document that you think it's safer to carry it around with you when you don't need it. Good luck with that. And don't forget to take all your cash, all your credit cards, and all your jewelry/valuables with you every time you go ashore - after all, what good is it all going to do for you if you don't have it with you as you are standing on the dock and watching your ship sail off into the sunset. I hope you also have your camera with you - it should make for an interesting photo! :rolleyes:

[dennbr9]

You obviously don't get it, or refuse to listen to the majority of the people here who have experience in this matter. No one is saying not to use your passport when going through required passport control points. That is when it should be on your person. But when it is not needed, it is safer in your stateroom safe. If you miss your ship, the cruise line knows who you are because your sea pass card will not have been swiped to get you back on board. If that happens, the ship's security staff will remove your passport from your safe and give it to their agent in the port, the very same person who you will be complaining loudly to that the captain has deliberately left you stranded. So, you will have it - courtesy of the ship's staff, even if it was in your safe - where it should be for safety.

 

I have been on two cruises where my passport had to be surrendered to the ship's officials. In some ports of call, such as in Ecuador, Peru and Chile, the ship must show every passenger's passport to the port officials in order for the ship to be cleared to disembark passengers, so they collect them well ahead of time and retain them until they no longer have to show them. You will spend your time ashore without your passport. If you refuse to surrender your passport, you are not allowed to leave the ship. Same thing happened during our 5-day Nile river cruise, as well as at every hotel we stayed at during the rest of our two week visit to Egypt.

 

By all means don't let sound logic get in the way of your opinions. Go right ahead and take your passport with you. I really don't care. It makes no difference to me that you don't place a high value on such an important document that you think it's safer to carry it around with you when you don't need it. Good luck with that. And don't forget to take all your cash, all your credit cards, and all your jewelry/valuables with you every time you go ashore - after all, what good is it all going to do for you if you don't have it with you as you are standing on the dock and watching your ship sail off into the sunset. I hope you also have your camera with you - it should make for an interesting photo! :rolleyes:

 

And you are an expert because ...........? I doubgt it from all the smell of this.

[sharkwl]

Truer words were never spoken. You see, this doesn't PROVE any such thing, and you are correct that NOTHING WILL.

 

I will NEVER get off the ship without a passport. I don't care what the cruise line suggests. When I'm on foreign soil, the single most valuable thing I can have is my passport. Fear of losing it totally absurd, and basically reserved for people who really shouldn't be traveling anyway if that's what they are afraid of.

 

 

I agree! After that incident in St Thomas awhile back, where the port authorities ordered the ships in port to leave without notice and left hundreds of passengers behind! Without your passport, you would not be able to fly to the next port of call! We now carry our passports safely tucked away, during every port visit! A photocopy will get you nowhere . . .

[SantaFeFan]

And you are an expert because ...........? I doubgt it from all the smell of this.

 

Nope, not an expert. Only an aware cruiser who takes the time to research out critical information to make my cruise the best it can be. My first venture off a ship with a private tour ended with my small group almost missing the ship. That motivated me to ask the customer service desk what happens if a person is late and the ship leaves without them. The answer was as described here many times already: they access the person's safe and if the passport is there, they will hold it at the the security screening until just before they pull up the gangplank in case the missing person arrives in time, and if not they hand the passport over to the port agent so it will be available to the unfortunate passenger.

 

Nothing mysterious, magical, earth shattering, or diabolical. Just common sense and responsible actions by the cruise line.

 

If that makes me an expert, I will gladly wear that hat with pride.

 

[fleckle]

........The poster was correct we have seen ships personnel hand passports to a port agent as we were leaving after several announcements looking for passenger x. I can only assume they had gone and looked in their safe as this was not a cruise we handed in the passports on. So maybe another message, in case anyone does otherwise is, always leave your passport in your safe not hidden somewhere else in your room when you are ashore.

If you miss the ship, they look for the passport in your safe and will not search the entire cabin for it.

 

So definitely leave the passport locked in your safe, not elsewhere in the cabin. No maybe about it.

If you are at a port where you need to take your passport with you, they will let you know.

 

That is the advice that we have heard from the captain and senior officers on every cruise ship whenever the subject has come up.

 

Let's see now, it has only been a few days since the latest news reports about cruise passengers being robbed on a shore excursion at Puerto Vallarta and having their passports stolen.

 

So shall we follow the advice of the ship's captains who say to leave your passport locked in the safe?

 

Or shall we follow the advice of a couple of strangers on a message board who say to take the passport off the ship with you at each port?

 

Hmmm, really tough decision. :rolleyes:

[floridatravelersforlife]

Passport on or off the ship? Depends on the port. Aruba, Canada, UK etc -I wouldn't bother. Ex Soviet Bloc countries, port where next port is days away, Middle East, Africa definitely yes.

 

And we always use a hidden pouch on the body to hold it. We always have the give away in our pockets in case we have an incident. No bus of tourists ever got held up where the tourists stripped naked. Too much time and it would be ugly:eek:.

 

As for posting email or in the cloud. Never post any important info in a folder. I am in the security business, and nothing is private, unless its encrypted and most people won't spend the time or money. Google was recently caught snooping once again. Small time criminals are worse.

[tom_uk]

On our cruise to the British Isles last year just about every port they told us we needed to take our passports and they never once asked to see them. I dont feel comfortable bring my original passport so i take a copy

 

That does surprise me! - I can't for the life of me think why it would have been needed. I'm not disagreeing with your statement, btw, just surprised you were told passports were required. We don't have a national identity card in the UK (the previous government was going to introduce one, but the scheme was cancelled after the change of govt at the last election). I assume you're American or Canadian so you wouldn't, in an emergency, be trying to identify yourself to officials who spoke a different language from yourself. Once you've entered the UK, if you're moving directly from one UK port to another you're not re-entering the country. All I can think of is the 'VAT-free' shopping schemes which probably require you to identify yourself as a non-UK national with your passport. But in general everyday life, passports aren't needed within the UK. I'd be quite disturbed if they were, in fact.

[Karen@Steve]

That does surprise me! - I can't for the life of me think why it would have been needed. I'm not disagreeing with your statement, btw, just surprised you were told passports were required. We don't have a national identity card in the UK (the previous government was going to introduce one, but the scheme was cancelled after the change of govt at the last election). I assume you're American or Canadian so you wouldn't, in an emergency, be trying to identify yourself to officials who spoke a different language from yourself. Once you've entered the UK, if you're moving directly from one UK port to another you're not re-entering the country. All I can think of is the 'VAT-free' shopping schemes which probably require you to identify yourself as a non-UK national with your passport. But in general everyday life, passports aren't needed within the UK. I'd be quite disturbed if they were, in fact.

 

Interesting you say this. On my last 20 trips or so to London, I always needed to show my passport at the hotel. I can't imagine that if I was left behind by a ship I could even get a hotel room for the night without one. At least that don't ask to hold it anymore which they did a number of years ago on my first trip.

[RedInLove]

and they think getting the photocopy notarized will make it even more acceptable.....;)

 

Never said I 'think' it is acceptable, I was just asking if it was necessary. But thank you for making an assumption on my thought process, Smarty Pants.

[Miss SeaBee]

We were detained by Honduran military police at a roadside checkpoint on mainland Honduras about 5 years ago for not having our actual passport on our person. We had US driver's license, photocopy of passport and car rental agreement with us. Oh, and we also had easily identifiable NORTH American accents. Lol! We were cursed at in Spanish by the furious police for quite some time, before he finally allowed us to go in disgust. We were lucky not to be taken to jail. We had to pass through the same way the next day, and you can bet we had our original passports with us. Won us a slight smile from the policeman who had nearly arrested us the day before. I'm not sure if Roatan counts as "real" Honduras, or if maybe rules have changed in Honduras in the past 5 years, but after my previous experience, yes, I will have my passport with me when I go ashore in a few weeks on our Millenium cruise.

 

A previous poster helpfully suggested renting a car or taking a taxi to get to the next port. Good luck driving from Roatan to Cozumel. Ha! :D

[lovemylab]

Interesting you say this. On my last 20 trips or so to London, I always needed to show my passport at the hotel. I can't imagine that if I was left behind by a ship I could even get a hotel room for the night without one. At least that don't ask to hold it anymore which they did a number of years ago on my first trip.

 

I was in the UK two years ago and didn't have to show a passport at any hotel (including London).

[SweetGG]

 

Nothing mysterious, magical, earth shattering, or diabolical. Just common sense and responsible actions by the cruise line.

 

BINGO!! Makes absolute sense.

[Hlitner]

One other note re passports. The OP who stated they scan their passport and upload to their Yahoo account. I too believed that was a great idea (which of course would necessitate using your Iphone for wireless data, or a computer), until I discovered how unsafe these email sites really are. (yahoo, gmail etc). What you might do instead is copy your passport number onto your yahoo email server, and then folks at home or your embassy could expedite a temp if necessary.

And to the OP who commented once I spoke they would know I'm American....... they would be mistaking my accent...I'm not. :)

Have cruised many many times. The cruise lines only kept our passports twice in

Alaska, and once 2 days out from Southampton. Passports were handed to us, we proceeded thru Customs onboard the ship, stamped and kept our passports. Med cruises never kept our passports.

In Europe:

If you are booking a car rental on shore, you will need your passport.

If you are exchanging money in a bank on shore, you will need your passport.

If you are purchasing expensive jewelry with a credit card, you will need your passport.

If you are checking into a hotel, you will need your passport. No the hotels no longer keep your passport.

 

Having over forty years of extensive international travel experience makes me a bit annoyed to see this type of mis information! So here are some facts,

 

We routinely rent cars all over Europe and have never needed a Passport. Just like in most places rental car dealers want a major credit card and a drivers license (International Drivers Permit is a good idea in Italy and some other countries...but not normally requested by the rental car company, We do carry a photocopy of our main passport page just in case they would want to copy down our Passport Number. We recently did have a rental car company (in Spain) ask to see our Passport and we told them it was on our ship. "No problem" was the quick response.

 

Many banks will no longer exchange money! These days most folks use ATMs. If you do need to exhange cash some banks, travel offices and private cambios will normally do the deed (for a nice price). Nobody in Europe asks to see a passport to exchange cash. However, you may need your Passport to exchange money in China. Some places do want a passport to cash travelers checks although it is now becoming very difficult to cash these obsolete things with or without a Passport.

 

We have never been asked for a Passport when we make expensive purchases. It is common to ask for ID but a drivers license is normally fine. If you simply carry a copy of your main passport page some places might accept that if they want to copy down your Passport number.

 

Hotels in some countries do need your Passport information and will often accept copies. If you do not have a Passport you will normally be allowed to check-in but might be later questioned by the Police. But most cruise ship passengers are not checking into hotels while they are on a cruise. In the event that you would miss a ship at a port, you can simply call the cruise ship and ask for your Passport to be retrieved from your cabin (or the Purser if they are holding them as they do on many cruises) and left with the Port Agent so you can pick it up.

 

As to being "required" to carry Passports ashore, this is a rare occurance and passengers will be notified if and when its required. It did happen to us in Murmansk (not a very common cruise port) last summer where the Russian authorities required us to show our passports when we departed the ship for excursions.

 

Hank

[awboater]

I always take my passport with me when I am off the ship. You are in a foreign country, and in my opinion, it is foolish not to have it with you.

 

If you are worried about losing your passport when on an excursion, what we do is that we also take a certified copy of our birth certificate on the cruise as well, and leave those in our stateroom. But we always cruise in the Caribbean, so the passports are optional to begin with.

 

That way, all bases are covered. Should we lose or be robbed of our passports while on excursion, we still have our birth certificates to return to the US since they are in our stateroom, so there is no big deal there.

 

But if you don't take your passport with you on an excursion and miss the ship, that means you will be in a foreign country without a passport and no way to get home.

 

However, if you lose your passport or it is stolen (and you don't take your birth certificate as backup), then you will be denied re-entry into the US.

 

Also I have photocopied my passports on my iPhone and have them password protected in case it is stolen. While a copy of the passport is not valid, possessing the passport number is critical to obtaining a quick replacement.

 

So ask yourself this; would you rather be stuck in a foreign country without a passport or in held up in US Customs on US soil without one?

 

I'd rather make it to the US and deal with the issue there rather than in Jamaica, mon.

[lovemylab]

 

So ask yourself this; would you rather be stuck in a foreign country without a passport or in held up in US Customs on US soil without one?

 

I'd rather make it to the US and deal with the issue there rather than in Jamaica, mon.

 

Just a few things to consider....

 

1) not all cruises return to a US port. If you lose your passport on a Med cruise, for example, then you're stuck in a foreign country without a passport and no way to get home.

 

2) not all passengers are American. I'm Canadian and without a passport I can't fly home (even from the US). A birth certificate is completely useless. Therefore, in my situation dealing with the issue in the US isn't that much different then dealing with authorities in Jamaica.

 

I had US authorities in San Juan give me a hard time due to the packaged spices I bought (even though I has receipts to show they were bought in the US Virgin Islands) so if that's what they're like over packaged spices bought in their own country I'd hate to have been dealing with them over the issue of me not having a passport.

 

 

Personally I only take my passport off the ship when it's required by local authorities. I feel there is a greater chance of my passport being lost/stolen/destroyed vs. me missing the ship.

 

There is no right or wrong answer to this - you have to do what you're most comfortable with.

[fleckle]

We were detained by Honduran military police at a roadside checkpoint on mainland Honduras about 5 years ago for not having our actual passport on our person. We had US driver's license, photocopy of passport and car rental agreement with us. Oh, and we also had easily identifiable NORTH American accents. Lol! We were cursed at in Spanish by the furious police for quite some time, before he finally allowed us to go in disgust. We were lucky not to be taken to jail. We had to pass through the same way the next day, and you can bet we had our original passports with us. Won us a slight smile from the policeman who had nearly arrested us the day before. I'm not sure if Roatan counts as "real" Honduras, or if maybe rules have changed in Honduras in the past 5 years, but after my previous experience, yes, I will have my passport with me when I go ashore in a few weeks on our Millenium cruise.

How weird! Something is very fishy here. It looks he was probably just trying to intimidate you, maybe hoping you would offer him a bribe.

 

I certainly hope you got the guy's name or badge number and reported the incident to the cruise line and the rental car company as well as the U.S. Embassy.

 

It is unlikely that the legitimate Honduran authorities or the local tourism companies would tolerate such behavior if they knew about it. They are eager to encourage tourists, not scare them off.

 

A passport is not required for the closed-loop cruises that go to Roatan, so thousands of passengers arrive in Honduras by cruise ship year after year without passports.

 

If that guy was really going around imprisoning tourists without passports, their jails would have been filled with American tourists and it would have been all over the news media. :D

[SweetGG]

Having over forty years of extensive international travel experience makes me a bit annoyed to see this type of mis information! So here are some facts,

Hank

 

Amsterdam chosen as a random. See note re passport. Car rentals done in Ireland, France and Germany( Avis, Hertz, Sixt) ALL required a passport. Even as recent as 2 days ago when Hertz car rental in Germany was reserved.

https:// www dot hertz.com /rentacar/byr/index.jsp?targetPage=rentalQualificationsView.jsp#

 

here is an example from the UK govt(country chosen at random) how to change money in the Ukraine

http:// www dot fco.gov.uk /en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/europe/ukraine

 

we could even go to go old trusted rick steeves

http:// wwwdot ricksteves.com /graffiti/helpline/index.cfm?topic=29573

 

I didn't blow these statements out of my head (or wherever else) for whatever reason, I stated the facts, as they applied to my truthful experiance.

As to most cruisers not checking into hotels during their cruise... that would be assuming they don't stay pre or post as we always have for the last 30 years.

I'm sorry that you found my facts false, but if you'd like to share your telly number, I'd be glad to call you whenever I'm asked once again to produce my passport.

Over the years I've learned it's always better to give others the benefit of the doubt, inform and allow them to formulate their own opinion rather than force mine on them.

[Miss SeaBee]

I also think mainland Honduras is a different animal entirely than Roatan. He was legit, there are military police checkpoints every few miles on Honduran highways, at least at that time. There were multiple machine-gun toting authorities at each checkpoint, including the one where we got "fussed at." Not sure if it is still that way since the military coup and government changed a couple of years ago, but I suspect it is. I think it is exactly because we were considered tourists that we were allowed to drive on. Have you ever been to mainland Honduras? Not exactly a tourist mecca. They sincerely could not care less that you are an "American." We went to see the beauty of the country and for some adventure, but honestly, there was not even enough infrastructure for us, and we enjoy a more adventurous travel experience off the beaten tourist path. We have never been treated in this way, or seen this type of armed checkpoint in Guatemala, which is now our Central American get-away of choice, and for this reason.

 

I think you are right that the cruise port world is different. My husband refuses to even go on a cruise, because it is too bland an experience, regardless of the port. I cruise with my daughter and elderly mother precisely because I know there will not likely be any such problems.

[SweetGG]

I cruise with my daughter and elderly mother precisely because I know there will not likely be any such problems.

 

Safe is good too, always good to mix up the vacations. Best of both worlds.:D

[fleckle]

I also think mainland Honduras is a different animal entirely than Roatan. He was legit, there are military police checkpoints every few miles on Honduran highways, at least at that time. There were multiple machine-gun toting authorities at each checkpoint, including the one where we got "fussed at." Not sure if it is still that way since the military coup and government changed a couple of years ago, but I suspect it is. I think it is exactly because we were considered tourists that we were allowed to drive on. Have you ever been to mainland Honduras? ............

As a matter of fact, we were there only a few months ago. We took the rocky boat ride over from Roatan, as did many others.

 

We did not take our passports off the ship with us and were never asked to show passports anywhere we went, not even at the port. Many did not even have passports as they were not required.

 

The cruise ships will advise passengers to take their passports with them if they dock at a port where passports are required so we only take our passports off the ship with us when told to do so.

 

Military police checkpoints do not bother us and we don't even pay much attention to them anymore as we have been through lots of them through the years traveling in different countries. They usually just ask us to open the trunk of the car, and occasionally to step outside the car briefly.

 

We have always been treated very courteously at checkpoints, and we have always been courteous to them as well. AFAIK we have never been "fussed at" or cursed, (unless perhaps it was done in a language that we did not understand ;)). We never had anyone scream at us in an angry tone of voice. Sometimes they would even apologize for stopping us, explaining that it is only because they are required to do so.

 

When traveling internationally, it is not at all unusual to see machine-gun toting uniformed police or soldiers stationed around in many ports and cities and airports, especially in high-crime areas or areas of potential political unrest.

 

If you chat with them, many will be quite friendly and are even happy to pose to have their photos taken with you, especially the ones stationed at the ports.

(Of course I always ask for permission before taking their pictures, not wanting anyone to grab my camera if photograpy is prohibited.)

 

I think it provides a nice diversion for some of them because they get bored standing around there on duty day after day. In high crime areas, we actually feel safer seeing them around.

[FM]

Just a few things to consider....

 

1) not all cruises return to a US port. If you lose your passport on a Med cruise, for example, then you're stuck in a foreign country without a passport and no way to get home.

 

2) not all passengers are American. I'm Canadian and without a passport I can't fly home (even from the US). A birth certificate is completely useless. Therefore, in my situation dealing with the issue in the US isn't that much different then dealing with authorities in Jamaica.

 

I had US authorities in San Juan give me a hard time due to the packaged spices I bought (even though I has receipts to show they were bought in the US Virgin Islands) so if that's what they're like over packaged spices bought in their own country I'd hate to have been dealing with them over the issue of me not having a passport.

 

 

Personally I only take my passport off the ship when it's required by local authorities. I feel there is a greater chance of my passport being lost/stolen/destroyed vs. me missing the ship.

 

There is no right or wrong answer to this - you have to do what you're most comfortable with.

 

I have to agree with lovemylab's sentiment above ...

 

From awboater’s viewpoint to lovemylab’s viewpoint ... from one’s travel experiences such as as Hiltner’s to Greensuz’s ...

 

Why do we post ... to educate ... not to denigrate ... possibly to validate ... but most likely, to share ...

 

You can never fully guard against or anticipate whatever situation may befall you anywhere ... there is no ONE right answer for every situation ...

 

So what exactly are we worried about ...

• 
   
  
• You get left behind at a port but fortunately you have your passport ...
   
  " YEEE EEE SSSS ... I can still catch up to the ship by plane ... or better yet, just fly back home!
  I am ssoooo smart ... not like the poor sap below ... I have my passport ... and my American Express Card ... WHAT do you mean you don’t take American Express ..."
   
   
  
• You get left behind at a port but unfortunately you don't have your passport ...
   
  
  "... I can't get home or to the next port ... I'm stuck here forever ... NOO OOOO OOO!!!
  I was so unprepared ... I didn’t make sure I had enough $$ just in case I had to fly to the next port ... I didn’t bring enough medication with me when I went into port ... I left my grandparents/kids back on the boat ... nobody is going to help me ... the police will throw me in jail because I am an undocumented alien ... OMG !!!!"
  

 

And so on and so on ... can we all see how convoluted it can get ...

 

... things are just not that simple ... period.

 

For myself, IMHO, I view a passport as a valuable ... whether on a cruise or on my own in a foreign country, I will leave it securely behind in my stateroom or room ... but this is my opinion and my preference ...

 

... but then someone will post ... what if your hotel room was burgled ... what are you going to do then with no passport ...

 

... and ... H E R E ... W E ... G O ... A G A I N ...

[Fixit2010]

I think it has nothing to do with the passengers. Its to do with passport control.

 

Some of them allege they were told by our home secretary to be less stringent and let a lot of foreigners in with out checking, so some of you shifty bunch probably got away as being part of that quota. You see we are not bothered about security, we have to look like a country that is not excluding any minority.

 

Also I imagine some of our border agency staff are so bored of spending hours and hours, day after day, year in and year out doing the same job that actually they can just tell just by looking at who is guilty and should not be allowed in, just by looking at them. For example one day they may stop people in stripy shirts wearing a beret and a string of garlic around their neck. Other days it maybe people in sombreros with mustaches and ponchos that are banned from entry.

 

We as a country don't know how many foreign people are here because of our lapse security, so it is no surprise that a lot of you say you didn't need you passport after being told you did..... now if I were in charge ...

[dzcruisers]

Hi Dianne:) I am flying to Rome and we are doing Rome, Greece

and Turkey. I mentioned this thread to the folks on my roll call and

the experienced folks (who have done Europe many times) agree

with the folks on here who suggest leaving the real passport on

the ship and taking a copy with me in port. I also always carry my

driver's license but that is because I alway drive myself to the airport

before my cruises;)

 

Oh the itinerary is actually Rome-Rome....Naples, Sicily, Ephasus,

Athens, Mykonos, Rhodes and Santorini.

 

I bet they take it when you check in and give it back to you as you depart. They give you a receipt for it.

Have a great cruise and let me know what they do!

[SixOneTwo]

I am a Notary Public and can't think of any reason why I would ever "notarize" a copy of a passport. Notarization is primarily for authenticating / witnessing signatures, swearing truth in documents and confirming identity, all of which occur separately and simultaneously when you apply for the passport. SO, I'm not sure that having a "notarized copy" would provide any more protection than one that has not been notarized. There is just no point in going through that extra trouble or cost.

 

This recurring passport conversation always reminds of a great episode of the TV show "Monk," where the main character was trapped in a cave. He refused to use his cell phone for rescue because it was for "emergency purposes only." Folks, the point of your official passport is to establish your identity in a foreign land. It's not for some extraneous circumstance.

[Grumpy100]

I think it is better not to take your passport off the ship i always try to carry a copy and that is it. I put it in the safe as soon as we get on board if you miss the ship then you take a copy of the daily newspaper and they tell you whom to call at the port in case you dont make it back to the ship. You take your chances if you take a private excursion which we domfrom time to time.