Passports in Port?

[emmac25]

My friend and I are both first-time cruisers, she departs in 30 something days, me in 60 something! This morning she was asking about passports. Do you need to carry them in ports with you? Personally I would prefer to have mine locked up in the safe.

 

She is cruising to the Bahamas, I'm doing the southern caribbean route on Jewel.

 

Thoughts, advice?

[ksuds]

You need to keep some form of photo id with you while visiting the ports. You can look at it one of two ways.......

 

If you lose it, that's a big problem

 

If you miss boarding the ship for whatever reason, that's a big problem if you don't have a passport to get back home

[emmac25]

You need to keep some form of photo id with you while visiting the ports. You can look at it one of two ways.......

 

If you lose it, that's a big problem

 

If you miss boarding the ship for whatever reason, that's a big problem if you don't have a passport to get back home

 

Oh wow, yes I hadn't thought about getting home!! Carrying my regular id is no problem, but passports, like you say two different ways to look at it!

[driftychick]

We have always carried a copy of our passport, laminated, with us in port just in case we need it. Not the entire passport but the info and picture pages.

[willing292]

leave them locked in the safe in your cabin and carry a photocopy with you.

[fungirl76]

You only need sail and sign card and a photo is in port.

[emmac25]

We have always carried a copy of our passport, laminated, with us in port just in case we need it. Not the entire passport but the info and picture pages.

 

Good idea!! :)

[akcruz]

You will get people on both sides of the fence with this question.

 

In most ports you will need a government issued picture ID to get back on the ship at each port. That government ID can be your passport, or it could be your drivers license, or some other type of official ID. Before leaving the ship in port, make sure to know exactly what it is that is needed to get back on the ship.

 

Now as for that ID being your passport, there are two firmly entrenched camps here on CC.

 

The first says leave the passport in the safe and take a copy or some other sort of ID with you. The pro here is that if you were to loose the passport on land, you still have it to get through customs at the end of the trip. However, if you were to miss the ship, you may have issues flying out of the port if your passport is required to fly.

 

The second says take it with you, that's what its for. Here the pros and cons are flipped. You have it in case you happen to miss the ship, but if you loose it (or have it stolen while in port) you may have issues disembarking at the end of the cruise.

 

No easy answer, you have to judge yourself what you are comfortable with. There are pros and cons either way.

 

Oh, and to add to the confusion, on some itineraries, depending on where you are from and which countries you are sailing to, the cruise line will take the passport. We had this happen on our cruise which stopped in Turkey, since we are US citizens. Had no choice but to give them over and use our license for picture ID. No such rule for US citizens on Caribbean itineraries.

[macruisefan]

I cruise regularly, but I also travel by other means. I have long had a personal rule: I will never set foot in another country without my passport with me. If I'm staying at a resort in Mexico, and I go out to dinner, my passport is with me. If I'm stopping on a Caribbean island for a port call on a cruise ship, I carry my passport with me.

 

A U.S. passport is an incredibly valuable thing. And yes, losing it can be a pain in the neck. But personally, I feel not taking it because one is afraid to lose it is akin to buying really nice furniture and then covering it in plastic to protect it.

 

Nothing reassures me like knowing I have my passport on me. I am NOT reassured by the "possibility" that someone from the ship will retrieve it and leave it with the port agent should I fail to return in time.

 

Others here will disagree with me, but that is my opinion on the matter.

[cruiseguy1016]

A copy of your passport will do you no good if the ship leaves without you. It will help expedite getting you a replacement but it will not get you onto a plane to either catch up with the ship or get you back home. If you are responsible enough to make sure your wallet, your Sea Pass and your photo ID do not get stolen, you should be responsible enough to make sure your passport does not get stolen.

[hazeleyez3]

With the exception of one time, we only use our licenses.

 

The exception was on an excursion on our Alaskan itinerary. We crossed over to the Yukon Territory, so we needed the passports.

[macruisefan]

With the exception of one time, we only use our licenses.

 

The exception was on an excursion on our Alaskan itinerary. We crossed over to the Yukon Territory, so we needed the passports.

 

Just for clarification, I was not saying you NEEDED it, or that it was REQUIRED. I was simply stating that any time I'm in a FOREIGN COUNTRY, I ALWAYS carry my passport.

 

I wouldn't typically carry it on an Alaska excursion any more than I would in Key West.

[KGSB11]

I always travel with my expired passport with me; most likely the expired one would be just as helpful as a photocopy of the passport in the event of a lost "current" passport.

 

Then again, IMHO, an expired official document is better than a photocopy of a current official document. Could possibly get you further than using a photocopy. Operative word being "could". But if it is an expired passport from 1985, not so sure about that.

[FLACRUISER99]

I cruise regularly, but I also travel by other means. I have long had a personal rule: I will never set foot in another country without my passport with me. If I'm staying at a resort in Mexico, and I go out to dinner, my passport is with me. If I'm stopping on a Caribbean island for a port call on a cruise ship, I carry my passport with me.

 

A U.S. passport is an incredibly valuable thing. And yes, losing it can be a pain in the neck. But personally, I feel not taking it because one is afraid to lose it is akin to buying really nice furniture and then covering it in plastic to protect it.

 

Nothing reassures me like knowing I have my passport on me. I am NOT reassured by the "possibility" that someone from the ship will retrieve it and leave it with the port agent should I fail to return in time.

 

Others here will disagree with me, but that is my opinion on the matter.

What will if the ship takes your Passport? Stay on the ship? The last 3 cruises I was on the ship held all the Passports and would not sail until they had all passenger's Passports. For reference Dubai to Singapore, Singapore to Sydney, and RT Buenos Aries Antarctica.

[wowprincess]

I agree - I will always carry my passport. If I'm not going to be afraid of losing my drivers license, money, etc ... I'm not afraid to lose my passport. It's what you have it for!

[macruisefan]

What will if the ship takes your Passport? Stay on the ship? The last 3 cruises I was on the ship held all the Passports and would not sail until they had all passenger's Passports. For reference Dubai to Singapore, Singapore to Sydney, and RT Buenos Aries Antarctica.

 

Obviously, if I'm on an itinerary where my passport is held, I will have to go without.

[Zigggypup]

Whenever I leave the US, I always carry my passport. Better to have it and not need it, then to need it and not have it. It is not heavy or inconvenient to carry compared to all the other crap I lug around....lol.

[FLACRUISER99]

Obviously, if I'm on an itinerary where my passport is held, I will have to go without.

My rule is never say never or always. Anyway we all have to do what were comfortable with. Some ports you (Singapore for one) must have your Passport to get off the ship.

[kicia]

We always take our passports with us because that is the point of having a passport. Obviously there are both points of view as expressed repeatedly on these forums. We've never had anything stolen or lost so I don't know why I would think our passports might be. Just take regular caution as you would in any other place. If you're so afraid of losing your passport why wouldn't you lose other documents also? A copy of a passport has the same worth as a copy of your driver's license, credit cards or cash which is nothing. A lot of big cities in the US are more dangerous for pick pockets, etc. than most of the islands but people still take their purses and wallets with them. Be aware of your surroundings and keep your passport with you. Everyone has to make the decision which suits them.

 

An example of why to have a passport occurred last year in San Juan when a storm came up and the port authority closed the port and the ships had to leave hours before boarding time. Carnival made arrangements for anyone that missed the ship, and had their passport, to fly to the next port of call which I believe was Barbados. People without passports had to return home or remain in San Juan. Through no fault of their own, people had their vacations ruined.

 

Good luck in your decision.

[macruisefan]

My rule is never say never or always. Anyway we all have to do what were comfortable with. Some ports you (Singapore for one) must have your Passport to get off the ship.

 

My rule applies to all my international travel, not just cruising. I say "never" to remind myself whenever I go out to take it. Obviously, if I am somewhere that they hold it, there's not much I can do about that. I would have thought people would simply understand that, but I guess not.:cool:

[CruisinMatt]

A side story - one time we forgot to take our photo ids off the ship (really dumb, I know). When we tried to board, they pulled us aside. Security had a binder and looked us up and then asked us several questions like home address, emergency contact info, etc. to try and verify that we were who we said we were. We had our ship card. It wasn't too painful, but got the well-deserved lecture about forgetting our ids.

[Guerre]

Just for clarification, I was not saying you NEEDED it, or that it was REQUIRED. I was simply stating that any time I'm in a FOREIGN COUNTRY, I ALWAYS carry my passport.

 

I wouldn't typically carry it on an Alaska excursion any more than I would in Key West.

 

I travel a lot internationally and I don't carry my passport around if I have the option of leaving it in my hotel room safe. I used to but was mugged in Prague and they got my wallet, ID, and credit cards and I had a very expensive nightmare getting back home (and don't think for a minute that the US Embassy was any help - they suck - they make you pay in US cash for the replacement and wait until their next business day).

 

But leaving the passport on the cruise ship in the cabin safe doesn't sound good to me because almost by definition if I need the passport the boat will have long gone before I can get to it. So a better plan IMHO is to leave your drivers license in the cabin safe along with a xerox of the passport, and take the actual passport in a waterproof neck pouch ($15 from Amazon) during your shore excursions. Note that you won't be able to use a xerox of a passport to board a plane or clear immigration - you need the real thing. The xerox is only useful to speed replacement at your embassy. And by the way this is 2013 and you might as well take a careful photo of your passport and D/L and leave them in your phone, which will be just as good as a xerox as far as getting replacement documents.

 

The calculation changes somewhat if the cruise terminates in a foreign (to you) country. Then, you know 100% for sure you need to the passport to get off, so I might reverse the plan and leave it on the boat and take my chances with only carrying the xerox plus my D/L when on shore excursions (the calculation being that the odds of you losing or damaging the passport on an excursion is higher than you missing the boat due to injury or intoxication).

[bubbadog]

WHEN I am in american ports,i just take driver"s license,and seapass,and leave pasport in safe,but EUROPE,i take it with me,have a great time,dont worry to much about this.;)

[S.A.M.J.R.]

Whenever I leave the US, I always carry my passport. Better to have it and not need it, then to need it and not have it. It is not heavy or inconvenient to carry compared to all the other crap I lug around....lol.

I agree it's not heavy, but "inconvenient"? Maybe. My DL will fit in my wallet and in my pocket. My Passport is obviously larger. It may or may not fit in my pocket (without sticking out).

 

We're going on our first cruise in 74 days (woo hoo!) and I still haven't decided what we're going to do. I do have a waterproof neck pouch that I'll put our seapasses and ID's in. I just don't know if the passport will fit.

 

I agree with the summation of the pros and cons listed earlier.

[sdear]

I cruise regularly, but I also travel by other means. I have long had a personal rule: I will never set foot in another country without my passport with me. If I'm staying at a resort in Mexico, and I go out to dinner, my passport is with me. If I'm stopping on a Caribbean island for a port call on a cruise ship, I carry my passport with me.

 

A U.S. passport is an incredibly valuable thing. And yes, losing it can be a pain in the neck. But personally, I feel not taking it because one is afraid to lose it is akin to buying really nice furniture and then covering it in plastic to protect it.

 

Nothing reassures me like knowing I have my passport on me. I am NOT reassured by the "possibility" that someone from the ship will retrieve it and leave it with the port agent should I fail to return in time.

 

Others here will disagree with me, but that is my opinion on the matter.

 

I do exactly the same. I leave the copy on the ship ! :D