So if you do choose to cruise without a passport, do you...

[jvitatoe26]

1) Only take Carnival sponsored excursions

2) Book private excursions that arent far from port

3) Sightsee on your own and leave plenty of time to get back to port

4) Something else, or a combo of the above

 

I ask because, as some may already know, I am terrified of missing this ship (newbie, etc) and while I DO have a passport, I dont plan on taking it with me while off the ship in port, and my travelmate (BF) does NOT have one.

 

 

 

We are going to be on the Valor, out of San Juan next month. I plan to do the following:

 

Arrive in San Juan two days prior to embarkation

 

St. Thomas (7am - 5pm)

Taxi to Magens Bay beach, with a stop at Drakes Seat for pics, early morning and head back to pier around 2ish, leaving 3 hours til ship leaves. Possibly do tram to paradise point to take pics

 

Barbados (8am - 5pm)

Taxi to Boatyard or Harbour Lights early morning and take a glass bottom boat out to see turtles (purchased at the beach). Head back to pier around 2ish, leaving 3 hours til ship leaves.

 

St. Lucia (8am - 5pm)

Carnival sponsored excursion to Pitons (havent chosen one yet) and nothing else planned this day

 

St. Kitts (8am-6pm)

Taxi early morning to Timothy Hill for photo stop, then on to Reggae Beach Bar, head back to pier around 230ish, leaving 3.5 hours before ship leaves

 

St. Martin/St. Maarten (7am - 5pm)

This is the one that sorta worries me... Taxi early morning to Orient Beach, possibly Bikini Beach bar or Orange Fever, parasailling purchased on the beach. Around noon, 1230ish take another taxi to Maho Beach and watch some planes come in, and then taxi to pier around 230-3pm leaving about 2.5 - 2 hours til ship leaves.

 

 

 

Things that worry me: being sure I am on "ship" time, reliability of taxis (breaking down etc), availablity of taxis.

[gizfish]

I can't actually answer your question because we DO travel with passports. But, I may be able to ease some of your worries about your passport. There is no need to take it with you off the ship, and in fact it is better to leave it in the cabin safe. If you feel more comfortable, make a copy of it and bring that with you off the ship. The policy for people who miss the ship is that the ship's security will obtain your passport from your safe and leave it with the port officer (or whatever the contact in emergency while in port thing is called. It is listed on each port's info sheet.) So if for some reason you do miss the ship, you will still be able to get your passport and be able to fly into the U.S.

[Colorado Kat]

Just make sure you are back to the ship on time!

 

To help ease your mind, carry a copy of the Carnival Funtimes off the ship with you. It is a little daily newspaper. On the first page, it will tell you what documents you need to take off ship with you, what time to be back, and an emergency number to call if you will be late.

 

They might wait for you if due to traffic, etc. Most of the passengers left behind are people who just lose track of time.

[Coolcruise02]

When we started cruising we did not have passports. We did a mixture of ship and independent shore excursions. We just always made sure we left plenty of time to get back on board before sailaway! :)

[Elaine5715]

While your precautions make sense, it is the unexpected trip and fall requiring medical attention causing you to miss the boat that concerns me most and why I elect to travel with a passport.

[Northshorecruisers]

Considering passengers from a cruise ship (don't remember if it was Celebrity or Royal Caribbean) were robbed a week or so ago in St Lucia, I wouldn't take the chance of having my passport with me. Limit cash, cards, and jewelry in ports as well.

[eddiesgal]

With all due respect and IMHO, since only one of you have a passport, what happens if the unexpected occurs and you have to fly back from a foreign port? A driver's license isn't going to get your boyfriend on a plane back without a whole lot of trouble and always cruising with a passport is recommended.

As far as your passport, I agree on making a copy and keeping the real one in your stateroom safe.

[relic937]

1) Only take Carnival sponsored excursions

2) Book private excursions that arent far from port

3) Sightsee on your own and leave plenty of time to get back to port

4) Something else, or a combo of the above

 

I ask because, as some may already know, I am terrified of missing this ship (newbie, etc) and while I DO have a passport, I dont plan on taking it with me while off the ship in port, and my travelmate (BF) does NOT have one.

 

 

 

We are going to be on the Valor, out of San Juan next month. I plan to do the following:

 

Arrive in San Juan two days prior to embarkation

 

St. Thomas (7am - 5pm)

Taxi to Magens Bay beach, with a stop at Drakes Seat for pics, early morning and head back to pier around 2ish, leaving 3 hours til ship leaves. Possibly do tram to paradise point to take pics

 

Barbados (8am - 5pm)

Taxi to Boatyard or Harbour Lights early morning and take a glass bottom boat out to see turtles (purchased at the beach). Head back to pier around 2ish, leaving 3 hours til ship leaves.

 

St. Lucia (8am - 5pm)

Carnival sponsored excursion to Pitons (havent chosen one yet) and nothing else planned this day

 

St. Kitts (8am-6pm)

Taxi early morning to Timothy Hill for photo stop, then on to Reggae Beach Bar, head back to pier around 230ish, leaving 3.5 hours before ship leaves

 

St. Martin/St. Maarten (7am - 5pm)

This is the one that sorta worries me... Taxi early morning to Orient Beach, possibly Bikini Beach bar or Orange Fever, parasailling purchased on the beach. Around noon, 1230ish take another taxi to Maho Beach and watch some planes come in, and then taxi to pier around 230-3pm leaving about 2.5 - 2 hours til ship leaves.

 

 

 

Things that worry me: being sure I am on "ship" time, reliability of taxis (breaking down etc), availablity of taxis.

 

 

You sound like you have a good plan, giving youself plent of time to get back to the ship.

 

We have been to St Martin 7 or 8 times now and if this is the port you are worried about I would suggest booking a tour with Bernard Tours. Bernard is very well known in the area. His tour will give you beach time at Orient, a brief stop in Marigot, the French capital and to Maho in time to see the big jets come in.

 

He will provide water, soft drinks, beer and of course rum punch all free of charge. His driver stays with the van all day so you can leave valuables locked inside and they will be safe.

 

But most importantly he monitors the traffic ( which can sometimes be really bad in the afternoons) and will have you back to the ship in plenty of time. Go to the Ports of Call section under St Martin and you will find many great reviews.

[loxley]

With all due respect and IMHO, since only one of you have a passport, what happens if the unexpected occurs and you have to fly back from a foreign port? A driver's license isn't going to get your boyfriend on a plane back without a whole lot of trouble and always cruising with a passport is recommended.

As far as your passport, I agree on making a copy and keeping the real one in your stateroom safe.

 

Why bother? if something were to happen, they would both still be sitting there without a passport.

 

On the other hand, they are not going to the moon. In 2-3 hours they could walk back to the ship.

[Cruzfrek]

I would also recommend taking a Bernards tour. I did it last summer and we had "Sexy" as our tour guide. He was great.

[CRU1Z1N]

DH and I have been on 8 different cruises (4 different cruise lines) and we do not have passports. We are going on the Valor out of San Juan in August, again with just BC and military ID.

 

We have done private excursions pre 9/11. Now we only do ship sponsored excursions or do the port on our own, mostly shopping, eating or looking around.

 

We have never had a problem in any ports or embarking or disembarking.

 

Have a wonderful cruise and just pay attention to ship time so you can make it back before it leaves!

[agc291]

We did the same cruise on the Victory, I had a passport my BF did not (still doesnt :/ )

I didnt take my passport off the ship and didnt bring a copy.

 

You will be fine. We did a ship excursion in St. Thomas (discover scuba, highly recommend)

 

In the other 4 islands we got off, walked around, did a tour in St Kitts otherwise just went to the beach. As long as you give yourself enough time to get back you will be fine. Dont stress over it.

[xitappers2bx]

1) Only take Carnival sponsored excursions

2) Book private excursions that arent far from port

3) Sightsee on your own and leave plenty of time to get back to port

4) Something else, or a combo of the above

 

I ask because, as some may already know, I am terrified of missing this ship (newbie, etc) and while I DO have a passport, I dont plan on taking it with me while off the ship in port, and my travelmate (BF) does NOT have one.

 

Things that worry me: being sure I am on "ship" time, reliability of taxis (breaking down etc), availablity of taxis.

 

i've only cruised once without a passport, and it was a constant state of panic if something went wrong... so to that end... once i was in europe and a friend loss his passport and getting it replaced really wasn't that HUGE of a deal, just a BIG deal... so i'd only take carnival excursions even though they're more expensive.

 

since you DO have a passport, take a photocopy of it with you off the ship, heaven forbid something happens that at least is proof you have one, adn can get you home or to the next port quicker.

[jvitatoe26]

You sound like you have a good plan, giving youself plent of time to get back to the ship.

 

We have been to St Martin 7 or 8 times now and if this is the port you are worried about I would suggest booking a tour with Bernard Tours. Bernard is very well known in the area. His tour will give you beach time at Orient, a brief stop in Marigot, the French capital and to Maho in time to see the big jets come in.

 

He will provide water, soft drinks, beer and of course rum punch all free of charge. His driver stays with the van all day so you can leave valuables locked inside and they will be safe.

 

But most importantly he monitors the traffic ( which can sometimes be really bad in the afternoons) and will have you back to the ship in plenty of time. Go to the Ports of Call section under St Martin and you will find many great reviews.

 

I did not know this! Thank you so much, I will look up Bernards! :)

[Warm Breezes]

Another vote for Bernards Tours in St. Maarten. Awesome tour and we were back in plenty of time. We have sailed 9x without passport. We have done a mixture of what you listed. If we go on our own we make sure we are back hours before sailing time and we stay away from extreme exursions. If we book independantly we check reviews on port of call boards and make sure the timing will get us back with a couple of hours to spare. Here is our agenda for our next Carnival Cruise:

 

Key West....shopping and enjoying the ship while in port. This is our second time here as a port plus DH and I vacationed here once.

Grand Cayman...if we can tender (we have 50/50 experience due to weather) we will get the $20 Island Tour offered at the tender pier ending at 7 Mile Beach. This is our second time here and we did the Sting Ray Excursion (through NCL the first time). We will take a taxi back from the beach when we are ready to go with plenty of time to spare.

Ochos Rios....this is a new port for us and after reading reviews of this port we feel safer taking a Carnival Sponsered Excursion. I wanted to Dunns River Falls but DH and DS are not to keen of any excursions where they need to get into the water like that, so we will be doing the Jamaican Bob Sled.

[jvitatoe26]

Thanks everyone who recommended Bernards! I went online and booked the "Tour 2" this morning...it is actually less than I expected to pay also!!! :)

[jvitatoe26]

I can't actually answer your question because we DO travel with passports. But, I may be able to ease some of your worries about your passport. There is no need to take it with you off the ship, and in fact it is better to leave it in the cabin safe. If you feel more comfortable, make a copy of it and bring that with you off the ship. The policy for people who miss the ship is that the ship's security will obtain your passport from your safe and leave it with the port officer (or whatever the contact in emergency while in port thing is called. It is listed on each port's info sheet.) So if for some reason you do miss the ship, you will still be able to get your passport and be able to fly into the U.S.

 

Thanks for the info! I really am not comfortable even having a copy of my passport with me in port. That eases my mind some!

[jvitatoe26]

So I wonder what happens if heaven forbid you do miss the ship and you do NOT have a passport. Do you just head to the consulate and pay for an emergency one? Some other travel document to fly home?

[Sparky2]

I can't actually answer your question because we DO travel with passports. But, I may be able to ease some of your worries about your passport. There is no need to take it with you off the ship, and in fact it is better to leave it in the cabin safe. If you feel more comfortable, make a copy of it and bring that with you off the ship. The policy for people who miss the ship is that the ship's security will obtain your passport from your safe and leave it with the port officer (or whatever the contact in emergency while in port thing is called. It is listed on each port's info sheet.) So if for some reason you do miss the ship, you will still be able to get your passport and be able to fly into the U.S.

 

We also take a photocopy of our passports when in port. Plus, of course, the phone # with the funtimes. I don't want to take a chance of losing the original or having it stolen.

 

We cruise with a passport because of possible medical emergencies. Hopefully, we'll never need to be medivaced or whatever.

[pat55]

So I wonder what happens if heaven forbid you do miss the ship and you do NOT have a passport. Do you just head to the consulate and pay for an emergency one? Some other travel document to fly home?

 

My passport was stolen in Jamaica last year

I didn't go to a consulate , still had my driver licenses on me

I had to fill out some forms and it took an extra 1/2 un the us side

Not a biggie at all

[jvitatoe26]

My passport was stolen in Jamaica last year

I didn't go to a consulate , still had my driver licenses on me

I had to fill out some forms and it took an extra 1/2 un the us side

Not a biggie at all

 

But you had a passport, so that may have been why it was so easy?? BF does not have one at all.