Passport or Copy?

[CoachRobes]

I've read that you should carry a photocopy of your passport as opposed to the real thing on excursions in case of theft. Agree or disagree? thanks

[johnql]

You'll get opinions on both sides of the fence. Personally, I take my real passport and leave a photocopy in the cabin's safe. If, for some reason, you end up missing the ship and you're stranded in a foreign country, you'll need your real passport. A photocopy won't do you much good.

[Happy ks]

There is also the fact that US passports are very valuable and an item that thieves would love to relieve you of. Take a copy, if you get left behind, contact the US Embassy, even the port authorities will be able to help you. You will have proof that you are on a cruise ship, as you will have your ship's seapass card with a date, it's pricey, but you will be able to fly to the next port. Hopefully you will havel travel insurance.

 

Better yet, make sure you don't miss the ship. Check the time before you disembark, sometimes the ship will be on local time. Make sure you return to the port at least an hour prior to sail-away.

 

We leave ours safely onboard the ship, in the safe.

[johnql]

There is also the fact that US passports are very valuable and an item that thieves would love to relieve you of. Take a copy, if you get left behind, contact the US Embassy, even the port authorities will be able to help you. You will have proof that you are on a cruise ship, as you will have your ship's seapass card with a date, it's pricey, but you will be able to fly to the next port. Hopefully you will havel travel insurance.

You HOPE that you'll still have your seapass card, credit card, identification, etc. Some thieves won't take the time to be discriminating. They may just take all of your valuables (wallet, purse, etc.), leaving you with nothing.

 

As I said in my first reply, different people approach this situation differently. I myself never worry about thieves, pickpockets, etc. If thievery or losing your valuables is really a concern, I would go with the photocopy, too.

[cruisead]

If you are doing independent tours, especially to the local island beaches, you don't ever want to take your passport off the ship with you. As a matter of fact, if you are a non US citizen, the cruise lines take your passport from you and keeps it locked in a safe and only return it when the cruise is over. So I guess if the cruise line thinks it's OK not to have your passport with you, then why take a chance of having it stolen.

[johnql]

If you are doing independent tours, especially to the local island beaches, you don't ever want to take your passport off the ship with you. As a matter of fact, if you are a non US citizen, the cruise lines take your passport from you and keeps it locked in a safe and only return it when the cruise is over. So I guess if the cruise line thinks it's OK not to have your passport with you, then why take a chance of having it stolen.

Yes, the cruise line may collect the passports of certain cruisers, but it does so because the local government of the port being visited requires it. That doesn't necessarily mean the cruise line thinks it's okay not to have the passport on shore. They have no say in the matter because they have to comply with the local law.

 

But all that said, I still feel that it's a personal decision. Some people feel more comfortable taking their passport; others don't.

[Jane110]

We leave the originals back at the ship - whether in our room safe, or if the ships collects them. We each carry 2 copies, one of our own as well as one of the others.

[cruzincurt]

"There is also the fact that US passports are very valuable and an item that thieves would love to relieve you of."

 

"...why take a chance of having it stolen."

 

Who cares if it is stolen? You get another one. I don't think any of those foreigners look like me. When the border agents scan the number, up pops MY picture, and it better match the person and the one they glued over my photo. The whole purpose of a passport is for identification in a foreign country. That's homeland security's problem, not mine.

 

I just don't get the logic of leaving it locked in the safe. Someone help me here.

[Happy ks]

My thinking is that, if your wallet gets stolen (we don't even carry wallets off the ship), your passport is still safe onboard. We try to carry as little as possible off the ship, I don't carry a purse or a backpack, I make sure I have front pockets and have my seapass card, a credit card, a little cash and a lipstick with me. If I do have to have a beach bag, all that's in it is towels and sunscreen and maybe a bottle of water. We leave the expensive camera onboard (if we're on our own) and take a disposable for the day.

 

If you have the copy of your passport, it will identify you. I'm just not comfortable carrying around such an important document. A photocoy will suffice to get you re-united with your ship, or back home again.

 

I suppose you could carry all this stuff separately. A travel pouch or wallet under the clothing would be the preferrable way to carry your passport. Travellers really need to be cautious in regards to what they are carrying and wearing when they are in a foreign land. As a matter of fact, I'm careful even in my own neighborhood. I don't want to be a target.

[barbados]

I swore I’d never post again about the merits of a passport or a copy of a passport, but I must.

 

We meet one or two poor American soles every couple of years trying to get off of a non-American Caribbean island without a passport. They have the best excuses in the world, but they still aren’t allowed to board an airplane.

 

If you used your passport as ID to board the ship and get stranded with only a copy, immediately call the ship’s agent in port. They will contact the Purser. The Purser sends a faxed affidavit to the agent stipulating that you did, in fact, have a passport that was verified by his staff and is listed on the daily manifest of the port country. This document will allow you to board a plane to the next port. Depending on the port and the agent, this works until late afternoon, perhaps a little later. If the agent has gone home for the day, you’ll have to hole-up until morning (unless it’s a holiday or weekend).

 

Passport was with you but is stolen or lost and you get stranded? Again, if you used it as ID to board the ship, the Purser will assist you through the port agent as above. Get a police report and get a replacement on the next island that you visit having a U.S. Embassy. If that's the last island before home port, the police report and an affidavit from the Purser will get you back into the U.S. with only a little delay.

 

Flying in and staying a week? Passport stolen or missing and you want to fly home? You must immediately file a police report and get a copy. You’ll need the police report to get a replacement passport. Next, contact the closest U.S. American Embassy/Consulate (there are seven of them in the Caribbean, not counting Cuba) and apply for a replacement. Hopefully this happened on one of the seven islands that have an Embassy, otherwise it’s do-it-by-courier/phone/fax and wait.

 

Didn’t file a police report and get a copy? If your spouse is with you and she has her passport with her, you can go to the American Consulate with her and she can swear an affidavit that you are who you say you are, and they’ll replace it. A copy doesn’t help much. Again, if you need this type of fix, I hope that you have it happen during normal business hours on an island with a U.S. Embassy, because you won’t be able to fly to the consulate if you’re on another island.

 

We spend three months each year doing business in the Caribbean on as many as 14 different islands. We’ve done this for the last 14 years and in our case, our passports are duct-taped to our bodies (well, secure anyway). We can’t afford to wait for a replacement.

 

So, copy or the real thing?

 

Depending on your type of visit and how much leisure time and money you have, it’s entirely up to you....

[johnql]

Thank you, Barbados, for an insider's point of view. Very informative and interesting.

[CaptData]

For me it depends on who I do the tour with, if a local then I carry my real passport as the ship won't wait for you. However, if it is a ship's tour then I carry a photocopy since the ship will wait for me.

[Jocia]

My life motto is sh*t happens. There's not just the getting left in port to worry about. You have being robbed, and getting into an accident among other things. Besides being on record on the ship, you should also have a copy of your passport with an emergency contact at home. You don't fly overseas and tour without your passport, what makes a cruise different? It's still a foreign country!! Being without a passport outside the country is like being without your drivers licence when you're home, you don't do it. Unless you like stress, drama, and a big hassle.

 

Dana

[kitty9]

For many cruise lines, they take your passports and lock them up until the day you disembark. You don't have a choice of taking it with you--you simply can't. While passengers are off the ship touring, local Immigration officials in each country go into a meeting room and check all the passports---and in some cases they stamp them. I've cruised all over the world (forty cruises) in some very interesting locations such as Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Namibia and a number of countries in South America and for all those places the passport was kept on the ship in the purser's safe. The only two places I've cruised to that required you to have your passport with you when leaving the ship is Vietnam and Russia (the cruise line gave us our passports for those two places but we had to give them back as soon as we walked on board the ship---and if you forgot, the ship didn't sail until all the passports were returned precipitating a delay in a couple of departures). The cruise lines I've been on that have taken the passports were Cunard, Crystal, Radisson, Seabourn and Silversea. So I guess it appears that it isn't a necessity to keep your passport with you at all times when on a cruise. I have friends who missed the ship in Copenhagen and all they did was go to the US Embassy and get an emergency passport, which was easy because they had their color copies of the information page with them.

[jerseygirl3]

I was told by the Passport Office that we should never carry our original passports off the ship with us. They said a copy would suffice if we got stuck in a port, we should just go to the U.S. Embassy with a copy and they would take care of us.