what do you guys take off ship in case you miss the boat?

[NMLady]

I was surprised no one mentioned this until after pages of passport discussion. I print up a small card with travel insurance policy or ID number, as well as their phone numbers, and phone numbers for family members to be contacted in case of emergency. You should also carry with you (even at home) a list of medications you regularly take, allergies, any serious medical issues. Think of it as extra insurance - if you have it, in all likelihood you won't need it, but if you should be involved in an accident or become ill, you'll be very glad you have it. It could save your life!

 

I didn't mention either of these because a medication list is always in wallet, not just on a cruise but in daily life too. And the card given to us from travel insurance goes into wallet as soon as we receive it so we don't forget it.

Since wallet is ashore with us I didn't even think about mentioning these.

 

I think we will also carry a couple days extra meds with us from now on.

[searoses]

If you miss the ship you will find your passport with the port agent if you left it in the safe .....be sure to bring that contact info with you.....we leave ours in the safe....this a chicken and egg discussion very common on cc.....to each his own...

[SantaFeFan]

There's a very definite downside to carrying a photocopy of a passport - you have to carry the weight of a sheet of paper round with you.

 

Yes, it certainly is a heavy burden to deal with. But, be reassured that that single sheet of copy paper will weigh much less than the actual passport, making your time on two legs much less stressful. :D

 

2. If you don't carry it, the bad thing is that you miss the ship and that you didn't realise you were going to miss the ship until too late. (Otherwise you could have rung the ship and arranged for them to leave the passport with the port agent.) So, you're left in a foreign land with a passport in a safe, known, but temporarily inaccessible place.

 

Every cruise line I sail on will retrieve said passport from the safe and turn it over to the port representative. The result is that the passport will actually be close at hand, and not out in international waters like some people would lead us to believe as they try to work up the non-existent fear mongering of being stranded in a foreign country without a passport. I have been to many countries where we had to surrender our passports to the cruise line, requiring us to go ashore without them. I have no idea how those paranoid passport protectionists survive in those countries. :p

Edited September 9, 2015 by SantaFeFan

[sloopsailor]

Given the news report I heard today about Carnival's ship having a fire in St. Thomas and guests being on shore, I made a mental note to never leave the ship without a day or two of my necessary Rx's

 

Still not good enough. You should always go ashore with all relevant documents, such as passport, second form of ID, credit cards, debit cards, cash, travelers checks, items for bartering, two pairs of shoes, several pairs of underwear, and at least three days medication, clothing, water, and food. You never know when you might fall into a well and not be rescued for several days. Should always be prepared for the worse! ;)

Edited September 9, 2015 by sloopsailor

[Flatbush Flyer]

With all the cruises i have done we have never been concerned about missing the boat. However, i suppose I should be more cautious and take what i might need in case. So what do you need besides cash and id. is a copy of your passport enough in the carribean? Do all of you take all your travel documents when you get off the ship in ports?

 

 

Most importantly, port agent contact info.; sheet of paper on which is picture of passport main page (passport stays in possession of ship's purser), trip and health insurance info, emergency contacts, etc.; credit card; and California driver's license (which someday will be a passport when our state, seventh largest economy in the world, figures out it would be in our best interest to secede from the union - just kidding OR am I?).

 

also a copy of that doc on iPhone.

[sail7seas]

Still not good enough. You should always go ashore with all relevant documents, such as passport, second form of ID, credit cards, debit cards, cash, travelers checks, items for bartering, two pairs of shoes, several pairs of underwear, and at least three days medication, clothing, water, and food. You never know when you might fall into a well and not be rescued for several days. Should always be prepared for the worse! ;)

 

Easy to brush off what others need if it is not something you need.

Without everyone sharing their medical conditions, please do not mock having Rx on your person if your well-being depends upon uninterrupted dosing.

 

Please Don't minimize it even in jest. People may not think of how important it could be.

 

[CaveDiving]

I guess the question is, what good is the passport in the safe in the room when you are on land in a foreign country? A passport in the safe is really only good for one thing, to get you back on land from the ship. It doesn't help you get from one country to another or back home if something unfortunate happened.

 

I need to disagree strongly with this message, at least on the Holland America Line. On HAL if a passenger is late getting back to a ship, the ship's security officer will go the the cruiser's cabin and look in the safe. If the passport is there, he will leave it with the port agent. If it is not in the safe, he will not search for it elsewhere.

 

So at least on Holland America, a passport in a cabin safe is just about as useful as a passport carried around all day. What I'm trying to say is "it is not necessary to carry a passport on excursions unless the ship has announced the country you're visiting requires it."

 

Scott & Karen

[sloopsailor]

Easy to brush off what others need if it is not something you need.

Without everyone sharing their medical conditions, please do not mock having Rx on your person if your well-being depends upon uninterrupted dosing.

 

Please Don't minimize it even in jest. People may not think of how important it could be.

 

 

I was not mocking you, though when re-reading my post, I can see how it might be misunderstood that way. I was actually mocking the passport pushers, who seem to think that disaster is always a step away, and having your passport on your person will somehow miraculously make oneself immune to any inconvenience.

 

My sincere apologies for seemingly giving the wrong impression of who was the butt of my joking.

[LA_Design]

I take my wife with me every time we get off the boat - that is all I need [emoji33]

[sail7seas]

I need to disagree strongly with this message, at least on the Holland America Line. On HAL if a passenger is late getting back to a ship, the ship's security officer will go the the cruiser's cabin and look in the safe. If the passport is there, he will leave it with the port agent. If it is not in the safe, he will not search for it elsewhere.

 

So at least on Holland America, a passport in a cabin safe is just about as useful as a passport carried around all day. What I'm trying to say is "it is not necessary to carry a passport on excursions unless the ship has announced the country you're visiting requires it."

 

Scott & Karen

 

Very true and why one should always be sure they have Port Agent's contact information when leaving the ship. (S)he is your 'friend in town' should you need one.

 

 

 

I was not mocking you, though when re-reading my post, I can see how it might be misunderstood that way. I was actually mocking the passport pushers, who seem to think that disaster is always a step away, and having your passport on your person will somehow miraculously make oneself immune to any inconvenience.

 

My sincere apologies for seemingly giving the wrong impression of who was the butt of my joking.

 

:) All is good. Thanks for understanding where I am coming from.

 

[dsrdsrdsr]

Every cruise line I sail on will retrieve said passport from the safe and turn it over to the port representative. The result is that the passport will actually be close at hand, and not out in international waters like some people would lead us to believe as they try to work up the non-existent fear mongering of being stranded in a foreign country without a passport. I have been to many countries where we had to surrender our passports to the cruise line, requiring us to go ashore without them. I have no idea how those paranoid passport protectionists survive in those countries. :p

 

I would only rely on this if you've told them you're going to be late. My brother was once pages as an absentee when the computer hadn't recorded him as coming back; but they didn't put his passport ashore. Fortunately!

[Hlitner]

Santafefan's post has caused me to add an additional point. Although we posted that we never take our Passports off the ship (or out of our hotel safe) unless it is absolutely necessary, there are times when it happens. For us the most common problem is that when we rent a car (which we often do at European ports) some rental car agencies used to require that you show a Passport (most will now settle for a copy). In cases where the ship is holding Passports this means we have to get them back. When ships insist on holding Passports they will give them to you at ports if you make a special request. The last time this happened to us (on the Prinsendam) the Purser actually came out of his office to talk to us, personally handed us our Passports, and asked that we please return them to Guest Relations that same evening (he needed them for ship clearance at the next port).

 

Hank

[sail7seas]

I would only rely on this if you've told them you're going to be late. My brother was once pages as an absentee when the computer hadn't recorded him as coming back; but they didn't put his passport ashore. Fortunately!

 

My DH also did not scan as being aboard once though they had scanned his card when we returned to the ship. Mine had registered. Prior to throwing lines, they paged him and he, of course, called the appropriate extension to say he was aboard. They did not give his passport to Security as I was aboard and they would have consulted me first but most importantly, IF they had given it to Port Agent, (s)he does not leave the dock until the ship has sailed. He is available to give the passport right back to Security Officer at the gangway prior to sailing if radioed to do so.

 

[SantaFeFan]

Santafefan's post has caused me to add an additional point. Although we posted that we never take our Passports off the ship (or out of our hotel safe) unless it is absolutely necessary, there are times when it happens. For us the most common problem is that when we rent a car (which we often do at European ports) some rental car agencies used to require that you show a Passport (most will now settle for a copy). In cases where the ship is holding Passports this means we have to get them back. When ships insist on holding Passports they will give them to you at ports if you make a special request. The last time this happened to us (on the Prinsendam) the Purser actually came out of his office to talk to us, personally handed us our Passports, and asked that we please return them to Guest Relations that same evening (he needed them for ship clearance at the next port).

 

Hank

 

We had to do the same thing for our overnight in Bangkok, Thailand last February. Everyone was required to surrender their passports so the ship could prepare the appropriate documentation for our upcoming stops in three Vietnamese ports, including an overnight in Hanoi. We retrieved our passports the morning before we left the ship and returned them the evening we returned. They were very organized, with several lines for different alphabetical groupings. The process took only a few short minutes.

 

Everyone who stayed on the ship that night visited shore side without passports since the cruise line had possession of them. Those who adamantly refuse to set foot on foreign soil without their passports must have stayed on the ship and watched everyone else leaving to have a great day. ;)

Edited September 11, 2015 by SantaFeFan