A Few Questions for a Caribbean Cruise

[brm]

We are on the AOS in February visiting St. Thomas, St. Croix, Antigua, St. Lucia and Grenada.

 

I had a few questions:

 

1 - What documents should we carry when getting off the boat each day. We are using our passports as our documentation. Do we need to carry the passports with us or will a copy of the relevant passport work. Obviously, i would prefer not to carry our passport each day into each country and risk losing it.

 

2 - I was thinking of hiring taxis in most ports. Have folks had good experience in hiring a driving somewhat blindly?

 

Thanks for the help.

[Clarea]

Whether to carry your passport is a personal decision. Some people feel the passport is safer on the ship. Others don't like the idea of being without their passport in case something goes wrong and you need to fly home. However, if you decide not to carry your passport, you should carry some other sort of photo ID, as some ports will not allow you back into the cruise dock area without one.

[spookwife]

1: sea pass. probably a picture ID( DL, etc) for the adults. as for passport: the line is about equally divided between leaving it in the safe in your cabin and just bringing a photocopy and carrying it on your person.

 

I am in the latter category. do what feels comfortable to you.

 

2: I'd ask on the individual ports of call forums about taxis. we had no problems in Canada finding someone willing to give us a 'tour' of his town. if you just want to hit the beach or X Tourist Trap, there may be cheaper alternatives( like in Bermuda we took public transport to get to the Aquarium)

[mattpro]

Photo copy of your passport or valid U.S. drivers license will suffice.

 

Taxis are readily available in each port and knowing what you would like to see makes it much easier for you to negotiate a readily acceptable price.

 

TripAdvisor search would also be prudent.

 

Have done this cruise many times and you should find it really enjoyable, both on and off the ship.

[WI-Cruiser]

At a minimum you will need to bring Seapass card and a photo ID. Note the Port Agent contact information from the cruise compass in case you get stranded (or carry a copy of the compass). I also carry a credit card in case of emergencies.

 

Everyone has their own ideas regarding passport. I personally scan everything (passport, ID's, power of attorney, cruise schedule, credit card bank contact info, etc.) and put it on a tiny encrypted USB drive which I carry with me. I also leave the same information with an emergency contact back home.

 

A good source of information regarding each port of call and excursion options is the Ports of Call forum:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=587

 

Trip Advisor is also a great source.

[Hoopster95]

We are on the AOS in February visiting St. Thomas, St. Croix, Antigua, St. Lucia and Grenada.

 

2 - I was thinking of hiring taxis in most ports. Have folks had good experience in hiring a driving somewhat blindly?

 

Just my 2 cents...

I've had lukewarm/roll the dice experiences doing this. I have pretty close to 100% had great excursions/experiences by pre-planning. Cruise critic (reviews & ports of call forums) and Trip Advisor are key tools to read for me as to what other fellow travelers have experienced.

[blackshirt]

As noted by others, you won't need a passport in any of those ports for anything other than getting on a flight should you not get back to the ship and if you are planning on hiring taxi's and exploring on your own rather than taking RCI sponsored excursions, the risk of not getting back to the ship might be something to consider.

[Ocean Boy]

Our first times visiting St. Thomas, St. Lucia, and Antigua we hired someone once we got off the ship. It worked out quite well at all three islands. We have done this on other islands too. The only time I have ever pre-booked a tour was our fist time on St. Kitts. And one time I pre-booked a ship sponsored tour on Curacao as it was the easiest and least expensive way to see what we wanted to.

 

And... I rarely leave the ship without my passport. I feel much more comfortable having it with me.

[drychi]

I have cruised with Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, Carnival, and Disney and have found that all of them want you to take your Sea Pass Card and some form of official picture identification with you ashore. I don't carry my actual passport off the ship, but I did get a passport card a couple of years ago which I do carry. Prior to that I did not have any problems with my Missouri Operators License. I also carry the information for the port agent for the cruise line and a credit card along with some cash. I always take two credit cards on the trip and leave one in the safe with my passport and take the other ashore. Hope this information helps! Happy Cruising Bob

[chadbeck]

I always book excursion apart from the ship, so I always have my sea pass(required by all), credit card, and passport should I miss the boat. I've never even come close to missing the ship when leaving but it's a small piece of mind for me knowing I'll be able to get home easy should it happen. I really wouldn't want to be standing on the dock without it and have to deal with an embassy to make arrangements and possibly be stuck for days well it gets worked out with nothing. All that said the odds are pretty low of it happening.

[island lady]

Another vote for leaving passport in the safe, but we do feel more comfortable taking our

passport card with us for our photo ID versus our Drivers licence.

 

I always tear off the section of the Cruise Compass that has port authority information

on it and take it with me when I go into port.

Edited December 30, 2015 by island lady