Passports when leaving the ship?

[thinfool]

So you may be ok just taking your room card and a license off the ship to get back on but what happens if you're not back in time and miss the boat! There's no one there to go back on and get those passports locked in the safe! Then you're stuck without them trying to get home:o

Depending on your cruise line, ship personnel will enter your room and attempt to retrieve your documents from the safe, leaving them with the ship's agent ashore for your retrieval.

 

And, don't forget, passports are not required for US citizens on a closed loop cruise, so many, many have no passports to be concerned with.

[LrgPizza]

I won't be out of the country without my passport on me, but I know others feel differently. No, it's not required to get back on the ship.

[hawkeyetlse]

Yikes....I sound paranoid

Don't worry, you are not alone. That goes for anyone who has strong feelings on this issue. The fact is that there are great reasons to leave your passport on board, and great reasons for keeping it with you. You can't do both, which is why there have to be endless threads and discussions about it, but there is very little chance of it mattering either way in real life.

 

So own your paranoia and do whatever your gut tells you to do. In the end whatever makes you feel the most comfortable all day long and the most able to enjoy your day in port is more important than figuring out whether one low-probability event (losing your passport) is likelier than some other low-probability event (missing the ship). And we're not talking about random misfortune that strikes people out of the blue: it's almost completely in your power to avoid losing your belongings and to avoid missing the ship, and you should be doing both of those anyway, no matter where your passport is.

[Loonbeam]

If you fail to reboard the ship, the ship will have someone access the safe and give your passports, etc to the port agent, who will hopefully wait for you at the port, or you will need to contact them to connect. How effective that is depends on the agent...

 

This is also why its important to take the port agent info ashore with you from the daily.......

 

 

OK...that sounds logical and simple enough. And, I am all for leaving my documents on the ship safely in the safe. But I have to ask....if one of us gets hurt on an excursion etc...and has to go to the hospital. ( stuff happens ), and that incident causes us to miss the ship for some reason....how do we fly to the next port or back home without a passport? You cannot fly to the US without one. Hmmm. I think I am actually answering my own original question. LOL Cause and effect so to speak. ha!

[tempus137]

That SX is the WPYRR train to the top of the Canadian Border summit - where you never get off the train and

the engines are reversed on a siding to return the train back to the port of Skagway. Never have been asked

for a passport for the few times I have done this. Technically Yes you cross the border only to reverse the

train movement on a Canadian siding. No one gets off the train or is permitted to do so !

 

There are SX WPYRR trains that do cross the border and continue into the interior of Canada (Fraser Carcross

and Whitehorse) these require the passport but as I understand it is never is asked for only assumed that you

have it on your person since for the most part these are NCL organized SX's. Generally your ship's Key card and

photo ID works fine ! BUT in an emergency having the Passport present help expedite the ID process hands down !

Best to comply with the NCL and CBI orders keeping the restless authorities complacent don't ruffled their feathers ! LOL !

 

We took a Jeep caravan tour several years ago, out of Skagway to the Yukon. This was an NCL SX. We drove across the border twice and had to show our passports both ways.

[brabrant10]

I've never carried my passport of the ship instead I carry a copy of it & my drivers license -& of course my set/sail card is always with me

 

 

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[mamasylvia]

> That SX is the WPYRR train to the top of the Canadian Border summit

 

Nope. I'm on a tour that goes to Carcross via motorcoach, spends some time in Carcross (including lunch with all-you-can-eat donuts, which caught our husbands' attention), then comes back on the WPYRR. So we will definitely be spending time (and, I am sure, money) in Canada proper.

 

What's really funny is that my husband is a Canadian citizen who hasn't been back to Canada for at least 30 years. (Long story) What are they going to say when they process his passport, Welcome Home? lol

[imacruiser99]

On our Eastern Caribbean cruise, we didn't need passports on land at all. The islands make it VERY easy for cruisers to visit and spend money. ;)

 

OTOH, for our upcoming Alaska cruise, one shore excursion that crosses the Canadian border says bluntly that passports are required.

 

I 2nd these comments and to add that it is always important to do research outside of this forum. As we have seen there are always different responses do to the regions the respondents have cruised. The shore excursions will be specific on what their requirements are because they are not border agents and know what will get you across the border with no issues (This comment applies specifically to Alaskan excursions in Canada).

 

Also, the free style dailies will tell you what is required to disembark the ship at the next port since you may need to go through local customs.

 

Personally, whenever I am in a "foreign" country, my passport or passport card is in my possession. Even though it may not be needed for the ship, or even going thru local customs, one may find themselves involved in local law enforcement when more than a ship card and a drivers license is required. I know the odds of anything actually happening are slim, I just have been in to many locations where issues can arise where one can be an innocent bystander and still get caught up in local issues.