Passport Question

[turbanchino]

Hi everybody,

 

I'm from the Philippines and will be sailing with Navigator in Europe this October. Just wanted to know if RC takes passenger passports during boarding and then only gives it back at the end of the cruise?

 

Will the passports be stamped whenever we go off shore for excursions?

 

I've called RC's Philippine office and RC's intl hotline number and they are giving me different answers. I figured the experts here would know better

 

Thank you

Edited August 25, 2017 by turbanchino

[xpcdoojk]

Not at all sure about the holding of your passport but I suspect that they will. I do not think on most ports reachable on an ocean cruise that they will stamp it at the individual countries you visit. They will most likely stamp it where you fly into and where you fly out of. I don't expect you will get any other stamps. Not being from the Philippines I am purely just guessing on all of this. What I posted is my experience sailing on a US passport

 

JC

[LarryHD2]

They have never held our passport when sailing out of US ports.... but I don't know if it's different in Europe.

 

Many times we have had to ask the agents to stamp our passport... it seems to be against the norm to stamp them nowadays.

[3monkeys4me]

Whether or not the hold your passport seems to vary by itinerary. I believe I have heard that passports are sometimes held in Europe. I know they are on some cruises in Asia. My only experience is in Asia (not on RCCL) and out of the US with a US passport.

 

I haven't been on a cruise where your passport is automatically stamped. Sometimes you can ask and they will direct you to a place where you can get them stamped. The past several vacations we have been on the countries visited don't stamp your passport at all, they enter them into the system electronically and give you a little slip of paper. I hold onto the paper, but the last trip we lost one in Hong Kong, Thankfully, it didn't matter when we went to leave. I love having all the stamps in my passport so I am sad that it seems to slowly becoming a thing of the past.

[turbanchino]

Thank you for the responses!

[LeesSummitCruiser1]

I don't know about Europe, but many of the Caribbean Islands have a local chamber of commerce or other official NGO that will have a place where you can get your passport stamped. You have to make an effort and it may or may not be an official Customs stamp. These stamps do allow your passport to look used ;-). Which is why we get them ;-).