Celebrity placing stickers/barcodes in passports

[Missaims]

Hi, wasn’t sure where the most appropriate place would be to post this query so I’ll start here...

 

Late last year I was on a Suez Canal cruise with Celebrity when we had to hand our passports in on the ship for immigration purposes. At some point a small sticker with a barcode on it was placed on our passports, not on any of the plank visa pages but on the “page reserved for official observations” you can find on UK passports. Didn’t think much of it at the time and didn’t think anything of it until a recent trip where immigration picked up on it and told me that page shouldn’t be used for anything and I “shouldn’t have put it there”.

 

I’m sure this is a common thing to happen so wondered if anyone else has had this questioned or had any problems?? (I also intend to check with the passport office to get their advice as I’m travelling again soon)

 

Thanks!

[phoenix_dream]

Have never had this happen to us on more than 50 Celebrity cruises, at least a dozen in the past few years.  Have only cruised in Caribbean, Alaska, Canada, and US ports.

[jelayne]

We have had stickers placed on the back of our passports on a few cruises, but other than stamps or visas nothing has been but in our passports and we have cruise Asia, Europe, South American, etc.

[GastroGnome]

The use of stickers for mass immigration clearance is common - but it should never be placed on the "official" pages - only on the visa pages.

 

But that said it should not cause you any problems.  A passport confirms your identity and nationality.  An erroneously placed entry sticker does not change that. If it worries you then you can apply to have the passport re-issued.  But other than the odd over zealous immigration comment it will not detract from the purpose of the document which is to confirm who you are and what nationality you hold.

 

Other than to one purpose which I should have said.  If you are part way through formal transition to change gender or significantly modify your appearance in another way - for example to adopt or to discard formal religious wear or to accept facial modification, then that page is needed for official notes to that effect and possibly also photographs of the transition.  If you need that page and it has been wrongly used you will need to have the passport re-issued I'm afraid.  Depending on the nature and permanency of the change you may only be able to get a 5 year passport.  Regardless of what images are shown on the pages you need the passport chip to show a realistic image so if you are embarking on significant facial modification you might want  a shorter term passport.

[villauk]

32 minutes ago, jelayne said:

We have had stickers placed on the back of our passports on a few cruises, but other than stamps or visas nothing has been but in our passports and we have cruise Asia, Europe, South American, etc.

 

 

Same for us: on the back of our passports. I still have one quoting Millie from a couple of years ago in Asia.

[Lady Chew]

We've also had them placed on the outside back cover.  We remove them when we get back home.

[cruisestitch]

The passport would have been turned over to local authorities for clearance.  Is it possible that they, not Celebrity, put the sticker on?   

[ghstudio]

I don't believe it's legal for someone, other than a government official, to place something in or mark the inside of a passport.  If they want to add a sticker, it goes on the outside of the document.  If celebrity placed a stamp or marking inside the passport, I suspect you had someone who didn't understand what he should be doing.

[cruisestitch]

That’s why I am wondering if perhaps one of the foreign officials  did it 

[Fouremco]

30 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

That’s why I am wondering if perhaps one of the foreign officials  did it 

Always possible, I suppose, but an error of this nature is more likely to have been made by a Celebrity crew member than a foreign passport official IMO.

[Miaminice]

Celebrity would put the sticker on the back (barcode, stateroom number, name). Which makes sense - they want to identify the passports without having to open them.

 

Some countries use stickers (some with digital print, some are just like stamps). The immigration officials put them into you passport (not Celebrity). And some officials simply don´t care where they put them. You should see my passport. We travel a lot and it´s full of big visa stickers (e.g. India, China) stamps and smaller stickers... some put on top of the other or stamped on top of a sticker and vice versa :)

[Missaims]

Thanks for your replies - you’re right I can’t be sure it was the cruise line - but the reason I thought it was is because there was one sticker with my name and room number on the back and another (same colour, font etc) with what I think was my folio number and a barcode on the page I described. The visas issued by the countries I visited are all on the correct pages. 

 

Still have the same same issue though with a sticker in a place where it should it be so I contacted the passport office who have advocated that any page containing personal information shouldn’t be tampered with in any way(!)

 

It’s annoying that I still have over 8 years on my passport but it can’t be peeled off without spoiling the page...

[barbette165]

I think peeling it off and spoiling the page would be viewed by border staff as even worse than leaving the sticker there. They could then be concerned that some serious "official observation" had been removed from the passport and would lead to something more serious than a slap on the wrist.

[Alakegirl]

Especially because you can identify the exterior sticker having your name and room number on it, it’s reasonable to assume that Celebrity affixed it there.  It isn’t likely that Celebrity would have needed two stickers.  So I would assume that the one on the inside page was put there by one of the counties  you visited on the cruise

[Missaims]

8 hours ago, barbette165 said:

I think peeling it off and spoiling the page would be viewed by border staff as even worse than leaving the sticker there. They could then be concerned that some serious "official observation" had been removed from the passport and would lead to something more serious than a slap on the wrist.

 

Thanks - I got a telling off from border staff for it being there in the first place !?! I’m going to Japan next month and don’t fancy having the same conversation with their border control - HMPS said I travel at my own risk (to be fair I think they have to say that) a replacement passport is £75 in the uk so in the grand scheme of things it’s not worth the risk so I’ve bitten the bullet...

[uktog]

You are wise, same thing happened to me on an Azamara cruise and it caused me to be denied a renewal of a china visa for work.  Luckily work wanted me to have a second passport to make it easier getting various visas so they coughed up the cost.  I believe when I hand my passport over to a cruise line they have a duty of care to ensure that no one violates it or damages.  That includes officials of countries who they should be saying - no not on that page - to, they should know to abide by international rules.

 

A warning, in China they can object to stickers on the back so I have carefully removed all of them - the easiest way is to gently warm the passport using a hair dryer so the glue loosens then peel it back carefully.  DO NOT do this on the pages though.

 

Missaims, I would contact Celebrity UK and ask them for a contribution towards the cost of your new passport, they can only say no but it might wake them up to the issue

[Wine-O]

6 hours ago, Alakegirl said:

Especially because you can identify the exterior sticker having your name and room number on it, it’s reasonable to assume that Celebrity affixed it there.  It isn’t likely that Celebrity would have needed two stickers.  So I would assume that the one on the inside page was put there by one of the counties  you visited on the cruise

 

Some of the airlines put a sticker on the back of the passport once you've checked in.  The problem is they don't peel off easily after you pass thru security.   🍷

[chemmo]

7 minutes ago, Missaims said:

 

Thanks - I got a telling off from border staff for it being there in the first place !?! I’m going to Japan next month and don’t fancy having the same conversation with their border control - HMPS said I travel at my own risk (to be fair I think they have to say that) a replacement passport is £75 in the uk so in the grand scheme of things it’s not worth the risk so I’ve bitten the bullet...

 

We would do exactly the same...£75 is worth every penny for the peace of mind.