Port Visits

[sburrus4]

Hello!  My first cruise is just 50 days away, wahoo!  When getting off the ship at port, what do you typically bring with you?  Passport needed?  If you’re swimming with your family, is there a safe place to put a bag?
 

We’re doing a beach day in Labadee and swimming with the dolphins in Jamaica, if that helps. 
 

Thanks!

[Clarea]

Passport is not typically required, but some ports do require a form of photo ID to approach the ship.

[shipgeeks]

Seapass (ship card), and photo ID such as drivers license.

[CntPAcruiser]

13 hours ago, sburrus4 said:

Hello!  My first cruise is just 50 days away, wahoo!  When getting off the ship at port, what do you typically bring with you?  Passport needed?  If you’re swimming with your family, is there a safe place to put a bag?
 

We’re doing a beach day in Labadee and swimming with the dolphins in Jamaica, if that helps. 
 

Thanks!

 

Congrats! Hope you fall in love with cruising. As mentioned, you ordinarily will not bring your passport, but you will need photo IDs and your seapass card to get back into the port area and onto the ship. Some people bring photocopies of their passports just to have the info., and you should bring a copy of the daily cruise compass, which has contact information for the ship and the port, just in case for some reason you are late returning or have an emergency. Hopefully you will never need that information!

 

Labadee is a great beach day, and is simple because it is Royal's private area, but you should not let your guard down just because of that. Do not bring expensive items with you to any port stop, don't wear expensive jewelry or anything flashy, and if you bring a phone or tablet with you, keep an eye on it. Don't leave electronics sitting out in plain view.

 

If you have a bag with towels, sunblock, and other inexpensive and replaceable items, on Labadee it's not a big deal to leave it at your beach chair, but I wouldn't leave anything lying around unattended that you wouldn't want stolen. We've never had a problem, but it can happen, even there.

 

In Jamaica, or any other port, you will want to keep a close eye on your things. We often use travel wallets, the kind that can hang around your neck under your shirt, and we only take what we need and leave extra credit cards back on the ship in the safe.

[taglovestocruise]

15 hours ago, sburrus4 said:

Hello!  My first cruise is just 50 days away, wahoo!  When getting off the ship at port, what do you typically bring with you?  Passport needed?  If you’re swimming with your family, is there a safe place to put a bag?
 

We’re doing a beach day in Labadee and swimming with the dolphins in Jamaica, if that helps. 
 

Thanks!

Keep your passports in the safe, DL and seapass are all you need, plus a cc or cash.

[steveru621]

Cell phone (copies of your passports in a file)

ID, normally drivers' license (most ports don't need it, but RCI recommends you carry ID)

One credit card (high credit line, you may need it for a medical emergency)

Leave your passport in the safe (there are only a handful of ports in the world that require border control clearance)

$20-$40+ cash (or local currency)

Ship towels

 

[Ocean Boy]

6 hours ago, CntPAcruiser said:

 

Labadee is a great beach day, and is simple because it is Royal's private area, but you should not let your guard down just because of that. Do not bring expensive items with you to any port stop, don't wear expensive jewelry or anything flashy, and if you bring a phone or tablet with you, keep an eye on it. Don't leave electronics sitting out in plain view.

 

If you have a bag with towels, sunblock, and other inexpensive and replaceable items, on Labadee it's not a big deal to leave it at your beach chair, but I wouldn't leave anything lying around unattended that you wouldn't want stolen. We've never had a problem, but it can happen, even there.

 

 

You are very correct. My mother got a little too lax at Labadee and had stuff stolen, fortunately nothing expensive or hard to replace but it still leaves you with a bad sensation. It certainly taught me a lesson as I had a tendency to let my guard down there as well as on the ship.

[cb at sea]

You will have to have your ship's card/key to get OFF the ship.  Bring your DL....that's all you need.  Bring whatever you need for what you plan to do.  If you're shopping or walking about, you won't need towels....really,bring what you need for whatever you're doing!

 

[papaflamingo]

20 hours ago, CntPAcruiser said:

If you have a bag with towels, sunblock, and other inexpensive and replaceable items, on Labadee it's not a big deal to leave it at your beach chair, but I wouldn't leave anything lying around unattended that you wouldn't want stolen. We've never had a problem, but it can happen, even there.

Just to add.  My wife carries a good bicycle type lock that she can run through the zipper of her tote bag and then fasten the zippered bag to the beach chair or something stationary.  It's very unlikely that anyone has cable cutters at the beach.  Also it is certainly a deterrent to somone who'll simply move onto the next bag.  HOWEVER we still never carry anything that we can't afford to lose.  When we walk away (other than to go into the water) we take our cell phone or camera with us.  I carry a waterproof camera so it can go into the water with me. Anyway, take a good lock that you can use to lock your bag and fasten it to a fixed (or relatively fixed) object. 

[fdthird]

Before our last cruise, we got lanyards with waterproof holders on them. The right size for phone, credit car, some money and driver’s license and sea pass card.  Just wear it into the water. 

[mskaufman]

We regularly take turns going into the water so that someone is watching our things.