Passports: to carry or not to carry

[clo]

3 hours ago, Tapi said:

I used to favor leaving passports in the safe until the time we needed them to get back on the ship. My son lost his cruise card in Barcelona and when we returned to the ship, he wouldn’t be allowed back onboard (not even inside the terminal) unless we could produce his passport. The protocol was to check his name on a paper manifest, followed by document verification. A new cruise card would then be issued at guest services. On that particular day, we happened to have our passports with us so we were able to go through this process quickly and effortlessly. I did ask the cruise line security officer if he recommended carrying passports ashore and his reply was “ALWAYS”. 
 

With that said, I don’t always abide by it. Our last cruise was a Caribbean Cruise with stops in Half Moon Cay, Grand Turk, Amber Cove and Key West, and we opted to leave passports in the safe. 

IMO replacing a key card is about a gazillion times easier than replacing a passport while in a foreign country.

[Tapi]

54 minutes ago, clo said:

IMO replacing a key card is about a gazillion times easier than replacing a passport while in a foreign country.

I go back and forth, which is why I don’t always leave it in the safe, and I don’t always take it ashore. Before making that decision, I ask myself, What would be more painful? To misplace my passport at this port of call, or to find myself stranded at this port of call with a passport left behind in the safe? 

[jocap]

I've just renewed my UK passport, and it came with a card which asked for the passport number to be written on it. This will help if a passport has to be replaced- so long as you don't stick it inside the passport for safety... 🤔

We take a photocopy of the main page with us when leaving the ship, but many people don't understand the need to keep the passport safely, especially in ports where pick pockets are rife.

[sparks1093]

22 hours ago, Tapi said:

I used to favor leaving passports in the safe until the time we needed them to get back on the ship. My son lost his cruise card in Barcelona and when we returned to the ship, he wouldn’t be allowed back onboard (not even inside the terminal) unless we could produce his passport. The protocol was to check his name on a paper manifest, followed by document verification. A new cruise card would then be issued at guest services. On that particular day, we happened to have our passports with us so we were able to go through this process quickly and effortlessly. I did ask the cruise line security officer if he recommended carrying passports ashore and his reply was “ALWAYS”. 
 

With that said, I don’t always abide by it. Our last cruise was a Caribbean Cruise with stops in Half Moon Cay, Grand Turk, Amber Cove and Key West, and we opted to leave passports in the safe. 

Couldn't one of you have gone to the cabin and retrieved the passport? 

[SRF]

On 4/19/2020 at 7:51 AM, sparks1093 said:

And if you do go from one Schengen country to another you have entered that second country.

 

Except due to the Schengen agreement.   With the Schengen agreement, when you enter the Schengen zone, you are treated as having entered all the countries of the Schengen zone.

The Schengen zone acts like a single country for immigration and customs purposes.

[Tapi]

4 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

Couldn't one of you have gone to the cabin and retrieved the passport? 

Of course, but I was alone with my 9yo son and needless to say I wasn’t going to leave him alone at the terminal. My wife had gone back to the ship before I lost his card. We would’ve made it happen though, like send someone to get my wife and the passport from the cabin assuming she was there with our daughter. But in that specific situation, having passports with us worked to our advantage and expedited the process. 

[drsel]

Because of the virus, there are some border controls temporarily added