Surrendering passports?

[A Tucson Guy]

News hot off the press!! Just got off the Nova, Venice to Rome with a couple of stops in Croatia and SS did NOT collect our passports, which I thought was strange. It turns out that in Italy, when you come back from an excursion, the police MAY ask to see your passport. We got asked twice by the police to show our passports. I think it must depend on the countries that you are visiting.

[A Tucson Guy]

1 minute ago, mysty said:

 

Bring a copy of your passport ID pages when you disembark at a port.  Not rocket science!

In Italy, they would not accept a copy of the passport. They needed to see the original. How do I know, I asked.

[xamsx]

4 minutes ago, mysty said:

 

Bring a copy of your passport ID pages when you disembark at a port.  Not rocket science!

Yes, because a copy of a passport is perfectly valid for authorities. No, actually it isn’t. 🙂

Edited September 4, 2023 by xamsx

[mysty]

1 minute ago, A Tucson Guy said:

In Italy, they would not accept a copy of the passport. They needed to see the original. How do I know, I asked.

 

And that's probably why Silversea did not collect the passports.  Too much of a hassle for them if they would be needed in several ports.

[mysty]

2 minutes ago, xamsx said:

Yes, because a copy of a passport is perfectly valid for authorities. No, actually it isn’t. 🙂

 

It is definitely valid in some ports!  Granted not all!  On our 2 World Cruises passports were collected.   If they were necessary for visiting any port along the way they were returned.   In some cases photo copies were provided.   Do you really think that Silversea would disembark passengers in ports that required passport identification without providing the passport?  This isn't a rinky-dink cruise line.  

[A Tucson Guy]

1 minute ago, mysty said:

 

It is definitely valid in some ports!  Granted not all!  On our 2 World Cruises passports were collected.   If they were necessary for visiting any port along the way they were returned.   In some cases photo copies were provided.   Do you really think that Silversea would disembark passengers in ports that required passport identification without providing the passport?  This isn't a rinky-dink cruise line.  

Here is the latest on the Nova in Italy. The first stop in Italy, when we just getting ready to get off the ship when we were told that we needed our passports, so back to the cabin for passports. There was no mention in the daily chronicles that we need our passports to leave the ship or announcements. On the rest of the Italy stops, I never heard anybody being told that they needed their passports. No big deal!

[Stumblefoot]

Boy, I sure do enjoy when Mysty strays outside the cooler!

[LAexNY]

We are on the Silver Explorer in the Kimberley now.  Passports were collected when we boarded in Fremantle and will be returned when we disembark in Darwin.  The entire cruise is in Australia, no other country or customs involved.  Go figure!

[Host Jazzbeau]

5 hours ago, xamsx said:

This is interesting. I have never surrendered my passport to a cruise ship. This includes in Europe, Australia, North America, or South America (and islands in between). I have to say I dislike this idea very much. What if I am questioned ashore? 

I can't give a ratio, but we have had both experiences on various cruise lines.  And I would never bring my passport ashore, because losing it would be a disaster.  That's what color copiers are for.

[david63]

8 hours ago, mysty said:

It is definitely valid in some ports!  Granted not all!

And Canada is one of those ports that require a passport.

There are a growing number of countries that require you to carry your passport when ashore - and in my experience copies are not valid.

[jollyjones]

2 hours ago, david63 said:

And Canada is one of those ports that require a passport.

There are a growing number of countries that require you to carry your passport when ashore - and in my experience copies are not valid.

 

And woe betide if you get mugged.

 

[mysty]

3 hours ago, david63 said:

And Canada is one of those ports that require a passport.

There are a growing number of countries that require you to carry your passport when ashore - and in my experience copies are not valid.

 

If a passport is required when making your away around any port Silversea will make sure you have it available.  I'm really not sure why you are singling out Canada.  Mountains and mole hills.

[highplanesdrifters]

5 hours ago, jollyjones said:

 

And woe betide if you get mugged.

 

Exactly. Like the large tour group from a cruise ship in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.

[david63]

6 hours ago, jollyjones said:

 

And woe betide if you get mugged.

 

There are various items available to minimise loosing your passport. I have, out of necessity, carried my passport around on my person for over five weeks when touring and not had any problems - then again I do my utmost to avoid areas where there is a possibility of being mugged.

At the end of the day if it is a country's rules that you carry your passport then that is what you have to do,

[mitz18]

17 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

  That's what color copiers are for.

And a cell phone camera.  Just take a pic - has worked for me several times.

 

[pavementends]

15 hours ago, jollyjones said:

 

And woe betide if you get mugged.

 

 

If a country requires that I carry my passport I carry my passport. After all, I have somehow managed to board the ship with my passport after having carried it to the departure port. I do use an around-the-neck pouch so that I won't lose it inadvertently or have it snatched by pickpockets after my wallet or backpack.

 

I guess I think it will be a lot easier to explain to the US State Department that I had my passport taken (a very small chance) than to explain to an Italian* policeman that I didn't think the rules applied to me.

 

* Arbitrary choice of country. Although I have seen some very officious and inflexible Italian officials in action.

 

 

[ropomo]

55 minutes ago, pavementends said:

I do use an around-the-neck pouch so that I won't lose it inadvertently or have it snatched by pickpockets after my wallet or backpack.

I second this. I use one of these as well. Put passports, credit cards, cash, etc. in it and it's tucked under my shirt. When I need to access, unbutton one button and slide it out. With a button a down shirt it doesn't show. After a rather physical encounter in Lisbon with someone trying to get into my backpack, I've been a bit more proactive (the person trying to get into my backpack from behind received a very energetic elbow in his ribcage and fortunately my wife was walking a few steps behind me and verbally alerted me to the attempt).

[jollyjones]

 

The group in Port Elizabeth were confronted by armed robbers (can't remember if it was knives or guns) and were relieved of everything that was in their possession - neck pouches, backpacks, fanny packs, phones, watches etc. etc.

This included passports because they had been told by their cruise line that they needed to carry them ashore and a great deal of discussion ensued on CC about whether that was accurate. Particularly since other pax said they had not needed to show their passports to get on or off the ship.

 

Disclaimer - I think I'm remembering this correctly, but I may not be.

Also, I'm not saying this is a frequent occurrence but it shows that it can happen.

 

 

[Mr Luxury]

4 hours ago, jollyjones said:

 

The group in Port Elizabeth were confronted by armed robbers (can't remember if it was knives or guns) and were relieved of everything that was in their possession - neck pouches, backpacks, fanny packs, phones, watches etc. etc.

This included passports because they had been told by their cruise line that they needed to carry them ashore and a great deal of discussion ensued on CC about whether that was accurate. Particularly since other pax said they had not needed to show their passports to get on or off the ship.

 

Disclaimer - I think I'm remembering this correctly, but I may not be.

Also, I'm not saying this is a frequent occurrence but it shows that it can happen.

 

 

Just carry a printed copy or like i do, have my passports on my phone.

[A Tucson Guy]

14 minutes ago, Mr Luxury said:

Just carry a printed copy or like i do, have my passports on my phone.

That dog might not hunt in Italy, based on our recent experience.

[Mr Luxury]

1 hour ago, A Tucson Guy said:

That dog might not hunt in Italy, based on our recent experience.

I didn't have any problem in Portofino on Saturday.

[rm3]

Taking everyone's (passengers and crewmembers) passports ashore for the Durban Immigration authorities so we can all be cleared out of South Africa for Mauritius on the Queen Mary 2 voyage from Cape Town to Sydney in January 2014. You can't see in the photo but there was about a 1 meter gap of the ramp over open water between the ship and the dock with plenty of room for it all to go terribly wrong! We all got our passports returned later in the day.

Edited September 6, 2023 by rm3

[roaming_kiwi58]

On 9/5/2023 at 6:27 PM, david63 said:

And Canada is one of those ports that require a passport.

There are a growing number of countries that require you to carry your passport when ashore - and in my experience copies are not valid.

 

Not our experience in Canada. We are on the second part of a back to back in eastern Canada. Our passports were taken off us on the first day of our first cruise, and we have not seen them since. Some ports have just checked our ship card when reboarding. Some have asked for extra ID, such as driver licence, not passports.

[Mr Luxury]

10 minutes ago, roaming_kiwi58 said:

 

Not our experience in Canada. We are on the second part of a back to back in eastern Canada. Our passports were taken off us on the first day of our first cruise, and we have not seen them since. Some ports have just checked our ship card when reboarding. Some have asked for extra ID, such as driver licence, not passports.

That's what has happened for nearly every cruise that i have ever taken

[Stumblefoot]

2 hours ago, A Tucson Guy said:

That dog might not hunt in Italy, based on our recent experience.

It definitely won’t hunt entering Argentina from Chile while crossing Patagonia from Torres del Paine to Perito Moreno Glacier.

Edited September 6, 2023 by Stumblefoot