Urgent help - parents passport stolen in Athens

[Torfamm]

34 minutes ago, Mark_UK said:

 

No seems not, as part of the online application for a new one they just automatically cancel your old one. Assume there must be a central database. 

I meant that I wondered if the police were asking for the passport information when they reported them stolen. 

[Mark_UK]

6 minutes ago, Torfamm said:

I meant that I wondered if the police were asking for the passport information when they reported them stolen. 

 

No the police didn't really care from what I've heard. They took a statement and just gave them a slip of paper. 

[sanger727]

On 10/1/2023 at 3:01 AM, the penguins said:

Who knows if Italy needs the "fine money". When we were taken ill in LA the Ambulance Crew/First Responders said to make sure we had our Passports and Medical Insurance with us. On arrival at the Marina Del Rae Hospital they checked both. Now we may have been allowed in without our Passports but when you are lying on a gurney in considerable discomfort debating whether or not the "Official" requesting to see your Passport actually needs to see it is way down your priority list. 

 

It's standard practice in the US to present identification and proof of insurance upon hospital admission. Fire departments also charge for transportation to a hospital so they often request it as well, but not showing it won't stop them from transporting you. Most locations have a "public" hospital where the fire department will take you if you don't have insurance. So, especially with an out of country tourist, it's helpful for them to know whether or not you have insurance. Technically speaking If you don't present the documents, any hospital will treat you to the point of being stable. But you will be shooed out quickly after that if you don't have proof of identity other means to pay the bill. 

[the penguins]

31 minutes ago, sanger727 said:

 

It's standard practice in the US to present identification and proof of insurance upon hospital admission. Fire departments also charge for transportation to a hospital so they often request it as well, but not showing it won't stop them from transporting you. Most locations have a "public" hospital where the fire department will take you if you don't have insurance. So, especially with an out of country tourist, it's helpful for them to know whether or not you have insurance. Technically speaking If you don't present the documents, any hospital will treat you to the point of being stable. But you will be shooed out quickly after that if you don't have proof of identity other means to pay the bill. 

Interesting as usually in the US we are told don't carry your passport a driving licence is all you need - clearly not so in this case.

We had never heard of "First Responders" so as we were expecting an Ambulance when I first opened our hotel room door to see a Fireman my first response was "please don't tell me the hotel is on fire as well as my wife being sick".

The Fireman was amused and it certainly broke the ice.

All part of the joys of travel.

 

[sanger727]

4 minutes ago, the penguins said:

Interesting as usually in the US we are told don't carry your passport a driving licence is all you need - clearly not so in this case.

We had never heard of "First Responders" so as we were expecting an Ambulance when I first opened our hotel room door to see a Fireman my first response was "please don't tell me the hotel is on fire as well as my wife being sick".

The Fireman was amused and it certainly broke the ice.

All part of the joys of travel.

 

 

Failure to have your passport would not have resulted in any reduction of services. But they would like an identity and address for you to bill you.

 

I am a first responder and a vast majority of people the fire department transports will never pay a bill for it (they will get one, they just won't pay it). So they do try to collect from people who have the means to pay.

Edited October 2, 2023 by sanger727

[Mark_UK]

Just been back and forth on the phone with the travel agent and Celebrity and we got them re-booked for the 16th!!

 

They had their fast track passport appointment today and have been told the replacements should arrive by Monday at the latest. 

 

 

[Rina155]

3 minutes ago, Mark_UK said:

Just been back and forth on the phone with the travel agent and Celebrity and we got them re-booked for the 16th!!

 

They had their fast track passport appointment today and have been told the replacements should arrive by Monday at the latest. 

 

 

Great news!!!  Thanks for updating us.  I hope they have a fabulous time!

[jo-b]

7 minutes ago, Mark_UK said:

Just been back and forth on the phone with the travel agent and Celebrity and we got them re-booked for the 16th!!

 

They had their fast track passport appointment today and have been told the replacements should arrive by Monday at the latest. 

 

 

Great news and now you can all cruise together. Do let us know how you enjoy it, we are all very invested now 😀😀

[Traveling Fools]

11 hours ago, Torfamm said:

If you need to report a stolen passport, it is helpful to have the passport number, issue and expiration dates. The passport card is not going to have that information. The best advice is to have a copy of the passport available. An electronic version saved as a photo on a phone, attached to an email, or in a Google Drive folder are practical suggestions.

If you need a replacement PP while traveling you will have to go either to the Embassy in the relative country or one of it's consulates.  They have devises that can read that card and derive your PP number.  Reporting it lost or stolen to the local authorities is one thing, replacing it is quite another.

[Torfamm]

6 minutes ago, Traveling Fools said:

If you need a replacement PP while traveling you will have to go either to the Embassy in the relative country or one of it's consulates.  They have devises that can read that card and derive your PP number.  Reporting it lost or stolen to the local authorities is one thing, replacing it is quite another.

Yes, they are two separate processes. 

Edited October 2, 2023 by Torfamm

[hcat]

46 minutes ago, Mark_UK said:

Just been back and forth on the phone with the travel agent and Celebrity and we got them re-booked for the 16th!!

 

They had their fast track passport appointment today and have been told the replacements should arrive by Monday at the latest. 

 

 

HOORAY! Hope things go smoothly from this point on!

Wonderful news!

[tartantiara]

That’s great news, hope you all have a wonderful cruise together

[wrk2cruise]

1 hour ago, Mark_UK said:

Just been back and forth on the phone with the travel agent and Celebrity and we got them re-booked for the 16th!!

 

They had their fast track passport appointment today and have been told the replacements should arrive by Monday at the latest. 

 

 

 

Did Celebrity provide a solution acceptable to your family?

[DingoMom]

Great news, @Mark_UK!! Have a marvelous cruise!

[Mark_UK]

12 minutes ago, wrk2cruise said:

 

Did Celebrity provide a solution acceptable to your family?

 

Yes they did in the end given the circumstances. They provided a FCC for the value of the original cruise, which allowed my parents to book into an inside cabin for about £100 extra. They are also refunding the excursions and WiFi package my parents purchased.

 

Given they didn't need to do anything at all we are happy with that 👍

Edited October 2, 2023 by Mark_UK

[the penguins]

1 hour ago, sanger727 said:

 

Failure to have your passport would not have resulted in any reduction of services. But they would like an identity and address for you to bill you.

 

I am a first responder and a vast majority of people the fire department transports will never pay a bill for it (they will get one, they just won't pay it). So they do try to collect from people who have the means to pay.

The difficulty is you (or in this case we) are in a foreign country where the rules/laws whatever you like to call them are different.

In the UK you would just be wheeled into to A and E and treatment would be given. Later, probably the next day, someone would come and complete the paperwork.

In this case the First Responder made sure we had our Passports and insurance details which certainly helped. Normally, if we think about this type of situation arising at all, we sort of assume that 1 person will be ill and the other will sort things out. When in the space of a minute we went from a sick wife and a fit husband to both of us needing ambulances and hospital treatment we were faced with a whole different scenario. 

We also had to try and rearrange flights when the three parties involved were in 3 different time zones and the UK travel agent used by the Insurance Company only worked normal UK hours. 

It was not how we planned to spend days 2 and 3 of a 90 day trip but it all came good and we completed the rest of our itinerary including 5 x B2B on Solstice without any other major incident.

 

[drarill]

4 hours ago, Mark_UK said:

Just been back and forth on the phone with the travel agent and Celebrity and we got them re-booked for the 16th!!

 

They had their fast track passport appointment today and have been told the replacements should arrive by Monday at the latest. 

 

 

Great news Mark!! hope to meet all of you on our cruise. Just two more weeks!

[Georgia_Peaches]

2 hours ago, Mark_UK said:

 

Yes they did in the end given the circumstances. They provided a FCC for the value of the original cruise, which allowed my parents to book into an inside cabin for about £100 extra. They are also refunding the excursions and WiFi package my parents purchased.

 

Given they didn't need to do anything at all we are happy with that 👍

So happy about this resolution and have renewed faith in Celebrity.  They didn't need to do anything but the fact that they did reminds me that there really are still humans living within the corporate machine.  From Georgia, sending safe travels and best wishes to your parents as they embark on their cruise of a lifetime!

[chemmo]

3 hours ago, Mark_UK said:

 

Yes they did in the end given the circumstances. They provided a FCC for the value of the original cruise, which allowed my parents to book into an inside cabin for about £100 extra. They are also refunding the excursions and WiFi package my parents purchased.

 

Given they didn't need to do anything at all we are happy with that 👍

So pleased for you all!

 

Well done Celebrity for sorting things out too. 
 

Just hope now that the passports arrive quickly and you can begin to look forward to boarding…I will look forward to reading a few posts from you after you board! 

[abbydancer2003]

I just read all this, and I'm glad they were able get it worked out.

 

I did get curious about the emergency passports not being accepted for the port stop?  I had my passport stolen the afternoon before a 16 day cruise.  We were in Buenos Aires and the first port stop was Falklands, which would have menat I couldn't join the cruise until midway into it.  We'd worked with a local travel agent to book tours in BA, and she was great - she took us to the Embassy first thing in the morning, and by 11:30 I was on my way to the ship with a 1 year passport.  And I just took a look at it - the only indication that it wasn't a regular passport was a not on the back page that it was issued to replace a stolen passport and couldn't be extended.  But maybe that's just US.

 

Anyway, I hope they have a great cruise.  

[the penguins]

10 minutes ago, abbydancer said:

I just read all this, and I'm glad they were able get it worked out.

 

I did get curious about the emergency passports not being accepted for the port stop?  I had my passport stolen the afternoon before a 16 day cruise.  We were in Buenos Aires and the first port stop was Falklands, which would have menat I couldn't join the cruise until midway into it.  We'd worked with a local travel agent to book tours in BA, and she was great - she took us to the Embassy first thing in the morning, and by 11:30 I was on my way to the ship with a 1 year passport.  And I just took a look at it - the only indication that it wasn't a regular passport was a not on the back page that it was issued to replace a stolen passport and couldn't be extended.  But maybe that's just US.

 

Anyway, I hope they have a great cruise.  

Lots of differences:

USA v UK

Israel has much greater security requirements than the Falklands.

Egypt introducing new visa requirements - causing great concern among our Canadian friends.

[abbydancer2003]

3 minutes ago, the penguins said:

Lots of differences:

USA v UK

Israel has much greater security requirements than the Falklands.

Egypt introducing new visa requirements - causing great concern among our Canadian friends.

Yup.  AFAIK, the US passport said nothing about emergency.  Of course that was a long time ago too.

In any case, happy that Mark's parents get a cruise.

[the penguins]

1 minute ago, abbydancer said:

Yup.  AFAIK, the US passport said nothing about emergency.  Of course that was a long time ago too.

In any case, happy that Mark's parents get a cruise.

Things change all the time regretably not always for the better.

Great that Mark that will now be able to enjoy a cruise with his parents and that we (at least those of us in the UK) have learnt a valuable lesson about travel insurance exclusions.

 

[Mark_UK]

55 minutes ago, abbydancer said:

I just read all this, and I'm glad they were able get it worked out.

 

I did get curious about the emergency passports not being accepted for the port stop?  I had my passport stolen the afternoon before a 16 day cruise.  We were in Buenos Aires and the first port stop was Falklands, which would have menat I couldn't join the cruise until midway into it.  We'd worked with a local travel agent to book tours in BA, and she was great - she took us to the Embassy first thing in the morning, and by 11:30 I was on my way to the ship with a 1 year passport.  And I just took a look at it - the only indication that it wasn't a regular passport was a not on the back page that it was issued to replace a stolen passport and couldn't be extended.  But maybe that's just US.

 

Anyway, I hope they have a great cruise.  

 

They got an emergency passport (a single use 6 page document which gets taken from you on your return). According to the .gov.uk website neither Israel or Egypt accept emergency documents for arrivals. 

 

 

[abbydancer2003]

24 minutes ago, Mark_UK said:

 

They got an emergency passport (a single use 6 page document which gets taken from you on your return). According to the .gov.uk website neither Israel or Egypt accept emergency documents for arrivals. 

 

 

ah, very different than a short term passport.