Surrendering of Passports?

[Avril]

Friends of ours returned recently from a Carnival Cruise. They were required to surrender their Passports at embarkation. Does HAL require that you surrender your passport on embarkation?

 

Carnival doesn't do this anymore. :D At least, they haven't on any of my cruises since I went on the Victory in 2004.

[u4ea]

It is my understanding that passports are retained for the convenience of the passenger.

 

Some immigration officials board prior to the arrival in their home country and review passports in the wee hours. I think most passengers would rather surrender their documents than have to make an appearance and/or incur lengthly delays in port.

 

I agree, and I would never want to be responsible for a delay. But I think many immigration officers for a cruise ship are not as meticulous in some places, so if your “under the radar” they’d never call you. Like I said, it’s easier to surrender it and pick it up when you need it.

Mark…

[u4ea]

Great post BruceMuzz! How do know so much? Especially about #2?

I would get the feeling you would have to hire a lawyer to get reimbursement for financial liability of the cruise line losing you passport.

What about those who leave the ship to rejoin it at the next port? I know at least a few who did this in Europe on one cruise and didn't even tell the purser.

Best place to carry the passport is in a money belt under your pants.:cool:

Mark…

[jtl513]

What about those who leave the ship to rejoin it at the next port? I know at least a few who did this in Europe on one cruise and didn't even tell the purser.

I'm surprised the ship didn't boot them off (or not allow them back on) at the next port!!!!! :eek: :eek:

 

BTW, BruceMuzz knows so much because he is a long-time crew member, although I'm not sure on which lines or in what position(s).

[Jade13]

We have never ever given our passports to HAL or any other cuise line. We always carry them with us.

[BruceMuzz]

u4ea,

 

I have been through this procedure more times than I want to remember.

 

No need to hire a lawyer. When the cruise ship loses your passport, the local Immigration Officials, the passport holder's government, the ship's flag state government, and the Cruise Line's Head Office all go after the Ship's Management. Most countries take a very dim view of lost passports and the possible monkey-business that can go along with it. Many local governments threaten to ban a ship - or the entire cruise line - from all their ports when passports go missing. The Cruise line can receive huge fines from several different governments when passports are lost. The Captain could lose his license - and his career. And the cruise line is very afraid of lawsuits from passengers and governments if they lose passports. On the very rare occasions when I have seen it happen, the affected passengers feel as if they have won the lottery.

 

In Europe, passport checks are very rare after the initial entry. Leaving the ship without telling the Purser is easy - but very stupid - because the Purser is then required to report missing passengers to the local authorities. At that point the ship is not in any danger of fines or problems - but the missing passengers are. They may have violated local visa regulations.

 

Although a money belt under your pants is a pretty good place to carry a passport (unless you are at the beach), the very best place to carry it is onboard the ship in the Purser's safe.

[world~citizen]

u4ea,

 

I have been through this procedure more times than I want to remember.

 

No need to hire a lawyer. When the cruise ship loses your passport, the local Immigration Officials, the passport holder's government, the ship's flag state government, and the Cruise Line's Head Office all go after the Ship's Management. Most countries take a very dim view of lost passports and the possible monkey-business that can go along with it. Many local governments threaten to ban a ship - or the entire cruise line - from all their ports when passports go missing. The Cruise line can receive huge fines from several different governments when passports are lost. The Captain could lose his license - and his career. And the cruise line is very afraid of lawsuits from passengers and governments if they lose passports. On the very rare occasions when I have seen it happen, the affected passengers feel as if they have won the lottery.

 

In Europe, passport checks are very rare after the initial entry. Leaving the ship without telling the Purser is easy - but very stupid - because the Purser is then required to report missing passengers to the local authorities. At that point the ship is not in any danger of fines or problems - but the missing passengers are. They may have violated local visa regulations.

 

Although a money belt under your pants is a pretty good place to carry a passport (unless you are at the beach), the very best place to carry it is onboard the ship in the Purser's safe.

 

I would like to add when you get your passport stolen it is possible all the supporting documents you need to issue a new one will be stolen with them. This makes things even nastier.

 

The best of all worlds is for the Purser to hold the passport.

[GeriatricNurse]

I am still not sure why you "surrender your passports" We have been on a couple of cruises and i have always locked them in our safe. (caribbean) and we keep a copy with us if we go on the islands. The cruise lines scan them in before you board so they have all the info in their system. Is there another reason? Do the countries where you visit just want to make sure you don't stay after the ship sails?

 

I want to go on a baltic cruise, but would be a bit nervous without my passport.

 

 

If any cruise line demands my passport, then they had best be prepared to issue me a receipt for it BEFORE I hand it over!

[world~citizen]

If any cruise line demands my passport, then they had best be prepared to issue me a receipt for it BEFORE I hand it over!

 

They do.

[Mary Ellen]

If any cruise line demands my passport, then they had best be prepared to issue me a receipt for it BEFORE I hand it over!

And why in the world would you think they wouldn't???? :confused: :confused: :confused: HAL had pre-printed receipts to hand us when we surrendered our passports. There wasn't any reason for us to get nasty about it.

[jtl513]

If any cruise line demands my passport, then they had best be prepared to issue me a receipt for it BEFORE I hand it over!

Just curious: what would you have done if they said they don't give receipts? What option do you have, other than getting off the ship and losing a bundle of money?

[wander]

To support what BruceMuzz said, On a loooong cruise my husband, as planned, was leaving the ship several weeks before the end of the cruise. He collected his passport at the desk and got on the bus to the airport. As he neared the Airport (European port) he looked at the passport and realized that he had mine! He immediately told the local hostess on the bus and a flurry of phone calls followed (Thanks to a cell phone). By the time he got to the airport he was greeted by a HAL representative who took him to a seat in the airport and nicely ordered him to stay in the seat until his passport arrived. He did, and about a half hour later another HAL representative arrived with his passport and she collected mine. (Thankfully, he had plenty of time for this.)

 

He arranged through a HAL rep to have an e-mail sent to me that day, which I read after getting back to the ship from a tour. His message for me to go to the front desk to check that my passport was back where it should be, and it was. In the interim the desk had left me a phone message telling me the same thing.

 

I have never seen such efficiency and was very glad that I did not know about the whole thing until my passport was back on the ship. They were very concerned about a possible passport problem for my husband as it would be their responsibility since they gave him the wrong one, even though he had obviously not checked the passport either before leaving the ship.

 

I personally love it when the ship takes over responsibility for our passports. I always make several copies before leaving home for us to carry (we carry copies of our own and each others) and one set to leave in the safe. This is still true after over 500 days of cruising and almost 100 countries.

[rochelle_s]

I have read all the comments posted here, including the expert opinions of BruceMuzz but there is a point that is missed.

 

When I recieved my passport from the Canadian government I was instructed to keep my passport with me at all times. Our government will tell you to surrender your passport to no one.

 

In 2005 I was on a Celebrity Mediterranean cruise. Upon boarding we were told that the cruise line would be keeping our passports. Now I don't know what kind of crazy policy was going on but they were not keeping everyone's paassports. US citizens did not have to give up theirs. I questioned their policy and was told something about it being a security measure. It did not make any sense. We were in Europe (embarkation in Barcelona), were Canadians a threat to European security but Americans were not? Then I was told that because we were doing a transatlantic and ending up in Florida that it was actually an American security issue.

 

I insisted I wanted to keep my passport as it was my only form of picture ID, with the same issues raised of what if something happened while in port, what if I missed the ship and needed to get not only to a different port later but one in a different country? They said they could give me a photocopy of my passport.

 

I told them they could have the photocopy of my passport and any information they needed would be there but my passport would be staying with me. I won my little 'battle' and kept my passport. I am sure glad I did.

 

While in France we were planning on going to Monte Carlo. On the tender to shore we were chatting with some fellow Canadians who were on a ship tour that included Monte Carlo. To anyone thinking of visiting the casino while there....be warned....You NEED your passport to get into the casino.

 

That night I ran into the couple of Candians from earlier in the day. I can tell you this man was not pleased at all. He had paid for a ship excursion to the casino and when he got there he was denied entry. This was to be one of the highlights of his trip. He was a big gambler, in the casino every night at the tables, and I would say betting a pretty penny too. I did tell him that I wasn't impressed by Monte Carlohoping to soften the blow. But at least I got to see it for myself.

 

I guess we all have to make our own decisions regarding what we will do or won't allow with our passports, but for me I will keep mine in my possession, thank you very much, and if someone needs to wake me at 5:00 am that will be the price I will pay for having that peace of mind.

 

Rochelle

[u4ea]

Thanks BruceMuzz, great info. I didn’t realize how serious the ship/purser takes the responsibility.

Mark..

[jhannah]

He had paid for a ship excursion to the casino and when he got there he was denied entry.

How terrible! That snafu fell directly on Celebrity. They should have known this.

[rochelle_s]

How terrible! That snafu fell directly on Celebrity. They should have known this.

 

Yes, it was terrible for him and when I saw him a few days later he still had not heard back from the shore excursion department after requesting a refund!!

 

He did tell me though that he would not be settling his account when the ship finally docked in Florida until it was removed. LOL And I believed him, he was that mad about it!

 

Rochelle

[world~citizen]

Yes, it was terrible for him and when I saw him a few days later he still had not heard back from the shore excursion department after requesting a refund!!

 

He did tell me though that he would not be settling his account when the ship finally docked in Florida until it was removed. LOL And I believed him, he was that mad about it!

 

Rochelle

 

Sometimes you just have to shake your head. :eek:

[rochelle_s]

Yes, I got the impression that it is his wife who wanted to visit the countries. His interest was gambling. If it something you were really looking forward to I can see it coming as a huge disappointment. Shame on the shore excursion department!

 

Rochelle

[Sbilko]

To all the CCers that replied to my original post, :D , my sincere THANKS. I guess we will play it by ear. You have given me the information that I was looking for.:)

[dakrewser]

I insisted I wanted to keep my passport as it was my only form of picture ID, with the same issues raised of what if something happened while in port, what if I missed the ship and needed to get not only to a different port later but one in a different country?

 

As has been said a number of times, you're much better off in this situation if the ship is holding your passport then if you have it yourself!

 

Theere are many places in the world where you have to surrender your passport to, for example, check into a hotel. Your choice is to surrender it, or sleep on the street. I don't think that's what your government had in mind...

[rochelle_s]

Dave,

 

I have never heard of a hotel that would hold on to your passport....anywhere. Yes they might want to see your passport when checking in, but to keep it? Where in the world would this be a requirement?

 

Rochelle

[Mary Ellen]

I have never heard of a hotel that would hold on to your passport....anywhere. Yes they might want to see your passport when checking in, but to keep it? Where in the world would this be a requirement?

I know they did this when I was in Denmark and probably other places in Europe - before the EU. I don't know if that has changed since then. Yep, my passport has been kept by hotels.

[dakrewser]

Dave,

 

I have never heard of a hotel that would hold on to your passport....anywhere. Yes they might want to see your passport when checking in, but to keep it? Where in the world would this be a requirement?

 

Rochelle

 

I've had to surrender my passport in both Italy and France that I remember off hand...

[rochelle_s]

Interesting....

 

I have been to France and Italy and this did not happen to me but it has been since the EU so who knows. I have never been to Denmark....not yet anyways! ;) I tried looking around on the net but could not find anything that says definitively. Maybe I will wait till government offices are open on Monday and give them a call and ask.

 

I am now very curious about this.....thanks Dave.....just one more thing for me to go hunting on the internet for! :)

 

Rochelle

[jtl513]

I have never heard of a hotel that would hold on to your passport....anywhere. Yes they might want to see your passport when checking in, but to keep it? Where in the world would this be a requirement?

Not in the last 4 or 5 years , but I've had my passport held overnight by European hotels in the past.