Missing the ship - a true story

[California Native]

I've traveled the world...

my passport and body are one.

copies are elsewhere and not just one copy..I have several stashed in various parts of luggage, computer and on my travel partner.

never ever do I leave the actual passport elsewhere.

there are too many what if's....

always pack the patter, compass whatever up in your pack before you leave

if you take medicine...I always keep a 3 days supply on my body..in a pharmacy labeled prescription bottle..

I can't ever miss a dose...and jody's experience is a perfect example of why I carry it.

also, many many many prescriptions in Europe can only been re issued by a doctor...or they don't carry that type at all..so you can't just run into a pharmacy...

also if you are ever caught in a freak act of nature..tsunami in Sri Lanka...

Earthquakes around the world..our goverment needs to be notified that a USA Citizen is unconscious, injured whatever in a hospital...

and you have no id on you...

[Swtgypsy]

I am really glad I came upon this thread. I am getting my first passport EVER...very excited about that...but also reading these posts and understanding the importance of a passport and not to take it lightly. I also take daily medications and have a habit of carrying some in my bag here at home, just in case of an earthquake and I can't get home but to be honest I didn't think of carrying it with me when I left the ship. My upcoming trip I will be doing things differently. I am just glad I learned my lesson here and not stranded in a foreign country.

 

Thank you everyone for your experience and widsom!

 

Tanja

[Globaliser]

What is the general consensus on whether to carry passports on day excursions or not?

There is no consensus on this. There are as many opinions as there are posters.

 

But FWIW, my personal view is that a passport deliberately carried ashore is a passport at risk of being stolen. (Those who believe that they can reduce the risk of theft to zero by some means or other are just kidding themselves.) A passport in the safe on the ship is safe and in a known location. And, as the OP's story demonstrates, it can be obtained by the ship from the safe, even if you miss the ship and you're not onboard.

 

There are exceptions: sometimes you will be in a place where you must carry your passport with you, and sometimes you will need your passport (eg if you're renting a car). But otherwise, my view is that my passport stays put.

[Coolcruise02]

Sometimes you have NO choice. On our MED cruise the ship held our passports for many of our port days!

[California Native]

CoolCruiser...

If walked up to the desk before your next port of call and asked for it, they would have made a photocopy and given back to you!

just a fyi, for future travel

K.

[estebofarr]

I'm looking for the name of a good travel insurance for my upcoming cruise. Can you share who you used? or is it against the rules? Thanks.

[jody]

estebofarr,

I'd have to look through my docs to see which company I used on my Med trip as I can't remember off the top of my head. I usually go to the website insuremytrip(dot)com. After you input some basic data, it will give you a bunch of companies and their options (with cost). I've used at least 2 different companies for different trips, based on cost and what they covered.

[PersistenzaretiniKa]

i don't understand this thing of the ships that take the passport untill the end of the cruise: i've always gone around with my actual documents. why they keep them all the cruise? is it legal ???

[Globaliser]

i don't understand this thing of the ships that take the passport untill the end of the cruise: i've always gone around with my actual documents. why they keep them all the cruise? is it legal ???

At the various ports of call, the local authorities will come on board to clear the ship before anyone may disembark. Sometimes, they want to see the passports of all passengers, or of certain categories of passenger (maybe all non-US citizens, or all non-EU citizens, or whatever - and perhaps depending on where the ship is, where it's been and where it's going to). So if the ship is holding all the necessary passports, it makes it easier for the local authorities to do this, less hassle for individual passengers who don't have to present themselves and their documents in person, and it makes the clearance process faster for everyone.

[Paul&Kathy]

We missed the Costa Allegra in Singapore as a result of my handbag containing our passports being stolen. We had no choice - had to carry them that day to get off the ship - but now they stay in the safe whenever possible. We had to get visas & flights to Vietnam to catch up with the ship 4 days later. We had travel insurance but because of my husband's illness insurance is a big issue for us so we suffered the £1,500 cost of flighs, hotels, visa etc ourselves. It was an experience but NOT one to repeat !!! In our case the port agent was absolutely useless and not interested in helping us at all and only wanted to get as much money out of us as possible, so we declined his "help" and made our own arrangements. On the other hand Costa & the Singapore police & immigration people were most helpful but of course the paperwork took many hours. The British Embassy were also great and arranged to replace our passports first thing Monday morning (it happened on a Saturday) but in fact they were handed in on Sunday evening.

[mad4mky]

Thank you for sharing your story.

 

We almost missed the ship when in Rome (Civatevecchia) on our cruise this past fall.

:(

We were the last to board...and they were waiting for us two.

 

We missed the intended train from Rome to the port town (because I HAD to see the Trevi Fountain!)--and caught the next one. But--the train we got on stopped at every little town on the way out.

Took a lot longer to get back to the ship than planned.

 

As soon as we got off the train, we ran to cabs at the depot. $20 Euro to get to the ship!! :eek:

They know they gotcha when it's that late--and you need to get on board.

And hey--what ya gonna do?

We paid it (and if any of you know the short distance from the train depot to the ship--you know it's a ripoff).

We made it. But--we had set a plan in motion if we missed the ship.

 

We would just return to Rome on a train, get a room to stay the night.

Then the next morning, find transportation down to Naples where the ship was docking (and honestly, a night in Rome sounded very nice ;) ).

 

Now, if we had missed the ship from our day on the Amalfi Coast and Pompeii the next day--then we'd have some trouble, as the next stop was Palermo, Sicily.

 

Good information though here--and something each cruiser needs to be aware of.

(and, we carried copies of our passports on us).

 

But, I still say go with private guides/drivers. You see a lot more that way--and get more bang for your buck. :)

[Hlitner]

That OP tells a very interesting tale. Since we always travel independently in Europe (we detest most tours) we have long prepared for a "miss the ship" scenario and have helped some others here who had that fear. The key is knowing where you are, where the ship will be the next day, and your options. If the ship is not going to be reachable the following day, one should exercise a real conservative approach and be back in region of the port at least 2 hours early. But in places like Naples, you can almost always catch-up. You should always have the following documents: photocopies or your main passport page, the name and phone number of the ships agent (usually listed in the daily schedule or port info given on-board), a reasonable supply of Euros, and, or course, at least one major credit card (MC or Visa are the best although even AMEX works), and an ATM card. If you do miss the ship, immedately call the ship's agent so they can notify the ship you are OK. You do not really need a passport to travel anywhere in the EU, but lit can be a minor hassle when checking-in to most hotels (they do want your passport). But, they will settle for that photocopy although we understand they will notify the local police (not a big deal).

 

Somebody once told us we were crazy to do things on our own (we have been doing this for over 25 years) and that it costs a lot of money if you miss the trip. Actually, the cost of getting to the next port plus hotel is probably about the cost difference of a single full day tour vs going on your own. Since we have probably done this about a few hundred times (we have been on more than 50 cruises....many of them in Europe) and never missed the ship (came very close on two ocassions) we are probably over $10,000 ahead of the game (and that would be a low estimate based on the outrageous cost of many tours).

 

When we are helping folks plan independent days (we have helped many over the years) we do sometimes talk about the possibilty of missing the ship. If a passenger starts to hyperventilate at the thought, than we urge them to take the ships' tours and take-out a 2nd mortgage on their home to cover the cost :)

 

Hank

[Taxguy77]

Reader glasses, a bright light and I have a pull down arrow to enlarge text on my screen :)

 

SIZE="3"]How do you set up the drop-down[[/size]:confused:

[California Native]

We missed the Costa Allegra in Singapore as a result of my handbag containing our passports being stolen. We had no choice - had to carry them that day to get off the ship - .

 

We keep our passports in a money belt, never the day pack/purse

[Taxguy77]

A great revue, and helpful for all of us. At one port, they have a large building with a lot of tourist junk, but to get to town you need to pass a gate a show you have your passport or a photostat of it. I talked my way out, but was restricted as to time and gate to return.:mad:

 

"I'll take those odds". Glad to see you never gamble!:rolleyes:

[rrobynec]

It is always a good idea to register your trip with
[B][URL="http://travel.state.gov/"][B]travel.state.gov[/B][/URL]

and get the address and phone number of the US Embassy in the country(ies) you are visiting.
I have never had to use this info, but I have known people that have.
Better off safe than sorry....
[/B]

[Swtgypsy]

[quote name='Taxguy77']SIZE="3"]How do you set up the drop-down[[/size]:confused:[/quote]

On my computer it is in the right hand corner and says "100%" I can pull down the arrow and it gives me different %'s so I can increase everything on my screen to 150% or more if needed.

It is probably different on other computers. But usually under settings you should be able to set your text size.