Canadian Passport During Excursions?

[Marlene30CDN]

Hi Everyone,

 

I posted this on another cruise forum and have basically had my head taken off and a debate has been created in my thread about passports during excursions.

 

My original question - can anyone recommend a waterproof container that is large enough to fit a passport?

 

What's happened since asking this question? Well, apparently my travel agent is a moron for suggesting that I bring it with me (ports are St. Thomas and St. Maarten).

 

I realize there is a tremendous amount of debate about this - the leave it in the safe versus take it with you. Here is my concern:

 

- On what other type of vacation do you have a safe? Surely cruisers have traveled to some other part of the globe and have required a passport that didn't have this level of safety attached to it's safety?

 

- If I choose to do my own excursions, I'd like to think that I have my bloody passport in case something happens.

 

Are they required at these ports to get on and off the ship?

[eh2zed]

You will not need your passport to get off in either port. However, you may need to go to an immigration officer particularly if St. Thomas comes after a foreign port.

You are correct the age old question of taking your passport with you ashore or not can get a little testy. We almost never do. We take photocopies. This is the most recommended procedure but ultimately its your decision. More and more cruise lines are embargoing passports upon embarkation for the duration of the cruise. This particularly happens in Europe and other areas. You don't get a choice. For instance we did not even have our passports for Turkey, Egypt, Bulgaria, Greece on one cruise. They were kept by the ship. Only in the Ukraine did we get them temporarily back since you had to have them on you to go ashore.

[eritouma]

Hi... hope this helps...

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_sg?url=search-alias%3Dsporting&field-keywords=Dry+Pak&x=17&y=18 ...:)

[JanineM]

Are you wanting to take your passport because you are concerned that you'll miss the ship? I normally carry a photocopy of my passport and leave the original in the safe onboard the ship.

 

However, if you really want to carry the original with you the you might want to visit Mountain Equipment Co-op and pick up one of their passport wallets.

 

http://search.mec.ca/?N=10&Ntt=passport&bmUID=1241922363260

 

Some are suitable for use in the water, some are not. I personally would NEVER leave my passport unattended. They're valuable!

 

But unless you think you're going to miss the ship then you could really leave it locked on the ship. If you have a photocopy plus your drivers license and ship's pass then you should be fine.

[Marlene30CDN]

Hey Janine,

 

I actually found one online at MEC today and for the 10 bucks it's going to cost, I think I'll pick one up.

 

I don't have a DL - only an Ontario photo Health Card and passport for photo ID. I didn't even think of that, but I'm sure that would be fine. It's basically a green card instead of a blue one :)

 

I'm not sure what good a photocopy of a passport would actually do, but it seems to provide a level of comfort for people; they don't fear losing the original and get the possibly false sense of security that it would actually be sufficient in a urgent situation. I can tell you with some degree of certainty that you won't want to be taking along a photocopy of your passport to some international destinations. Obviously, a cruise is different and not something I'm at all familiar with.

 

Just in case, I want to at least have some kind of contraption to put it in or I'll be kicking myself for not spending the 5-10 bucks.