how do i get passport stamps

with this not only being my first cruise but also the first time off the east coast and my first time with a passport too and would love to get it stamped in each of the 4 countries we will be at for our cruise.

If you are flying then it will be stamped when you go through passport control after you land. On the cruise itself it varies. Some cruse lines hold the passports and sometimes they are stamped while other times they are not.

Keith

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

Where are you going on the cruise? If it is the Caribbean as most do, they will not automaticly stamp your passpost. If you take your passport with you when you go ashore, there MAY be an immigration office in the terminal. It MAY be staffed. They MAY be able to stamp your passport. If you try this, I recommend that after you finish the attempt (hopefully successfully), you take the passport back on the ship and leave it in your safe.

I have never had my passport stamped on a cruise only when flying in by air into the country, or by train to another country.

It will take some effort on a cruiseut you can try what Paul said.

~Doris~

If you are flying then it will be stamped when you go through passport control after you land. On the cruise itself it varies. Some cruse lines hold the passports and sometimes they are stamped while other times they are not.

 

Keith

This is not an uncommon request.

Ask on the ship, or go to the Port of Call threads, do a search on "stamp".

If no results, ask.

I can tell you on St. Martin, you have to go to some dump of a place about a half mile from the cruise terminal, wake up whomever is there:eek:, and they will stamp your passport.

When we did our Eastern Med cruise last year, we got stamped in Egypt...the ship actually had to get all of us visas (they did the leg work) and then on shore, we went through passport control and got stamped.

Italy, Greece, Turkey...nada.

Other than arriving at passport control at the airport, getting passports stamped in Europe seems to be a thing of the past. Kind of a bummer...I enjoy looking at the stamps in my expired passports.

We just came back from the Mediterranean and in Venice they would not let my husband through the port and back on the ship because all that he had was his sea pass and credit cards. There were several other families that this happened to, some because of children without id's and we all had to demand our passports back. Copies were not acceptable to the authorities and the ship security officer was unable to do anything about it. I don't usually carry my passport with me, usually lock it up, but after that we decided we would keep it with us and leave the copy in the room, just in case.

If you are flying then it will be stamped when you go through passport control after you land. On the cruise itself it varies. Some cruse lines hold the passports and sometimes they are stamped while other times they are not.

 

Keith

Not true. My passport was barely looked at--let alone stamped--at the airport in Rome.

My passport was collected by the ship and was stamped in Toarmina, Kotor, Hvar, and Santorini, plus in Athens at the airport.

We just came back from the Mediterranean and in Venice they would not let my husband through the port and back on the ship because all that he had was his sea pass and credit cards. There were several other families that this happened to, some because of children without id's and we all had to demand our passports back. Copies were not acceptable to the authorities and the ship security officer was unable to do anything about it. I don't usually carry my passport with me, usually lock it up, but after that we decided we would keep it with us and leave the copy in the room, just in case.

If this is standard practice in Venice, why on Earth did the ship not tell passengers to take their passports with them?

And, if it's not standard practice and we are all at the whim of some port personnel who happen to be in a bad mood, can the cruiselines not do anything about this?

If this is standard practice in Venice, why on Earth did the ship not tell passengers to take their passports with them?

When embarking in Venice (or any other EU country) if the next port is also an EU nation the ship will hold your passports until the chain of EU border crossings is broken. Immigration staff of the exiting EU country will examine the batch of passports onboard and possibly stamp them as well. It is certainly a better system then everyone having to go through Customs each time you do an EU-to-non EU movement. The issue noted above in Venice was that no picture ID at all was carried, which I'm sure the ship's programme advised all passengers going ashore was necessary.

Not true. My passport was barely looked at--let alone stamped--at the airport in Rome.

 

My passport was collected by the ship and was stamped in Toarmina, Kotor, Hvar, and Santorini, plus in Athens at the airport.

Was Rome your first stop in Europe? Flying to Venice we changed planes in Madrid. Passports were stamped there as is required upon first entering the Schengen Agreement zone, even if just for transit. Madrid to Venice is considered a domestic flight under the current convention, we went straight from gate to baggage claim to out the door.

If this is standard practice in Venice, why on Earth did the ship not tell passengers to take their passports with them?

 

And, if it's not standard practice and we are all at the whim of some port personnel who happen to be in a bad mood, can the cruiselines not do anything about this?

Our cruise line made it abundantly clear that we would need both the passport and our cruise docs to re-board in Venice.

Sometimes a cruise line can warn and warn and people are in vacation mode and just not listening or reading.

Was Rome your first stop in Europe? Flying to Venice we changed planes in Madrid. Passports were stamped there as is required upon first entering the Schengen Agreement zone, even if just for transit. Madrid to Venice is considered a domestic flight under the current convention, we went straight from gate to baggage claim to out the door.

I had a direct flight from Philly to Rome so had to clear both immigration and customs there. It was laughable how lax both were Unless you wanted to declare something, you walked right out, no queue for customs, and the immigration guy barely looked at my upside-down passport let alone asking if I had anything to declare.

Our cruise line made it abundantly clear that we would need both the passport and our cruise docs to re-board in Venice.

 

Sometimes a cruise line can warn and warn and people are in vacation mode and just not listening or reading.

We checked with ship personnel before disembarking as the stated requirement over the speakers were a picture I.D. and your sea card, so we were not just in vacation mode. My husband did not have a 2nd I.d, so we asked about it and whether he should get his passport. We were told that since he was with me and I had the required docs it would be fine. This was a problem for people with children too so I think I would just get my passport back from the ship next time. We kept our passports and never had another problem.

I was SOOO disappointed on my first cruise and first trip abroad after quite a few years, to find out that Passport stamping has become a thing of the past in many places.

I think I remember one cruise line saying if you wanted your passports stamped they could arrange it if you put in a request at the front desk. Beyond that, maybe you can collect pictures of each cruise port rather than spending precious vacation time collecting Passport stamps because I'm afraid that's what will happen.

... and if you carry a stamp for some nation which is hostile toward your port of call, you can be asked for details on that too. I get stamps as the agents which but stamps are a paper trail which can bite too.

... and if you carry a stamp for some nation which is hostile toward your port of call, you can be asked for details on that too. I get stamps as the agents which but stamps are a paper trail which can bite too.

Yup. There are certain countries that it's better to ask for your stamp/visa to be stapled in on a separate piece of paper that can be removed than permanently affixed to your passport. Cuba will do this automatically unless you are on an officially sponsored trip.

If you've been to certain countries, it's probably worth renewing your passport early to start with a fresh one before you visit Israel for example.

In St. Kitts, there is an immigration office at the port terminal building (Port Zante). Knock on the door and ask nicely for a passsport stamp. What you'll get is a pretty illustrated souvenir stamp, probably different if you had arrived at the airport.

We just came back from the Mediterranean and in Venice they would not let my husband through the port and back on the ship because all that he had was his sea pass and credit cards. There were several other families that this happened to, some because of children without id's and we all had to demand our passports back. Copies were not acceptable to the authorities and the ship security officer was unable to do anything about it. I don't usually carry my passport with me, usually lock it up, but after that we decided we would keep it with us and leave the copy in the room, just in case.

A driver license would have been ok. All they wanted was a picture ID.

In St. Kitts, there is an immigration office at the port terminal building (Port Zante). Knock on the door and ask nicely for a passsport stamp. What you'll get is a pretty illustrated souvenir stamp, probably different if you had arrived at the airport.

Well, you're getting closer - this thread is only 2 years old (unlike the others that you've resurrected). But good info.

This is a four year old thread. Not sure it needed to be brought back to life

Can someone explain why people want stamps in their passports? The only stamps I want are the visas I need to enter/stay in certain countries. If I don't need the stamp, I'm not going to actively seek it out! My passport is full enough of legitimately necessary stamps and endorsements without actively trying to get people to stamp it in every island I dock at for a few hours, I'd be buying a new passport every few years!

Can anyone explain what they want the stamps for please?

Can anyone explain what they want the stamps for please?

It's treated as a souvenir of one's travel, especially when passport stamps are on its way out of fashion. For example travel between US and Canada rarely get stamped, nor travel within the Schengen Area of Europe.

Can anyone explain what they want the stamps for please?

Nostalgia for the old way of travel. The passport used to represent where you have traveled, a vacation scrapbook of sorts.