Do you have to give up your passport?

Just a quick question I posted in the boards for several luxury cruise lines:

We just returned from a Regent cruise that (almost) forced us to surrender our passports for the duration of the cruise, which we found unacceptable.

I do not want to start a discussion on whether this should be acceptable or not, I have just the single question as we are looking for other luxury cruise lines, ones that will not make us surrender our passports:

Does Silversea hold your passport for the duration of the cruise or do you keep it yourself?

Thanks

Just a quick question I posted in the boards for several luxury cruise lines:

We just returned from a Regent cruise that (almost) forced us to surrender our passports for the duration of the cruise, which we found unacceptable.

I do not want to start a discussion on whether this should be acceptable or not, I have just the single question as we are looking for other luxury cruise lines, ones that will not make us surrender our passports:

Does Silversea hold your passport for the duration of the cruise or do you keep it yourself?

 

Thanks

All the times we have sailed on Silversea,and that was many,they always took it for the duration.but last time on the Spirit for the first time,they did not.

Thanks for the answer, so no SilverSea for us

jongbj, You are going to have a problem unless you want to do your own visa and entry work. Almost without exception cruise lines hold your passport for administrative reasons. Btw it is not only ocean cruise lines; river boats do the same thing.

Honestly, I don't understand your objection. We have taken cruises now at least in the teens and never had a problem.

jongbj, You are going to have a problem unless you want to do your own visa and entry work. Almost without exception cruise lines hold your passport for administrative reasons. Btw it is not only ocean cruise lines; river boats do the same thing.

Honestly, I don't understand your objection. We have taken cruises now at least in the teens and never had a problem.

Well, first of all, according to the note in my passport it is illegal for me to surrender my passport to anyone that does not have a legal obligation to take my passport.

Secondly, we never had to give it up on HAL and never had a problem in ports.

As a passport is your only real form of identification, giving it up to strangers seems like a bad idea (idendity theft e.g.).

I actually surprises me how easily people give it up.

I had similar concerns, but the main reason why is that many ports send an immigration guy on board before anyone can get off to inspect passenger lists. He might want to inspect all or some of the passports. Sometimes the ships have to send lists in advance and he when he visits he may wish to inspect some specific ones.

It makes sense for you to keep with you when you leave the ship a photocopy of your passport. Good to do for many reasons. Some places need a passport to let you in. Monte Carlo for example might wish to see proof that you aren't a resident before they let you in to a casino. Other places insist you keep a passport with you but will accept a photocopy and ship card.

It is irritating, but it is also necessary for many or most cruises I'm afraid.

We just sailed in the Galapagos with SS and kept our passport the entire time. I have never had my passport taken by any cruise line.

To look at this another way - has anyone ever had a problem because the ship kept the passport during the cruise?

We've handed ours in without a second thought and survived unscathed.

5waldos, I absolutely do not believe you if you have done as many cruises as you appear to with your number of posts. Secondly, if you are a SS cruiser they ask for it, at least in our experience, every time you board.

If you need it for a special shore side experience of course you can get it back.

Tothesunset; our experience exactly.

jongji, I think you are being too worried about a routine procedure; and I'm not sure what your concern is other than a legalistic approach.

Well, first of all, according to the note in my passport it is illegal for me to surrender my passport to anyone that does not have a legal obligation to take my passport.

Secondly, we never had to give it up on HAL and never had a problem in ports.

As a passport is your only real form of identification, giving it up to strangers seems like a bad idea (idendity theft e.g.).

I actually surprises me how easily people give it up.

We gave up our passports on a HAL cruise, and on a closed-loop FLL-FLL sailing where a passport is not required (with other valid ID/proof of citizenship accepted). Perhaps they made an exception if you objected, but per their website:

Proof of Citizenship/Passports

Passports are normally surrendered to and held by the pursers on board to facilitate clearances in ports of call. It is prudent to photocopy the identification page of your passport and pack it separately, in case of loss or damage to the original.

On our first Silversea cruise last fall we kept them for Venice & Koper, Slovenia where we were required to show them to get back on board the ship, then they collected them. Got my first-and-only passport stamp w a ship on it (vs airplane from airport entries) in Koper. :)

My experience on both Regent and Silversea is that sometimes they take it the entire cruise, sometimes they take it for a short while and give it back, and sometimes they don't take it at all. It just depends on what ports you are visiting and that country's specific requirements. If you need to take with you when you go ashore, they advise you ahead of time.

And as far as your objection regarding legality, they do have a legal obligation to take you passport to clear customs in many countries. I would a whole lot rather have them do that than have us stand in line to do it ourselves as you have to do in some countries (India comes to mind).

I have travelled very extensively all over the world and can honestly say I have never been asked to produce my passport while ashore ever except when going through customs, checking into a hotel, or going through security at an airport or some train stations . I guess it could happen, but so could a lot of other things that I am just not going to spend time worrying about. Taking a photocopy of it is a smart idea (though I have even stopped doing that in recent years).

Passports are commonly held at hotels in Europe for police reports.

And Rachel -I think I would agree with you except once or twice in the USSR about 40 years ago when I was traveling alone as a women. Very very suspicious of me.

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And if you don't want to carry a dog-eared photocopy, scan or otherwise convert it to a PDF file. That way you can have it on your phone and access your photo, passport number, etc easily.

I have a question for the OP. What itineraries have you been on when Holland America did not take your passport? Other than in the Caribbean, did you have to go through passport control when you arrived in port? When the cruise line has your passport, they can take care of your entry into the European Union, for instance, without you having to go through any type of immigration.

When you are in port waiting for the ship to be cleared, immigration authorities are looking at the passenger list and can ask to see passports. This is why the cruise line needs them. In some countries (India for example), you pick up your passport from the cruise line, have a face-to-face meeting with Indian authorities and return the passport to the cruise line.

On our 20 cruises, passports have always been taken (sometimes returned - depending upon itinerary). IMO, in order to sail throughout the world on a cruise ship, you need to adhere to their policies (which do meet the legal requirement that you mentioned). I suppose that an exception can be made and you can meet with authorities on your own. This exception would be probably be up to the Captain.

I have always found it odd that you can get on a ship with people one would presume would be highly unlikely to pose any real risk, but you have this keen interest in passports .....but you can drive onto the airstrip at Farnborough, walk a few steps to a plane and fly to Nice, step down off the plane and straight into a car and straight out onto the road without anyone ever seeing your passport.

Odd.

:rolleyes:

I've already replied to your thread on the Seabourn board, but just to add that yes, on every SS cruise we have given our passports over to them.

We are both UK passport holders but even so, they were kept by SS on a cruise that was all EU ports.

I agree with the good advice given earlier, keep a photocopy either paper or digital.

I'm still waiting 5waldos, for how many cruises you have taken; given your statement you have NEVER surrendered your passport. You must be the only cruiser that I have knowledge of that has had that experience.

I am referring of course to your post of 5:02pm yesterday.

I neglected to say, again, that river cruise lines as well as the hotels you mention follow similar procedures.

Jongbj,

You will be better off doing land trips as every luxury cruise line will take your passport.

You might want to call your passport office and ask if it is illegal to give your passport to a ship while onboard. I bet it's not.

I have a question for the OP. What itineraries have you been on when Holland America did not take your passport? Other than in the Caribbean, did you have to go through passport control when you arrived in port? When the cruise line has your passport, they can take care of your entry into the European Union, for instance, without you having to go through any type of immigration.

 

When you are in port waiting for the ship to be cleared, immigration authorities are looking at the passenger list and can ask to see passports. This is why the cruise line needs them. In some countries (India for example), you pick up your passport from the cruise line, have a face-to-face meeting with Indian authorities and return the passport to the cruise line.

 

On our 20 cruises, passports have always been taken (sometimes returned - depending upon itinerary). IMO, in order to sail throughout the world on a cruise ship, you need to adhere to their policies (which do meet the legal requirement that you mentioned). I suppose that an exception can be made and you can meet with authorities on your own. This exception would be probably be up to the Captain.

We have about 12 cruises on HAL, one on NCL and now one on Regent.

We did mostly Caribbean and Western Med, but also Panama Canal and Transatlantic.

Never had to give up our passports, not on HAL and not on NCL.

We were the exception on Regent and were never called to show our passports, except when entering the US when the whole ship needed to be inspected face to face.

We did an inquiry for an Amazon cruise and were given, in writing, that we could keep our passports except in Brazil. This was due to expediting the VISA procedure which I can understand.

Seems there is no real need to keep the passport, just some form of convenience.

Jongbj,

 

You will be better off doing land trips as every luxury cruise line will take your passport.

 

You might want to call your passport office and ask if it is illegal to give your passport to a ship while onboard. I bet it's not.

Yet this keeps surprising me. Luxury lines keep your passport, not-so-luxury lines do not.

My passport clearly states it is not allowed, it reads:"This passport is property of the state of the Netherlands. The bearer of the passport may pass it to a third party only if there is a statutory obligation to do so".

That given, I also cannot find any information on the internet where giving the passport to the cruiseline has gone wrong.

It seems to be a condition if you want a luxury cruise.

That said, I don't have to like it.

I'm still waiting 5waldos, for how many cruises you have taken; given your statement you have NEVER surrendered your passport. You must be the only cruiser that I have knowledge of that has had that experience.

I am referring of course to your post of 5:02pm yesterday.

About 8. And it may be where I cruised or with whom, but I do not remember ever giving up my passport. In the Galapagos they may have had it for a short time.

But honestly I don't quite get the problem with this-what do you imagine is going on? Hotels did or do take them, it is just a non-issue to me and I have had one for nearly 70 years. The only time I ever had a problem I had the passport until someone came by on a motorcycle and cut off my purse with 4 passports in it. Bit of a miserable pain for sure. Wished that the hotel had kept it instead.

And perhaps the statutory obligation phrase is the critical one?

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In the Galapagos they may have had it for a short time.

In the Galapagos, there is no crossing borders while on this cruise. You are staying in the Ecuador the entire cruise. As you stated, the ship may have had your passport for a short time for verification and then returned it. That does seem logical.

Yet this keeps surprising me. Luxury lines keep your passport, not-so-luxury lines do not.

 

My passport clearly states it is not allowed, it reads:"This passport is property of the state of the Netherlands. The bearer of the passport may pass it to a third party only if there is a statutory obligation to do so".

 

 

 

That given, I also cannot find any information on the internet where giving the passport to the cruiseline has gone wrong.

 

It seems to be a condition if you want a luxury cruise.

 

 

 

That said, I don't have to like it.

Also, smaller ships tend to do more overnight stops which can change the status from being 'in transit' to being a visit to the country.

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The passenger count would make a lot of sense.