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Passport: Do you carry off ship or leave in cabin?


Janie1229
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One of the most frequently asked questions on these boards. With over 20+ cruises under my belt, I am part of the DO NOT take them group . Lots more bad things can happen by losing your passport than are likely to happen where you might need it. You will get alternate answers however.

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Hi, do you bring your passport with you on shore excursions or leave in your room? Thanks!

 

This is a frequently asked question - perhaps a 'sticky' thread would be appropriate.

 

The common / best advice is to leave the passports in the cabin safe.

 

There are times when you will need to take it with you - for example, last September in LeHarve you needed to show a passport both leaving the ship and again re-boarding after the excursion. [and in between there was no secure storage].

 

Some ports of call expect / require visitors to have a passport. [not a common occurrence].

 

You should know what is required based on announcements or publications [or ask at the tour office or front desk] before the tour.

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It really depends on the port.

 

In the Caribbean, unless advised otherwise by the ship, I tend to leave my passport in the safe and take sea pass and driver license ashore. Especially if I'm going to the beach. (Passport card works well instead of driver license.) In other parts of the world I tend to always carry my passport.

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Just don't miss the ship you might need them to fly home or to the next port

 

 

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Typically, IF you miss the ship, they will enter your room and open the safe. If you've left your passport/documents in there, they will give them to the port agent for you to collect when you show up at the dock.

 

If you don't leave your passport in your safe (put it in a "safe" spot elsewhere in the room) it will not be collected and handed off to the port agent.

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Just don't miss the ship you might need them to fly home or to the next port

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Most cruise lines will take your passport out of your safe and give it to the port agent if you miss the ship.

 

Port agent info is always in the newsletter if you need him/her.

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I scanned a copy of my passport and saved it to my phone. Since the only cruises I have taken did not require a passport to board the ships at the different ports, I always left my passport in the safe. It's more likely to be lost, damaged, or stolen if I take it on an excursion than for me to miss the ship. If an emergency were to occur, I would contact the ship and have them get my passports out of the safe.

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THe only place I can think of that requires you to carry your passport ashore is Russia

 

An overnight stay at a Bangkok hotel requires a passport. However, single day excursions don't. Many countries require a passport to check into a hotel if you elect to stay at a local hotel rather than return to the ship. Areas of interest that are hours away from the port are good candidates to stay in town for the night to save on hours travelling back and forth to overnight on the ship.

 

Unless required, we always leave our passports in the room safe, even on land vacations. They are much safer there than on your person. If you need it in the very rare case of an emergency, you can always arrange to have it picked up and brought to you. If you loose it, it is a lot more complicated, time consuming, and costly to get an expedited replacement.

 

Just not worth the risk to carry it when it isn't necessary. Just like expensive jewelry, passports are a very desired item to steal, pickpocket, or rob you of. Stolen passports are worth thousands of $$$$ on the black market, and can cause severe problems with identity theft issues in the future.

Edited by sloopsailor
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Always take it with me.

 

Identity theft is rampant on cruise ships and you never know when you might need it.

 

Funny how people stash it away like some kind of sacred object. Do you leave your house without the front door key too?

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I was rather surprised that even though we were within Icelandic waters the entire time we were at sea, Windstar collected our passports at check-in, giving them back the evening before departure.

 

 

Many luxury cruise lines do that. It might be as a service to the customers to keep them safely locked in the purser's safe. Some mass market lines do this for specific legs of the cruise. In these cases, it's to facilitate approvals from local governments for passengers to be cleared to go ashore. Some countries require all passengers to be cleared before anyone can leave the ship. Collecting the passports ahead of time makes that task more efficient, and benefits everyone going ashore - although without passports in hand. Many river cruise companies also collect them when embarking and give them back the last night of the cruise.

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