Excursion Question-What to take???

I have a question as it pertains to excursions. We are doing a cruise making stops in Roatan, Belize, and Cozumel. We have scheduled an excursion at each port. Curious what to take with us when we leave the boat (excluding the common items...lotion, spray, etc). This is our first cruise and want to do it right. When you leave the boat in a port, do you take your passport with you or do you simply stick with your state issued ID? One of our excursions includes snorkeling from the beach. I am a bit nervous leaving our items unattended. We are doing a beach day in Roatan that includes a kayak and snorkeling. I am bringing a back pack along with us to carry all needed items. I don't want to take more than I need, nor leave something behind.

Any recommendations or advice would be much appreciated!

you will get different answers but we leave our passport in our cabin the whole cruise. We bought microfiber towels years ago and love them. They take up very little room unlike the bulky CCL towels. We take ashore sunscreen, cash, CC, ID, camera, phone, and a smile. We also travel with our own mask and snorkels.

It totally depends on what you're doing on each excursion!... You seldom need a passport as a cruise passenger.

You will need your ship's card to get OFF the ship....and rebound. You should always have ID on you...bring a bit of cash...not too much...and a credit card NOT linked to your shipboard account. That's all you need. The ship provides towels if you're doing some watery thing. Otherwise...bring what you need for the activity you'll do. It's not hard. Just THINK about what you'll do!

Bring your cruise card, a government issued id such as a drivers license, a credit card and some small amount of cash for any purchases you might make while in port.

Leave your passport in the safe in the cabin. In a true emergency situation, the cruise personnel can get it out of the safe and bring it to you.

If you are worried about putting anything in the backpack, maybe a small combo or luggage lock? You can also buy water proof / water resistant holders you wear around you neck. They are small and perfect for a drivers license, credit card, cruise card and a few bills.

If you're worried about your cash, credit card, ID and phone, buy a waterproof pouch that you keep around your neck. We have several in different sizes that we bought on Amazon. The lanyard can be tightened when swimming/snorkeling so that you don't lose it.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

You are not obliged to take your passport or passport card ashore in those ports (or indeed, in the vast majority of Caribbean ports).

Whether you do depends on what makes you feel comfortable.....

- take it & risk losing it, damaging it or having it stolen?

- or leave it in the safe in your cabin, and risk it saling away with the ship if you miss your sailing?

Because the risk of a lost/stolen passport is greater than the risk of missing your sailing, and the repercussions of theft or theft by finding (ID theft/fraud, use for illegal immigration, etc), most of us leave it in the cabin safe as advised by the cruise lines.

In theory at least, if you miss the sailing the crew will search your cabin safe and hand such things to their port agent before casting-off. Port agent's contact details in ship's daily newspaper - make a note of them. Some of us also take ashore or store in our computers a copy of the important pages of the passport - it has no legal value but helps expedite an emergency replacement document.

It's even more important for those of us who fly home to other countries not to lose our passports.

But each to their own.

You'll need your ship-issued plastic sail-card (usually doubles as your on-board account card & cabin key) in order to disembark & return. Like many cards, the electronics can get screwed-up by being stored next to phones, cameras etc - I've no idea how well they take to the water, but if it fouls-up the electronic magic that won't stop you from re-boarding. You'll then have to get a replacement from guest relations.

You'll need some cash. USD are surprisingly resilient to getting soaked, as you may have noticed if you've ever left any in clothes that you've washed.

And a credit card. Credit card, not debit card, because of the legal safeguards.

For a beach or watersport day, leave a quality camera in your cabin & take either a strong underwater camera that you keep with you in the water or a cheap camera that'd be no great loss. Remember to load photos that you've already taken - sometimes the camera is worth less than the irreplaceable photos in it.

You can take ashore ship's pool towels, no need to take your own. On the beach you can recognise others from your ship by their towels. So you can ask them to keep an eye on your stuff. Good for your sun-cream, books, drinks & stuff. Whether you trust them with more valuable stuff - well, that's up to you.

JB :)

Others have given some good advice, so I'll just say welcome to Cruise Critic and to the most addictive vacation you have ever planned!! Don't worry, the only cure is temporary, at best, and will involve taking another cruise!! :eek::D

I don't think anyone mentioned this, but always bring that day's ship newsletter. It will have information about when to be back on board (don't rely on your memory) and also the port agent info just in case you have a problem during your port stay (they can contact the ship).

Pack a beach bag to take with you on excursions. If you are doing a water excursion at a beach or something like river tubing, take water shoes. Other things we typically take:

Cash (lots of $1's and $5's)

sunblock

tissues

cruise card

1 credit card

Port agents contact info (found in ship's daily newsletter)

All aboard time

bottle of water (usually you can buy this, so we only bring one, just in case)

hat with brim

SPF shirts

We bring our own snorkeling equipment if we go snorkeling although supposedly sanitized equipment is available on most snorkeling excursions. We just prefer to have our own stuff.

Flat comfortable shoes

Sometimes I bring dry clothes and change from my swimsuit into something dry before going back to the ship - this is helpful on excursions where you go to the beach and then go shopping. In a situation like that I tend to bring a hairband and also a brush. But that's just me - I don't like going into stores in a wet swimsuit.