OK, here’s the question. Did you have to surrender your passport?

[JimAOk1945]

I'm not new to cruising, but I have question specifically about cruising in the Western Med on RC that I hope someone will be able to answer.

 

I have read reviews about those who have taken a Med cruise on RC but they did not address this specifically. I have always been able to depend on the CC community for advice, so naturally I'm posting my question here.

 

OK, here’s the question. Did you have to surrender your passport to the cruise line until your Western Med cruise was over?

 

I have booked a 12 day Western Med cruise RT from Barcelona. Our itinerary is

 

25-Sep Barcelona, Spain 5:00 PM

 

26-Sep Villefranche (Nice), France 10:00 AM 7:00 PM Tendered

 

27-Sep La Spezia (Florence/Pisa), Italy 7:00 AM 7:00 PM Docked

 

28-Sep Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy 7:00 AM 7:00 PM Docked

 

29-Sep Naples (Salerno), Italy 7:00 AM 6:30 PM Docked

 

30-Sep Cruising

 

01-Oct Venice, Italy 3:00 PM Docked

 

02-Oct Venice, Italy 5:00 PM Docked

 

03-Oct Bay of Kotor(Risan),Montenegro 2:00 PM 10:00 PM Tendered

 

04-Oct Dubrovnik, Croatia 8:00 AM 5:00 PM Docked

 

05-Oct Cruising

 

06-Oct Cruising

 

07-Oct Barcelona, Spain 6:00 AM

 

Thanks in advance for your answers!

Happy Cruising!

[nelblu]

I'm not new to cruising, but I have question specifically about cruising in the Western Med on RC that I hope someone will be able to answer.

 

I have read reviews about those who have taken a Med cruise on RC but they did not address this specifically. I have always been able to depend on the CC community for advice, so naturally I'm posting my question here.

 

OK, here’s the question. Did you have to surrender your passport to the cruise line until your Western Med cruise was over?

 

I have booked a 12 day Western Med cruise RT from Barcelona. Our itinerary is

 

25-Sep Barcelona, Spain 5:00 PM

 

26-Sep Villefranche (Nice), France 10:00 AM 7:00 PM Tendered

 

27-Sep La Spezia (Florence/Pisa), Italy 7:00 AM 7:00 PM Docked

 

28-Sep Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy 7:00 AM 7:00 PM Docked

 

29-Sep Naples (Salerno), Italy 7:00 AM 6:30 PM Docked

 

30-Sep Cruising

 

01-Oct Venice, Italy 3:00 PM Docked

 

02-Oct Venice, Italy 5:00 PM Docked

 

03-Oct Bay of Kotor(Risan),Montenegro 2:00 PM 10:00 PM Tendered

 

04-Oct Dubrovnik, Croatia 8:00 AM 5:00 PM Docked

 

05-Oct Cruising

 

06-Oct Cruising

 

07-Oct Barcelona, Spain 6:00 AM

 

Thanks in advance for your answers!

Happy Cruising!

 

Absolutely not! Taken 3 cruises form Barcelona with most of the above itineraries. The passport once placed in the cabin safe is never taken out. Montenegro is a new port and don't know what their requirements are. They can look at it to confirm ID, but you should never surrender your passport.

 

The only time that we needed to take the passport with us was some 10 years ago in Croatia, before they became member of the EU.

[Merion_Mom]

Absolutely not! Taken 3 cruises form Barcelona with most of the above itineraries. The passport once placed in the cabin safe is never taken out. Montenegro is a new port and don't know what their requirements are. They can look at it to confirm ID, but you should never surrender your passport.

 

The only time that we needed to take the passport with us was some 10 years ago in Croatia, before they became member of the EU.

 

There ARE some cruises on which you surrender your passport when you embark. The ship takes care of clearing immigration for all passengers, usually while you are still asleep!

 

This was the situation on my South American cruise.

[KNOTTGOOFY]

We cruised in 2012 from Barcelona to Venice on Princess. We only had to surrender our passports when visiting our ports in Turkey. They were collected by our room steward prior to visiting those ports and returned after we left those ports. The were not held the entire cruise. I think this was required because we were out of the Schengen area.

[crazyventures]

There ARE some cruises on which you surrender your passport when you embark. The ship takes care of clearing immigration for all passengers, usually while you are still asleep!

 

This was the situation on my South American cruise.

 

I think this is also the situation on Med cruises with a stop in Turkey. We were told for our cruise that our passports would be taken when we embarked and would be returned after the port stop in Ephesus.

[cruisenfever]

There ARE some cruises on which you surrender your passport when you embark. The ship takes care of clearing immigration for all passengers, usually while you are still asleep!

 

This was the situation on my South American cruise.

Same for us when cruising in to or out of Australia.

[blueblock]

I think this is also the situation on Med cruises with a stop in Turkey. We were told for our cruise that our passports would be taken when we embarked and would be returned after the port stop in Ephesus.

 

You're correct - every cruise I've done that stops in Ephesus collects passports from U.S. passengers.

[akcruz]

I agree I think it is the stop in Turkey that requires the cruise lines to hold US passports. I didn't like the idea but really had no choice! I am sure there are other countries where the same would apply.

 

Just another point, when asking these questions please let everyone know what country you are coming from (where your passport is issued out of) as not all on CC are from the same place and rules change depending on country.

[dln929]

We've been to all the ports on the OP's itinerary and honestly I can't remember if we had to turn in our passport (too many Med ports...:D). It's the country the port is in which determines whether or not you have to turn it in, not the ship. So if you do, you do, and that's all there is to it.

[cmason]

We did Western Med (Rome, Sicily, Turkey (Ephesus), and Greece), and surrendered our passports on boarding in Rome.

 

It felt weird at first, but remember, you don't need your passport between other EU countries, so you don't need to go through passport control until you fly home.

 

I simply made a copy of my passport and kept it in my wallet. I didn't need it, was never asked for it. At ports you simply needed to show your SeaPass.

[londongal796]

I did have to surrender my passport (as a US Citizen) for a Western Med cruise with RCCL that featured Croatia in 2012. However, this was prior to Croatia joining the EU. This may not be an issue any more.

 

The same happened on our cruise in 2013 which featured Turkey (Ephesus).

 

The first time, I was livid. I had never heard of such a thing and I caused a right stink. The second time, since I was prepared, I just dealt with it. I do think they should tell us BEFORE the cruise that it will happen, rather than surprising you in port. When it is the only form of ID you have, it is difficult to surrender it. But it was all fine and I got it back at the end of the cruise without much difficulty. (The second time we had to queue up and it took about 20 minutes to get it back.)

[BekkaW]

Not specifically related to this itinerary, but we have had to turn in our passports when cruising in Asia, specifically prior to docking in Malaysia.

[TravelerThom]

... It's the country the port is in which determines whether or not you have to turn it in, not the ship...

I'm not sure that is absolutely true. The country determines if your passport has to be presented, and also determines if it has to be presented in person. Turkey requires that your passport has to be presented, as does the Schengen zone when you return from Turkey. If you really want to get up at 4am and present it to the immigration official who comes aboard with the pilot I think that is your right. The ship is providing a service and allows you to not go through that hassle (not that they ask if you want this service).

 

There are two ports on the OPs itenerary that are not in the Schengen zone (an area comprising 26 European countries that have abolished passport or any other type of border control): Kotor(Risan), Montenegro and Dubrovnik, Croatia (Croatia is in the EU but is not in Schengen; Montenegro is in neither). I have sailed into both ports more than once, but always on small boats with my passport in the captain's safe - I happily let him handle the paperwork (as well as the entry paper work for Bosnia and for Albania). I THINK that Schegen will want to see your passport for re-entry, and therefore the ship will hold your passport on this itinerary.

 

BTW do get up for the absolutely gorgeous trip through the Bay of Kotor - certainly one of my favorite port approaches.

 

Thom

[Spoely]

You're correct - every cruise I've done that stops in Ephesus collects passports from U.S. passengers.

 

We had the same experience for our stops in Turkey. It was a wee bit unsettling, but we got them back as promised.

[Fran&Tom]

Last May we did a Transatlantic on the Vision. Our 2nd Port of Call was Cork, Ireland and the ship collected all passports before that stop and we received them back the day after. Think they did some major customs check with authorities that day.

[PCWalton1]

We cruised in 2012 from Barcelona to Venice on Princess. We only had to surrender our passports when visiting our ports in Turkey. They were collected by our room steward prior to visiting those ports and returned after we left those ports. The were not held the entire cruise. I think this was required because we were out of the Schengen area.

 

Our 2012 Splendour cruise we had to surrender our passport at the start of our cruise due to our stop in Kusadasi Turkey.

[pstone1]

We DID have to surrender our Passports on our Mediterranean/Greek Isles cruise. When we boarded the ship in Barcelona, the Passports were kept by RCL. They were returned to us after we left Turkey which resulted in a Passport Stamp from Kusadasi. If you really wanted your Passport back, you could get it from Guest Services but had to turn it back in before the ship reached Kusadasi (Ephesus). We always travel with a copy of our Passports anyway so at least we had something.

[NittanyLioness]

Not pertinent to OP's itinerary, but when we cruised Brilliance from Dubai, all passports (regardless of country of origin) were retained by the ship.

 

They were returned to us the last day with all the "pretty" Entry/Exit stamps from the various Middle Eastern countries we had visited!

[hellsop]

I'm not new to cruising, but I have question specifically about cruising in the Western Med on RC that I hope someone will be able to answer.

 

I have read reviews about those who have taken a Med cruise on RC but they did not address this specifically. I have always been able to depend on the CC community for advice, so naturally I'm posting my question here.

 

OK, here’s the question. Did you have to surrender your passport to the cruise line until your Western Med cruise was over?

 

Had to back when we were hitting Tunis and Casablanca. Surrendered on the sea day prior to Tunis purser's assistants outside the MDR, got it back after leaving Casablanca the same way on the way to Malaga, with a very pretty Tunisian stamp in it.

[I'm from Oz]

Last May we did a Transatlantic on the Vision. Our 2nd Port of Call was Cork, Ireland and the ship collected all passports before that stop and we received them back the day after. Think they did some major customs check with authorities that day.

Did you board in a mainland European port?

 

Most likely you did and that is why. Ireland is part of the EU (European Union) but is not a member of the Schengen agreement, therefore you are required to present id to immigration before you can enter.

[cruisenfever]

Last May we did a Transatlantic on the Vision. Our 2nd Port of Call was Cork, Ireland and the ship collected all passports before that stop and we received them back the day after. Think they did some major customs check with authorities that day.

I wonder if this is something new. We've done 2 TA's, both on Jewel from Harwich with a stop in Cobh/Cork, and never had to turn in our passports.

[Kezzie62]

It depends where you are from. I am a duel Citizen of USA/UK if I sail out or into a EU port on my UK passport they do not hold my passport if I use my USA passport then they do.

 

 

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[The Viking]

Montenegro and Croatia as well as Turkey are not members of Schengen so you will either have to surrender passports or go through immigration in these countries.

 

This is the same for the person who said they had to surrender passport during a TA as England and Ireland not members of Schengen either.

 

Look up "Schengen"

[Mark_K]

Montenegro and Croatia as well as Turkey are not members of Schengen so you will either have to surrender passports or go through immigration in these countries.

 

 

 

This is the same for the person who said they had to surrender passport during a TA as England and Ireland not members of Schengen either.

 

 

 

Look up "Schengen"

Joining the EU, which Croatia did last year, automatically commits you to being a Schengen country.

 

 

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[Sunflower&Scientist]

Advice from a friend who was on the Costa Concordia...make a copy and keep it with you! I'm sure that ships are very careful with the passports but if they leave your hands you should always have a copy in yours! On our next cruise will be keeping important documents in the safe, and carrying copies in one of those little waterproof pouches. It may be overkill, but it will give us peace of mind.