RCI shore excursions.. Do you bring your passport ashore?

[Lil' Baba]

We are leaving on the Allure this Sunday. Woo hoo!

 

My question is do you take your passport along with you when you get off the ship or do you leave it in the cabin's safe ?

 

Is your sea pass card good enough to get back on the ship? I hate to leave my passport on the beach while I'm swimming in the ocean for fear of getting it lost/stolen.

[KirkNC]

Passport in safe and key in pocket you will be fine.

[marci22]

I usually leave the passports in the safe. Usually they want a drivers' license to go with the Seapass. Otherwise you'd need the passport with the Seapass.

[denamo]

This is an age old debate. Some never leave the ship without it, and others never take it. We usually take our drivers license if it states a picture ID is needed. On a Alaskan cruise we were crossing into Canada on a tour, and were told we would need our passport, so we took it. They didn't even check it then. We were told to simply hold them up.

 

More recently, I made a copy of the picture page, and had it laminated at a local office supply. We put those in our backpack. At least if for some unforeseen reason we needed citizenship proof this would help. We've done many, many cruises and only the one time have we ever needed our passport for any reason.

 

It is a tough call. Just have to do what makes you comfortable.

[johnrobert57]

We always bring our passports along. Inconvenient yes......but if there is a medical emergency, accident, etc and you end up in a hospital....miss the ship....you'll need it to get home. But we're a little nervous about those kinds of things.

[Clarea]

I think there are a very small number of excursions where a passport is required. A couple that come to mind are trips to Tortola and Canada (some railroad excursion on the Alaska cruise). It will be noted in the excursion description that a passport is required.

[onyx007]

On my southern caribbean cruise it was always stated in the Cruise Compass that you should bring your Seapass and a "picture ID", doesn't matter what kind as long as it has your name and picture on it.

 

If the passport is required then it will be announced in the Cruise Compass.

 

I had to use it only twice (out of 11 port-of-calls) and not for the persons working for RCI, but for the security working on land "guarding" the pier.

[Spurschick]

With the exception of Russia where it was mandatory, we have always carried photocopy of picture page of passport and leave real thing board. We have had a couple of instances where they have asked to see it and they were fine with the copies.guest relations will copy for you onboard if you forget to do before you leave.

 

Hope that helps

[theSHAH]

The idea is to bring the passport with you in case of some unforeseen event which leads you to missing your boat, you can book a flight home. Now an exception I guess is, if you are on an excursion through RCI, they will hold the boat for you.

[willing292]

The idea is to bring the passport with you in case of some unforeseen event which leads you to missing your boat, you can book a flight home. Now an exception I guess is, if you are on an excursion through RCI, they will hold the boat for you.

 

 

And if something happens, you can contact the ship and have them bring your passport to you.

 

 

Shirley, Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[joepeka]

On my southern caribbean cruise it was always stated in the Cruise Compass that you should bring your Seapass and a "picture ID", doesn't matter what kind as long as it has your name and picture on it.

 

If the passport is required then it will be announced in the Cruise Compass.

 

I had to use it only twice (out of 11 port-of-calls) and not for the persons working for RCI, but for the security working on land "guarding" the pier.

 

We had this situation for the first time I can ever recall upon re-boarding in San Juan - we had to show our passports in addition to the SeaPass card to get past security at the entrance to the dock. The Compass did mention photo ID and Seapass card to re-board and it seemed like virtually everyone was showing their passport. Regardless, to the OP's question, we always take our passports.

Edited May 2, 2014 by joepeka

[Sitzmark]

Yes, we always take our passports, that's why we have em.

[OCruisers]

Unless we are told by the ship we need to take our passport book with us in port, we leave ours locked in our cabin safe.

We take along our cruise card and a copy of our passport. We also take the name and contact information of the ship's agent in port which can be quite important to have.

LuLu

[CGBCruiser]

Unless we are told by the ship we need to take our passport book with us in port, we leave ours locked in our cabin safe.

We take along our cruise card and a copy of our passport. We also take the name and contact information of the ship's agent in port which can be quite important to have.

LuLu

 

You should keep that passport locked up. You definitely don't want to have your passport lost or stolen while you're off the ship and you don't need it to get back on the ship as you're not going through customs. You should take your cruise card and a picture ID, i.e. driver's license, government issued ID card. Of course, a copy of your passport would be OK as well.

[Miss Vickie]

I think there are a very small number of excursions where a passport is required. A couple that come to mind are trips to Tortola and Canada (some railroad excursion on the Alaska cruise). It will be noted in the excursion description that a passport is required.

 

If your ship is docking in Tortola, you don't need your passport (we've never taken it off the ship, never been asked). If you are visiting Tortola by ferry when docked in St. Thomas, yes, you'll need your passport.

[dplusd]

Unless our shore activity required a passport, we would never take it ashore. It remains in our room safe. We do take our sea pass card, actual driver's license, and a copy of the photo page of our passport. Our thought is that the chance of getting robbed is greater than the chance of missing the ship.

[Harooni]

i took it with me in case emergency or miss the ship and good thing i did as that would be my only id for my son to get back on the ship. they asked for the sea pass card and a form of id.

[The Viking]

Have you ever had to get a passport replaced in a foreign country, let alone on a weekend? In many cases there are no consulate in the port city. Do not expect an Embassy nor Consulate to open up just for you.

 

If your excursion, not booked through the cruiseline is late for ship dept.,you need to be certain that you have the phone number of the local agent with you so you can have the agent get your passport out of the safe.

 

We always bring passports and copies with us in different pockets/bags in case we do get robbed. We use metal mesh bags for our valuables, to deter pickpockets. If we are held up and they want wallet and bag, we always will have copy of passport with us to help secure new passports.

[critterchick]

You should keep that passport locked up. You definitely don't want to have your passport lost or stolen while you're off the ship and you don't need it to get back on the ship as you're not going through customs. You should take your cruise card and a picture ID, i.e. driver's license, government issued ID card. Of course, a copy of your passport would be OK as well.

 

Disagree. A copy of a passport is virtually useless other than providing the number. Yes, one can eventually get home without it from anywhere in the world, but I would rather lose my passport ashore than miss the ship without it. As long as I have some ID I can get back onboard and start the replacement process there.

[tidygirl]

We were on the Walk for wishes with several high up RC workers we mentioned about our cruise in the Mediterranean in Sept. He said be careful with the passports as many people show up to cruise and have had them stolen! They are not allowed to board! I asked him what we should do when we get off for the day he said keep passport in the safe and take a copy with you! I asked him what happens if you miss the ship how do you get home? He said they will go to your safe and get your passport and leave it with the port agency (I think that's what he called it) so that made me feel better knowing I will at least be able to get out of the country even if it's without my luggage! All our other cruised we take our room key and drivers license and that has always worked for us.

[jules71]

We always leave the passports in the safe. Never had anyone ask for them on shore. I usually take as little as possible with me on shore. Less to worry about.