Princess will hold your passport???

[Kevin's girl]

:confused: I was just reading a review of the Tahitian Princess by Jazzycat, and I read that Princess kept their passports until they returned from the Cook Islands. Is this right? I am not really comfortable with this. When we went to Europe, we were told never to let it out of our sight. We were told that if it was miss placed or left in a hotel room that it could be copied. It was supposed to be a huge security thing. I am not afraid of not being let off the ship after the cruise, or not ever getting it back, but I am not all that trusting to assume that I can trust all cruise employees of the cruise line. Am I just being paraniod, or does this sound odd to anyone else?

[Oregonian]

They take it on embarkation and return it during the sea day after Rarotonga. They do give you a receipt for it. I was not too happy about that either, but we never needed it as it turned out (at any time before or after the cruise until we flew out of Papeete). I made and kept a photo copy of each passport, although I'm not sure that really accomplishes anything.

 

Ira

[Kevin's girl]

Thanks Ira for the quick response. I have photo copyies of our passports, it just makes me feel uncomfortable. I told my husband about it and he was uneasy as well. It seems though this is normal practice.At least I found out about it now and not getting suprised by it when we get there.

Thanks again

[donna5]

They take it on embarkation and return it during the sea day after Rarotonga. They do give you a receipt for it. I was not too happy about that either, but we never needed it as it turned out (at any time before or after the cruise until we flew out of Papeete). I made and kept a photo copy of each passport, although I'm not sure that really accomplishes anything.

 

Ira

 

When did this start. Aug 2003 we did not have to surrender our passports. Is it for all passengers or just for certain countries?

[Bob100]

I was skeptical as well, but it really was a very smooth process. getting our passports back was easy and occured during an 'at sea day.' And, as others have pointed out, even if it gets lost, you have a reason to stay in Tahiti :)

[nancyrg]

We did not know about this prior to our July 05 cruise to and we were surprised that they took our passports (we did have copies) but they said it was standard operating procedure, so I went with the flow. Getting back the passports was painless and took less then 5 minutes.

I would suggest making a copy of your passport if it makes you feel better.

 

Have a great trip-Tahiti was amazing!!

[lhbsurf]

I don't understand why they do it, but I know that for non-US citizens, they hold their passports during cruises from the US - all cruise lines.

[ljtinney]

This is good to know. Not once so far has Princess ever held my passport and I this month will be my 7th princess cruise. When I went on Carnival they held my passport and so does RCCL. Yes it is an odd feeling. I always keep a copy of them. As and you said Bob100.....the thought of getting stuck in Tahiti really doesn't bother me too much:D

[Kevin's girl]

Lauren,

where are you from? We have been on 7 RCCL cruises and have never had our passports held. I have always brought copies of them just in case there was ever a problem, but have never had anyone keep them before.

[ljtinney]

Terri.....I'm from Ontario, Canada. I've never been on RCCL myself, but a good friend of mine has and had her passport held. The only time mine was held was on Carnival.

[Kevin's girl]

Lauren,

I was asking because ibsurf had mentioned that non US citzen's passports had been held when cruising from the US. We have never cruised from anything but a US port. I hope you have a great time in Tahiti, and write a review when you get back

[ljtinney]

Terri...I've also cruised only from US ports and Princess has never held my passport. Oh well, I will find out soon enough. And....thanks, I have been looking forward to this cruise since March...

[Mai Tai Guy]

Princess actually pays for passage of two immigration officers to "process" your return from the Cook Islands, since you are coming "back" from a New Zealand island. I was traveling with my parents, and for some reason my Dad's passport was not "stamped" upon arrival in Papeete and it caused a bit more of an inconveinence when they were "processing" him back in, so make sure you get "stamped" when you arrive. We found the line was pretty long when we went to get our passports back, and took almost 30 minutes when we were finally through the process. Either go ASAP when they start processing, or wait until the end, and you'll end up waiting far less time in line.

[DANofNORTH]

YUP!!

 

We were on the 'Sun Princess' 4 years ago and 'Brilliance of the Seas' last November. Both held the passports!! :(

 

There never was a problem. I was told by crew that if you miss your ship that they take your passport to the port authorities/police and leave it with them for you to claim. :o

 

Of course they wait for you to get back to the ship first, but when they finally leave, your passport stayes at port.:eek:

[chasetf]

The cruise line does not determine when to hold or not to hold. It depends on the ports being visited. On our B2B in Tahiti, it was held for the first leg to the Cook Islands for the reason mentioned above. On the second leg, Marqueses Islands, it was not held. We also has it held on our Med trip until we cleared Turkey.

 

I would also mention in Europe, for their own security reasons, we had our Passports copied when we checked into Rome and Venice hotels.