Surrender Passport?

[stobe1]

9 hours ago, alyssamma said:

I wouldn't say "lots". I've been to almost every country in Europe and never given my passport up like that. I've done some middle east and Africa and also never had that happen.

 

I'm not saying it doesn't happen, I just wouldn't say "lots".

I would say lots. I travel for work and am gone anywhere from 15 to 20 days at a time usually and I have it happen to me all the time.

[Ferry_Watcher]

On Alaska cruises, check-in agents collect foreign passports from passengers who are required to have a Canadian Visa.  There are about 170 countries that fall into this category, but the cruisers that it usually impacts on Alaska cruises are guests from India, all but one South American country, Indonesia, and South Africa.  US and Canadian Permanent Residents (US Green Card holders) are exempt, as they travel on their Permanent Resident Card.

 

The passports that were are collected in Seattle are then returned to passengers when the ship arrives in Victoria, BC, and the Canadian CBSA officers have inspected them.  

If a check-in agent misses collecting a passport with a Canadian Visa, and if the mistake is caught at the end of the day, the passenger will be tracked down on the ship to turn over their passport. 

If a foreign passport that is required to have a Canadian Visa, but doesn't, but somehow gets by the check-in agent and gets on board, there is a 9K fine for the ship, and the passengers is removed from the ship and has to make their own travel arraignments.

 

Most of the passengers that this affects do understand, but some passengers need reassuring.

[EngIceDave]

9 hours ago, alyssamma said:

Yeah, I think it's very uncommon. I've never stayed anyplace that made me give up my passport for the *entire* time. If you mean taking it and giving it back later that day, then yeah. But never for the entire time.

 

My experience in Africa is somewhat limited - only 2 countries - but still never had it happen.

I have had to do in several places, Moscow (as said above) comes to mind. Had to surrender to hotel at check in, got back on departure.

 

[alyssamma]

20 minutes ago, EngIceDave said:

I have had to do in several places, Moscow (as said above) comes to mind. Had to surrender to hotel at check in, got back on departure.

 

Again, didn't say it *never* happened. Said it wasn't common. Moscow, yeah, lol.

[alyssamma]

51 minutes ago, stobe1 said:

I would say lots. I travel for work and am gone anywhere from 15 to 20 days at a time usually and I have it happen to me all the time.

Where are these places in Europe where you surrender your passport for the entire hotel stay?

[alyssamma]

2 hours ago, Purvis1231 said:

When I did a high European tour, we gave our passport to the tour guide and we did not see it again until we landed back in New York.. IThe tour guide presented them at various government officals at each country we visited. Second, whe I studied in the Old Soviet Union, We surrendered the passport to the authorities who hel it until we departed at the Moscow airport.. Finally, on a river cruise that crossed national boundries the ship held the passports and be presented to the authorities. 

Yeah, Moscow makes sense. And a tour also makes sense. River cruises aren't hotels.

 

My thing is it isn't *common* to surrender your passport for your entire hotel stay in Europe.

[stobe1]

12 minutes ago, alyssamma said:

Where are these places in Europe where you surrender your passport for the entire hotel stay?

Many Eastern European and former communist bloc countries and Former Soviet Republics. Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova, Georgia, Estonia, Latvia.  I was just in Turkey 2 weeks ago and had to give up my passport.

[stobe1]

13 minutes ago, alyssamma said:

Yeah, Moscow makes sense. And a tour also makes sense. River cruises aren't hotels.

 

My thing is it isn't *common* to surrender your passport for your entire hotel stay in Europe.

I'm sorry. But it is. Maybe not in France, England and Germany but there are many more countries in Europe than the big 3 that are also not part of the EU.

[alyssamma]

3 minutes ago, stobe1 said:

Many Eastern European and former communist bloc countries and Former Soviet Republics. Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova, Georgia, Estonia, Latvia.  I was just in Turkey 2 weeks ago and had to give up my passport.

Been to the Baltics, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey. I had to give them my passport for them to record the info, but got it back immediately.

 

Interesting that we had completely different experiences...

[alyssamma]

4 minutes ago, stobe1 said:

I'm sorry. But it is. Maybe not in France, England and Germany but there are many more countries in Europe than the big 3 that are also not part of the EU.

Really? There are more countries in Europe than France England and Germany? Shocking.

 

LOL

 

And get your facts straight...England isn't a country and it isn't part of the EU.

 

Edited June 4, 2023 by alyssamma

[stobe1]

2 minutes ago, alyssamma said:

Really? There are more countries in Europe than France England and Germany? Shocking.

 

LOL

 

I dont know what to say. I guess you get lucky. Or I am unlucky. Like I said my type of work requires travel to non-garden spots all over the world and it happens to me more often than not. It isn't ALL the time, but it is quite frequent.

Edited June 4, 2023 by stobe1

[alyssamma]

1 minute ago, stobe1 said:

I dont know what to say. I guess you get lucky. Or I am unlucky. Like I said my type of work requires travel to non-garden spots all over the world and it happens to me more often than not. It isn't ALL the time, but it is quite frequent.

We can agree our experiences are quite different then...even for the *same* countries.

[ColeThornton]

8 minutes ago, alyssamma said:

Really? There are more countries in Europe than France England and Germany? Shocking.

 

LOL

 

And get your facts straight...England isn't a country and it isn't part of the EU.

 

 

 

England isn't a country?

[alyssamma]

2 minutes ago, ColeThornton said:

 

 

England isn't a country?

UK is the country composed of England, Wales, Republic of Ireland and Scotland.

 

LOL, there is a pretty funny joke from Ted Lasso about England being a country composed of 4 countries 🙂

 

[ColeThornton]

5 minutes ago, alyssamma said:

UK is the country composed of England, Wales, Republic of Ireland and Scotland.

 

LOL, there is a pretty funny joke from Ted Lasso about England being a country composed of 4 countries 🙂

 

 

 

 

England, Wales, N. Ireland and Scotland are all countries that compose the U.K.

[alyssamma]

1 minute ago, ColeThornton said:

 

 

 

England, Wales, N. Ireland and Scotland are all countries that compose the U.K.

UK is the country. The other 4 are not sovereign states. 

 

I guess it all comes down to how you define country...that's why the joke above is funny.

 

But not part of the EU in any event.

[Ferry_Watcher]

8 minutes ago, alyssamma said:

 

 

8 minutes ago, alyssamma said:

UK is the country composed of England, Wales, Republic of Ireland and Scotland.

 

Yikes!  Ireland is definitely not part of the UK, and Ireland is in the EU.

Edited June 4, 2023 by Ferry_Watcher

[ColeThornton]

Just now, alyssamma said:

UK is the country. The other 4 are not sovereign states. 

 

I guess it all comes down to how you define country...that's why the joke above is funny.

 

But not part of the EU in any event.

 

 

Oh and also, the Republic of Ireland is not part of the U.K.      smh

[alyssamma]

Just now, Ferry_Watcher said:

 

 

Yikes!  Ireland is definitely not part of the UK, and Ireland is in the EU.

Yes, had it backwards...Northern Ireland is what I meant...

 

 

[alyssamma]

1 minute ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

 

 

Yikes!  Ireland is definitely not part of the UK, and Ireland is in the EU.

Yeah, see above...meant Northern and not Republic...

[alyssamma]

4 minutes ago, ColeThornton said:

 

 

Oh and also, the Republic of Ireland is not part of the U.K.      smh

See above...meant Northern...

 

smh right back at ya, lol

[stobe1]

32 minutes ago, alyssamma said:

Really? There are more countries in Europe than France England and Germany? Shocking.

 

LOL

 

And get your facts straight...England isn't a country and it isn't part of the EU.

 

I know. I was trying to make two separate points in the same post about the big 3 in Europe and then another point about non EU countries. I wasnt trying to split hairs with semantics. I guess it doesnt translate well on a webboard.

 

Anyway the original point to this thread was it is not uncommon to have to surrender your passport and it isnt a big deal when you have to.

 

My mileage definitely vaires from yours so yes our experiences differ. I leave again in 2 weeks for at least 10 days to Georgia ( not the one with Atlanta lol) and fully expect that I will have to have to surrender my passport.

Edited June 4, 2023 by stobe1

[alyssamma]

4 minutes ago, stobe1 said:

I know. I was trying to make two separate points in the same post about the big 3 in Europe and then another point about non EU countries. I wasnt trying to split hairs with semantics. I guess it doesnt translate well on a webboard.

 

Anyway the original point to this thread was it is not uncommon to have to surrender your passport and it isnt a big deal when you have to.

 

My mileage definitely vaires from yours so yes our experiences differ. I leave again in 2 weeks for at least 10 days to Georgia ( not the one with Atlanta lol) and fully expect that I will have to have to surrender my passport.

I don't think we are that far off 🙂

 

First, I never made a comment about cruises other than to a) express surprise and b) ask how it works. I've only done one cruise that wasn't Caribbean.

 

Second, I agree in places like Moscow or Georgia you may have to do this. But that is far from "common". I would say 80+% of countries in Europe don't do this. And to be clear, I'm talking about doing it for the *entire* hotel stay.

 

Third, yes, YMMV. It is odd we've been to the same places and had different experiences. Perhaps it is the times we went? I was in Romania, for example, maybe 15yrs ago. Travelled all over (except the capital) and didn't encounter this. Were you perhaps there earlier? Or maybe more recently and there has been a change? Or maybe it is visiting for work vs pleasure?

[ontheweb]

13 hours ago, stobe1 said:

Lots of hotels in Europe and Middle East and Africa will make you give them your passport when you check in and you get it back upon check out.  

 

I have never had it happen on a cruise but it doesn't sound too far fetched based on an individual country's requirements.

Not only Europe, Middle East, and Africa, we did an escorted land trip in Peru, and each hotel held onto our passports.

[ontheweb]

I don't remember experiencing our passports being held when we sailed on a British Ilse cruise that included Dublin. I do remember them being held on an Eastern Mediterranean cruise. We were allowed to take them back for one country, IIRC Croatia, but then had to return them to the ship again.