Urgent help - parents passport stolen in Athens

[Mark_UK]

Sadly I just learnt that my parents have both had their passports stolen from their hotel room whilst in Athens. 

 

They are obviously distraught as due to get on Celebrity Apex on Tuesday for a once in a lifetime trip to Egypt, Israel and Turkey. 

 

They've spoke to an emergency embassy number who advised that a temporary travel document won't be accepted on a cruise. 

 

Celebrity via the phone are refusing to help as it was booked via a travel agent who are closed until tomorrow. 

 

Any advice..? do they just have to give up and come home? 

Edited September 24, 2023 by Mark_UK

[lv2cruisgrl]

Wow that's sad.  Hope you can get it figured out. 

[jelayne]

Did they call the Emergency Services phone number?  They may be more helpful than the general phone number. 

[Mark_UK]

4 minutes ago, jelayne said:

Did they call the Emergency Services phone number?  They may be more helpful than the general phone number. 

We couldn't find an emergency number? 

[agape01]

I'm not sure whether would this help, but I found the post that was posted about celebrity emergency numbers.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2673417-celebrity-emergency-contact-phone-number/

The #5 post lists the numbers:

"Here are the numbers I was given when I called Celebrity for emergency numbers:

 

In Case of Emergency: 

 

Phone #:  1-866-755-2171 (give them your name, ship name, cabin number,  and have them leave us a message)

 

or call

 

1-877-266-1020 (give them the info below and they will transfer you to the ship; cost is $7.95 per minute by credit card." 

[jelayne]

20 minutes ago, jelayne said:

Did they call the Emergency Services phone number?  They may be more helpful than the general phone number. 

There should be a emergency number in their e docs.

[xamsx]

I see you are UK. Is there a British embassy there where they can get new passports?

Edited September 24, 2023 by xamsx

[Mark_UK]

2 minutes ago, xamsx said:

I see you are UK. Is there a British embassy there? 

Yeah they called an out of hours emergency line, but they said it's unlikely a cruise line will take a temporary travel document. They are so upset, in a strange country and not much I can do to help 😞

[WELDON]

The British embassy should be able to issue emergency passports for travel. Can they go tomorrow in person to speak with staff? They should take their travel documents with them to prove they have travel plans. Good luck.

[ncgolferette]

Please keep us posted.  Hope it works out for them. 

[jwlane]

This really has nothing to do with X.  https://www.gov.uk/world/greece

[Jim_Iain]

About all they can hope for is to go directly to the British Embassy early on Monday.  Possibly they will find a sympathetic agent.

 

Address: Ploutarchou 1, Athina 106 75, Greece

Hours:

Open 24 hours

Phone: +30 21 0727 2600

 

Many Credit Card Companies have helplines for premium cards that may also help.

 

Not to be condescending but I hope they have travel insurance.   We were on a cruise a couple years ago and someone who had a booking in the Penthouse had their passport stolen and didn't have time to get an emergency replacement at the embassy.    They had to give up their dreamed vacation.

 

On the brighter side -  The ship decided to have a raffle to upgrade to the Penthouse.   The tickets were relatively expensive at $50 per ticket.    There was an elderly couple who were celebrating their 50th anniversary and were in an inside cabin.   She bought a ticket and didn't tell her husband.   It was so exciting to see her win. 

Edited September 24, 2023 by Jim_Iain

[jwlane]

1 minute ago, Jim_Iain said:

 U.S. Embassy

I think they're Brits.

[REEtired]

8 minutes ago, jwlane said:

I think they're Brits.

Hopefully they have a photocopy of their passports to show the people at the Embassy.  We always travel with copies. 

[Jim_Iain]

16 minutes ago, jwlane said:

I think they're Brits.

I noticed that just after posting and corrected to the UK Embassy - which is open 24 hours

[RD64]

Which is why you should always keep a copy - or three- won’t get you on the ship but may expedite the process of getting a new one re-issued.

[RD64]

And no offense to the OP - but I never leave a passport, cash, credit cards in a hotel room - not even in my home country of Canada. Everything goes in a slim money belt which is comfortably tucked in my underwear (sorry if TMI). I do this even on overnight flights..

[Guera53]

They have the whole day to sort it out. Is there anyone who can call the embassy on their behalf? In the US we would call our local congress person’s office as our local representative and ask them to call on our behalf for a matter to be expedited. 

[georgiaguy]

2 hours ago, REEtired said:

Hopefully they have a photocopy of their passports to show the people at the Embassy.  We always travel with copies. 

Copies actually cant be accepted for anything official. At least not by US officials. 

[tigervixxxen]

The embassy shouldn’t be able to speak on what celebrity will or will not accept for emergency travel documents. Why hasn’t celebrity answered this question? When is the cruise departing? They shouldn’t give up until they are turned away at the pier. 

[cruisestitch]

Copies can’t be accepted as official but they do help make the process of getting replacement documents go a bit easier and faster.

[dcbiker97]

Hopefully they can go first thing in the morning to the UK Embassy in Athens.  I’m sure you already have this, but here are some emergency numbers (hopefully they are different than what you’ve already tried)

 

https://www.gov.uk/world/organisations/british-embassy-athens

 

 

I wish your parents luck in being able to go. We are on the cruise right after them. 

Edited September 25, 2023 by dcbiker97

[cdn_tbird]

3 hours ago, Mark_UK said:

Sadly I just learnt that my parents have both had their passports stolen from their hotel room whilst in Athens. 

 

They are obviously distraught as due to get on Celebrity Apex on Tuesday for a once in a lifetime trip to Egypt, Israel and Turkey. 

 

They've spoke to an emergency embassy number who advised that a temporary travel document won't be accepted on a cruise. 

 

Celebrity via the phone are refusing to help as it was booked via a travel agent who are closed until tomorrow. 

 

Any advice..? do they just have to give up and come home? 

Hoping the best for your parents and that the British embassy can help so they don't miss their cruise. A friend of ours is in Greece right now for a family wedding and had her passport stolen. The Canadian embassy can provide her a replacement, it cost her $435 CAD which is nearly 3x what a 10 yr passport normally costs. 

[tigervixxxen]

Also perhaps contact the executive office at celebrity, don’t just go by the regular customer service number which I’ve found the phone reps really don’t know much. 

[Guest ldtr]

Not sure why they would say that a UK emergency passport would not be accepted for cruise. Do not know about the restrictions on their emergency passports.

 

However with US passports an emergency passport works just fine. We are currently on a small 50 passenger ship (Elixir Elysium). One of the passengers had their passport stolen, was able to get an emergency passport good for 6 months and was able to board just fine.

 

I would suggest having them get an emergency passport as soon as the embassy opens (they are going to beed that anyway). While they are doing that you can do more research into the nature of a UK emergency passport, when they expire and if there are any limitations that would prevent them from bring accepted by Celebrity.