Do you take your passport ?

[liz4949]

Just wondering what is the best thing to do when leaving the ship for a shore excursion.  Should I take my passport or leave it on the ship? 

[Shmoo here]

7 minutes ago, liz4949 said:

Just wondering what is the best thing to do when leaving the ship for a shore excursion.  Should I take my passport or leave it on the ship? 

Unless we're told that we have to have the passport while ashore, we leave it in the safe on the ship.

 

 

[liz4949]

Ok thank you.  I will probably do the same.  

[CruiserBruce]

Agree with @Shmoo here. Its really not required in a lot of ports. A small number, yes.

 

This is always a hot topic...be prepared.

[lenquixote66]

We have never taken our passports off a ship. 

[no1racefan1]

We always take ours if we're in a foreign country. This is usually a hotly debated topic so I'll just say do whatever you are comfortable with 😁

[Essiesmom]

There are some ports that require you have a picture ID as well as your cruise card to enter the port area.  If you do not want to take your passport ashore, make sure you have an additional form of ID available.  EM

[edinburgher]

1 hour ago, liz4949 said:

Should I take my passport or leave it on the ship? 

You could leave it in your safe and carry a copy with you, knowing that should the original be required for any reason you can access it.

 

Of course in some countries carrying photo ID is mandatory in which case you should carry it with you.

[Z'Loth]

Unless the cruise line states otherwise, keep your passport in the safe. Just carry some form of government-issued identification with you. 

[Kristelle]

on all holidays - not cruises specifically - I keep my passport in the safe unless  I am told I will need it on the excursion  (some areas within China, for example)

 

Re photo ID - does electronic ID count?

 

I have my drivers licence, with photo, on my phone  - and   I take my phone everywhere on holidays for photos.

[Shorex]

Some people always do - others never do (unless required by law), and never the twain shall meet. We are in the "never do" camp, but it's an individual decision.

[crystalspin]

40 minutes ago, Kristelle said:

Re photo ID - does electronic ID count?

I have my drivers licence, with photo, on my phone

I doubt that e-ID is going to be accepted by the port/dock authorities. But you could test it and report back! (I'm only being a little fascetious; I have heard of people having to send their companion back to the ship to fetch ID. The admission desk can be some distance from the ship...)

[Szt]

I’m glad you asked. I have wondered the same thing. I always take it with me, even though I know I probably shouldn’t. But I also keep

it in a money belt or neck pouch under my clothes so it can’t get stolen. And I don’t pull it out unless I need to so no one even knows it’s there. 

[ceeceeDee]

2 hours ago, edinburgher said:

You could leave it in your safe and carry a copy with you, knowing that should the original be required for any reason you can access it.

 

Of course in some countries carrying photo ID is mandatory in which case you should carry it with you.

Yep, always as a matter of course, we have photocopies of our passports tucked in our wallets.

[Kristelle]

3 hours ago, crystalspin said:

I doubt that e-ID is going to be accepted by the port/dock authorities. But you could test it and report back! (I'm only being a little fascetious; I have heard of people having to send their companion back to the ship to fetch ID. The admission desk can be some distance from the ship...)

 

Oh ok. 

Just wondered as it accepted by authorities in Australia, you don't have to carry physical drivers licence for example if it is on your phone

[CDNPolar]

We only take our passports with us outside of a hotel, or cruise ship if required by country law to carry it with you.  We have pictures of all our ID (Passport, DL, Health Card, Travel Insurance) on our phones and in the cloud.

 

We do carry at least one form of ID and that is generally a DL and then a CC.

 

We just experienced a couple on our Eastern Europe River Cruise that had their passports pickpocketed because the cases were sticking up out of an outside pocket of their shoulder bag and they did not even know it at first.  This was an included tour and there were multiple groups that were on this tour and they were doing it at slightly offset times and even in opposite directions.  Lucky for this couple.  A vendor found the cases discarded on the ground and asked our tour guide if these people might be part of our cruise.  As soon as she opened the passports we recognized the couple and the vendor let the tour guide (local and known) take the passports.  The tour guide immediately called the ship and the Program Director who got in touch with the guide with the guests to let them know we had them.  We met up with their group about 20 minutes later and passed them over.  The passports were discarded likely because there was no cash in the cases, and that was all the pickpockets were looking for.  

 

I know many people who thought before they were pickpocketed that this would never happen to them and it did.  Pickpockets are slick and professional at what they do, and even if you think you have put something somewhere that they cannot get it, well, they can.

[Honolulu Blue]

15 hours ago, liz4949 said:

Just wondering what is the best thing to do when leaving the ship for a shore excursion.  Should I take my passport or leave it on the ship? 

A few comments:

 

• I carried a paper copy of my passport off the ship on my first two cruises, then stopped.  I found it to be of very limited use.  YMMV.
• I carried a passport off the ship in Martinique, since that island requires it
• Most of the time I leave my passport in the cabin
• Perhaps one of these times I'll have some business that will require me to bring a passport along.  Then I'll bring it.
• As a rookie traveler back in the day, I was taught that U.S. passports are a hot property and heavily targeted by thieves, so the advice was to avoid traveling with it unnecessarily and protect it when it has to be brought.  This may be less true these days, but why give outlaws a potential windfall when I don't have to?  Again, YMMV.
• AFAIK, our state doesn't offer digital versions of our drivers license

[ontheweb]

On our last cruise, passengers were told when a photo id was required as well as the ship card to take their drivers license.

 

We leave the passports on the ship unless required by the port (such as St. Petersburg back when it was a popular cruise port) or we will be on an excursion that requires it (such as one that crosses a border.)

 

We have even been on a ship that collected the passenger passports at the beginning of the cruise. (It was an Eastern Mediterranean cruise on HAL.)

[Markanddonna]

We leave our passports in a safe only on ships (unless it is mandatory to carry them, which is rare. I don't trust hotel safes since I've heard some horror stories. 

[Szt]

Can anyone think of any reason we’d want a passport when we go ashore in Mexico? 
My rule of thumb is: if you can’t bear to loose it, leave it home. If you can’t leave it home, keep it on your body, under clothes or in a safe. If it’s something I have to pull out ( like a cc) it’s in a pouch, around my neck, that hangs under my shirt. It’s easy for me to get to, but impossible to pick. Believe me, as a woman, you are very aware of any hands near your boobs. 
I haven’t been to Mexico in a long time. Would I be safe wearing my wedding ring in Cabo? It has a 1.5 carat diamond. Common sense says leave it home. But I feel weird without it. 

[Shorex]

No reason to take a passport ashore in Mexico. I never wear nice jewelry ashore -- jewelry and passports stay locked in the stateroom safe. Pickpockets and thieves target tourists and try as I may, I look like a tourist. Over the two decades of cruising, I've heard plenty of stories about tourists (and cruise passengers are tourists) being ripped off - especially the ones wearing expensive jewelry and watches.

[ldubs]

3 hours ago, Szt said:

Can anyone think of any reason we’d want a passport when we go ashore in Mexico? 
My rule of thumb is: if you can’t bear to loose it, leave it home. If you can’t leave it home, keep it on your body, under clothes or in a safe. If it’s something I have to pull out ( like a cc) it’s in a pouch, around my neck, that hangs under my shirt. It’s easy for me to get to, but impossible to pick. Believe me, as a woman, you are very aware of any hands near your boobs. 
I haven’t been to Mexico in a long time. Would I be safe wearing my wedding ring in Cabo? It has a 1.5 carat diamond. Common sense says leave it home. But I feel weird without it. 

 

We take the passports ashore when traveling because Mrs Ldubs wants to take them.  If left to me, I probably would do the same.  I don't worry too much about justifying that choice. 

 

Mrs Ldubs has a traveling wedding ring that replaces the diamond set.  It is nice, but won't be a major loss should it get stolen.   For whatever it is worth, I worry more about injury she might suffer if someone attacked her for her jewelry than I am the loss of the jewelry.     

[Z'Loth]

I have scans of my drivers license, health and COVID card, social security card, credit cards (including contact information), password book identification page and passport card, and global entry cards stored as secure documents in my secure password manager on my mobile phone "just in case". 

[ldubs]

7 minutes ago, Z'Loth said:

I have scans of my drivers license, health and COVID card, social security card, credit cards (including contact information), password book identification page and passport card, and global entry cards stored as secure documents in my secure password manager on my mobile phone "just in case". 

 

I have not had a physical SSN card for too many years to even guess.  It is one of the short list of numbers I can manage to remember!  🙂

 

I like the concept.  Are you using an App to store these items or is it a feature of your android or iphone mobile?  

[Z'Loth]

Just now, ldubs said:

I like the concept.  Are you using an App to store these items or is it a feature of your android or iphone mobile?  

 

I am using the 1Password online password manager which is provided by my employer.