Passport Book or Passport ID Card

[beg3yrs]

There is no central world-wide data base for passport and visa information. Nor will there ever be one.

 

Thus, the visa information either needs to be stamped in a passbook or somehow written to a chip on a card.

 

And if it can be written to a chip on a card, that means it can also be erased accidentally.

or on purpose ...

[Putterdude]

Except on rare occasion a country may require you take a passport ashore with you otherwise it makes no sense to take them ashore. Canadian and US passports are much valued by thieves.

[UpcountryTravelers]

There is no central world-wide data base for passport and visa information. Nor will there ever be one.

 

Oh, I think there probably will be. Most likely UN sanctioned.

 

Thus, the visa information either needs to be stamped in a passbook or somehow written to a chip on a card.

 

Passports are not stamped now. I wish they were. I miss the record of my travels.

 

And if it can be written to a chip on a card, that means it can also be erased accidentally.

 

As can the data on the strip in the book. And the card has - visually - all the data the book has.

 

Again - technology will eventually replace paper with electrons. It's the future.

[cruiselvr1]

Oh, I think there probably will be. Most likely UN sanctioned.

 

 

 

Passports are not stamped now. I wish they were. I miss the record of my travels.

 

 

 

As can the data on the strip in the book. And the card has - visually - all the data the book has.

 

Again - technology will eventually replace paper with electrons. It's the future.

Great. Just what we need, to have the UN telling us what to do......oops it's already happening.

[CruzVinnieCruz]

Oh, I think there probably will be. Most likely UN sanctioned.

 

 

 

Passports are not stamped now. I wish they were. I miss the record of my travels.

 

 

 

As can the data on the strip in the book. And the card has - visually - all the data the book has.

 

Again - technology will eventually replace paper with electrons. It's the future.

 

 

40 years ago the prediction was by the new millennium our lives would be paperless and guess what the present demand for paper is at an all time high.

 

Vinnie

[caribill]

 

Passports are not stamped now. I wish they were. I miss the record of my travels.

 

.

 

True, a number of countries no longer stamp passports upon entry or exit, but with a very few exeptions (Australia for one), if a visa is required it will be stamped or pasted into the passport.

 

For example, the following are just a few of the countries that stamp or paste a visa into your passport: Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Brazil.

[Pam in CA]

I'll have to check my passport. It's maybe 3-4 years old and I had to get more pages because I have so many stamps plus pages have multiple stamps.

[caribill]

I'll have to check my passport. It's maybe 3-4 years old and I had to get more pages because I have so many stamps plus pages have multiple stamps.

 

33 stamps and visas in my 2.5 year old passport. I had to get that passport four years early because the old passport was full.

[zeke11]

I'm a passport newbie and I hope my question doesn't seem dumb!

 

I thought it would be good to take the passport ashore because of one of the reasons to have one is in case you miss the ship and have to fly to the next port or home. Or what if you or one of your party is arrested, god forbid, and your passport is on the ship? If you are seriously injured or taken ill while ashore, would someone have to run back to the ship to get the passports so the party could go home in an emergency?

 

I'm not clear on this -- please help!

 

Kris

[Musky Ike]

Not dumb at all. A well debated question here. It comes down to if you fear the risk of being left behind more than the loss/theft of your passport. That will vary by port. Posters have testified that the ship will leave it with the port authorities before they take off, but if you feel better having it with you, that is fine. I would suggest a wallet secured on your person separate from a purse or backpack.

 

I'm a passport newbie and I hope my question doesn't seem dumb!

 

I thought it would be good to take the passport ashore because of one of the reasons to have one is in case you miss the ship and have to fly to the next port or home. Or what if you or one of your party is arrested, god forbid, and your passport is on the ship? If you are seriously injured or taken ill while ashore, would someone have to run back to the ship to get the passports so the party could go home in an emergency?

 

I'm not clear on this -- please help!

 

Kris

[UpcountryTravelers]

33 stamps and visas in my 2.5 year old passport. I had to get that passport four years early because the old passport was full.

 

One stamp on my prior passport, none in the renewed - current - one. That's with visits to 23 different countries.

[Stevesan]

I admittedly leave my passport in the cabin safe. It is a good idea to have it with you. It can be a horror show to be stranded in a foreign country without one.

An option might be to carry it around your neck in a passport sized case.

[paul929207]

I do not know about other lines, but if you are being left behind by Princess, they will send an officer to your cabin to get the passport from the safe. It will be given to the Port Agent to give to you when you show up.

[PescadoAmarillo]

I had to have extra pages put in two passports; my current one has only a few stamps and visas. Times have certainly changed...it's so much rarer to get a stamp now. But I sure love those old passports. They're the best kind of souvenir.

 

My passport stays in the cabin safe, unless it's required I have it with me. I have heard horror stories of having them stolen on almost every continent. We do carry passport cards as a form of photo ID; they at least prove citizenship, which our other forms of ID do not. I feel confident that the ship will not be sailing with my passport in the safe- I've seen time and time again where passports are handed to the port agent on the pier.

[earljr]

the cards also have a shield type of holder to prevent theft by

electronic means.

(not sure of the proper terminology)

[bjkTX]

To get back to what the OP asked - since they aren't going to Russia or China - the Passport Card is virtually useless in the Caribbean. A photo ID and your cruise card gets you on and off the ship (if they even ask for a photo ID which we rarely are) - the Passport Card can't get you back home from an Island - you need the actual Passport Book for that. So unless you just want it as a photo ID (you pretty much already had to have one to get the card) it's of no value.

[paul929207]

To get back to what the OP asked - since they aren't going to Russia or China - the Passport Card is virtually useless in the Caribbean. A photo ID and your cruise card gets you on and off the ship (if they even ask for a photo ID which we rarely are) - the Passport Card can't get you back home from an Island - you need the actual Passport Book for that. So unless you just want it as a photo ID (you pretty much already had to have one to get the card) it's of no value.

I keep seeing people saying to get a passport card and just don't see the value. Unless you are walking or driving to Canada or Mexico, it does nothing for you.

[bjkTX]

I keep seeing people saying to get a passport card and just don't see the value. Unless you are walking or driving to Canada or Mexico, it does nothing for you.

 

It may have value - but not on a Caribbean cruise

[Stevesan]

The passport card's uses per the U.S. State Department:

 

http://travel.state.gov/passport/ppt_card/ppt_card_3926.html