Taking your passport

[lindaler]

We have been on several cruises and have always kept our passports but I hear that on the South American cruise in November they took everyone's passports and just gave them copies to go ashore. When we did the Panama Canal we kept our passports.

 

Does this ever cause problems? Do they ever loose them? Is there ever a problem with getting them back? Why do they take them sometimes and not others? Is it just certain ships or certain cruises?

[rucrazy]

We have been on several cruises and have always kept our passports but I hear that on the South American cruise in November they took everyone's passports and just gave them copies to go ashore. When we did the Panama Canal we kept our passports.

 

Does this ever cause problems? Do they ever loose them? Is there ever a problem with getting them back? Why do they take them sometimes and not others? Is it just certain ships or certain cruises?

 

They also took ours when we did the Mediterranean a few years ago.. and no we have had no major problems... they do give you a receipt for them and passports are returned while you are still on board...

[NoWhiners]

Haven't been to SA but on our recent Black Sea cruise, HAL collected our passports twice (I forget which ports) then gave them back to us the next day. No problems. They gave us a receipt which we used to get the passports back. fast and easy. We were thinking about an Amazon cruise, and Chile, Brazil, and one other country require visas. It appears as though they are easy to get for all but Brazil--a complex process that just required paying more money, unless you happen to live in a US city with a consulate.

 

Go for it, and don't worry, just do what they ask and you will be fine!

 

Good luck

ML

[cruz chic]

I did a SA cruise in 2008. It left from Fort Lauderdale and went as far as Lima. I believe the reason they took our passports was because they had to be presented to the authorities so much. The cruise returned to FLL. I was VERY nervous handing over my passport but it was fine.

[whogo]

I am happy to turn my passport over to the cruise line. Doing so allows them to handle immigration in multiple countries with a minimum of fuss. You do not want to go through face to face immigration with a cruise ship full of passengers. Turn over your passport to the cruise line when requested to and do not worry about it.

[Chelly]

Feel comfortable turning over your passport. The system works efficiently. No worries at all.

[rafinmd]

HAL kept passports on my recent Prinsendam Amazon Explorer cruise. No hassle at all. When they were done with them it took me all of 60 seconds to get it back at the front desk. Would you rather let HAL keep your passport in their safe for a few days or wait in line behind 800 other cruisers to meet immigration officers in several different countries.

 

Roy

[Spinner2]

Lindaler, if your procedure is like ours in November, Peruvian officials will come aboard in Panama to process the passports for Peru (and probably enjoy the ship's ambience for a couple of days!). When we got ours back after Ecuador we had a Peru stamp inside the passport. They must need the passport for Ecuador as well because just before our arrival in Callao (Lima) we were given a photocopy of the first passport page with a personalized Landing Card for Peru on the sheet of paper. I did as directed and took it with me whenever I left the ship in Peru but no one ever asked for it. DH George went to Machu Picchu, and those folks were all given their actual passports and a landing card, maybe just for the plane trip, I don't know. The ship collected those passports again when they came back from their Machu Picchu trip.

 

I think it was after Ecuador that we got notices to pick up the passports; the Neptune Lounge handled ours so they just brought them to the cabin for us. Thus I don't really remember exactly when that was.

 

We've needed to surrender passports before; the Baltic cruise for one, and whenever the ship has your passport you have a receipt for it and you'll exchange the receipt for the passport when the purser's office has no more need to keep them to show some officials.

[headhunterke]

This is just a question, no attack on the procedure, but are they allowed to keep someone's passport? I thought the only ones that are allowed to hold your passport in are official instances (immigration, police, etc.)

And is it mandatory? Or can you choose to keep your passport? No way I'd give up my passport to a non-government employee.

Anyobdy else trying to keep your passport is not even allowed to do so (at least in my country)

[KirkNC]

Feel comfortable turning over your passport. The system works efficiently. No worries at all.

 

I agree, outside of the Caribbean, they have always taken our passport.

[CaveDiving]

We have been on several cruises and have always kept our passports but I hear that on the South American cruise in November they took everyone's passports and just gave them copies to go ashore. When we did the Panama Canal we kept our passports.

 

Does this ever cause problems? Do they ever loose them? Is there ever a problem with getting them back? Why do they take them sometimes and not others? Is it just certain ships or certain cruises?

 

It seems as though for most cruises, other than ones including mostly North American ports, the ship holds all of the passports. I believe this is to make the processing of immigration information more streamlined for each new country.

 

Must I permit the ship to hold my passport? I don’t know for certain but it surely would create potential problems if the ship’s personnel were missing some of the passengers’ passports while dealing with various countries’ immigration officials.

 

At first I was quite nervous about this but after numerous cruises, I have never had any problem with this system. I do keep a color copy of the picture page of my passport (reduced down to credit card size) in my wallet at all times as a picture ID when one is requested.

 

Scott & Karen

[Typhoon1]

HAL kept passports on my recent Prinsendam Amazon Explorer cruise. No hassle at all. When they were done with them it took me all of 60 seconds to get it back at the front desk. Would you rather let HAL keep your passport in their safe for a few days or wait in line behind 800 other cruisers to meet immigration officers in several different countries.

 

Roy

 

I couldn't agree more, The passport is safe with HAL.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have had to give up our passports to the cruise lines (several different ones) when we did South America, Baltic and Med. It never bothered us.

I also have my own colored copies of our passports with us.

[kazu]

We have had to turn over our passports numerous times - no issues with us :D

 

They handle the immigration and we just get off:D

 

On our cruise last May, they did not take our passports as we were required to carry them in certain countries and present them to immigration. I much prefer it when HAL can handle it. Like others, we have colour copies with us:D

[serendipity1499]

This is just a question, no attack on the procedure, but are they allowed to keep someone's passport? I thought the only ones that are allowed to hold your passport in are official instances (immigration, police, etc.)

And is it mandatory? Or can you choose to keep your passport? No way I'd give up my passport to a non-government employee.

Anyobdy else trying to keep your passport is not even allowed to do so (at least in my country)

 

You do not have a choice about handing over your passport for admittance to some countries.. Many times the ship actually gets into a country's local waters, such as Brazil on an Amazon cruise in the wee hours of the morning..The ship anchors & the local authorities come aboard to process all Psgrs Passports..

 

Many many years ago when working for SABENA, your countries airline, & SAS I did extensive European (including Belgium) travelling.. Sometimes I was required to give up my passport to the Hotels on check in..They then took our Passports to the local police station to be checked out.. I like you was very afraid of giving up my passport, but had a copy of the first page of it..

 

Since then have travelled all over the world & have had to give up our passports numerous times, without a problem..

 

Enjoy your HAL cruise..BTW HAL will also give you a receipt for your passport..

 

Betty

Edited December 29, 2013 by serendipity1499

[0bnxshs]

We have had to turn over our passports numerous times - no issues with us :D

 

They handle the immigration and we just get off:D

 

On our cruise last May, they did not take our passports as we were required to carry them in certain countries and present them to immigration. I much prefer it when HAL can handle it. Like others, we have colour copies with us:D

 

To add to this information, we had done both a TA and a Baltic cruise. The cruise line never collected our passports, even in St. Petersburg. However, the year before, our passports were collected when we visited Murmansk. In SPB, passports were processed in the terminal building at booths on our way to our tours; in Murmansk, official boarded the ship and processed them there, before we left the ship. On cruise ships, it seems to depend on whether a local country's immigration officials will board the ship to process passports.

Edited December 29, 2013 by 0bnxshs

[0bnxshs]

<SNIP>We were thinking about an Amazon cruise, and Chile, Brazil, and one other country require visas. It appears as though they are easy to get for all but Brazil--a complex process that just required paying more money, unless you happen to live in a US city with a consulate.

 

Go for it, and don't worry, just do what they ask and you will be fine!

 

Good luck

ML

 

FYI, Chile does not require a visa to visit as a tourist. They do have a "reciprocity fee" that they charge US citizens (and other countries) in the amount of the cost of a visa for Chilean tourists to visit the US (or other countries). You obtain a receipt for this fee that is good for the life of your current passport and is stapled into it. I have only ever seen this fee charged at Santiago International Airport. You can not, to my knowledge, prepay this fee.

Edited December 29, 2013 by 0bnxshs

[Rosethorn40]

When we did an United Kingdom/Ireland cruise this past summer they collected our passports at check in and said we could have them back after we left Ireland. The reason we were given was that the authorities were boarding the ship at 4 AM to review all passports. I for one was glad I didn't have to get up that early.

[voyageur9]

As others have suggested; keeping a scan and/or photo of your passport's photo/id page can be very valuable in the event that the passport is lost/stolen/damaged. Carry one and keep one accessible online. For U.S. citizens, there is also the passport card option which can be ordered with a regular passport. While usable only for land crossings to/from Mexico and Canada, it also provides a handy, credit-card sized, proof of citizenship should the passport book go missing and makes it far easier for U.S. consular officials to issue emergency/temporary travels document if needed.

[USN59-79]

The title of the thread reminds me of an incident while cruising a couple of years ago. The ship announced that they needed to collect the passports and we were standing in a long line to turn them in. One passenger got extremely distraught and excited and walked by the line shouting "PEOPLE, PAY ATTENTION! THEY ARE TAKING YOUR PASSPORTS!! DON'T LET THEM TAKE YOUR PASSPORTS! Eventually he calmed down and was led away by security.

[GeorgesGal]

When we were in Casablanca a few years back, their immigration officers came on board and sat at a desk where we disembarked the ship, collected all passports from us. Scary giving up my passport, I'll tell you that!!! Upon return to the ship, immigration was still there with the boxes of passports which were then returned. Whew!

 

Since that time, we have needed to surrender them in various ports, with no worry.

[Katie333]

Like many others, I was nervous the first time I had to do this. Of course, it turned out fine and I was glad not to have to be up in the middle of the night to go through immigration.

 

We always travel with colour copies and even leave a copy behind with family not travelling with us.