Excursions and ID's

[Texasopa]

This is going to be my 1st cruise so I have a few questions. We are taking the String Ray City tour through RCI. What do we do with our money and passports while we are in the water off the boat, or in the water on a beach somewhere. I have seen waterproof pouches that you can attach to yourself in various ways.

Wondering if there are usually SECURE lockers for this purpose.

Thanks

[Clarea]

We use the water wallets.

[biomedbob]

We do private tours and trust the operator! :)

[setsail]

Leave your PP onboard, just carry your DL/seapass card. It will be posted in the compass for each port, what you need, if needed. We have a water proof pouch that works well for money, etc., or we just take turns doing things so the stuff is not left alone.

[cb at sea]

If you're on an excursion transport, you can leave your stuff there.

[MrsPete]

The long answer:

 

The ship's personnel will check your passport /driver's license and birth certificate when you check in before boarding. They don't actually care about your citizenship -- but they do want to know that when they return you to your home port, you'll be able to re-enter the US.

 

After they check your documents, they will provide you with a ship's ID card. From that point on, the ship will only care about that ID card. They do check you very carefully when you board/re-board (for example, I've been asked to remove my sunglasses and hat so they can see that it's me in my ID picture), but the only thing you'll need to show is your ship ID.

 

When you re-enter the US, it's the US Customs Office who checks your documents. They DO care that you have proper materials, so it's wise to take some care not to lose them.

 

The safest bet is to leave all other documentation locked tight in your stateroom safe. What you need to take ashore is your ship's ID, a few dollars, and perhaps a credit card (preferably not the one attached to your ship's account). Fortunately, these things can easily fit into a small ziplock and can be carried unobtrusively in the zippered pocket of a man's swim trunks (I never buy my husband swim trunks that don't have a secure pocket for just this reason).

Edited August 20, 2014 by MrsPete

[denamo]

You may be asked to take a picture ID. Your driver's license will be fine. We always leave our passports in the safe. Your comment about some type of waterproof pouch is a good way to go. It can be with you if you're in the water.

 

Did searches on Amazon for "waterproof wallet" and "waterproof cases." Both searches yielded a large selection. We take the waterproof cases we got from Royal Caribbean several years back. It is a small hard plastic case with a rubber seal inside. Has a hinge on one side and a plastic rocking lock on the other. You'll see similar ones on Amazon when you do the search.

[bouhunter]

We always have a small backpack with camera's, sunscreen, towels etc and leave the id's, money etc in that. Anything is possible, but it's highly unlikely the crew on a snorkeling/stingray catamaran etc is going to be rummaging through the guests belongings and stealing things. For one thing it's always a small crew and there is a "captain" in charge. If that kind of thing was going on it would come to light soon and wouldn't be tolerated. Actually the crews and Captains have always been some of the nicest people we've ever met in our travels.

 

As I said anything can happen, but in 20 years of travelling the Caribbean going on multitudes of excursion boats we've never lost anything or heard of anyone else that has.

 

If we're on a beach and we all go in the water I do use a waterproof wallet.

Edited August 20, 2014 by bouhunter

[OCruisers]

Totally agree with bouhunter above!

Also, please leave your passport book in your cabin safe. Take some other government issued ID such as your drivers license.

LuLu

[gigi65]

We are going on our First Cruise NOS next Sunday and we are researching various excursions. Some "seasoned cruisers" i have talked with says to always use the Crusie Line Excursions because they will wait for you if your excursion is running late etc... But I see many from this site use Independent tour companies.... I can see that it's cheaper to go this route. Has anyone used

http://www.shoretrips.com/ , they have a combo package for all 3 ports.?? TIA.

We are total newbies and havent a clue exactly which way to go.

[MrsPete]

We are going on our First Cruise NOS next Sunday and we are researching various excursions. Some "seasoned cruisers" i have talked with says to always use the Crusie Line Excursions because they will wait for you if your excursion is running late etc... But I see many from this site use Independent tour companies.... I can see that it's cheaper to go this route. Has anyone used

http://www.shoretrips.com/ , they have a combo package for all 3 ports.?? TIA.

We are total newbies and havent a clue exactly which way to go.

Private excursions are DEFINITELY the way to go -- but money is a secondary reason. The real reason to use them is that you're in a smaller group, and you have more control over your day.

 

Having read this board for more than a decade, I have never heard of a private tour group missing the ship. I have, however, heard of people missing the ship because they were drunk, because they got caught up in shopping, or because they didn't understand the difference between ship and island time. If you have good sense, you're not in danger of missing the ship. Note, too, that if your ship's excursion returns on time . . . but you poke around shopping instead of boarding, they'll still leave you.

 

As for Shore Trips, they're not actually a tour agency. Rather, they're an agency that promotes private tour guides. They advertise tours on this or that island, and they take a cut of the cost. Therefore, they're not good or bad. I suggest you read the Port of Call board and see which tour operators are recommended by board readers. If multiple people here tell you that a certain guide is good, you can trust that advice.

[AustinCruise]

We have never had issues with private excursions. We were on nos last week, also Roatan, Belize, Cozumel. Look at the port of call section of cruise critic as well.