fla gang Posted February 4, 2015 #1 Share Posted February 4, 2015 Do you take your passport with you while at a port of call? Reasons why you do or you don't! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bouhunter Posted February 4, 2015 #2 Share Posted February 4, 2015 (edited) Half the people will say yes and half will say no. It's been discussed here for years. Those that do take it ashore say that if they miss the ship it will take an act of God to get home without it. Those that leave it on the ship are afraid they will lose it and don't think they will need it anyway. In the end it's your decision. Stay tuned for many opinions............. Oh, we leave it on the ship. Just a bother to carry it around and if somehow we did miss the ship I'm sure the USA would find a way to let us come back home. I was a Boy Scout, motto is "Be Prepared". I guess I'm not living up to that in this case.......... :) Edited February 4, 2015 by bouhunter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruisin' Again 86 Posted February 4, 2015 #3 Share Posted February 4, 2015 Half the people will say yes and half will say no. It's been discussed here for years. Those that do take it ashore say that if they miss the ship it will take an act of God to get home without it. Those that leave it on the ship are afraid they will lose it and don't think they will need it anyway. In the end it's your decision. Stay tuned for many opinions............. Oh, we leave it on the ship. Just a bother to carry it around and if somehow we did miss the ship I'm sure the USA would find a way to let us come back home. I was a Boy Scout, motto is "Be Prepared". I guess I'm not living up to that in this case.......... :) Agree, we NEVER take with us, as long as you have Sea-Pass card and photo ID, these 2 items prove that you were on that ship and if you are irresponsible and/or something tragic happens and miss the ship the US will be able to check manifest to see that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fla gang Posted February 4, 2015 Author #4 Share Posted February 4, 2015 I used to never carry it, but after reading some horror stories it is going in a ziplock and going onshore with me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bouhunter Posted February 4, 2015 #5 Share Posted February 4, 2015 FYI: Not that one should count on it happening, but I have personally seen the ship staff leave passports with the port authority when people hadn't shown up for the ship. I assume that at least sometimes they must search a room and/or safe looking for passports to leave behind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiseguy1016 Posted February 4, 2015 #6 Share Posted February 4, 2015 I figure if I'm responsible enough to protect my wallet while in port then I'm responsible enough to protect my passport also. I always take it with me.....just in case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcward89 Posted February 4, 2015 #7 Share Posted February 4, 2015 We take them with us whenever we get off the ship. You'll get lots of answers as to why you should or shouldn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LMaxwell Posted February 4, 2015 #8 Share Posted February 4, 2015 We take copies of ours off the ship in port. Figure worst case scenario at least we have the passport number to show at embassy instead of having "nothing". Don't like to take the passport itself off the ship though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare S.A.M.J.R. Posted February 4, 2015 #9 Share Posted February 4, 2015 Half the people will say yes and half will say no. It's been discussed here for years. Those that do take it ashore say that if they miss the ship it will take an act of God to get home without it. Those that leave it on the ship are afraid they will lose it and don't think they will need it anyway. In the end it's your decision. Stay tuned for many opinions............. Oh, we leave it on the ship. Just a bother to carry it around and if somehow we did miss the ship I'm sure the USA would find a way to let us come back home. I was a Boy Scout, motto is "Be Prepared". I guess I'm not living up to that in this case.......... :) Can we just end the thread here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mconthehighseas Posted February 4, 2015 #10 Share Posted February 4, 2015 Unless the crew says that we need to take our passport with us, I leave it in the safe, and take a Xerox copy with me. If for some reason you do need a passport while ashore, the number is probably enough information. The copy will help you get a replacement from an embassy or consulate should you need to fly home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koolaid33 Posted February 4, 2015 #11 Share Posted February 4, 2015 Has any one missed the ship and not had their passport? How did that work out for you? Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruzieSue Posted February 4, 2015 #12 Share Posted February 4, 2015 Can we just end the thread here? If you are not the original poster of this thread, why do you care when it ends? Better yet, if you are not interested in the answers, why are you even looking to see what others say? I am so tired of some people's lack of respect for other people and always being a Negative Nellie. It's a legitimate question. Let's try the old saying "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all." ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
time4u2go Posted February 4, 2015 #13 Share Posted February 4, 2015 Has any one missed the ship and not had their passport? How did that work out for you? Sent from my iPad using Forums http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2118638 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare S.A.M.J.R. Posted February 4, 2015 #14 Share Posted February 4, 2015 If you are not the original poster of this thread, why do you care when it ends? Better yet, if you are not interested in the answers, why are you even looking to see what others say? I am so tired of some people's lack of respect for other people and always being a Negative Nellie. It's a legitimate question. Let's try the old saying "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all." ;) Wow, what got into your Cheerios this morning? :confused: My post was just to indicate bouhunter wrapped up what's going to happen in the next however many pages. I don't understand what's negative or not nice about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteukmcr Posted February 4, 2015 #15 Share Posted February 4, 2015 Always take it as we don't both have another source of photo id. We are also not US citizens and seeing we're treated as 'aliens' when we arrive in the U.S. to board a cruise, and once again when we re-enter the country when we disembark I'm sure if some catastrophe were to occur whilst ashore we'd need them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cel_cruise Posted February 4, 2015 #16 Share Posted February 4, 2015 We don't cruise often so I can't say what we 'always' do - but I can say for our upcoming cruise, we plan to bring our passports on days when we have private excursions and leave them when we are doing ship sponsored excursions. Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artemus Posted February 4, 2015 #17 Share Posted February 4, 2015 I leave mine in the cabin safe and take a copy of it ashore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDC1 Posted February 5, 2015 #18 Share Posted February 5, 2015 I leave mine in the safe. I do carry a Passport card on shore as my ID. My view is if I miss the ship, the normal procedure is to check the safe for passports and leave them with the port agent. So I don't really worry about being stuck without my passport if I miss the ship. If you are stuck and do not have your passport then the consulate will process and charge you for an emergency passport, which might take a few days for you to get. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carolla5501 Posted February 5, 2015 #19 Share Posted February 5, 2015 (edited) There are ports where you will be required to have the passport with you. I think most of these are in Europe but always check. In those countries neither a passport card or your sea pass we all work if you are asked for identification Sent from my iPhone using Forums Edited February 5, 2015 by Carolla5501 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCruisers Posted February 5, 2015 #20 Share Posted February 5, 2015 Unless we are told we need to take our actual passport book with us, we leave it in the cabin safe. We take our passport card (as photo ID), our cruise card, and the contact information for the ship's port agent. :) LuLu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDC1 Posted February 5, 2015 #21 Share Posted February 5, 2015 There are ports where you will be required to have the passport with you. I think most of these are in Europe but always check. In those countries neither a passport card or your sea pass we all work if you are asked for identification Sent from my iPhone using Forums In doing the Med and the Baltic, the only country where I had to carry my passport off ship was Russia. In the case of Greece the ship collected all of the passports and kept them while the ship was in Greek waters so no one could carry them off In the South Pacific New Zealand requires that you carry it as well. Of course in those situations there is no option and the discussion is pretty easy. On the other hand for the 90% of all ports where there is an option..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
time4u2go Posted February 5, 2015 #22 Share Posted February 5, 2015 never carried it. neverr asked for it. you also do not need it to board aircraft If you are boarding an aircraft that is traveling from a foreign country to the US you do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
critterchick Posted February 5, 2015 #23 Share Posted February 5, 2015 We always take ours with us unless we are in a US port and the next stop is another US port. Even then I often take it with me in case air service between the cities isn't good and we wouldn't be able to drive to the next port of call in time to meet the ship. In another country, if we were to miss the ship and our passports weren't left with the port agent, we'd have to find an embassy or consulate, which might not be in the city we're visiting. If it's the weekend, those offices would be closed. Anyway, it's all a matter of which scenario is less appealing to you. All in all, I'd rather take the remote chance that my passport is stolen than take the remote chance that I'll miss the ship and be without proper documentation on foreign soil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gfd_2 Posted February 5, 2015 #24 Share Posted February 5, 2015 I'm paranoid enough to think that the taxi will have a flat on the way back from the beach and we'll miss the ship so I always bring my passport. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janrey1234 Posted February 5, 2015 #25 Share Posted February 5, 2015 When we took an Eastern Mediterranean cruise in 2013 the ship held your passports. I don't know if it was a country requirement. We sailed from Rome. They were returned the last night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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