Renewing passport

[catl331]

I can't remember if HAL is one of the cruise lines that collects and keeps everyone's passports upon boarding for European cruises.

It depends on the itinerary. HAL did not hold our pssports for a West Med cruise but did for an East Med that visited Greece and Turkey. I think it was Greece that required HAL to hold them, as we got them back after our last stop in Greece. In the Baltic HAL collected all passports while approaching St Petersburg and returned them before docking, as we were required to carry them while ashore. Edited June 29, 2015 by catl331

[WpgCruise]

If you are really that concerned, then staying home would be your safest choice. :rolleyes:

 

Well Said.

 

We all perceive Risk differently.

 

What works for some, won't for others but other than staying home, if we understand the options we can at least make the right decision for ourselves.

[sail7seas]

It depends on the itinerary. HAL did not hold our pssports for a West Med cruise but did for an East Med that visited Greece and Turkey. I think it was Greece that required HAL to hold them, as we got them back after our last stop in Greece. In the Baltic HAL collected all passports while approaching St Petersburg and returned them before docking, as we were required to carry them while ashore.

 

Same here..... when we visited Greece and Israel on HAL ships, they collected our passports. When we were in Italy, Denmark, Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, France etc (various cruises) they did not collect our passports.

 

[Okie1946]

Back many years ago, when I was traveling with a college group, we were all required to give our passport to the group chaperone. She kept them in her possession at all times, should we be injured or need any kind of assistance.

 

My father (a high ranking person in the Air Force at the time) was not comfortable with me not having access to my passport. (I guess you could say he was paranoid). He had a xeroxed (that's how long ago it was) copy made of my passport and I carried it with me at all times.

 

I hate to say this, but my father was right to live with his paranoia. The chaperone set her purse (bag) down on the sidewalk while she was sitting at an outdoor cafe in Milan, Italy and it was stolen. Turns out, I was the only student who had a copy of my passport with me. The American Embassy was able to replace my passport within two days and I was the ONLY student allowed to return home as scheduled.

 

To this day, when my DH and I travel, I carry a wallet size copy of my passport with me and my passport stays in the safe, (unless otherwise required by the travel facilitator). When we are required to renew our passport next year, we will be getting passport cards.

 

Better to be safe than sorry.

 

Okie1946

[sail7seas]

Back many years ago, when I was traveling with a college group, we were all required to give our passport to the group chaperone. She kept them in her possession at all times, should we be injured or need any kind of assistance.

 

My father (a high ranking person in the Air Force at the time) was not comfortable with me not having access to my passport. (I guess you could say he was paranoid). He had a xeroxed (that's how long ago it was) copy made of my passport and I carried it with me at all times.

 

I hate to say this, but my father was right to live with his paranoia. The chaperone set her purse (bag) down on the sidewalk while she was sitting at an outdoor cafe in Milan, Italy and it was stolen. Turns out, I was the only student who had a copy of my passport with me. The American Embassy was able to replace my passport within two days and I was the ONLY student allowed to return home as scheduled.

 

To this day, when my DH and I travel, I carry a wallet size copy of my passport with me and my passport stays in the safe, (unless otherwise required by the travel facilitator). When we are required to renew our passport next year, we will be getting passport cards.

 

Better to be safe than sorry.

 

Okie1946

 

That's a great story. Thanks for sharing.

The chaperone was way too careless with her purse especially given she knew how important the documents she was carrying.

 

I did similar to your Dad and copied the info/photo pages of our passports, laminated and carry that with me at all times. Passport stays in the safe unless otherwise required by authorities.

 

[jtl513]

Better to be safe than sorry.

I also carry passport photocopies, and before we leave I email that photocopy to myself so that I can retrieve it anywhere in the world should the paper copy also be lost or stolen.

 

I also carry photocopies of the front and back of all credit cards I am traveling with.

 

Passport stays in the safe unless otherwise required by authorities.

And should the ship somehow sail away with it still there you are an illegal alien. A passport isn't just for re-entry into the US, it is your legal identification while you are out of it.

.

Edited June 29, 2015 by jtl513

[jtl513]

And should the ship somehow sail away with it still there you are an illegal alien. A passport isn't just for re-entry into the US, it is your legal identification while you are out of it.

I should have said "undocumented alien" and your passport is your proof of citizenship.

[JB&JLG74]

I should have said "undocumented alien" and your passport is your proof of citizenship.[/b]

 

This is a bit extreme. I really don't think that one who has a passport card, a photocopy of their passport, and a digital copy of the passport is "undocumented." It may be a hassle to clear up, but I don't think it makes my immigration status illegal. And if it gets to the point of needing the absolute proof of citizenship with the passport book and the help of the US embassy, one probably has larger issues.

 

I would rather keep the passport in the safe and have to obtain it from HAL (either from the port agent or couriered from the next port) than have it stolen. As someone said, if I am mugged I am probably in the hospital and will miss the sailing anyway. So I can afford to wait the day or two it would take to have the passport couriered to me.

 

What many people forget to take, is the Daily Explorer that contains the port agent's contact info. That is very helpful to have should any problems arise while onshore.

[PatsyAnne]

I do whatever the voices in my head (or the ship's reps) tell me to do. If they say take the passport ashore, I do that. If they say they need to hold it, I keep the receipt in the safe. Otherwise it stays locked in the safe and I take a government issued photo ID and a copy of my passport page ashore. I do always keep a copy of my passport page separate from my passport. Paranoid some? Possibly, but I do love where I can go with my passport, including back home.

 

And I do agree with the post above that says take the daily explorer with the port info.

Edited June 29, 2015 by PatsyAnne

[JB&JLG74]

There are obviously many factors to consider when deciding whether to take a passport ashore and they all must be weighed. While it is my general practice to leave the passport in the safe, it is not a hard and fast rule. I think about:

* availability of the passport -- I can't take it ashore if HAL is holding it

* what HAL has told me -- do they say to take the passport or do they say to take a photo ID

* is the next port in the same country so that it would not be needed to rejoin the ship in the next port (I don't know the rules in the EU --once I clear EU immigration do I need my passport to move from France to Spain)

* chances I would need to return to the US rather than the next port

* length of time ashore and what I am doing ashore -- am I independent or on a private excursion or a HAL excursion

* is it easy to carry the passport -- am I swimming or doing something else that would require that I leave my possessions on the beach or check them

 

Risk is a sliding scale and we all do what we are most comfortable with.

[JB&JLG74]

Another thing to consider is banking. If you are going to change money ashore, you may need the passport.

[FLACRUISER99]

What many people forget to take, is the Daily Explorer that contains the port agent's contact info. That is very helpful to have should any problems arise while onshore.

One thing that HAL should is list an emergency number on the back of your Sea Pass Card. The back of an RCI card states: "IN CASE OF EMERGENCY WHILE IN ANY WORLDWIDE PORT CALL OUR EMERGENCY TRAVEL TEAM IN THE US COLLECT +1 305-982-xxxx"

[cccole]

Another thing to consider is banking. If you are going to change money ashore, you may need the passport.

 

Such great posts and info. I wonder if the passport card would suffice for banking purposes. When we were in Costa Rica last summer I mistakenly got U.S. dollars from the ATM instead of CR colons. I wanted to go into the attached bank and change them but the guards would not even let me though the bank doors without my passport. All of us had left our passports locked in the house safe.

 

I am in hopes that the passport card will replace the passport book photocopy that I usually carry. I'm sure I will have some "live and learn" experiences with it. Thanks again for everyone's responses. Cherie

Edited June 29, 2015 by cccole

[TraelorMex]

for those so inclined, a scanned picture of your passport can easily be loaded onto your Kindle (or other device). This has come in handy for us.

[Fouremco]

for those so inclined, a scanned picture of your passport can easily be loaded onto your Kindle (or other device). This has come in handy for us.

Excellent suggestion. I maintain a living document in Dropbox that has a whole range of items, from scanned in passport to Mariner # to the emergency number of the nearest Canadian embassy or consulate. Some of the information is permanent while some is added cruise to cruise. By having it in Dropbox, I can access it on any of my devices, including my iPhone which accompanies me everywhere.

[travellovers2]

Can I apply for a passport card even though I don't need to renew my passport? I like the idea of carrying the card.

 

I always carry a copy of our passports. I also email it to myself and my family in case we need it. If I don't have access to the internet, my family can fax it to me anywhere in the world.

 

Better safe than sorry!! :D

[JB&JLG74]

Can I apply for a passport card even though I don't need to renew my passport? I like the idea of carrying the card.

 

I always carry a copy of our passports. I also email it to myself and my family in case we need it. If I don't have access to the internet, my family can fax it to me anywhere in the world.

 

Better safe than sorry!! :D

 

We did get our passport cards about a year after we renewed our passports and it was a real challenge. Apparently the system assumed that one would get them with the passport renewal. Their plan was that we send the passports to them via tracked mail or courier and they would return them via regular mail (as they do with expired passports). I phoned several times but got no where. We ended up going to the post office's passport office and applying in person as if we'd never had a passport. This allowed us to use our current passports as ID and still retain them. This was a couple of years ago; I don't know if the process has gotten any better.

[Boytjie]

US citizens in Washington State, Vermont, Michigan, Minnesota, and New York can get an Enhanced Drivers License that is proof of citizenship and gives you the same benefits that a passport card doe.

[Fouremco]

US citizens in Washington State, Vermont, Michigan, Minnesota, and New York can get an Enhanced Drivers License that is proof of citizenship and gives you the same benefits that a passport card doe.

Four Canadian provinces (British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec) are issuing EDLs to Canadian citizens. Canadian citizens can present an EDL when entering the United States from Canada, Mexico, or the Caribbean through a land or sea port of entry.

[Blue Mudshark]

US citizens in Washington State, Vermont, Michigan, Minnesota, and New York can get an Enhanced Drivers License that is proof of citizenship and gives you the same benefits that a passport card doe.

 

Not all the same benefits. It can be used to enter the USA from Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, and the Caribbean only. And only by land or sea, not by air. It also does not offer the same benefit of being valid for 10 years; it's 4 years maximum, and possibly less depending on the state.

 

So not really the same benefits. Rather, a limited subset.

[cccole]

Can I apply for a passport card even though I don't need to renew my passport? I like the idea of carrying the card.

 

I always carry a copy of our passports. I also email it to myself and my family in case we need it. If I don't have access to the internet, my family can fax it to me anywhere in the world.

 

Better safe than sorry!! :D

 

Yes. The cost for a passport card is $30 and the instructions are on the U.S. Government website for travel. The cost for a passport book is $110. The cost of getting both together is $140, unfortunately not deal on getting the package deal. Hopefully it is not as difficult as JB&JL experienced, I did not read through those instructions.

Edited June 30, 2015 by cccole

[JB&JLG74]

Yes. The cost for a passport card is $30 and the instructions are on the U.S. Government website for travel. The cost for a passport book is $110. The cost of getting both together is $140, unfortunately not deal on getting the package deal. Hopefully it is not as difficult as JB&JL experienced, I did not read through those instructions.

 

A passport can be renewed even if it has not expired. But if you have several years left, you may not want to renew it. The rub comes because there are only two passport application forms: DS-82 (renewal by mail) and DS-11 (application). To use DS-82, you must be able to send in your current passport. Passport cards can only be returned by mail, renewed passports can be sent overnight (i.e., trackable) for a fee. Documentation (i.e., current unexpired passport that you sent with the DS-82) is returned in a separate mailing. I was not comfortable with my current unexpired passport being sent by mail that could not be tracked. And I feared that someone might accidentally punch holes in it and mark it expired given that is the normal procedure with the DS-82. Thus, I used the DS-11 and applied in person.

[travellovers2]

A passport can be renewed even if it has not expired. But if you have several years left, you may not want to renew it. The rub comes because there are only two passport application forms: DS-82 (renewal by mail) and DS-11 (application). To use DS-82, you must be able to send in your current passport. Passport cards can only be returned by mail, renewed passports can be sent overnight (i.e., trackable) for a fee. Documentation (i.e., current unexpired passport that you sent with the DS-82) is returned in a separate mailing. I was not comfortable with my current unexpired passport being sent by mail that could not be tracked. And I feared that someone might accidentally punch holes in it and mark it expired given that is the normal procedure with the DS-82. Thus, I used the DS-11 and applied in person.

 

I have always applied by mail. Are you saying that with the DS-11 when you apply in person you can keep your old passport and they will mail you the new one?

Edited June 30, 2015 by travellovers2

[JB&JLG74]

I have always applied by mail. Are you saying that with the DS-11 when you apply in person you can keep your old passport and they will mail you the new one?

 

When we went in person and used the DS-11 to get passport cards, our passports were taken away from us only long enough to be photocopied. They were treated the same as any other documentation, such as a birth certificate, that one needs to get their first passport. I don't remember the cost and I think that it might be more $ to apply in person. And we were "first time" applicants for the passport card. I'm not so sure you could "renew" a passport on the DS-11 because they would want to cancel the old one.

 

But if you need your passport while your old one is being renewed, consider having two US passports. I didn't know this was possible until I met a passenger who has two -- one to travel on and one to send out for visas. I don't know the process but it can be done. Google "second US passport."

[travellovers2]

According to what I read in the travel.gov website, you can only apply in person if you are a 1st time applicant, if you are traveling within 2 weeks or if you need to obtain a visa within 4 weeks.

 

My passport is still good for 9 years. I would like to obtain the passport card without having to renew my passport. I will continue to research their website or call to get that information. Thank you.