Do we surrender our passports on a Western Med cruise?

[Lady Arwen]

We're sailing on the Oosterdam this spring 12 days to the Spain, Italy, France, Albania and Croatia. Does this ship take our passports to hold for the entire cruise? If so, are copies of our documents, passport, etc., sufficient to take ashore for identification to return to the ship?

 

This is our first cruise to Europe, so we have no idea what to expect. Any advice would be much appreciated. I have started a roll call, but so far no response.

[CruiserBruce]

Possibly for Albania and Croatia. HAL will only take them if it is required to clear the ship in a timely manner to allow maximum time in port. You wouldn't want to have to go through long lines to get ashore, as we have in the Shetland Islands or St Peterburg...two places where the local authorities require personal appearances in from of Immigration officers.

[jtl513]

We kept ours on a west Med, but didn't go to Albania or Croatia. For Tunisia we were required to carry them ashore. If the ship takes them, they will provide a copy for you to carry. You may have to ask for that - I don't remember exactly how it was done on an east Med cruise where the ship held them.

[cruisemom42]

Albania is not (yet) part of the EU, although it has candidate status. Croatia is not part of the 'Schengen agreement' which allows for movement between the members' countries without need of a passport.

 

So I think it's likely that the ship may hold your passports.

Edited July 2, 2016 by cruisemom42

[Lady Arwen]

Thanks everyone for your very prompt replies! We'll take copies of everything with us just in case. I checked online this morning and it seems that none of these countries require that Canadians have visas to enter the country for a stay of less than 90 days.

 

If anyone has any other advice regarding travel to the Med, it would be much appreciated.

[kazu]

We always take a colour copy of our passport page with photo and key data.

 

I've been on Med /Europe cruises where they have taken passports and others where they didn't. If the ship does hold them, they will give you a receipt for them. Just put that in your safe to turn in when it is time to retrieve your passport.

 

I'm happy as long as my passport is in a safe - whether it be the ship's or my own :)

 

Having the passports can help the ship get cleared faster in some countries.

[cavecreekguy]

Thanks for asking this. I recall being very confused when I boarded a Crystal ship in Lisbon a few years ago and they kept my passport. Everything was o.k., but not knowing in advance what to expect made me very uncomfortable not having it on my person.

 

On my upcoming trip to the Eastern Med I will have a copy of the main passport page and will be less concerned if they decide to take my passport. I'm sure they'll keep it safe.

[PatsyAnne]

We're sailing on the Oosterdam this spring 12 days to the Spain, Italy, France, Albania and Croatia. Does this ship take our passports to hold for the entire cruise? If so, are copies of our documents, passport, etc., sufficient to take ashore for identification to return to the ship?

 

 

 

This is our first cruise to Europe, so we have no idea what to expect. Any advice would be much appreciated. I have started a roll call, but so far no response.

 

 

We take our driver's licenses (official gov't photo ID) on cruises and then onshore along with our ship's keycard in case we need to show them to get back past security into the ports. I think we learned this from someone on CC years ago. :)

 

Information will be provided at each port about other requirements for that port, and if you need to have your passport on you, you will be told. Otherwise, we keep a copy of the passport on us, and the original either in the room safe or the ship's safe if they take it.

 

This sounds like an interesting cruise!

[Cindy]

Will the ship give us our passports if they're needed for an excursion? This isn't until next year, but we will be taking a wine tour in Dubrovnik that requires us to cross the border into Bosnia. We've already been told we need our passports (US citizens).

 

 

Cindy

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[kazu]

Will the ship give us our passports if they're needed for an excursion? This isn't until next year, but we will be taking a wine tour in Dubrovnik that requires us to cross the border into Bosnia. We've already been told we need our passports (US citizens).

 

 

Cindy

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If this is a HAL excursion yes. If it is not, you will need to ask for it (assuming they do take it). I am sure it will not be an issue,but I would arrange it in advance.

 

I don't recall them keeping our passports when we were there,but my memory can be short!

[Lady Arwen]

We take our driver's licenses (official gov't photo ID) on cruises and then onshore along with our ship's keycard in case we need to show them to get back past security into the ports. I think we learned this from someone on CC years ago. :)

 

Information will be provided at each port about other requirements for that port, and if you need to have your passport on you, you will be told. Otherwise, we keep a copy of the passport on us, and the original either in the room safe or the ship's safe if they take it.

 

This sounds like an interesting cruise!

 

Good advice! Yes, the itinerary is quite diverse and very port intensive. Lots of countries and excursions packed into 12 days. The best part is that we have an overnight in Venice at disembarkation.

[Cindy]

If this is a HAL excursion yes. If it is not, you will need to ask for it (assuming they do take it). I am sure it will not be an issue,but I would arrange it in advance.

 

I don't recall them keeping our passports when we were there,but my memory can be short!

 

Thanks, Jacqui. It's not a HAL excursion, so if the ship holds our passports during the cruise I'll have to make arrangements to retrieve ours for the Bosnian Wine Tour. I wouldn't think HAL would need to keep them (Italy, Greece, Croatia, Montenegro, and Slovenia), but you never know!

[CruiserBruce]

Thanks, Jacqui. It's not a HAL excursion, so if the ship holds our passports during the cruise I'll have to make arrangements to retrieve ours for the Bosnian Wine Tour. I wouldn't think HAL would need to keep them (Italy, Greece, Croatia, Montenegro, and Slovenia), but you never know!

 

Yes, they may need them for the countries except Italy and Greece.

[kazu]

Thanks, Jacqui. It's not a HAL excursion, so if the ship holds our passports during the cruise I'll have to make arrangements to retrieve ours for the Bosnian Wine Tour. I wouldn't think HAL would need to keep them (Italy, Greece, Croatia, Montenegro, and Slovenia), but you never know!

You are most welcome. I wouldn't think so either, but with all going on, you just never know. If they do, on the 2nd day ask to make arrangements to get them back for that tour with the promise to return.

 

I think you should be fine, but always good to plan for the "worst". contingency plans are always good ;). Sounds like a very nice itinerary. Hope you enjoy every minute of it.

[take us away]

Agree with the poster about as long as the PP is safe, I do not care if I have it or the front desk. HAL will handle this at embarkation by either handing you back your PP or a PP receipt if they keep it. They will let you know in the daily information in the event you need to carry your PP in a specific port.

 

When going ashore, I always have a copy of my PP and travel insurance plus I use my passport card as my ID instead of my driver's license as can get by without the passport card but not the DL. Has worked for me without any questions in several ports.

[iancal]

Have not been to Albania but it is on our list for a land trip that includes Corfu, etc. Please tell us about it when you return.

 

We travel on Canadian passports. We did not need a visa for Bosnia. We drove in from Croatia. We might have shown our passports (cannot remember( but it was just a quick glance at he border). Required a visa for Turkey however our stops there have always included a one-two week precruise land trip. Might be different for those arriving on a cruise ship. Turkish visa costs are dependent on your passport. Canadians pay about the highest because of our treatment of Turkish passport holders when they enter Canada. No visas required at the time of our travel for the other countries that you mentioned.

 

We keep copies of our passport with us plus DL's/international DL's for car rental. We generally leave our passports on the ship unless we need some banking services.

Edited July 3, 2016 by iancal

[just_cruising_along]

We have been to all those countries on HAL, except Albania. We never had to give up our passports.

[RMLincoln]

When our cruise went from Venice to Greece and Turkey(fall of 2015) we had to surrender our passports on the ship on day 2 (sea day). It was a very smooth operation with a security person on each deck and a given time slot to appear at the elevator area where they had a desk set up. We were given a receipt but no one offered to make a copy, we had those from home. If you want a copy made while on the ship you may have to request it ahead of time at the front desk as there is no copier at the collection point. When they handed passports back to us it was a similar process, by deck, given time at the elevator area, bring your receipt.

 

We always carry a color copy of the front page along with our medical information (a half page) on our person when we go ashore.

 

Do not be surprised if a hotel clerk requests your passport upon check-in. They may keep it for awhile as they usually need to call their local police station and provide them information. The passport will then be available to you shortly after check-in.

 

Enjoy, m--

[Zippercat]

We take a close up passport photo with iPhone. Email photo to self and to emergency contact person at home. If I lose the phone I can access my email from any secure computer.

Edited July 3, 2016 by Zippercat

[Lady Arwen]

Have not been to Albania but it is on our list for a land trip that includes Corfu, etc. Please tell us about it when you return.

 

We travel on Canadian passports. We did not need a visa for Bosnia. We drove in from Croatia. We might have shown our passports (cannot remember( but it was just a quick glance at he border). Required a visa for Turkey however our stops there have always included a one-two week precruise land trip. Might be different for those arriving on a cruise ship. Turkish visa costs are dependent on your passport. Canadians pay about the highest because of our treatment of Turkish passport holders when they enter Canada. No visas required at the time of our travel for the other countries that you mentioned.

 

We keep copies of our passport with us plus DL's/international DL's for car rental. We generally leave our passports on the ship unless we need some banking services.

 

Our port in Albania is Sarande. I googled it and it looks quite interesting, although I doubt we would have put it on the top of our list of places to visit. We are not going to Turkey and to be honest we're happy about that. A few years ago, Instanbul was very intriguing, but not now.

 

We plan on taking copies of everything and keeping it in a separate folder. I would assume that we need originals of our photo I.D.s to get back on the ship.

[kazu]

Our port in Albania is Sarande. I googled it and it looks quite interesting, although I doubt we would have put it on the top of our list of places to visit. We are not going to Turkey and to be honest we're happy about that. A few years ago, Instanbul was very intriguing, but not now.

 

We plan on taking copies of everything and keeping it in a separate folder. I would assume that we need originals of our photo I.D.s to get back on the ship.

 

I have actually used the colour copy of our passports to get back on the ship. Normally though, we also have our Driver's Licenses which more than does the trick.

 

Sometimes the ports that we hear the least about can turn out to be ever so interesting :) I know we were very pleasantly surprised a couple of years ago. enjoy :)

Edited July 3, 2016 by kazu