Passport Stamps

[phoneman69]

So I have a new passport. Wife and I are cruising out of SanJuan in Sept onboard the Fascination. Stops at Barbados, St Lucia, St Kitts andSt Maarten. Does anyone know where to go to get your passport stamped at theselocations. I know you don’t have to have them stamped but it would be nice tohave a few of the pages used. Due they have customs offices in town?

Thanks Matt

[bnorris10]

So I have a new passport. Wife and I are cruising out of SanJuan in Sept onboard the Fascination. Stops at Barbados, St Lucia, St Kitts andSt Maarten. Does anyone know where to go to get your passport stamped at theselocations. I know you don’t have to have them stamped but it would be nice tohave a few of the pages used. Due they have customs offices in town?

Thanks Matt

 

From what I was told you can't get it stamped anymore unless your flying in - If you find somewhere please let me know

[Davey Wavey]

You should be able to find an information desk in every port. Just ask. We got stamps in all the ports last November, but some were available for very limited times. All of them were available somewhere in the port. Most charged a fee.

[crusinpsychRN]

Anyone know if there is a place for a stamp in Puerta Maya without leaving the port?

[Oceans100]

Here is an ongoing thread:

Passport Stamps? http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1235584

 

 

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[chasinraynbowz]

That ongoing thread is VERY outdated and not reliable.

[Thrilled2012]

In St Maarten, you can get a stamp in Marigot (capitol of the French Side). But it is not super close to the port in Phillipsburg (capitol of the Dutch side). That is not to say that you cannot get it stamped in Phillipsburg....I just don't know.

[coevan]

From what I was told you can't get it stamped anymore unless your flying in - If you find somewhere please let me know

 

 

 

What about us sailors? Incorrect info, someone mentioned Marigot in SXM, which is correct, there is also customs in at the Simpson Bay bridge. I can tell you as a sailor, you might waste a 1/2 a day in customs. The agents in Marigot are rude and will charge you in Euros, so be prepared to go to an ATM. Some island customs find this procedure very annoying. Some islands do not allow shorts and t-shirts (by water not flying in) while checking in

[Thrilled2012]

What about us sailors? Incorrect info, someone mentioned Marigot in SXM, which is correct, there is also customs in at the Simpson Bay bridge. I can tell you as a sailor, you might waste a 1/2 a day in customs. The agents in Marigot are rude and will charge you in Euros, so be prepared to go to an ATM. Some island customs find this procedure very annoying. Some islands do not allow shorts and t-shirts (by water not flying in) while checking in

 

Just for the OPs info....I would like to add that the Simpson Bay Bridge is quite a haul from the port in Phillipsburg. Marigot will be closer. But if you're headed to Maho to see the planes (as many tourists do) then you will not be too far from the drawbridge.

[coevan]

this is just not accurate, I keep my boat in SXM, while both Marigot and Simpson Bay are about 12km, Simpson Bay is a straight shot. Marigot would take about 10 minutes longer depending on traffic. Traffic on cruise ship days can be very bad and stop and go. There are $1 buses which go all over the island, we use them all the time. their license plate says BUS.

[Thrilled2012]

this is just not accurate, I keep my boat in SXM, while both Marigot and Simpson Bay are about 12km, Simpson Bay is a straight shot. Marigot would take about 10 minutes longer depending on traffic. Traffic on cruise ship days can be very bad and stop and go. There are $1 buses which go all over the island, we use them all the time. their license plate says BUS.

 

And I lived in Simpson Bay for several years and now go back for several weeks each year. While there in Jan, traffic had not changed and still took far longer to get to Simpson Bay from town than it takes to get to Marigot. But regardless, OP, if it is worthwhile to you to go on a bit of an "excursion" to get a stamp in SXM, it can be done 😁. Happy cruising!

[phoneman69]

This is like a lot of work for a vacation. I thought their just might be a local customs office you could go into to get your passport stamped. Do not want an all day adventure just for a stamp. Thanks for the info though.

Matt

[cganesh]

What you actually get in oorts,that have any passport stamping office is a "decorative" stamp. The easiest way to confirm where to get it on each island is to Google "decorative passport stamps" for each island. I did that several years ago for a cruise and decided it wasn't worth it and wanted to keep visa pages blank for places we might go that requires a visa. There is now a charge for getting additional visa pages in your passport so i I wouldn't fill them up with decorative ones. If you do it, I'd suggest taking some small card stock or a blank travel diary to get stamped.

[Floridiana]

There is now a charge for getting additional visa pages in your passport so i I wouldn't fill them up with decorative ones.

 

Adding extra pages to your US passport has been discontinued.

https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/news/visa-pages-no-longer-issued.html

[biker@sea]

So I have a new passport. Wife and I are cruising out of SanJuan in Sept onboard the Fascination. Stops at Barbados, St Lucia, St Kitts andSt Maarten. Does anyone know where to go to get your passport stamped at theselocations. I know you don’t have to have them stamped but it would be nice tohave a few of the pages used. Due they have customs offices in town?

Thanks Matt

 

Barbados Customs office in the port building will stamp your passport .

 

Next gen. U.S. passports Now come in a 52 page version for the frequent traveler.

[cganesh]

It's even worse, you have to pay for a new passport if you run out of pages. I still recommending saving all pages for visas and required entry/exit stamps we did a cruise three years ago from Dubai to Singapore and the entry/exit stamps for the ports took up 8 pages. We have a 10 year Visa to India which was affixed to Passport by Indian Immigration and that still happens in countries where you will need to obtain a visa for visits longer than a 1 day stop. Luckily some don't have to be affixed to your passport. I'd just prefer leaving the pages blank until needed.

[FlyerTalker]

That ongoing thread is VERY outdated and not reliable.

The information I posted is still valid. This is a government-issued document and only stamps that are for official purposes, done by officials, are allowed in the passport. Putting other stamps, or stamps not associated with legal travel, may invalidate the document.

 

Take the advice I gave before. Ifyou want the stamps for souvenir purposes, get a Moleskine or similar notebook and have those pages stamped. You can use that for national parks and other tourist attractions and still not invalidate your passport. And, as others have mentioned in that thread, you can no longer get additional pages added to your passport, so filling up pages shortens the lifetime of the document.

 

Finally, could you tell me what is "not reliable" other than suggestions on how to deface a government document?

[A771CUS_44]

Stops at Barbados, St Lucia, St Kitts andSt Maarten. Does anyone know where to go to get your passport stamped at these locations.

 

Hi Matt,

Just got off the Disney Magic yesterday in San Juan.

 

Barbados; as soon as you enter the cruise terminal, there will be a door on your right hand side that says "Immigration, please knock". They will provide you with a stamp free of charge.

 

St. Lucia; ask a Port Officer (police officer) for directions to a passport stamping office. There are many officers in the cruise terminal. I was told it was about a 15 minute walk from the terminal. Unfortunately, I didn't ask about this until after my excursion and was told I wouldn't have enough time to walk there and back since my ship was getting ready to leave.

 

St. Kitts; as soon as you exit the ship dock, you'll see an information booth. Directly to the right, was an open door. I was told to go in there and knock at the next door. Sure enough, I found an angry immigration officer that wouldn't speak to me but stamped my passport free of charge.

 

I recommend that you indicate exactly where you would like your stamp on the page. I figured this one out after my second stamp. Many of these immigration officers will pick a random page and stamp it in very odd places, like the center of the page. Making that entire page semi-useless for air travel.

 

I hope this helps! I've also had success getting stamps in these ports of call:

Disney's Castaway Cay (Bahamas)

Antigua

Martinique

Grand Cayman

Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada

Liverpool, England

Cozumel, Mexico

All free of charge.

[phoneman69]

Thank You Very much A771CUS for the info and taking the time to post it. Just printed it all off and put it in the cruise folder. New pass port smell just has to go away even if a few pages only get a single stamp.

Thank You again Matt

[FlyerTalker]

I recommend that you indicate exactly where you would like your stamp on the page. I figured this one out after my second stamp. Many of these immigration officers will pick a random page and stamp it in very odd places, like the center of the page. Making that entire page semi-useless for air travel.

 

This is completely inaccurate. The only time you need a large area open is when a visa requires a blank page for it to be physically attached (such as China, India) and a facing blank page for the corresponding stamps. A stamp in the middle of a blank page doesn't make it "semi-useless" for air travel, or even sea or land.

 

But, who am I to disagree with someone who gets a Disney stamp in a passport. Like they're at the Magic Kingdom.

[Keith1010]

A771CUS excellent advice and that includes trying to show where you would like the stamp to go. Sometimes the request will be ignored but other times they will do as you have requested.

We have been on selected voyages where we have been required to have a certain number of blank pages (long voyages).

Matt, wishing you a wonderful cruise.

Keith

[phoneman69]

OK Flyer you have a point. It don't for see ever needing that many pages for travel in my life time. Not going China or India. Don't want random pages just used either so A771CUS point is very valid. The point of having a passport to me is Having a couple of travel stamps in it. Flyer if you know were in St. Maarten that would be help full. Thanks again all.

Love cruising don't want to wish the summer away but come on Sept. Matt

[zqvol]

OK Flyer you have a point. It don't for see ever needing that many pages for travel in my life time. Not going China or India. Don't want random pages just used either so A771CUS point is very valid. The point of having a passport to me is Having a couple of travel stamps in it. Flyer if you know were in St. Maarten that would be help full. Thanks again all.

Love cruising don't want to wish the summer away but come on Sept. Matt

 

Be careful, soon you might have to have a visa to go to Canada or Mexico or any island in the Caribbean. It is foolish to wate pages in a passport for stamps. Get a nice notebook and put your stamps in there.

[SadieN]

It's even worse, you have to pay for a new passport if you run out of pages. ...........

 

 

Even when it was available, those extra page inserts cost almost as much as a passport renewal. DD has an interesting story when she got her extra pages at the embassy in Rome.

[Flatbush Flyer]

This is like a lot of work for a vacation. I thought their just might be a local customs office you could go into to get your passport stamped. Do not want an all day adventure just for a stamp. Thanks for the info though.

Matt

 

 

In all honesty, a passport is not an "autograph book." But, if that's important to you, increase and vary your travels (with legitimate stamps collected along the way) and, once your passport has expired, you'll have a terrific memento of your travels - maybe even one that other folks would like to see (and hear the associated stories.

 

In that respect (and as far as conversation starters go), one multi-entry (and artistically beautiful) PRC visa is (IMO) worth twenty stamps from dime-a-dozen Caribbean islands. Even quasi-"customs" stamps (not required but available from government authorities) e.g., Pitcairn Island, would be a better quest.

 

 

 

 

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