Documents needed to embark in Europe

[pjo]

Our family is going on our first NCL cruise in January (on the Spirit out of Barcelona). I was doing an initial online check in and it appears a passport is not enough. The was a reference on the NCL site to having a government issued ID that documented the individual’s height and weight. I have never heard of that requirement.

 

 

We have been on many other cruise lines and a passport was all that was needed. I always thought a passport trumped everything else. I called NCL and the person I spoke with was not aware of this warning appearing when I entered proof of citizenship on their website. Neither was my TA. Has anyone else seen this warning bubble pop up when entering their passport number?

 

Paul

[Sauer-kraut]

Just bring your driver's license along with the passport that information should be on it.

[JohnIreland]

This is the text on page. Your passport will cover it.

 

In addition to your proof of citizenship document, proof of identity must also be presented on embarkation day for all guests 16 years of age or older (i.e., valid driver's license that includes a photograph, or government identification card, that includes a physical description).

[stacymay30]

I was on the Spirit last month. Bring a good color copy of your passport. The ship is under the flag of the Bahamas and while we were in Greece the cruise line needed to keep our passports. Immigration needed to review travelers documents upon arrival at each stop in Greece. I don’t know what other countries that would be applicable to in addition to Greece. Your passport is enough for travel in Europe. Have a great trip.

 

 

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[sanger727]

When I cruise whether in Europe or the Caribbean I only present my passport and have never been asked for anything else.

 

 

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[steamboats]

I was on the Spirit last month. Bring a good color copy of your passport. The ship is under the flag of the Bahamas and while we were in Greece the cruise line needed to keep our passports. Immigration needed to review travelers documents upon arrival at each stop in Greece. I don’t know what other countries that would be applicable to in addition to Greece. Your passport is enough for travel in Europe. Have a great trip.

 

This has nothing to do with the flag of the Bahamas or Greece. But I assume that you had a non Schengen port on your itinerary but cruised out of a Schengen country (all EU members in the Med). Then you have left the Schengen area (let´s say for Turkey) and the non Schengen country (Turkey) is checking your passports. By the time you go back to the Schengen area the first Schengen country (in your case Greece) needs to check your passports. But there´s nothing like an immigration for every Greek island.

 

steamboats

[steamboats]

Paul,

 

All you need is your passport. You will need it when you fly into Barcelona where you will receive your Schengen visa at the airport´s passport control (it´s just a stamp in your passport). This Schengen visa is valid for all Schengen countries on your itinerary even when you leave and reenter the Schengen area.

 

I assume it´s the Canary islands / Morocco itinerary. Then you leave the Schengen area for Morocco. For Morocco there will be a passport control.

 

NCL does not require anything else than your passport. My German passport has my height and the color of my eyes but not my weight in it. And we had a passport for DD since the age of 4 years. The passport is valid for 6 years. You can imagine that by the age of 10 y her "height" was definitely "outdated" :D. We never had any problems and noone ever asked for my weight!

 

steamboats

[zqvol]

This has nothing to do with the flag of the Bahamas or Greece. But I assume that you had a non Schengen port on your itinerary but cruised out of a Schengen country (all EU members in the Med). Then you have left the Schengen area (let´s say for Turkey) and the non Schengen country (Turkey) is checking your passports. By the time you go back to the Schengen area the first Schengen country (in your case Greece) needs to check your passports. But there´s nothing like an immigration for every Greek island.

 

steamboats

 

I can tell you that I have passport stamps from every Greek port that we have every visited, so it seems Greece does check them on every island.

[steamboats]

I can tell you that I have passport stamps from every Greek port that we have every visited, so it seems Greece does check them on every island.

 

This is definitely not the regular business and it´s legally totally senseless as you already have your Schengen visa! So all they have to do is to check if there´s a valid visa in your passport but they are not supposed to stamp it once more. But this might be because of the asylum seekers coming from Syria on boats.

 

steamboats

[Highpeaklad]

Don't worry. I'm from the UK and was on anNCL cruise earlier this year and a passport is fine. We don't have any documentation with a physical description. Nowhere on my passport/driving licence does it say what my weight/height/eye colour is.

[snirpville]

I was reading a review of NCL Star and in it they stated they had to surrender their passports when they embarked on the cruise in Venice and got them back at the end of the cruise...has anyone else experienced this?

[KeithJenner]

I was reading a review of NCL Star and in it they stated they had to surrender their passports when they embarked on the cruise in Venice and got them back at the end of the cruise...has anyone else experienced this?

 

Yes, it can happen.

 

It depends on the ports you will visit, and can change over time. I’ve had a couple of cruises where they take your passport when boarding. They are returned at some point during the cruise.

 

If this happens you have two choices. You can hand it over and forget about it until they announce they will be handing them back, or you can fret about it, try to start some sort of mutiny at the meet and greet, sit at bars and grumble about it and basically have a lot less enjoyable time until they announce they will be handing them back.

 

Neither of those two options has any effect on the taking away of the passports, but does seem to have a big effect on how much you enjoy the cruise.

 

 

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[snirpville]

Yes, it can happen.

 

It depends on the ports you will visit, and can change over time. I’ve had a couple of cruises where they take your passport when boarding. They are returned at some point during the cruise.

 

If this happens you have two choices. You can hand it over and forget about it until they announce they will be handing them back, or you can fret about it, try to start some sort of mutiny at the meet and greet, sit at bars and grumble about it and basically have a lot less enjoyable time until they announce they will be handing them back.

 

Neither of those two options has any effect on the taking away of the passports, but does seem to have a big effect on how much you enjoy the cruise.

 

 

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Thanks, I had never heard of this before so I was surprised. Whatever, I'll make a copy and enjoy my cruise :):-)

[janert]

Was in Venice for 2 days last year and they took our passports. We were required to carry our DL for ID for Italian security. Very tight security. There are many places in the world that cruise ships will take your passport.

[bluesea777]

Okay, Okay … Let me explain ….

 

We have UK British passports which meant we are okay for the Schengen countries. We did not have to surrender our passports during the Med cruises - the last one, in particular.

 

The non-UK passport holders probably need to surrender theirs - so in the case this happens the pax need to carry a photo ID on themselves when going off ship.

 

We just left our UK passports on ship and carried our photo IDs off ship - like our driving licences.

 

The person who mentioned about having their passports taken while in Venice - well, many, if not all hotels in Europe do that - they just borrowed the passports to take photocopies of them.

 

Funny thing, when we were on the Spirit cruise last month it included an overnight in Venice so we spent the night in a hotel we previously stayed in 2014. When we got to the hotel they took the photocopies of our passports and they immediately recognized us. The next morning they presented me with a birthday cake! It was my 60th!

 

Our last month's Spirit was memorable! You gotta believe me, KeithJenner!