Do you take your passport with you when you go ashore?

[sloopsailor]

So how many people have had their passport lost or stolen?

 

According to Interpol, by 2014 more than 45 million passports, identity documents and visas have been reported as stolen or lost since they set up a new database in 2002 as a result of the 7/11 terrorist attacks in the US.

 

I was on a cruise to St. Petersburg Russia in 2010 when at least 10 people on a ship excursion to the Hermitage had their passports stolen sometime during their visit. They had to be left behind when we cruised to the next port due to the amount of time they needed to get replacements. Fortunately, the next port was Talin, Estonia, about 240 miles away, where they joined us later the next day.

 

I keep a photocopy of all our family's passports on my phone. And don't bring the real thing unless required to.

 

If you have your passport stolen during a robbery, your phone will most likely also be stolen. I prefer to carry a copy of my passport in a separate pocket as anything else I may have on me, such as wallet, phone, etc. That way, if everything is stolen, I still have the information available. Plus, I email a copy to myself so that I can retrieve the copy at any internet connected device where I can access my email if I have lost everything on my person.

[S&S Cruisers 1983]

Many leave passports in the safe, many take them ashore. Both groups have their reasons and will not be persuaded to change their practice. What anyone else does is irrelevant to your decision based on your reasoning.

 

Every week or two this question is revived. I have yet to read of anyone doing a head slap and exclaiming "by George, I have to do the opposite of what I've been doing!" Maybe this will be a first. Not.

 

Shorex, if you read WAY back in those threads, you may find my head slap from when we first started cruising! LOL! Passports stay in the safe now! We also have copies in a separate place, and photos on our phones.

[OCruisers]

Unless the ship tells us we need to take our passports with us on port stops, we always leave ours in our cabin safe.

[trev71]

I leave them in the cabin safe and just bring my cruise card and gov’t issued photo ID.

 

 

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That's what I do as well. I remember one time someone on the bus brought their passport and climbed the Dunn river falls and ruined his passport , always wondered whatever happened to him

 

 

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[navybankerteacher]

Someone should set the question up as a poll. I bet the split of the answers would be very near to 50/50.

 

I’m one who leaves it in the safe unless absolutely required to carry it.

 

I always leave it in the safe - as do most of the people on this thread. I'd estimate that the split on such a poll would be closer to 95 in the safe to 5 carry it than 50/50.

[davekathy]

We always leave our passports in the cabin safe.

[TNcruising02]

The risk of having my passport lost, stolen, or damaged while I am on an excursion is much higher than the risk of me missing the ship. If something unexpected happens and I know I will not make it back to the ship in time, I can call.

[SRF]

It's not that they are lost or stolen it's the potential for being lost or stolen (or damaged). I have almost zero percent risk of anything happening to it in the safe, so if I don't have to carry it with me I don't (and I also don't like carrying around things that I don't need to carry around). Should anything happen the ship will give it to the port agent.

 

So zero risk of lost or stolen, but some level of risk that you are in a foreign country without it.

 

OK, if that is your tolerance.

 

And I guess, I travel to a lot of places you will NOT go while cruising (Ethiopia as I type). And in many parts of the world, I REALLY want to have proof of US citizenship with me at all times.

[SRF]

No well traveled individual would ever carry a passport ashore (unless required by law).

 

If carrying a passport ashore is such a good idea, why does pretty much every premium and luxury cruise line almost always require passengers to surrender their passports to the purser at embarkation?

 

Well, I guess as a million miler on two different airlines, having visited 138 countries so far (will hit 140 in Dec), I am not a well seasoned traveler. :D

 

But you only cruise and go places with thousands of tourists every day, maybe it will work for you.

 

And there are other reasons that some lines on some itineraries require you to turn in your passports. But it is not so you will not lose them. Or they think their customers are all idiots.

[SRF]

According to Interpol, by 2014 more than 45 million passports, identity documents and visas have been reported as stolen or lost since they set up a new database in 2002 as a result of the 7/11 terrorist attacks in the US.

 

I was on a cruise to St. Petersburg Russia in 2010 when at least 10 people on a ship excursion to the Hermitage had their passports stolen sometime during their visit. They had to be left behind when we cruised to the next port due to the amount of time they needed to get replacements. Fortunately, the next port was Talin, Estonia, about 240 miles away, where they joined us later the next day.

 

If you have your passport stolen during a robbery, your phone will most likely also be stolen. I prefer to carry a copy of my passport in a separate pocket as anything else I may have on me, such as wallet, phone, etc. That way, if everything is stolen, I still have the information available. Plus, I email a copy to myself so that I can retrieve the copy at any internet connected device where I can access my email if I have lost everything on my person.

 

And RCI alone carries about 6 million people per year.

 

3.7 BILLION people travel internationally by air every year.

 

Carrying an image on your phone is no help, as if they would have lifted your passport, they will certainly lift your phone.

 

Although, I must say, having traveled a bit, watching many tourists, most are clueless and NOT aware of their surroundings. Bags slung on the back with pockets open, all clustered around looking at the map. Many make it almost too easy to lift items.

 

So I will modify my stance. I carry my passport most of the time. Most of YOU probably should not. :D

 

Mainly joking. But really, be aware when you travel.

[sloopsailor]

So zero risk of lost or stolen, but some level of risk that you are in a foreign country without it.

 

OK, if that is your tolerance.

 

And I guess, I travel to a lot of places you will NOT go while cruising (Ethiopia as I type). And in many parts of the world, I REALLY want to have proof of US citizenship with me at all times.

 

After being in over 40 countries as a tourist or on business, I have never been asked to produce my passport unless it was a requirement to leave the ship at the dock, as in Russia, or go through customs upon arriving at the airport. After arrival, I carry a copy of my passport at all times, but not the actual passport itself, which is always kept in the safe. If asked to prove my citizenship, the copy will buy me time to make arrangements to retrieve my passport from the safety of my safe. Rare is the country that randomly demands to see "your papers". This may be a favorite scene in old spy movies, but not in real life.

 

The country that had the strictest passports demands was In Egypt in the mid 80s. Whenever we checked into a hotel, we had to surrender our passports when checking in. They retained it for the duration of our stay - we had no access to it until we checked out. This happened at every hotel during our 2 week visit there. Even there we did not have our passports on our person most of the time.

 

And as you have said, you "travel to a lot of places you will NOT go while cruising (Ethiopia as I type)." Since this discussion is related to using the safe on board the ship, it is of zero relevance what you prefer to do in risky countries that cruise ships do not go to.

Edited October 26, 2017 by sloopsailor

[sparks1093]

So zero risk of lost or stolen, but some level of risk that you are in a foreign country without it.

 

OK, if that is your tolerance.

 

And I guess, I travel to a lot of places you will NOT go while cruising (Ethiopia as I type). And in many parts of the world, I REALLY want to have proof of US citizenship with me at all times.

 

What risk am I facing in a foreign country? I have an ID, I am legally in the country, I'm obeying the law. I have travelled extensively to many foreign countries including those in Europe with nothing more than a little green card that said "US Armed Forces", so not having a passport in a foreign country isn't, well, foreign to me.

 

And yes, what country you are in does play a part in it and in some countries it could be more advisable to have one. As I said at the beginning of the thread it's a personal choice and there is no right or wrong answer.

[Flatbush Flyer]

Well, I guess as a million miler on two different airlines, having visited 138 countries so far (will hit 140 in Dec), I am not a well seasoned traveler. :D

 

 

 

But you only cruise and go places with thousands of tourists every day, maybe it will work for you.

 

 

 

And there are other reasons that some lines on some itineraries require you to turn in your passports. But it is not so you will not lose them. Or they think their customers are all idiots.

 

 

 

Sadly, I'm only a "million miler" on ONE airline. Damn those government contracts.

As for surrendering passports, of course the main reason is passenger convenience at certain customs ports. Nonetheless, purser's office is still the safest location on a cruise ship.

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[navybankerteacher]

So zero risk of lost or stolen, but some level of risk that you are in a foreign country without it.

 

OK, if that is your tolerance.

 

And I guess, I travel to a lot of places you will NOT go while cruising (Ethiopia as I type). And in many parts of the world, I REALLY want to have proof of US citizenship with me at all times.

 

You are cruising in Ethiopia now as you type?

 

You are aware we are talking about cruise passengers leaving, or not leaving, their passports in the safe while ashore on port calls, aren't you?

[mahondi]

I always do, I feel safer with it in case of an emergency. Also, I'm always in search of those elusive passport stamps! (just got them in St.John and Peggy's Cove on my Regal Princess cruise 2 weeks ago)

 

But now I'm thinking I shouldn't carry it with me in case my bag gets stolen or it falls out while shuffling through everything in there, might be better to leave it in the safe.

 

Just wondering what others do......

 

I always take mine because I fear missing the ship and then I'm in a foreign country without my passport. While it's traumatic, it's better to be there with your legal passport in your hands. Just my thought.

[sloopsailor]

I always take mine because I fear missing the ship and then I'm in a foreign country without my passport. While it's traumatic, it's better to be there with your legal passport in your hands. Just my thought.

 

As has been said over and over again in this and in so many other passport threads, the ship's security staff will remove your passport from your safe and give it to the ship's port representative to hold for you if you miss the ship. This is a "fact', not just a thought. Fearing not having your passport if you miss the ship is a non-issue. Losing it or having it stolen while off the ship is a much bigger, and much more frequent, issue.

 

Carrying your passport because you fear missing the ship and being left without your passport is similar to bringing your own food on board because you fear the ship will run out before the end of the cruise. It isn't going to happen!

[Gold Mine Gal]

All well and good... in a perfect world. For me personally I err on the side of caution.

 

 

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[sloopsailor]

All well and good... in a perfect world. For me personally I err on the side of caution

 

Then you are admitting to leaving your passport in your safe. THAT is erring on the side of caution.

[electro]

As has been said over and over again in this and in so many other passport threads, the ship's security staff will remove your passport from your safe and give it to the ship's port representative to hold for you if you miss the ship. This is a "fact', not just a thought.

This is NOT a FACT on every cruise line. I asked the Staff Captain (2nd in command) on the NCL Pearl and was told they do not do this unless you contact the ship and instruct them to!

[Gold Mine Gal]

Then you are admitting to leaving your passport in your safe. THAT is erring on the side of caution.

 

 

 

Obviously my personal caution level is much greater than most!

 

 

 

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[Flatbush Flyer]

This is NOT a FACT on every cruise line. I asked the Staff Captain (2nd in command) on the NCL Pearl and was told they do not do this unless you contact the ship and instruct them to!

 

 

 

 

 

Of course, the expectation is (and has always been) that you'll contact the ship (most usually via the number provided for the ship/line itself or for its port agent).

 

 

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[Travelcat2]

It is obvious to me that most people leave their passports in the safety of their safes. I cannot imagine doing otherwise. However, I do have copies of my passport that I remember to take ashore with me sometimes (if it was a big deal, I would insure that I had it with me 100% of the time).

 

U.S. passports are worth a lot of money in some countries. I would rather be enjoying myself in port rather than worrying about keeping my passport from being stolen.

[PTMary]

This is NOT a FACT on every cruise line. I asked the Staff Captain (2nd in command) on the NCL Pearl and was told they do not do this unless you contact the ship and instruct them to!

 

Just another reason - among several others - to avoid NCL for all my cruising.

 

They apparently have a culture of not caring about helping their customers when they need help the most. It would seem that every cruise line I sail on has a much higher level of customer service than NCL and will always look in the safe just in case you have left it there. Not sure why NCL has such a "Too bad. It's your problem, not ours." attitude towards their passengers. Why would anyone want to do business with a company that admits to turning their backs on customers who find themselves in a difficult situation while using their product?

[Flatbush Flyer]

Just another reason - among several others - to avoid NCL for all my cruising.

 

They apparently have a culture of not caring about helping their customers when they need help the most. It would seem that every cruise line I sail on has a much higher level of customer service than NCL and will always look in the safe just in case you have left it there. Not sure why NCL has such a "Too bad. It's your problem, not ours." attitude towards their passengers. Why would anyone want to do business with a company that admits to turning their backs on customers who find themselves in a difficult situation while using their product?

 

 

 

And just how do you know that they will "always" look in the safe unless you've informed the ship/port agent that you will miss the sailing?

 

 

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[sloopsailor]

And just how do you know that they will "always" look in the safe unless you've informed the ship/port agent that you will miss the sailing?

 

Perhaps because they tell us that they do. I have been to Q&A sessions on Princess and Celebrity, for instance, where the question regarding passports in safes was brought up. Both times we were informed by a ship's officer that it is company policy to always check the safe for passport of any passenger who will miss the ship. I choose believe them. Just as I choose to believe them when they tell us they will dock in the port they told us they would, or they will leave at the time they tell us they will. Of course, it certain helps if the passenger can contact the ship to inform them they will arrive too late. Best as much as possible to help the ship's staff deal with the situation when a problem occurs that will cause you to miss the ship.

 

I am certain that there are some paranoids out there who refuse to believe.