Is Copy of Passport Good Enough?

[stevendom57]

Am am going to Cozumel in May and taking a rather long excursion that is booked through the cruise line. It should return to the ship about 1/2 hour before sailing. Since I am worried about being left (even though the cruise line says they will not) I plan on bring a copy of my US passport with me. My question is, do I need to bring the actual passport or is a copy good enough? I hate to carry such a valuable thing with me if I do not need to. I have heard people suggest that a copy of the passport should be brought. 

 

Is a copy of the passport good enough to get me on a airplane to catch up with the ship in case I get left?

 

Steven

[sparks1093]

38 minutes ago, stevendom57 said:

Am am going to Cozumel in May and taking a rather long excursion that is booked through the cruise line. It should return to the ship about 1/2 hour before sailing. Since I am worried about being left (even though the cruise line says they will not) I plan on bring a copy of my US passport with me. My question is, do I need to bring the actual passport or is a copy good enough? I hate to carry such a valuable thing with me if I do not need to. I have heard people suggest that a copy of the passport should be brought. 

 

Is a copy of the passport good enough to get me on a airplane to catch up with the ship in case I get left?

 

Steven

No, if you get left and you don't have a passport the best you can hope for is a direct flight to the US (unless the cruise line could overnight your passport to you). The State Department recommends having a copy of your passport because they accept it as proof of citizenship in case your passport is lost or stolen. 

[Ine]

No unfortunately a copy of passport  or of any other document isnot valid. Only the original.

[John Bull]

50 minutes ago, stevendom57 said:

Am am going to Cozumel in May and taking a rather long excursion that is booked through the cruise line. It should return to the ship about 1/2 hour before sailing. Since I am worried about being left (even though the cruise line says they will not) I plan on bring a copy of my US passport with me. My question is, do I need to bring the actual passport or is a copy good enough? I hate to carry such a valuable thing with me if I do not need to. I have heard people suggest that a copy of the passport should be brought. 

 

Is a copy of the passport good enough to get me on a airplane to catch up with the ship in case I get left?

 

Steven

 

You'll get advice here both ways.

I suggest you do what you're comfortable with.

 

No, a photocopy is unlikely to get you on a plane home.

But it does help you to get a speedy replacement or some other acceptable document.

And the number of passports lost or stolen while abroad vastly outnumber the passengers who miss their sailing (and the vast majority of those who miss their ship were truly stupid. Or drunk. Or both.)

Cruise line advice is to leave it in your cabin safe. If you do miss your sailing, the ship will know (the swiping in and out of your cruise card at the gangway) and in theory at least the crew will search your cabin safe & hand your passport to their shore agent before they cast-off. Agent's contact details in the daily newsletter.

So I choose to leave my passport in the cabin safe, except of course for the few ports where I'm obliged to take it ashore.

 

JB 

Edited November 27, 2018 by John Bull

[lifes-a-beach]

You should also consider registering with the Safe Traveller Enrollment Program. Do so on their website.  I always take a picture of the agent information in the daily so it’s in my phone just in case.  

[stevendom57]

@lifes-a-beachThanks for reminding me. I did that for my Bahamas trip but I forgot about it. Now I have done it for my upcoming cruise.

[zqvol]

3 hours ago, stevendom57 said:

Am am going to Cozumel in May and taking a rather long excursion that is booked through the cruise line. It should return to the ship about 1/2 hour before sailing. Since I am worried about being left (even though the cruise line says they will not) I plan on bring a copy of my US passport with me. My question is, do I need to bring the actual passport or is a copy good enough? I hate to carry such a valuable thing with me if I do not need to. I have heard people suggest that a copy of the passport should be brought. 

 

Is a copy of the passport good enough to get me on a airplane to catch up with the ship in case I get left?

 

Steven

 

If you feel like you need a copy (which you don't) then you need the actual passport, the copy is worthless.

[SciFiGuy1960]

If your excursion is booked through the cruise line I don't think you have anything to worry about.

 

If the excursion is running late the ship will wait. Just this past August I was also on the Liberty and in Belize we waited quite some time, over a couple of hours for an excursion to return to the ship. At the time I was not sure what was going on since we started to leave at the published time, I believe 5 pm but during dinner 7 pm I noticed that the ship was not moving. I found out the next day from someone that was on the late arriving excursion that the ship went out a ways to wait for the tenders to arrive back.

[OCruisers]

While a copy of your passport won't allow you to fly, it's fine if you are ask for a goverment issued ID when you return to the ship. 

Since you are taking an excursion thru the ship, it's not going to leave without you.  

Enjoy your cruise!  

[stevendom57]

Thanks, everyone. Lots of good suggestions. I know that they are "supposed" to wait, but will they really do it? Apparently, they will. That's good to know.

 

Steven

[lifes-a-beach]

We went on a ship sponsored trip through the Panama Canal on a passenger ferry and were over 2 hours late getting back.  They waited.  We also went to Lamanai and were a good bit late but they waited since it was ship sponsored.  The long ones ar always best to do through the cruise line.  

[John Bull]

48 minutes ago, stevendom57 said:

Thanks, everyone. Lots of good suggestions. I know that they are "supposed" to wait, but will they really do it? Apparently, they will. That's good to know.

 

Steven

 

If you're on a ship-sponsored excursion then the cruise line is responsible for getting you back to the ship, assuming that you don't fail to show at the pick-up point for the trip back to the ship. 

So in the vast, vast majority of those cases the ship will wait.

On the very rare occasions that it can't wait (tides, port movements, availability of pilots etc) then the cruise line is responsible for catching you up to the ship and attendant costs (flight, hotels, dining, etc). So they try very hard not to leave you behind.

 

I've also known of occasions when a ship-sponsored tour has returned late because some doombrain in the party has gotten lost or forgotten the meet-up time. I don't know the legal situation if those idiots were left behind, but again the cruise line will do its very best to track them down & get them back to the ship because failure to do so would harm their reputation.

 

Cruise lines do play on that safety net to sell their over-priced tours.

But it's worth balancing their playing on those fears ................

 

I've never heard of, or seen on Cruise Critic, any first-hand report of folk on independent tours missing their sailing either. The pier runners (google that on YouTube ) are those who've gone ashore on their own and left their brains on the ship.

 

I've seen plenty of ships' tours that have returned late, to find the ship waiting for them. - I was on one to Luxor from Safaga, a 3-hour journey, and the guide told me that most coaches missed the "deadline" on most visits to the port.

Because  in most ports the ship can & will wait, the scheduling is tight.

But because they don't have that safety net, independent operators don't cut it so fine. So tales of of occasions when a ship has waited for one of its tours to return shouldn't be taken out-of-context.

 

BTW, that 3-hour drive on dodgy roads with unreliable private transportation is an example of those occasions when this inveterate DIYer chickens-out & takes a ship-sponsored tour. 

 

JB 

 

 

[cb at sea]

If you get left behind, the ship  will retrieve your passport out of your safe and leave it ashore for you.  No worries.

[OCruisers]

1 hour ago, cb at sea said:

If you get left behind, the ship  will retrieve your passport out of your safe and leave it ashore for you.  No worries.

 

Per above ... No Worries!

Do carry the name and contact info for your ship's port agent in case the very unlikely happens.  

[Krazy Kruizers]

Even if we are only going to walk around the port area, I still take a copy of the port agent's name and phone number with me along with a copy of my passport.

[Herfnerd]

12 hours ago, cb at sea said:

If you get left behind, the ship  will retrieve your passport out of your safe and leave it ashore for you.  No worries.

 

This is true, however on a ship/cruise line sponsored excursion, they will usually wait for you.  If not, they are responsible for getting you back on the ship.

 

We keep our passports in the safe and have a picture of it on our phones. 

[SRF]

16 hours ago, SciFiGuy1960 said:

If your excursion is booked through the cruise line I don't think you have anything to worry about.

 

If the excursion is running late the ship will wait. 

 

This is NOT true.  They MAY wait.

 

However, if the ship leaves, the cruise line is on the hook to get you to the next port to rejoin the cruise.

[SciFiGuy1960]

1 minute ago, SRF said:

This is NOT true.

More TRUE than NOT.

[SRF]

Losing your passport is on you. 🙂

 

As for stolen, in most cases they are not going for the passport, but your wallet/money, and just happen to get the passport.  In these modern times, passports are not as valuable as they used to be.

 

I just carry my passport separately from my wallet.  And don't take it out and show it around.

 

In my office we travel internationally a LOT.  The average, in my group of 10, is over 35% of the year in international travel.  So far, NO ONE has had a passport stolen in the 18 years I have been here.  And there are no stories of anyone having one stolen back before I joined the group.

 

 

[sparks1093]

21 minutes ago, SRF said:

Losing your passport is on you. 🙂

 

As for stolen, in most cases they are not going for the passport, but your wallet/money, and just happen to get the passport.  In these modern times, passports are not as valuable as they used to be.

 

I just carry my passport separately from my wallet.  And don't take it out and show it around.

 

In my office we travel internationally a LOT.  The average, in my group of 10, is over 35% of the year in international travel.  So far, NO ONE has had a passport stolen in the 18 years I have been here.  And there are no stories of anyone having one stolen back before I joined the group.

 

 

The risk is low, but so is the risk of the ship leaving without turning your passport over to the port agent. One simply does what one is comfortable with and there is no right/wrong answer for everyone.

[TubT]

If you are on an excursion provided by the ship, they WILL wait.  It is extremely expensive for them to leave without you.  At the very least, they will have to get you to the next port.  That alone would probably cost more than your cruise. 

[LuckyStar]

On 11/27/2018 at 9:18 AM, stevendom57 said:

Am am going to Cozumel in May and taking a rather long excursion that is booked through the cruise line. It should return to the ship about 1/2 hour before sailing. Since I am worried about being left (even though the cruise line says they will not) I plan on bring a copy of my US passport with me. My question is, do I need to bring the actual passport or is a copy good enough? I hate to carry such a valuable thing with me if I do not need to. I have heard people suggest that a copy of the passport should be brought. 

 

Is a copy of the passport good enough to get me on a airplane to catch up with the ship in case I get left?

 

Steven

 

Steven, you're going to get a lot of different answers.  My understanding is that if I get left behind, the ship will go into my room and get my passport and leave it with the port authority.  I never take my passport off the ship. I have a copy on my  phone and figure that that will help me if I need the embassy's help.  It's probably a matter of what makes you feel more comfortable.  

[stevendom57]

@LuckyStar Yea, I think that's what I going to do.

 

• Leave the passport in the safe in the cabin
• Keep a photo and a hardcopy of the important passport page on my person
• Keep  the contact information of the port agent (if I can find it) on my person

I think all my bases will be covered then.

[John Bull]

6 hours ago, stevendom57 said:

 

• Keep  the contact information of the port agent (if I can find it) on my person

 

 

As per my earlier post, it'll be in ship's daily newsletter - usually delivered to your door the previous evening.

Jot it down, or take the newsletter with you, or take a photo of those contact details.

 

Mention of photos reminds me of a little dodge that my better half does. She always starts the day with a photo of the front page of the newsletter. When she downloads photos it helps her to figure where / when the hell the subsequent photos were taken.

 

JB  

[SRF]

On 11/28/2018 at 9:13 AM, sparks1093 said:

The risk is low, but so is the risk of the ship leaving without turning your passport over to the port agent. One simply does what one is comfortable with and there is no right/wrong answer for everyone.

 

Agreed.  Not telling people what to do, just providing information for a more informed decision.