Princess Taking Passports

[TM]

For those that have done a British Isles cruise - does Princess take you passports and if so when is that done and when are they returned back to the passengers?

 

Thanks in advance for responses.

[lladage]

8 minutes ago, TM said:

For those that have done a British Isles cruise - does Princess take you passports and if so when is that done and when are they returned back to the passengers?

 

Thanks in advance for responses.

 

On our British Isles cruise, Princess kept our passports at check-in and returned them after getting our Ireland visas stamped in them.

 

Lynn

[satxdiver]

Princess collected our passports in Southampton.  We have had the same experience when we sailed around South America.  They give you a receipt for the passport and take it back when they (stateroom steward) returns it.  Be sure and bring a copy of the passport for  your own use.

Edited July 20, 2019 by satxdiver

[janina]

I've had Princess take ours on several cruises. No worries you will get them back:)

[thinfool]

It's not just Princess, this is a common practice across virtually all cruise lines.

To be fair, it is not common on Caribbean or Alaskan sailings...however it is 'normal' for most of the rest of the world.

[snowskier]

If you want your passport for anything at any time, simply ask and it will be given to you. You are asked to give it back before the next port. I am one of those that takes my passport with me when leaving the ship.  I ask before leaving the ship and give it back upon return. Never had a problem.

 

Please be respectful and refrain from turning this thread into one of those tedious debates about taking a passport off the ship.

[TM]

Thank you all for your responses.

 

Tom

[ontheweb]

We did not have our passports taken on our Ocean Princess British Isles cruise. This was not the cruise itinerary with France, but it did include Dublin, Ireland.

 

We only had our passports taken once. That was on the Holland America Maasdam for an Eastern Mediterranean  cruise. And of course we got them back.

[memoak]

On almost every TransAtlantic from the Med we have surrendered our passports and gotten them back when we were in the Atlantic and out of EU sphere of influence 

[wineglass]

Princess does this to expedite customs validation in certain countries. The alternative is you standing in long lines to have your passport examined. I have had to do this in the past, having Princess take care of it is the far better solution.

[Thrak]

We have only had our passports taken once. Never in the Caribbean, Mexico, Panama Canal, Columbia, Nicaragua, Guatemala, etc. The only time they took our passports was when we got to Tahiti. We sail out of the UK in October and won't be surprised if they take the passports for the cruise to Norway. After that we sail out of Barcelona. If they take them again we won't worry about it. I used to have the passport card as well as the book so had "official" ID anywhere but I didn't opt to renew the card. I'm just happy my new passport has a better picture. The one I just replaced had an "orange" picture. It was weird.

[SargassoPirate]

I made a photocopy of the picture page of my passport, laminated it, and carry it ashore when the cruise line confiscates our passports for our convenience. It looks official and it's served as picture ID when returning to the ship.  It's never been questioned.

 

It's also a handy and durable way to carry a copy of my passport should I need a replacement while traveling.

 

 

[Hazegreyunderway]

Just curious, why do they take your passport?

[Mike45LC]

1 minute ago, Hazegreyunderway said:

Just curious, why do they take your passport?

My understanding is the Immigration officials in some countries sometimes want the cruise line to present the passports of all passengers and crew before clearing the ship. 

 

Me, I don't worry about it.  Whether my passport is locked up in my cabin's safe or the Purser's office, the passport is secure.  In the unlikely event that there is a problem, the US Embassy is familiar with the fact that the cruise line sometimes holds the passports.

 

Kind of like having to surrender the passport to a hotel in Europe -- I reluctantly entrust it to the front desk.

 

I have a photocopy of the passport in my possession and a photo of it in my  phone, in case of need.

 

 

[Colo Cruiser]

48 minutes ago, Hazegreyunderway said:

Just curious, why do they take your passport?

Convenience.

[SargassoPirate]

1 hour ago, Colo Cruiser said:

Convenience.

For the convenience of the cruise line, the passengers ( who don't have to queue up for immigration) and for immigration officials who can stamp passports in an assembly line fashion.

 

Of course, nobody is matching the person to their passport and the passport photo - so it's all a formality that does little for security but does give the immigration officials a free lunch in the buffet.

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, SargassoPirate said:

For the convenience of the cruise line, the passengers ( who don't have to queue up for immigration) and for immigration officials who can stamp passports in an assembly line fashion.

 

Of course, nobody is matching the person to their passport and the passport photo - so it's all a formality that does little for security but does give the immigration officials a free lunch in the buffet.

That's rather cynical.

[PescadoAmarillo]

2 hours ago, SargassoPirate said:

Of course, nobody is matching the person to their passport and the passport photo - so it's all a formality that does little for security but does give the immigration officials a free lunch in the buffet.

On the Pacific Princess from Hawaii to French Polynesia, we had two French Polynesian authorities come on board for 5 entire sea days to view our passports and clear us to enter their country. 

 

On a ship with 670 passengers and just over 1000 people total (including the ship’s company). 

 

But they did compare us to our photos, so I guess that was the time consuming part. IIRC, it took a couple of hours one morning at sea. 

 

😆

[casofilia]

On another cruise line we have done it regularly but that is because we are visiting countries where they want/need to view it and stamp it.   The other reason is so the ship is able to ensure that you have the right visa; important for India and China where their regulations are complicated.

Just like we have had to produce a physical paper copy of our US ESTA on many occasions when cruising to finish in the USA.

Edited July 21, 2019 by casofilia

[Pierlesscruisers]

6 hours ago, Hazegreyunderway said:

Just curious, why do they take your passport?

 

3 hours ago, SargassoPirate said:

For the convenience of the cruise line, the passengers ( who don't have to queue up for immigration) and for immigration officials who can stamp passports in an assembly line fashion.

 

Of course, nobody is matching the person to their passport and the passport photo - so it's all a formality that does little for security but does give the immigration officials a free lunch in the buffet.

 

Not for the convenience of the passenger line but to ease the work of the government officials who come on board the ship to check for visas or other required forms. At least that's why the same thing is done on Alaska cruises. Residents of many (well over 100) countries who travel to Alaska are required to have Canadian visas to go on cruises to Alaska from Seattle. By collecting the passports all of the passengers who have to have Canadian visas, the passengers don't have to be rounded up and kept on the ship while their documents are being checked and they can get off and visit the town of Victoria, B.C. and provide income to the various shops in the area. Additionally, it increases the efficiency of the checking process because individual passengers don't have to be "hunted down" from somewhere on the ship to obtain their documents for inspection.  Unfortunately, some people show up at the pier without the required Canadian visa because they sometimes believe that if they don't get off the ship, they won't need to have a Canadian visa. Unfortunately, that's not the case as they are in Canadian waters and thus "in Canada."  What it means is that they don't even get to get on the ship and lose going on their cruise.  Really sad to see.

 

Tom

 

 

[casofilia]

@Pierlesscruisers

 

Unfortunately, some people show up at the pier without the required Canadian visa because they sometimes believe that if they don't get off the ship, they won't need to have a Canadian visa. Unfortunately, that's not the case as they are in Canadian waters and thus "in Canada."  What it means is that they don't even get to get on the ship and lose going on their cruise.

 

We have been to India on a cruise where there were 171 people who either did not have a Visa or where they had not read the information on the website and got a "fly in only" visa.  They were allowed either to not get off or to do a tour without actually stepping on Indian soil; it would be interesting to see for any cruise going there now for people without the right visa on embarkation.

 

Also we were in Yokohama to cruise to Shanghai via Hong Kong and Xiamen.  Lots of people had assumed they could "get away" with the 72 or 144 hour free visa not reading the important piece that they were only available for people leaving China IMMEDIATELY afterwards.   There was a Chinese Immigration person at the check-in telling people that if they didn't have a visa there were two choices; don't board or get off in Hong Kong.   This occurred because there were over 200 people on the cruise from Singapore to Yokohama who had done the same thing.  The Chinese would NOT let them off but didn't want it to happen again.

 

Simple; read very carefully what the requirements are for visas.

 

 

[Thrak]

1 hour ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

On the Pacific Princess from Hawaii to French Polynesia, we had two French Polynesian authorities come on board for 5 entire sea days to view our passports and clear us to enter their country. 

 

We were on Emerald Princess and didn't have to wait for anybody and, as far as I know, nobody came aboard to check. (Obviously I don't know squat about what really happened.) Nobody stamped our passports. One of our big disappointments from traveling is that they never have stamped our passports anywhere but Canada and that was only because they asked if anybody wanted their passport stamped.

[satxdiver]

8 hours ago, Thrak said:

We have only had our passports taken once. Never in the Caribbean, Mexico, Panama Canal, Columbia, Nicaragua, Guatemala, etc. The only time they took our passports was when we got to Tahiti. We sail out of the UK in October and won't be surprised if they take the passports for the cruise to Norway. After that we sail out of Barcelona. If they take them again we won't worry about it. I used to have the passport card as well as the book so had "official" ID anywhere but I didn't opt to renew the card. I'm just happy my new passport has a better picture. The one I just replaced had an "orange" picture. It was weird.

 

We returned last month from the Norwegian cruise "Land of the Midnight Sun".  Only those holding passports from countries that have not entered into agreements with the Schengen countries had to give their passports to the Norwegian authorities.  All others were able to keep their passports and were told to take them ashore when they left the ship.  Canada, USA, Australia and several other countries do not have to render their passports and so we kept ours with us at all times as requested. 

 

Incidentally the passport card is not an international form of identification.   A photo copy of your passport will accomplish the same thing in most countries.  

 

Some countries require the ship to collect the passports and present them to the port authorities on the ship.  This was the case when we visited Brazil.  After we left the last Brazilian port, the ship returned our passports.  One should always have a copy of their passport with them at all times so if the passport is missing it will speed up the replacement at a US embassy/consulate.  Only the passport itself is the legal identification in all the countries of the world.