Do you carry your passport off the ship?

[Cruiser1862]

On prior cruises we only carry a copy of our passport off the ship and keep original in the safe. What do you do?  We’re worried when we go to beaches and want to swim that our Passports could get stolen. We are going on western Caribbean cruise to Mexico. Thank you

[davekathy]

We never have. Personal preference. 

[Psycho and Barb]

2 minutes ago, Cruiser1862 said:

On prior cruises we only carry a copy of our passport off the ship and keep original in the safe. What do you do?  We’re worried when we go to beaches and want to swim that our Passports could get stolen. We are going on western Caribbean cruise to Mexico. Thank you

We never take ours out of the safe until we get off the ship.  We have pictures of ours on our phones but not sure how much good that would do.  We have been told that if you miss the ship at a port, they will retrieve the contents of your safe and leave them with the port agent...Can't verify that because we have never missed the ship.

[nelblu]

I do not,  I place my passport in the safe as soon as I get my cabin.   However, I take  my DL as proof.

[poocher]

Never leave the ship without my passport.  It is said that if you miss the ship, they’ll retrieve your passport and leave it with the port agent but I’ve heard no one with actual first hand experience.  I don’t know how much help a picture of my passport would be so I take the actual passport.  

[Ofmyheart]

I know someone that didn't carry passport off. They had an accident, went to hospital, missed the ship & had a H€££  of a time getting back into the States.

 

We carry ours.

[neverbeenhere]

Sometimes we do and sometimes we don't. Really no justifiable reason for the difference.

[AustinCruise]

We always leave it on the ship. 

Edited October 25, 2021 by AustinCruise

[pcur]

If you take your Driver's License with you when you leave your home, whether you are driving or not, then you should keep your passport with you when you are traveling out of the US.  It's your ONLY way of officially identifying yourself, if needed.  

 

I take it with me, and I have a picture of it on my phone.

[cruising twosome]

I’m with the ‘take a copy with you and keep original in safe group’.

[Cutigerlady]

I take copies with us, along with DL and leave our passports in the safe.  For my kids, I did get them the passport cards as an extra backup that we take with us.  

[Joseph2017China]

Well, your passport is your international ID that will allow you to travel home, if you drink too much at Senior Frogs and miss the ship.  I'm not really sure what the fear is, not to carry it.  I travel on cruises all over the world, and do land trips also.  My passport is with me unless the ship needs to hold it for preclearance.  Japan and Greece are examples. 

[island lady]

Passports are kept in the safe, and indeed that is the first place the officers will look for them.  Have seen them do it.

 

To carry with us in port....Passport card.   Much more preferred picture ID for us than a DL.  

 

As Dave posted...personal preference.  

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 25, 2021 by island lady

[alfaeric]

1 hour ago, Psycho and Barb said:

We never take ours out of the safe until we get off the ship.  We have pictures of ours on our phones but not sure how much good that would do.  We have been told that if you miss the ship at a port, they will retrieve the contents of your safe and leave them with the port agent...Can't verify that because we have never missed the ship.

FWIW, if you have a picture of it, it makes it easier for a reissue if you need an emergency one.  Found that on the State Department website.

[Ozark_Kid]

We leave the passport and take DL.

[George C]

Never, might take a photo copy

[gmerick]

I take both the Passport and PassCard on the cruise.  Passport stays in the safe.  PassCard goes with me SCUBA diving, along with a credit card and enough cash to get by if I miss the boat.

[Hogbay]

Always leave in safe and  take photo I'd and cruise card and cash and cc . Anything happens, miss the ship, car accident, robed, kidnapped 🤣 .The ships purser and head of security acess your safe and hands over your passport and belongings to the port authorities with the manifest. 

[zekekelso]

To each their own. Me? Never take my passport with me in port. 

[cruiselvr04]

Never but have taken passport card instead of DL.

[karena1]

1 hour ago, Cruiser1862 said:

On prior cruises we only carry a copy of our passport off the ship and keep original in the safe. What do you do?  We’re worried when we go to beaches and want to swim that our Passports could get stolen. We are going on western Caribbean cruise to Mexico. Thank you

Never, EVER do I take our passports off the ship, they are in the safe.  We have a copy on our phones and also take a paper copy.  Have been on 128 cruises and never have had any issues doing it that way.  

[karena1]

1 hour ago, nelblu said:

I do not,  I place my passport in the safe as soon as I get my cabin.   However, I take  my DL as proof.

We also take our DL's when we get off the ship

[klass2]

I always have a copy of it with me on my phone. If I go to a cruise owned/leased island I don't take it with me. As an American, I don't take it with me to the US ports, US Virgin Islands or to San Juan, PR. 

In any other countries I take it with me. 

Yes, I missed the ship once. A long story (too long to type here), but I missed the ship when our ship stopped at Le Havre, France. I was in Paris with my then 5 year old son and I had our passports. Because I had them, I didn't have to take the train back to Le Havre from Paris to retrieve our passports from the port agents. I booked train tickets to our next port of call and was able to check into a hotel room with our passports. We met up with the ship the next day with little hassle from the ship. 

When I called the RCCL emergency line listed in our cruise compass to let them know that we would br missing the ship, the first question they asked was whether or not we had our passports. 

[cruiseguy1016]

I always take my passport off with me. IF something happened, I want it with me. I don't want to trust that someone will retrieve it from my cabin, then give it to someone I don't know, then have to find that person and retrieve it from them. So many people worry about having it lost or stolen. If you can safely carry a wallet or cash or a credit card or camera etc., etc., etc., you should be able to safely carry a passport.

[Ashland]

1 hour ago, davekathy said:

We never have. Personal preference. 

They only times we have we were "required" to take them with us.

Skagway coming back down on the train we had to show them....and in Russia.