Passports being held in Southhampton for British Isles cruise??

[pink845]

Getting conflicting reports, are Passports being confiscated by Guest Services upon check in Southhampton and held until the end of the cruise for stops in Ireland and Scotland.   Can any recent passengers respond. We are Canadian. 

[CruiserBruce]

If they do, they do. Not anything you can do about it. Have never heard of passports not being held for citizens of some countries, but not others.

[Harters]

Out of curiousity, do cruise lines require folk with UK or Irish nationality to produce passports for such a cruise? It  seems odd to need a passport to travel round my own country.

[SomewhereGirl]

Last summer on a British Isles cruise on Princess, passports were collected during the cruise for one port.  I can't remember which one.  We were instructed to leave our passports on the bed, the steward left a ticket that we had to give back to him to collect our passport.  It wasn't for the entire cruise, maybe just a day. 

[MeHeartCruising]

Last September on my NCL British Isles cruise out of Southampton, our passports were collected at check-in.  We had to go pick them up in one of the lounges after we visited Ireland.  We had 2 stops in Ireland and I can't recall if we picked them up after the 1st stop (Cobh) or 2nd stop (Dublin).  The rest of the stops were in the UK until we arrived in Amsterdam for disembarkation.  The passports definitely were not held the entire cruise.

Edited June 6, 2023 by MeHeartCruising

[VMax1700]

12 hours ago, pink845 said:

confiscated

I doubt they are being 'confiscated'. 😉 They may be 'held' by Guest Services for official reasons.

[Globaliser]

7 hours ago, Harters said:

Out of curiousity, do cruise lines require folk with UK or Irish nationality to produce passports for such a cruise? It  seems odd to need a passport to travel round my own country.

 

It doesn't seem particularly odd if the cruise also goes to a foreign country (ie Ireland for those with UK nationality, or the UK for those with Irish nationality). If nothing else, it wouldn't surprise me if the ship must prove to the immigration authorities that those passengers who have declared themselves to be British or Irish have told the truth, and that it can really only do so by presenting those passengers' passports.

[Harters]

46 minutes ago, Globaliser said:

t doesn't seem particularly odd if the cruise also goes to a foreign country (ie Ireland for those with UK nationality, or the UK for those with Irish nationalityreland for those with UK nationality, or the UK for those with Irish natinality).

Ah, if only it was that straightforward, the question wouldnt have come into my mind. But the UK and Ireland have had a "Common Travel Area" agreement since Ireland's independence which means, amongst many other things, we don't need a passport to travel to each other's country. I could get a ferry from Holyhead to Dublin and, in the unlikely event that I was stopped, my bus pass is sufficient proof of ID. Nothing more formal needed. It's the original "free movement". Hence the original question about whether cruise lines require passports from British & Irish people when we don't need them if we were travelling in a different way. .

Edited June 6, 2023 by Harters

[gumshoe958]

47 minutes ago, Harters said:

Ah, if only it was that straightforward, the question wouldnt have come into my mind. But the UK and Ireland have had a "Common Travel Area" agreement since Ireland's independence which means, amongst many other things, we don't need a passport to travel to each other's country. I could get a ferry from Holyhead to Dublin and, in the unlikely event that I was stopped, my bus pass is sufficient proof of ID. Nothing more formal needed. It's the original "free movement". Hence the original question about whether cruise lines require passports from British & Irish people when we don't need them if we were travelling in a different way. .

All true, but the issue with cruises is that many of those on board won’t have a British or Irish passport and the cruise line must be able to satisfy the authorities that everyone disembarking at each port is entitled to enter the relevant country.
 

The alternative would be a passport/ID check for every passenger at every port which would be expensive and time-consuming, so it’s all done behind the scenes and the easiest way for the cruise line to comply is to require that everyone has a passport.

 

In addition, there’s always the risk of an unscheduled diversion and if the ship had to call unexpectedly in France or Belgium there would be a big issue if not everyone had a passport.

[Globaliser]

4 hours ago, Harters said:

Ah, if only it was that straightforward, the question wouldnt have come into my mind. But the UK and Ireland have had a "Common Travel Area" agreement since Ireland's independence which means, amongst many other things, we don't need a passport to travel to each other's country. I could get a ferry from Holyhead to Dublin and, in the unlikely event that I was stopped, my bus pass is sufficient proof of ID. Nothing more formal needed. It's the original "free movement".

 

This is all very well in theory, but if only it was that straightforward. You try flying from London to Dublin as a British citizen. You still have to prove that you're a British citizen and entitled to the benefit of the CTA. That's all very well for those who happen to have a driving licence stating that they were born in the UK - Irish immigration will usually accept that. But if you weren't born in the UK, then the way of proving that you're entitled to the benefit of the passport-free travel area is ... to produce a British citizen passport.

[ehogan]

We sailed May 20 from Southampton around the British Isles and yes our passports were held until May 27, then returned to us.

[Harters]

Thanks for the explanations as to why cruise lines may require all their customers to produce passports for a British Isles cruise. 

[ontheweb]

In 2014, we did a British Isles cruise (out of Dover) that included Dublin as well as UK ports, and our passports were not held. The only time we had passports held by a cruise ship was on an Eastern Mediterranean cruise.

[MeHeartCruising]

8 hours ago, ontheweb said:

In 2014, we did a British Isles cruise (out of Dover) that included Dublin as well as UK ports, and our passports were not held. The only time we had passports held by a cruise ship was on an Eastern Mediterranean cruise.

 

Since 2014, Brexit happened!  In 2020, to be exact.  The UK is no longer in the European Union.  Therefore, the UK does not enjoy the benefit of the EU's "Freedom of Movement" between countries.  Passports are now checked when going between the UK and Ireland (which is still in the EU).  The holding to passports by the ship is so that Irish officials can inspect them if they desire to do so before arriving in Ireland.  They are returned to passengers after the Ireland stops.

Edited June 7, 2023 by MeHeartCruising

[ontheweb]

35 minutes ago, MeHeartCruising said:

 

Since 2014, Brexit happened!  In 2020, to be exact.  The UK is no longer in the European Union.  Therefore, the UK does not enjoy the benefit of the EU's "Freedom of Movement" between countries.  Passports are now checked when going between the UK and Ireland (which is still in the EU).  The holding to passports by the ship is so that Irish officials can inspect them if they desire to do so before arriving in Ireland.  They are returned to passengers after the Ireland stops.

OK, that is why I gave the year.

[Harters]

17 hours ago, MeHeartCruising said:

Passports are now checked when going between the UK and Ireland (which is still in the EU).

Not in the case of Ireland & UK passport holders, as mentioned upthread. There are separate arrangements which pre-date either country joining the EU and which are not affected by Brexit. In fact, if I cross into Ireland through its land border with the UK, there are no checks whatsoever - I just keep driving. The only difference I notice is that  the road signs change from miles to kilometres.

 

But you are correct about our loss of "free movement". When I take the Dover - Calais ferry, I need to produce my passport.

[Globaliser]

6 minutes ago, Harters said:

But you are correct about our loss of "free movement". When I take the Dover - Calais ferry, I need to produce my passport.

 

We always did, even before Brexit.

[Harters]

Yes. I was making the distinction between travelling to Ireland and travelling to other EU countries. Apologies if my wording was unclear for you.

[Cotswold Eagle]

1 hour ago, Harters said:

In fact, if I cross into Ireland through its land border with the UK, there are no checks whatsoever

There are particular arrangements in place for the land border, which have no relevance to arriving by sea. 
 

Official Irish government advice on the CTA can be found here.  It acknowledges the Catch-22 Globaliser highlighted up thread, that you need to be able (if asked) to establish that you are a British or Irish citizen in order to exercise CTA rights if arriving by sea or air. The best way to establish you don’t need a passport is to produce a passport (and it may be a condition of carriage by an air or sea  carrier anyway) 😀

[Harters]

Thanks for the various comments a number of contributors have been able to offer to correct me on several occasions. Not only do I fail to express myself well (which annoys me as I'm an author,  with four books to my name), but I'm clearly completely and utterly wrong and misguided on this subject. I'll leave the thread to others with obviously far greater knowledge.

 

I'll try and remember not to contribute to any future "border" threads, so as not to potentially mislead readers.

Edited June 8, 2023 by Harters