What to bring with you in port

[bella1979]

I know to bring a credit card, some euro, what else? Do we need to bring our passport? I have heard something about the ship collecting your passport. How does that work.

[lambs2]

There is a wide variance of opinion on this. We very rarely take our real passports with us when in port. We take color photo copies and leave the real ones back in our safe on the ship.

 

Don't forget water bottles and sunscreen if you are going in the warm months!

[cberge]

I know to bring a credit card, some euro, what else? Do we need to bring our passport? I have heard something about the ship collecting your passport. How does that work.

 

No,you will not need your passport.You can take a copy of the front page if you feel you may need to,Some ships,not,collect pax's pp's when they board and hold them until the end of the cruise...it helps them clear customs when the ships dock in port.You amy want to take some water,and other sundry items,but a cc and some euro will do you nicely.

[Queenk2]

I always take a sunhat-baseball cap-if we are going to be outdoors all day, as well as my sunglasses. I also carry a scarf because I like to wear tank tops if we are in a very hot area such as Greece or Italy, but I need to be covered in order to go into a church.

Karen

[Keith1010]

Several cruise lines collect your passport while others don't. Some will argue that you need your original passpor but for the cruises we've been on the cruise line held our passport so it was not an issue for us anyway. If for whatever reason we didn't make it back to the ship in time and the ship left then the cruise line would leave our passports with the port authority for us. But, that has never happened to us and hopefully will not.

 

In either case, we just bring a copy of our passport with us. We also bring a credit card and some cash and the shipboard identification cards.

 

We also bring water with us and a few other items such as a camera.

 

I hold the money, credit card and identification in a wallet that goes around my neck and under my shirt.

 

We put the water, camera, etc., in a back pack.

 

Keith

[Nanatravel]

On our recent Med trip my tote bag held: ship's Patter for shore side information in case of emergency; water; gum to keep mouth moist; tissues; umbrella if forecast was for showers (our phone system had a weather forecast); hat; glasses to replace sunglasses; camera & film; jacket (if necessary); lipstick or lip gloss; little note book with list of things to see daily. I left plenty of room for souvenirs; postcards; magnets, etc.

 

Bon Voyage

Nanatravel

[mountainmare]

First take as little as possible. You will be walking alot and you don't want to carry more than you need. I'm always amazed that people plan on taking a change of clothes for churches and such.

We take the copy of our passport page, credit card contact info (just in case!) one credit card and ATM card and most important, the contact information for the port agent. Money, waterbottle and camera. I copy any tour maps or notes, and then can discard after they are used. I use an under the clothes wallet for extra money and one card, little money and camera go in my shoulder pack that I close with a diaper pin (these are getting harder to find!). Nothing ever is put down for any reason--at lunch the bag is still over my shoulder and on my lap.

If a picnic is in your future I have used a scarf to work as both a shawl and picnic blanket.

Oh--I almost forgot--tissues just in case there is a toilet paper emergency, and DO NOT give the bag, containing the tissues to your husband to hold while you go in--not that I would know from experience......

[Fet]

If you, God forbid, miss your ship, your passport copy would not do you any good.

[ab0si]

I always carry a passport. Any U.S. citizen can get a second passport. The purpsoe of this is so that you will always have one available for travel if you sent one away to the East Nowhere consulate for a visa and they have not reutrned it yet. It is also useful so that certain stamps will not be found in your passport -- this is less important than it used to be; for example, Israel no stamps a paper rather than the passport itself.

 

There is simply no way I am trusting a cruise ship, a hotel, my mother-in-law, Dick Chaney or Stephen Cobert with my one and only passport. Heck, I am not even going to trust YOU with it. :)

 

Outside of that, what I carry obviously depends on where I am and what I am doing. I always take the following, though:

 

Ship information; name, berth, phone number, name address and phone number of the local port representative, name and phone number for emergency contact. If english is not the local language, I carry a copy of the above in the local language.. ditto dual language informatioin on medical condidtions, drug allergies, etc.

 

I do quite a bit of travelling, so I have all the personal information -- in quite a few langugages stoed on my 'puter, so it is easy for me.

 

Paul

[olga77]

I only carry my little purse (different ones depending on my outfit) with a hair brush and a lipstick. My DH carries everything else; he has a travel size bag that has plenty of room for souvenirs, camera, good city map, copies of our passports, cruise line cards. Also DH takes a wallet with credit cards and money. He puts his bag over the shoulder and it doesn't bother him. We usually get a bottle of water or something off shore.

[plantlady095]

Dear Friends:

 

I did not see a moneybelt mentioned by anyone. I did read rather quickly, but, you will hate yourself if a pickpocket gets access to your stuff when you could prevent it by wearing a moneybelt. They (pickpockets) are really good at their craft and you will be on vacation. When on vacation, we don't pay as close attention to our surroundings as we might at home. That being said, whatever you put into a tote, backpack or purse should be expendable so that the whole holiday is not ruined by a mishap with a local criminal. ;)

 

Other items that would enrich your port experience would be the pertinent pages from a guidebook for the port being visited. I like to have that info along with essential phrases for the language in that port. Rick Steves has lots of great references to help. A whole guidebook is too heavy, so tearing out pages works great. There are more complete books at the store if I want to have a whole book for future travel.:D

 

Happy travels!

[The Cruise Advantage]

Dittoes for FET and ab0si. I always take my passport, travel insurance information, and ship information.

What happens if you just might miss the ship or even worse you have to be taken to the hospital in an emergency and you don't have your passport? Well, you're out of luck without the passport, you won't be able to use the photo copy if your in one country and the ship is gone off to another country and it won't be usable in a foreign hospital.

I don't think it wise to leave your passport on the ship. When taking it just be careful when you have it with you.

[olga77]

Dittoes for FET and ab0si. I always take my passport, travel insurance information, and ship information.

What happens if you just might miss the ship or even worse you have to be taken to the hospital in an emergency and you don't have your passport? Well, you're out of luck without the passport, you won't be able to use the photo copy if your in one country and the ship is gone off to another country and it won't be usable in a foreign hospital.

I don't think it wise to leave your passport on the ship. When taking it just be careful when you have it with you.

 

Well you have a point, but I don't feel safe carrying my passport with me all the time. Someone mentioned pickpockets; they can easily take your passport and your money and you'd be left without any documents. That is the main reason I don't take with me off shore. Also ships collect your passports in the beginning of the cruise and give it back to you at the end. I remember, the only place we required real passports was Tunis.

[Culater]

Well, I always thought that you are REQUIRED to carry your passport on your person when in Europe or any other foreign country. Then we took our first cruise (ever) to Europe this past June and found out otherwise. Our cruise line did retain our passports for the entire trip. They said it was so that immigration could be handled quickly. The captain (in an on ship interview) did say that if someone is left behind and misses the ship, their passport is given to the Port Authority before the ship leaves. We found we didn't need our passport to show anyone when we were off the ship. One would think that you would need it for ID, but maybe the more scary part is that I don't believe that even one time was I asked for my ID when using my credit card. I do carry my Driver's License in case I do need an ID. Yes, it is a US ID, but it does have a picture and it is state issued, even if they care or not. Anyway, when it comes to what to take with you, to each his own. I carry a Back Pack and try not to make it too heavy, but in goes the camera, the tour book or pages, a lightweight jacket if needed, and anything else my wife doesn't want to carry!!! But any credit card, money and ID (also a passport if I have it) will be carried in my pouch which hangs around my neck. I don't really like the money belt, it is harder to access (usually have to go to the bathroom, if you can find one and unzip your pants, also I don't really want to show my stomach in public)!! Anyway, you should always have a copy of your passport in any case at home, with you when you travel, etc. so that if you do happen to lose it, it will make it easier to get a new one, or talk to the American Embassy if it happens while you travel. Have a good one.

[The Cruise Advantage]

Olga77,

While on the Galaxy last summer in Italy, our passports were never taken by the ship. We had them with us in our cabin the whole time. A good thing we did have possession of them because I had a medical emergency and had to be taken off the ship and taken to the local hospital. Since this all happened very close to the time the ship was to leave there was little time for Guest Relations to search for my passport. They couldn't get me off fast enough due to me holding the ship up 20 minutes waiting for the emergency medical team to arrive. So, don't rely on the ship to be there for you waiting with your passport when you have a problem. Luckily, we had ours with us and a photo copy would not have been sufficient in a local hospital or trying to fly home. Who know's the headaches involved in trying to retrieve our passports after the ship leaving.

[olga77]

Olga77,

While on the Galaxy last summer in Italy, our passports were never taken by the ship. We had them with us in our cabin the whole time. A good thing we did have possession of them because I had a medical emergency and had to be taken off the ship and taken to the local hospital. Since this all happened very close to the time the ship was to leave there was little time for Guest Relations to search for my passport. They couldn't get me off fast enough due to me holding the ship up 20 minutes waiting for the emergency medical team to arrive. So, don't rely on the ship to be there for you waiting with your passport when you have a problem. Luckily, we had ours with us and a photo copy would not have been sufficient in a local hospital or trying to fly home. Who know's the headaches involved in trying to retrieve our passports after the ship leaving.

 

I see what you're saying and sorry you had to go through all that during your vacation. But I don't think that cruise line that we were on (Costa Concordia) let you have your passports with you in the cabin. That's the problem. As much as you want to have your passport, you might not be able to. I guess it depends on the cruise line...

[Debbierpof]

Hmm.. If my memory serves me right, our passports were taken by Royal Caribbean when we embarked (on two Med cruises). We did not get to keep them in our cabin (picked up the last evening on the ship). On the Costa Concordia they took them and only gave them back at Tunis, then took them away again after we got back on the ship. I know it's not as useful, but I e-mailed myself (and family) a scanned copy of our passports, plus have a copy on me. Actually, the Costa staff gave everyone copies of their passports to bring into ports (other than Tunis). I did not know you could request a second passport. Will have to look into that.

 

In regards to your original question... Don't bring too much! But don't forget extra digital camera memory card and battery (don't want to miss out on those last 200 pictures in Rome!). It is ridiculous to take so many, but I can't help myself! I enjoy it very much and they make the best souvenirs (our home is decorated with many of those photos). Oh, and if you don't happen to bring a guide book, the maps provided by the cruise ship (at least with Costa) or at the Tourist Office at the port work great. Enjoy!

[DavidandPaula]

Passports were collected at Civitavecchia on embarkation.

 

On the overnight from Rhodes to Izmir Turkish officials processed through and issued some sort of bulk immiogration clearance.

 

That meant that when we got to Turkey we just collected a boarding slip to get back on the ship on return from excursions. If you lost that you had to pay $10 for immigration fees to get back on the ship. This also happened for Istanbul.

 

When we got back from the excursions in Katakolon there was a notice indicating which lounge to go to at a nominated hour to collect your passport. We were on Deck 1 and Deck 1 and Deck 2 were in the International Lounge. The whole process was quite efficient and not a problem. They issued a receipt for the passport when they collected it and you presented the passport whne you collected it. It only required one member of a family to go and pick up the passports for their family as long as they had the receipts.

 

I believe that for some earlier cruises the immigration line was huge when they got to Turkey.

 

David

[sandij]

We did Europe, British Isles and Western Europe a few years ago and Princess collected and kept our passports except while we were in Germany, we had to have them with us there. so they handed them out and then collected them again. it was no hassle and hardly any waiting. Now we're doing the Med next year so we'll see how this goes.

[mochuck]

Olga77,

While on the Galaxy last summer in Italy, our passports were never taken by the ship. We had them with us in our cabin the whole time. A good thing we did have possession of them because I had a medical emergency and had to be taken off the ship and taken to the local hospital. Since this all happened very close to the time the ship was to leave there was little time for Guest Relations to search for my passport. They couldn't get me off fast enough due to me holding the ship up 20 minutes waiting for the emergency medical team to arrive. So, don't rely on the ship to be there for you waiting with your passport when you have a problem. Luckily, we had ours with us and a photo copy would not have been sufficient in a local hospital or trying to fly home. Who know's the headaches involved in trying to retrieve our passports after the ship leaving.

 

I'm pleased that you came through your emergency OK. I think that they would have been in a hurry to get you off the ship because you were having a medical emergency NOT because of delays (may have been a secondary consideration). I believe if they had your passport in custody they would've been able to locate it in a flash. I'm sure they have a very organised system for just such emergencies.

 

If you had've been in port when you became ill and only had a photocopy I can assure it would have been sufficient for you to be treated at the hospital. You are right that a photocopy would not get you on a flight home but it would be enough for your local consulate to verify your identification and generate emergency travel documents if required.

 

I would never carry my passport on my person in most of these ports because of the risk of losing it or having it stolen.

[The Cruise Advantage]

WOW, all the way from Sydney. This is first for me.

Anyway, just to clarify my situation. When I was taken off the ship we had our passports in our room. Celebrity never took our passports. Because everything happened so quickly in getting me off loaded from the ship, there would have been no time for Guest Relations to look for my passport if they had had it. I was fortunate not to have to go through all the aggrevation of retrieving my passport from Guest Relations or somewhere else, especially with all the confusion going on.

And no should have to worry about retrieving their passports from someone else in an emergency situation. At least I knew where it was.

As far as a photocopy for the hospital, my wife needed to use our passport for ID. That was the appropriate form of ID that was only accepted. I know that every situation presents it own set of rules, but I'll carry my passport very carefully and also have a photo copy just in case it does get lost.