Do you take Passport with you to ports???

[ComfyBlueSocks]

My fiance and I are in a "discussion" regarding whether we should leave our passports in the safe when we go into Belize and Hondorus or take them with us....

 

We are going cave-tubing and doing other water activities and I don't want to have to risk getting them wet and/or leaving them on the beach when we swim.... he thinks we are not "safe" without them in a foreign country.

 

What do you think??!?? :confused:

 

Thanks!

 

Cindy

[Whimsy]

We leave ours on the ship. I do leave a copy at home with our DD or a friend if DD travels with us. We also have them shrunk and laminated in our wallets.

[Grayce]

We leave our passports on the ship. Usually just take my sign and sail card off the ship. Don't want to lose my passport.

[cb at sea]

The ports don't want your passport if you're a cruise passenger. Leave them on the ship.

[keyguide]

My fiance and I are in a "discussion" regarding whether we should leave our passports in the safe when we go into Belize and Hondorus or take them with us....

 

We are going cave-tubing and doing other water activities and I don't want to have to risk getting them wet and/or leaving them on the beach when we swim.... he thinks we are not "safe" without them in a foreign country.

 

What do you think??!?? :confused:

 

Thanks!

 

Cindy

Think it would only be an issue if you missed the boat er ship.

[wieslaw]

My fiance and I are in a "discussion" regarding whether we should leave our passports in the safe when we go into Belize and Hondorus or take them with us....

 

We are going cave-tubing and doing other water activities and I don't want to have to risk getting them wet and/or leaving them on the beach when we swim.... he thinks we are not "safe" without them in a foreign country.

 

What do you think??!?? :confused:

 

Thanks!

 

Cindy

 

 

Hi and welcome to the Cruise Critic - I see that was your first post.

 

Simple question and many different answers.

 

Your question is ; "What do I think ? "

 

There is a risk in taken your passport with you - could be lost , could be stolen.

 

There is a risk in not taken your passport with you; you are in a foreign country regardless how small it is.

What happens if you get bumped in the head on your cave - tubing tour and end up in the hospital ? What happens to the people that for whatever reason miss the ship ?

Yes, you will get back home ..... but it will be a lot easier if you have your passport with you.

 

Most of the time I take my passport with me, sometimes I did take just the copy and left the passport in the safe ..... I wonder what good that would be if I was not on the ship, and needed it to purchase air tickets to get back home.

 

It is your risk whatever you do.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

 

Wes

[mr green]

It's kind of difficult to take your passport ashore, if you have had to hand it over when boarding the ship, so just take a photostat of it with you. If by chance you have to take it ashore, you would be informed in advance. I don't think that this has ever happened, exept maybe when entering Russia, and one time we were told to take photo I.D. with us on one of the A.B.C. islands.

 

john

[carlmm]

Hi Cindy,

 

welcome, you cannot know that this question has been discussed quite controversially a couple of times before.

 

There are those who never take their passport, those who always take it and some inbetween.

 

... he thinks we are not "safe" without them in a foreign country.

 

In some sense he is absolutely right. Your passport is the only internationally accepted proof of your identity and citizenship.

Some people try to make you believe, a photocopy or an American drivers license will do, but these are no valid documents, they do not entitle you to anything.

Get problems with a police officer or the equivalent to Homeland Security - better have your passport.

You do not want to be an unidentified foreign suspect in a Centralamerican prison.

Have a medical emergency, miss the ship, need to fly home - better have your passport.

 

On the other hand one might judge the risk of getting any trouble, especially on an organised tour, as very low and the risk of loosing you passport when doing water activities as high.

Thus it is an individual decision.

[BobBeaSea]

For the OP, you are NOT required to take your passport on shore with you. You are required to take your ship pass and a piece of government issued photo ID - a drivers licence for example.

 

If you feel you will not get back to the ship in time, take your passport with you. Over 99.99% of passengers do get back to the ship on time, if you doubt you will be part of this group, take the passport with you.

 

We have never taken passports on shore with us and never will, at least until running into a country where it is required - which is rare and certainly not in the Western hemisphere that I am of aware of.

[ironwmnmk]

Personally, being a fan of active excursions both ship sponsored and independent - we carry passports. I have had the chain snap on my very well maintained mountain bike, never mind a rental, to explain my line of thinking.

 

(tip if excursion return time is fairly close to ship's debarkment then it's ship sponsored for me)

 

If you do decide to take your passport with you here is a suggestion that worked well for me. I purchased a "dry bag" at a sporting goods store that also carries kayaks, canoes, etc. It is a heavy weight plastic that has special folding and latch secured top. They are well know and trusted amongst small craft boaters/divers. On kayak excursion with snorkeling, I carried passports and ship cards and even point and shoot digital camera in dry bag placed inside inexpensive but sturdy around the waist pouch while snorkeling without any damage to the sealed items as I had expected.

[blindrid]

I never take my passport. I feel the risks of losing far outweigh any other risks (i.e. missing the ship) as they are pretty minimal.

[Farhibide]

For our first cruise, we purchased waterproof under-the-clothing wallets for our passports/credit cards/cash, etc. You can usually find them in the luggage section in a department store. They're flat and can be worn under your clothes, either slung across your chest or around your waist. It enables us to always have our documents "on" us without worrying about losing them or having them stolen.

[dforeigner]

If you miss the ship you will have a hard time getting an emergency replacement temporary passport in order to catch an international passport. Make a copy of your passport and leave it in your room's safe. This way, if you lose your real passports, upon requesting re-enty to your country, it will be easier.

 

Keep you passports separate from your cash and ID. And do not put them inside your purse or fanny pack.

[Jade13]

It's kind of difficult to take your passport ashore, if you have had to hand it over when boarding the ship, so just take a photostat of it with you. If by chance you have to take it ashore, you would be informed in advance. I don't think that this has ever happened, exept maybe when entering Russia, and one time we were told to take photo I.D. with us on one of the A.B.C. islands.

 

john

 

I have never handed my passport over to any ship and we always take them with us, always. My only exception will probably be in Key West, since we are US citizens.

[kitty9]

On the vast majority of my 52 cruises, the cruise line took the passports from every passenger, regardless of nationality. They even took the passports for our Alaska cruise. If the cruise line feels it's not important to take your passports off the ship, then neither do I. I also asked a few US Custom's agents when I was standing in line for that lovely obligatory Immigration inspection, and every one of them said not to take the passport off the ship unless the country you're visiting requires it. In all my cruises, only two countries required you to have your passports, Vietnam and Russia.