Surrender Your Passport?

[sail7seas]

What an awful situation. Horrifying.

 

I understand the concern and do not under estimate it.

However, there is the practical situation of wanting to check into your hotel and the choice is hand it over or leave.

 

What is one to do?

[cruisemom42]

I have a client who is afraid of opening the door or his post box and is a mental and physical wreak right now because he is the victim of a true ID theft. He never knows if the cops are ther to arrest him again for something. He has gone to writing hourly reports and has everyone including his clients sign the reports so that when the police come by the next time he can account for pretty much every waking hour of the day.

 

Where did he get his ID lifted - well it currently looks like it got lift on a US trip either at a SF or NY hotel since these hotels required photostat copies of his passport and some of his passport details are being used tooo. It is an absolute nightmare!!! I wish it upon no one!!! They have killed his CC details even his passport has been reissued with a new number (as if it had been lost) but there are still things happening and due to the extent of his problems he is currently denied entry into the US.

 

Do you now understand why being so careful is SOOO imperative!!!

 

 

It's truly terrible for the person involved when something like this happens. But as you point out, the hotel had a copy of his passport (not the actual document), so ID theft can occur whether or not you actually leave your passport or just a copy.

 

Also intereresting that this was a US hotel where the crime supposedly occurred and where a copy of the passport was required. Is your friend a US citizen or from another country?

 

Unfortunately, we all have to make choices every day that compromise our security to some extent, such as using our credit cards, banking online, throwing away mail with financial details that should be shredded, etc. I have had one friend become a victim of CC fraud when her card number was kept by a restaurant server; another friend was a victim of identity theft via his computer.

 

If it comes to a choice between staying home and being perfectly safe (e.g., not letting anyone see my passport) and continuing to travel with awareness that I may sometimes have to accept a slight risk of something like this happening.......well, I for one will continue to travel.

 

It's like the analogy of the plane wreck -- yes, it's horrific when it occurs, but the likelihood of it happening to you is extremely remote and you are much more likely to die while commuting to and from work. (Especially true in my case -- living in one of the worst cities for traffic in the US!!)

[houch]

We did a Baltic cruise last year and kept our passports in the room safe at the hotel in Copenhagen and in our room safe on the ship as well. We did have to show them through customs in St Petersberg and had to have them with us during our stay there. Actually we carried them with us in all the countries.

[ChevyCruiser]

We did a Baltic cruise last year and kept our passports in the room safe at the hotel in Copenhagen and in our room safe on the ship as well. We did have to show them through customs in St Petersberg and had to have them with us during our stay there. Actually we carried them with us in all the countries.

 

So you were never forced to hand over your passport to a hotel clerk or seek accomodations elsewhere?

[greatam]

So you were never forced to hand over your passport to a hotel clerk or seek accomodations elsewhere?

 

You just won't give up, will you??? SOME countries REQUIRE you to leave your passport at a hotel. SOME cruises REQUIRE you to turn over your passport to the Purser's office. And almost ALL countries REQUIRE you to leave your passport at the Consulate/Embassy if you are applying for a visa.

 

So IF you take one of those cruises or go to one of those countries or have to get a visa, you WILL leave your passport. Or you won't check in, go on the cruise or get a visa. Pretty simple, eh!!!!

[sail7seas]

changed my mind.......

[houch]

So you were never forced to hand over your passport to a hotel clerk or seek accomodations elsewhere?

 

 

The hotel never even asked us for our passport and until I read this thread I had never heard of turning over your passport. The hotel was booked through Princess, don't know if that makes a difference or not. I guess I don't have a problem with it for hotels or cruises. If it's required, then I'll do it. At least I'm aware of it now so if it happens on our Med cruise, I won't be surprised.

[ChevyCruiser]

You just won't give up, will you??? SOME countries REQUIRE you to leave your passport at a hotel. SOME cruises REQUIRE you to turn over your passport to the Purser's office. And almost ALL countries REQUIRE you to leave your passport at the Consulate/Embassy if you are applying for a visa.

 

So IF you take one of those cruises or go to one of those countries or have to get a visa, you WILL leave your passport. Or you won't check in, go on the cruise or get a visa. Pretty simple, eh!!!!

 

So, once you have spoken on the subject there is to be no further discussion? :eek:

 

By collecting a diversity of experiences, whether they match yours or not, we can all be better prepared when we travel.

 

In that regard, no, I won't give up. :rolleyes:

[ChevyCruiser]

The hotel never even asked us for our passport and until I read this thread I had never heard of turning over your passport. The hotel was booked through Princess, don't know if that makes a difference or not. I guess I don't have a problem with it for hotels or cruises. If it's required, then I'll do it. At least I'm aware of it now so if it happens on our Med cruise, I won't be surprised.

 

I had never heard of it either until I spotted the thread on the Celebrity board and decided to start one here to perhaps gather a wider range of input. Members of my immediate family and I have travelled the Caribbean, Central America, Austrailia, New Zealand, The UK, France, italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Canada, and Portugal so far - by land, sea, and air - and have never been asked to turn over our passports. From some of the posts here, it sounds like that, except for some old-time police states, the practice may be outdated like Peter Greenburg stated on his radio show last weekend.

[houch]

In thinking back on the Baltic, Russia was the only country that really scrutinized our passports and then gave us a visa to carry with our passports. It was in a building right after we got off the ship, that we had to file single file through. There were mostly women officers there in dank uniforms. They had very stern faces, looked like they would crack if they smiled. Reminded me of how the communists were portrayed in the movies. I made sure to smile at everyone and there were a couple that smiled back. I loved our 2 days in St Petersberg.

[suni]

In 2005 we cruised on Regent . Pre cruise we stayed in Rome, they required that they hold the passports. Post cruise we stayed in Athens and two different hotels and they did NOT ask for the passports.

 

Just go with it and have some faith! ;)

[Moeve]

cruisemom42 - the gentleman in question has a german passport and a german credit card and as soon as you hand over a foreign CC many hotels suddenly require a copy of a passport. Unfortunately for him the Police have not been able to exactly pin point where his info was really lifted - they have it down to a certain time frame but no more. He is just so worried this info will get into the hands of really bad people and that he will never be able to proove it wasn't him - thats was he keeps records of all his meetings, phone calls, shopping trips. For someone who has never had this problem it seems paranoid - for him it is sheer panic about not being able to proove that some crime was not commited by him.

[ChevyCruiser]

Found this on the Celebrity website while preparing for a couple of upcoming cruises with X:

 

Our Recommendation

Celebrity Cruises strongly recommends that all guests travel with a valid passport during their cruise. This greatly assists guests who may need to fly out of the United States to meet their ship at the next available port should they miss their scheduled embarkation in a U.S. port; guests entering the U.S. at the end of their cruise; and guests needing to fly to the U.S. before their cruise ends, because of medical, family, personal or business emergencies, missing a ship's departure from a port of call, involuntary disembarkation from a ship due to misconduct, or other reasons. Guests who need to fly to the United States before their cruise ends will likely experience significant delays and complications related to booking airline tickets and entering the United States if they do not have a valid U.S. passport with them.

[ovccruiser]

I had never heard of it either until I spotted the thread on the Celebrity board and decided to start one here to perhaps gather a wider range of input. Members of my immediate family and I have travelled the Caribbean, Central America, Austrailia, New Zealand, The UK, France, italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Canada, and Portugal so far - by land, sea, and air - and have never been asked to turn over our passports. From some of the posts here, it sounds like that, except for some old-time police states, the practice may be outdated like Peter Greenburg stated on his radio show last weekend.

 

An extremely interesting read. From a British perspective, I visited the US in 2005 and flew into Newark NY and after imigration, photograph, finger print fill in green card etc., went on my cruise to the Caribbean and on our return we stayed at the Waldorf for 3 days. We were asked to hand our passports in at the desk. I am unsure of the reasons why but they were returned within an hour. But of course, technically we should have a visa to visit the US, but UK & US have waived the visa iirc.

[serendipity1499]

Found this on the Celebrity website while preparing for a couple of upcoming cruises with X:

 

Our Recommendation

Celebrity Cruises strongly recommends that all guests travel with a valid passport during their cruise. This greatly assists guests who may need to fly out of the United States to meet their ship at the next available port should they miss their scheduled embarkation in a U.S. port; guests entering the U.S. at the end of their cruise; and guests needing to fly to the U.S. before their cruise ends, because of medical, family, personal or business emergencies, missing a ship's departure from a port of call, involuntary disembarkation from a ship due to misconduct, or other reasons. Guests who need to fly to the United States before their cruise ends will likely experience significant delays and complications related to booking airline tickets and entering the United States if they do not have a valid U.S. passport with them.

 

Chevy Cruiser et al...Can't believe this thread is still going strong;)

Many of you are claiming to be more knowledgeable of other countries rules & some insist no one is required to "temporarily surrender" their Passport under any circumstances..Well fine don't do it, but be prepared to be deported or detained within another Country if you refuse to abide by their rules..

Several have even quoted an obscure Passport office Agent (who as greatam pointed out are contract employees) &/or a Cruises Line Agent which obviously doesn't want to offend Psgrs..

What amazes me more, is that you are deliberately ignoring the " U.S. State Dept." guidelines for Business Travelers, which was posted by cruzemom & published in 1994..These guidelines have not changed in 14 years, so why are you refusing to acknowledge that they exist?

 

http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/19795.pdf

Cruisemom mentioned page 11...

Perhaps some could not find page 11, & that is why you are ignoring it..:confused:

You actually must scroll down to the PDF file Page 21 to find Page 11 of the U.S. State Dept. instructions entitled

"Personal Security Guidelines for American Business Travelers Overseas"

http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/19795.pdf

 

(Reminder: Scroll down to page 21 in the PDF file to find page 11)

 

Re: Registration:

 

Quote: In some countries, your passport may be temporarily held by the hotel for review by the police or other authorities, obtain its return at the earliest possible time.

· Be aware of persons in the hotel lobby who may have unusual interest in your arrival. Unquote

We've been to the Amazon twice (on HAL & Oceania) in the past 2 years..At the mouth of the Amazon, the Brazilian officials boarded our ship at 3:30 a.m. to check & stamp each passengers Passport which included our visa's.. Both times the Cruise Ship had our passports.. When we were ready to leave the Amazon (5 days later) the Brazilian Authorities again boarded the ship to stamp our passports with an exit Visa's..

I personally would not want to be called down in the wee hours of the morning to explain to the Brazilian Officials (who spoke little English) why I refused to permit the Cruise ship to hold my passport...I would be suspect right there!They would not be pleased with me & perhaps it might cause a delay for the ship to be cleared..

I've been fortunate enough to visit many areas in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia & South America (retired after 30 + years, from the International Airline Business) & never had a problem temporarily surrendering my Passport to a Cruise line or a Hotel... Of course I've always asked for a receipt, & have kept a photocopy of it..I've always asked for it back within a few hours or by the next morning...[/SIZE]

Cheers..Betty

[SargassoPirate]

I watched this thread with interest last year because of a scheduled cruise around the Med and then across the Atlantic to Brazil.

 

When we embarked in Civitavecchia, the cruise line confiscated our passport and gave us a receipt.

 

Two days later, I received a message from the purser that we needed to bring our passports to the purser's desk. PANIC TIME since they had already collected our passports.

 

Long story short, I was not a happy camper and they knew it. They eventually found our passports - they had been misfiled.