Crown Aug 12 British Isles..Passport ?

[across the seas]

Have read on the posts that you may or may not have your passport held by the purser til end of cruise.. is this right...if so what about the posts about needing to show your passport when shopping in order to obtain forms for the reimbursement of the VAT??? Also...we have 3 teenagers who have only their passport as picture id...what to do???

[h3rjp]

I think that you mainly do it when leaving from the UK.

 

You only get the VAT off items you are taking out of the UK (or the EU) and not things you used in the UK, so you won't get the VAT back on restaurant meals etc. Only large stores will off the facility to pay VAT free. For the rest you will have to save your receipts and take it to the HM Revenue & Customs desk at the airport on departure.

 

I can't speak for the ID question. I guess the only time you would need it is when returning to the ship through port security. I don't know if picture ID is required as well as your cruise card.

[cruiseryyc]

We were on a Mediterrean cruise with Princess last June and they DID NOT take our passports away; we kept it with us.

[Desert Cruisers]

Make color copies of the passport picture page to take along in port as photo ID. We always do this and leave our passports in the cabin safe. :)

[Pam in CA]

It's unlikely that your passport will be kept and held while you are on a British Isles cruise. Some countries require a review of each individual passport which is why they are held, and I don't believe any of the countries in or near the British Isles have that requirement. It's more likely to be in the Med or Africa. I don't know if there's a list of the countries that do require it so I'm not sure exactly which ones do, but you should be able to keep your passports with you. As has been suggested, make a color copy and bring that with you when you go ashore.

[Toto2Kansas]

We did not have them hold our passports on our British Isles cruise. They were safely in our stateroom safe the entire time. ;)

[bubbadog]

We also kept our passports on our british ailes cruise,do the kids have school I.D. cards?,as i think these are accepted as photo I.D.,hope this helps you,and have a good cruise:);)

[DrivesLikeMario]

Get a color copy made of the main photo page of your passports. Have it laminated at Kinko's or Staples and carry them with you. You won't have to worry about it getting torn, wet or crushed and you won't have to carry around big pieces of paper. ;)

[NSWP]

At Heathrow prior to Departure go to Customs and fill in a VAT refund form, you need to have receipts. They used to send you a cheque with your VAT money refunded a month or so later from HM Excise & Revenue.

 

As for Passport retention by Princess on British Isles Cruise, I doubt it, you have already entered the EU i.e. in London, so when the ship calls in to Ireland, you are already EU processed. Yes, as suggested always take a photocopy.