Passport ID in port?

[MSPeeler]

Just read this on the passport and visas site:

• You may be required to present a passport to enter the foreign ports that your cruise is visiting.

Is this required at any of the Western Caribbean ports? I don't want to take my Passport off the ship if I don't have to.

 

[arlopop]

I wouldn’t leave the ship without it. If something should happen, however unlikely, and you didn’t make it back to the ship before it left you have no passport. That is not a good thing.

 

[Carrie in AZ]

We take ours off the ship with us as well. I want to be as prepared as possible for any situation.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

Currently, none of the ports on the Western Caribbean, or Eastern Caribbean for that matter, require a passport. I know some of the ports on the European cruises require passports to exit the ship in port.

I never take our passports off the ship. They are best left in the safe in your stateroom. The daily Navigator lists the contact info for the ship's agent at each port. Take that with you. If an emergency happens, contact the ship's agent and a CM will go to your stateroom, get your passports out of the safe, and leave them for you at the port. I've also heard that if you are not back to the ship in time, a CM will do this even if you don't call and request it.

 

[MSPeeler]

Thank you all! This helps

 

[Carrie in AZ]

I never take our passports off the ship. They are best left in the safe in your stateroom. The daily Navigator lists the contact info for the ship's agent at each port. Take that with you. If an emergency happens, contact the ship's agent and a CM will go to your stateroom, get your passports out of the safe, and leave them for you at the port. I've also heard that if you are not back to the ship in time, a CM will do this even if you don't call and request it.

Best left in the safe according to whom? I am sorry, but that plan makes zero sense to me. Having your passport on your person while in another country makes a bit more sense than having them in a safe and having to make phone calls during a dire emergency.

 

[Pens Fan]

There is no way that I would ever step foot in a foreign country without my passport. Others disagree, but in the case of emergency, I would never feel comfortable relying on the cruise line to leave my passport for me at the port - and the agents at the port to somehow get it to me. If there is some kind of emergency that prevents me from getting back to the ship, the last thing I want to worry about is where my passport is. Ours will always be with us.

 

[msmama]

They will let you know if you're in a port where you need to have them (if any info changes before your cruise) and in my experience, there's no way to get off the ship without having it on you if you're in a port where you need it (they'll ask to see it several times before you get off the ship).

If you go the leave it in your stateroom route, there's a number that you should take with you. It's the number to call the ship and you'll be able to call someone to get into your room to get your passport in case of emergency. There's an official name, but I can't remember what it is. It'll be in the navigator.

 

[YawningDodo]

No way would I carry my passport with me to a beach or any kind of swimming excursion. I suppose if you're just walking around in port it's probably fine, but the thought of keeping track of a passport when one's trying to sunbathe or go swimming...nope nope nope. My passport went in my safe as soon as I had access to my stateroom and didn't leave the safe until I was packing to disembark. It was a whole thing in my mind when I thought I was going to do a SCUBA excursion in Cozumel and would have been risking getting my passport destroyed by sea water if I took it to those depths in a waterproof case and the case were to fail since they're often not designed to go more than ten feet down (fortunately a. you don't need a passport in Cozumel and b. my excursion was cancelled anyway). I'd much rather be stuck in port with only a driver's license and a decent chance the cruise line would get my passport to me than be stuck in port with a destroyed passport, or a passport that's ended up on the bottom of the ocean because the strap on my case failed, or a passport that disappeared out of my beach bag....

 

[bumbershoot]

Best left in the safe according to whom? I am sorry, but that plan makes zero sense to me. Having your passport on your person while in another country makes a bit more sense than having them in a safe and having to make phone calls during a dire emergency.

Their concept is that you’re more likely to lose the passport than you are to miss the ship and need the passport. And they say they’ll find the passports and get them to you (well, the ship agent onshore) before the ship sails without you.

I have more trust in myself than I do in them.

So except for castaway and coco cays, my passport is with me.

 

[jdb in AZ]

Another real concern is that pickpockets can get $$$$ for U.S. passports, which are in high demand.

Several years ago on an Alaskan cruise (visiting Canada) I thought I had my passport safely tucked inside an inner pocket in my jacket (the pocket snapped shut) but lost it. Fortunately it was near the ship and a security guard had it when I got back to the ship and couldn't find it.

Meanwhile, on another Alaskan cruise last summer DH had my driver's license (I.D. to re-board the ship) and managed to lose it. Fortunately it was turned in at a souvenir shop.

My passport is safer in my room safe. I do manage to hang onto it more often than not, but....

 

[suedon70]

I have traveled many times overseas both land and cruise vacations and I never walk around with my passport. It remains safely in my hotel room/cabin safe. However, I carry a copy every time and one time when I made a purchase in a LV store in Copenhagen they asked for my passport. I told them I had a copy and they said that was fine.

 

[cyclenut]

I wouldn’t leave the ship without it. If something should happen, however unlikely, and you didn’t make it back to the ship before it left you have no passport. That is not a good thing.

This is my thought as well.

I never take our passports off the ship. They are best left in the safe in your stateroom. The daily Navigator lists the contact info for the ship's agent at each port. Take that with you. If an emergency happens, contact the ship's agent and a CM will go to your stateroom, get your passports out of the safe, and leave them for you at the port. I've also heard that if you are not back to the ship in time, a CM will do this even if you don't call and request it.

I'm not sure this is great advice. I agree that passports are not required. They are not even required to board the ship in the first place (if it's a US originated closed loop cruise). The purpose for having them is in case of unexpected emergencies. There are numerous scenarios that would make it difficult to get back to port to retrieve your passport, even if the crew were able to obtain them from your stateroom, remove them from the ship and store them somewhere in port. Remember too that the people operating the port are not with Disney.

Even if carrying a passport off the ship is not required, having it on your person is a good idea. Yes, you run the risk of having your passport stolen or damaged and yes, that does happen. I'd rather assume that risk than being stranded in a foreign country without one. Make a photocopy of your passport and keep that in the safe. In the even that your passport is lost or stolen, the photocopy is helpful in obtaining a replacement. Keep the photocopy in the safe and take the real one with you.

 

[Rob1872]

I have a pouch that I wear around my neck that I keep all of my family's passports in when we are off the ship. Yes, you just need a photo ID and your KTTW card to get back on board. But since you have to keep a photo ID safe anyways, why not have your passport? People who say that they can call the ship in an emergency to ask them to get your passports aren't taking into consideration that if you have an emergency you may not be in a position to be casually calling the ship. I just feel more comfortable to know that I have them in case of a crisis. (Plus I remember being in Germany once where a tourist had made a mistake about validating bus fare. If he had kept his passport with him, he would just have gotten a written ticket. Since he didn't have his passport with him he had to go to the police station. I could see something like that happen in other countries; staying out of Mexican police stations is high on my vacation 'to do' list.

 

[BadPinkTink]

I just dont get the whole attitude many Americans have about passports. You are going to a foreign country, therefore having a passport on your person is a given. Its like so many have this entitled thought, oh Im American I dont need my passport on me when I leave the ship, cos you know Im an American and that makes me special...

Turn it around, many Americans have very low tolerance for foreigners in America, expect foreigners to speak English and to have their ID with them at all times, yet Americans go to foreign countries and behave as if they are still on American soil!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

My DD went on a band trip for 16 days to 7 different countries last summer. She was required to wear her passport in a neck pouch under her shirt the entire time. When we go to the Med, I will feel more comfortable wearing our passports in a neck pouch when in port rather than leaving them on the ship, especially since we have to travel so far inland in some ports.

My advice is to do what is comfortable for you.

 

[NS8VN]

I just dont get the whole attitude many Americans have about passports.

Thanks for politicizing this. That's always helpful to a conversation.

 

[YawningDodo]

I just dont get the whole attitude many Americans have about passports. You are going to a foreign country, therefore having a passport on your person is a given. Its like so many have this entitled thought, oh Im American I dont need my passport on me when I leave the ship, cos you know Im an American and that makes me special...

Turn it around, many Americans have very low tolerance for foreigners in America, expect foreigners to speak English and to have their ID with them at all times, yet Americans go to foreign countries and behave as if they are still on American soil!

I'm confused about why I never seem to see any comments from you anymore that aren't about your feeling that Americans are entitled jerks. It seems like you used to comment on the DLP board regarding other topics, but now whenever I see you over there it's a tirade like this one, and now in the cruise forum, too? It's really starting to feel like you're just hunting for opportunities to politicize the conversation.

 

[BadPinkTink]

I'm confused about why I never seem to see any comments from you anymore that aren't about your feeling that Americans are entitled jerks. It seems like you used to comment on the DLP board regarding other topics, but now whenever I see you over there it's a tirade like this one, and now in the cruise forum, too? It's really starting to feel like you're just hunting for opportunities to politicize the conversation.

I can assure you, I have no political agenda what so ever. I am interested in a wide range of topics and conversations so I click on the NEW POSTS link on the forum. As someone who comes from an island country where international travel and having a passport is standard and automatic, I guess Im just fascinated by the complete opposite attitude of some Americans. Also I travel regularly to American and have done so for over 15 years, so I guess I have seen alot more in real life of American than most Europeans. Its just totally and utterly fascinating to contrast and compare America and Americans with Europe and Europeans.

Alot of people (in general, Americans, Europeans, Australians, Africans) are not aware of how they are perceived and how their social and cultural behaviours are viewed when they are not in their home environment ie when they travel to a foreign country. Something which is a cultural or behavioural norm in their home land may be viewed very differently in a different country. Thats all part of foreign travel, being outside your comfort zone and experiencing things a different way.

 

[bumbershoot]

I just dont get the whole attitude many Americans have about passports. You are going to a foreign country, therefore having a passport on your person is a given. Its like so many have this entitled thought, oh Im American I dont need my passport on me when I leave the ship, cos you know Im an American and that makes me special...

Of course, many rest-of-the-world citizens don’t even want to take their passports to WDW, and get irritated that their IDs aren’t accepted there for alcohol. They state how worried they are about losing them. But it’s the same thing. Foreign soil but not wanting to take your passport with them...

I’m not one of the special-feeling Americans (it kills me that it was my *great* grandparents that emigrated from Ireland and therefore I can’t get an Irish passport), BUT for the certain cruises where US citizens *can* merely take a birth certificate, that IS special treatment.

Thanks for politicizing this. That's always helpful to a conversation.

How is it political???

“the activities associated with the governance of a country or other area, especially the debate or conflict among individuals or parties having or hoping to achieve power.”

????

I'm confused about why I never seem to see any comments from you anymore that aren't about your feeling that Americans are entitled jerks. It seems like you used to comment on the DLP board regarding other topics, but now whenever I see you over there it's a tirade like this one, and now in the cruise forum, too? It's really starting to feel like you're just hunting for opportunities to politicize the conversation.

Does it help if I, an American (a wannabe expatriate since ‘95), say that many Americans are entitled jerks? Does it help unpoliticize it? (And before you think it IS political on my part, take a look at the year I just mentioned...)