Some Random Newbie Questions

[CaptainAmerica]

Basic Travel 101 is you always have your Passport with you in a foreign country.

That is not correct.

https://traveltips.usatoday.com/should-carry-passport-times-110089.html
https://www.corporatetravelsafety.c...ssport-security-tips-keep-your-passport-safe/
https://travel.usnews.com/features/how-to-protect-your-passport-while-traveling

 

[tvguy]

That is not correct.

https://traveltips.usatoday.com/should-carry-passport-times-110089.html
https://www.corporatetravelsafety.c...ssport-security-tips-keep-your-passport-safe/
https://travel.usnews.com/features/how-to-protect-your-passport-while-traveling

Did you read any of your links? Yes, you should lock it up, but not when you are in a foreign country.

 

[brentm77]

DCL is about the only cruise line that doesn't charge for towels.

But I thought Disney doesn't upcharge any less than other lines?!?

I don't want to start a debate, but it is so interesting how many different opinions I read on this topic, including opposite opinions from people who sail all the time. The common refrain from those who say the other lines don't upcharge any more that DCL is that DCL gives you free soda, and that's it. But then I always seem to come across these little things that add up over a week. Or the fact that some lines make there main dining so unappealing, pushing you to upcharge restaurants for many meals. (Norwegian is even making main dining a fixed menu instead or rotational and trying to sell it as a benefit to the customer). It just seems I am often running across these little extras and no longer know what to believe due to my lack of experience.

How do the other lines charge for towels? Per cruise, or per use?

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Did you read any of your links? Yes, you should lock it up, but not when you are in a foreign country.

That's not what it says!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

But I thought Disney doesn't upcharge any less than other lines?!?

I want to start a debate, but it is so interesting how many different opinions I read on this topic, including opposite opinions from people who sail all the time. The common refrain from those who say the other lines don't upcharge any more is that DCL gives you free soda, and that's it. But then I always seem to come across these little things that add up over a week. Or the fact that some lines make there main dining so unappealing, pushing you to upcharge restaurants for many meals. (Norwegian is even making mine dining a fixed menu instead or rotational and trying to sell it as a benefit to the customer). It just seems I am often running across these little extras and no longer know what to believe due to my lack of experience.

How do the other lines charge for towels? Per cruise, or per use?

My experience (on Carnival, Princess & HAL) you can check out a towel (using your cruise card), if you don't return it, or leave it in your room to be picked up/replaced, you are charged for it on your onboard account.

On DCL, in the past anyway, when leaving the ship for excursions, there have been towel bins for picking up towels, if you need them (water excursions, for example). There's also a return bin to put them in when you get back. No check out/in procedure, just trust that people will do what they should.

From our Carnival cruise (towel in room for excursions)


Close up of notice

 

[MomOTwins]

I have no idea what the statistics say, but my gut tells me that "losing your passport" is much more common than "getting mugged so bad that it creates a medical emergency that requires you to fly back to the United States."

Plus you could end up getting mugged because you have your passport. When I was a kid, my mom took her passport with her once to a shop make a duty free purchase (not sure if that is still a thing). She was mugged on the way home. Her purse was found discarded in the street near the mugging with her wallet and all belongings except the passports. Cameras show she was followed out of the store—someone must have seen her American passport and stole it. Stolen passports can be modified and sold for thousands of dollars to criminals who need forged travel documents to go cross borders, and can also be used for identity theft scams. Let me tell you, a stolen passport creates a lifetime of headaches—I never carry mine with me unless absolutely necessary and keep it locked up in my stateroom safe at all times during a cruise.

 

[tvguy]

That's not what it says!

View attachment 654264

View attachment 654265

And exactly which countries don't require a foreigner to have a Passport? That's why you have it. To Pass Port and to identify you has a Citizen of whatever country if you are stopped by authorities. You are going to tell authorities......."let run back to the ship and get my Passport?"

https://travel.state.gov/content/tr...el/before-you-go/crisis-abroad--be-ready.html

 

[MomOTwins]

And exactly which countries don't require a foreigner to have a Passport? That's why you have it.

You are required to have a passport to travel internationally. You are not required to carry a passport on your person at all times while in the foreign country.

To Pass Port and to identify you has a Citizen of whatever country if you are stopped by authorities. You are going to tell authorities......."let run back to the ship and get my Passport?"

Seriously? Why on earth would you be detained by authorities on a DCL excursion? I don’t believe any disney excursions currently involve crime sprees or international espionage. And if you are stopped by “authorities” for whatever reason, they can’t arrest you just for not having a passport as foreigners do not to carry passports at all times. In the remote Agatha-Christie-Novel scenario where you are actually arrested on suspicion of a crime while on a cruise ship excursion, you will obviously be missing the ship’s departure that day so the crew will retrieve your passport and give it to the ship’s agent at the port, where you can arrange for it to be retrieved pending your criminal trial. But again, seriously?!?!?

https://travel.state.gov/content/tr...el/before-you-go/crisis-abroad--be-ready.html

Do you also carry a two week supply of food and clean water with you on excursions? That is also on the webpage you linked, because it is about what to have in the event of a major crisis in a country you are visiting.

 

[tvguy]

You are required to have a passport to travel internationally. You are not required to carry a passport on your person at all times while in the foreign country.


Seriously? Why on earth would you be detained by authorities on a DCL excursion? I don’t believe any disney excursions currently involve crime sprees or international espionage. And if you are stopped by “authorities” for whatever reason, they can’t arrest you just for not having a passport as foreigners do not to carry passports at all times. In the remote Agatha-Christie-Novel scenario where you are actually arrested on suspicion of a crime while on a cruise ship excursion, you will obviously be missing the ship’s departure that day so the crew will retrieve your passport and give it to the ship’s agent at the port, where you can arrange for it to be retrieved pending your criminal trial. But again, seriously?!?!?


Do you also carry a two week supply of food and clean water with you on excursions? That is also on the webpage you linked, because it is about what to have in the event of a major crisis in a country you are visiting.

Yes, VERY seriously.
I guess it depends where you travel. I did get stopped by the Police in the Dominican Republic on a cruise and asked to see my Passport, and had to show it to authorities in East Berlin (before the reunification) and in Moscow. I have a water proof holder for my Passport and keep it in my fanny pack. so not worried about damage

 

[TXDCLfan]

I'd rather not risk losing them (or having them thefted) than the extremely low chance of having an emergency in port.

I would say just the opposite. Better safe that sorry in the long run. I have never lost a wallet, watch or passport and I am 60 years old and have had a passport since I was 5 yo.

 

[tvguy]

I would say just the opposite. Better safe that sorry in the long run. I have never lost a wallet, watch or passport and I am 60 years old and have had a passport since I was 5 yo.

I should add, I always leave a photocopy of my Passport in the stateroom safe on the ship. That is what I was taught.

 

[Kwami]

Yes, VERY seriously.
I guess it depends where you travel. I did get stopped by the Police in the Dominican Republic on a cruise and asked to see my Passport, and had to show it to authorities in East Berlin (before the reunification) and in Moscow. I have a water proof holder for my Passport and keep it in my fanny pack. so not worried about damage

I've also been stopped in foreign countries and asked to show my passport. Once, when I debarked a train in Munich, I was randomly stopped by police and asked to show my passport. Passports are also required to check into hotels in some countries (e.g. Japan), which I guess doesn't apply on cruises, but is still worth mentioning. Many (most/all?) countries require foreigners to carry ID on them at all times and most countries aren't going to accept your foreign driver's license as ID. They might accept a copy of your passport, though.

Anyway, there's no way that I'm leaving my passport behind anywhere in a foreign country. On a Disney ship, sure. But that's about the only place I'd feel comfortable leaving it.

 

[mullysisters]

I was detained and held in Zaire during a tour of gorilla sanctuaries in 1998. We were asked for our passports. I was not wanting to surrender it but after all we were in their country. All ended happily but it was scary. Alaska is in the US. We don't expect to be arrested or detained in the USA. We are your friends, honestly. On the other hand, I think I can carry a passport with me without losing it. I could lose a watch, a camera or a wallet. But I don't. Waist safes were a great idea in travelling Africa and the Middle East but I dont feel the need to use one in Skagway. Am I being naive? Time will tell.

 

[meliscan]

1&2: I am not sure this is the right thing but I have never taken my passport off the ship. I have always re-boarded with just my KTTW card and a DL. I have kept my passport locked in the safe on-board.
3. In the past they always had towels at the end of the gangplank for you for excursions or the excursions provided. Don't take them from your room.
4. Don't worry too much about the simulator. Things will open up and they typically have them available to book when you get on the ship.

 

[Flossbolna]

I've also been stopped in foreign countries and asked to show my passport. Once, when I debarked a train in Munich, I was randomly stopped by police and asked to show my passport. Passports are also required to check into hotels in some countries (e.g. Japan), which I guess doesn't apply on cruises, but is still worth mentioning. Many (most/all?) countries require foreigners to carry ID on them at all times and most countries aren't going to accept your foreign driver's license as ID. They might accept a copy of your passport, though.

Anyway, there's no way that I'm leaving my passport behind anywhere in a foreign country. On a Disney ship, sure. But that's about the only place I'd feel comfortable leaving it.

And while Munich police asked for the passport, showing your drivers license would have been totally acceptable. And if you had no passport on you and the police would have considered it important, they would have been required to take you to your hotel to show your passport to them.

Unless one goes into detail about the rules in each country it will always come down to risk assessment and personal opinion. My passport goes always into my hotel or stateroom safe if a safe is available. The passport is so difficult to replace that that seems the biggest risk to me.

I was also told that if you miss the ship they will check the safe for passports and leave that with the ship agent at the port. That’s why you always should make sure to have the ship agents contact details on you.

 

[auntlynne]

Not to answer the OP’s questions, but on the topic of passports:

I have had my passport stolen. Getting a replacement was not as easy as you would think. At the US Consulate (at least I was in a city that had one - I was not in the capital), payment was required to be in the local currency (Guatemala), but my wallet was stolen, too. Fortunately, I did not carry all my credit cards in one place (got a cash advance from an ATM - because I had no ID to cash traveller’s checks at a bank!) and I had a photocopy of my passport.

Passports identify your country of citizenship and allow you to re-enter your home country. A visa allows you to enter and be in a country. There is an agreement among many countries that allow you to enter for tourism for a specified time without a visa; showing your passport identifies you as being a part of that agreement.

The safest way to travel is to know the rules of your country and your destination, and keep your passport in a safe place.

 

[MomOTwins]

And while Munich police asked for the passport, showing your drivers license would have been totally acceptable. And if you had no passport on you and the police would have considered it important, they would have been required to take you to your hotel to show your passport to them.

Unless one goes into detail about the rules in each country it will always come down to risk assessment and personal opinion. My passport goes always into my hotel or stateroom safe if a safe is available. The passport is so difficult to replace that that seems the biggest risk to me.

I was also told that if you miss the ship they will check the safe for passports and leave that with the ship agent at the port. That’s why you always should make sure to have the ship agents contact details on you.

Exactly. If you don’t carry your passport on your person on a Caribbean island where passport is not needed to disembark and reboard the ship—the police will either accept your drivers license, or return with you to the ship. There is no law requiring you to have your passport—if there was, Disney would say so and check for passports before letting you go ashore. At worst a minor interruption to a single vacation day.

But if you take your passport and it is stolen, you would have to go the consulate and begin the lengthy process of obtaining a replacement, so your vacation is officially over.