What happens if you miss your ship in port and don't have a passport?

[Pasco08]

What would happen if you miss your ship in port say in Cozumel and don't have a passport? How hard would it be to get back into the US? Would it even be possible?

[aerospace]

Taxi to US embassy and request a new one. If you have other valid ID I'd expect in a day or 2 you could go home...or fly to the next port and meet your ship.

[Snoozeman]

Originally Posted by aerospace

Taxi to US embassy and request a new one. If you have other valid ID I'd expect in a day or 2 you could go home...or fly to the next port and meet your ship.

Yup, that's pretty much it.

Don't miss the ship.

[Queen of Oakville]

I don't know ... I would just caution you to NOT miss your ship. Unless you are on a ship-sponsored excursion which runs late, expect your ship to take off on time, even if you and your loved ones are running down the pier waving and screaming.

[Mike M]

This is why you take a photocopy of the photo and information pages of your passport. Or at least know your passport number. This will save a few hours but you'll still spend a day or two in Cozumel or wherever.

This is why I will take my passport with me on a private tour if there is a chance I may miss the ship.

Take care,
Mike

[Bruce Chafkin1]

We need you to explain if you actually have a passport and are worried about leaving it on the ship, or if you simply do not own one.

In any case, if you have left your passport on the ship and the ship is about to leave without you, most cruise lines send security to your cabin to open the safe and look for your passsport in the most logical place.
If they find it, they pas it to the port agent, who is then legally responsible for you and your passport until he gets you back to the ship or home.

Note that almost every country on earth issues blanket visitor visas for all ship's passengers and crew. When the ship departs, these visas expire.
If you are still in the country when the ship departs, you are there illegally - unless you have made prior arrangements with that country's immigration department, or until the port agent arranges a temporary visitors visa for you.
It can be difficult for him to arrange a visa for you if you do not have a passport.

So suppose you are ashore in Cozumel when the ship leaves and you do not own a passport. First, the ship's agent will assist in getting you a temporary tourist visa. That keeps you out of jail. Then, the nearest American Consulate is 235 miles away in Merida. That's an expensive taxi ride (more than the cost of a passport).
Some American Consulates in some countries can issue temporary, emergency, and replacement passports. In other countries they cannot.
I don't know the official procedure and rules in Mexico. If Merida can't do it, it is a very much longer taxi ride from Cozumel to the US Embassy in Mexico City.

You cannot fly into the USA without a passport. There have probably been exceptions made, but with all the Americans from my ship who get stranded in Mexico without a passport, I have never known of an exception made for any of them.

You can always consider a 3 or 4 day bus ride from Cozumel to the US Border. That must be a memorable experience.

[johnthed0g]

So....the moral of the story is ...get a passport.
You cannot board a ship in the UK without a passport & declaring you have adequate insurance, good system I think, especially as drunken objectionable Brits often get kicked off ships!!

[Mike M]

Bruce makes an important point. It is important that you know the phone number and address of the port/ship's agent. It is posted in the daily newsletter/planner and you should take this information ashore with you. This contact information is as, or more, important as taking a photocopy of your passport. This is the person to contact if you can't get back to the ship.

Local police "probably" know who to contact but it's going to add even more time to the process.

I know two people that lost their passports in Cozumel while they were staying at an AI. They had them in a backpack and left the backpack at a bar. They admit it was pure stupidity to take the passports with them but "thought" they may need them for ID when they rented a jeep.

They were able to obtain a "temporary travel authorization" (I don't know the official name) from the U.S. Consulate. It was all done via phone and the local authorities. They did not have to go to the U.S. Consulate on the mainland. However, they had to "extend" their vacation by three days before they could go home. At least they did have insurance that did cover the costs of the extension and the passport replacement. It took six months to get the money but they got it.

Take care,
Mike

[Manuel]

Originally Posted by johnthed0g

So....the moral of the story is ...get a passport.
You cannot board a ship in the UK without a passport & declaring you have adequate insurance, good system I think, especially as drunken objectionable Brits often get kicked off ships!!

Yes, it is a good system. Things in the UK seem to be well organized.

TM

[HawkeyeFLA]

A tip that I read somewhere on line... don't remember if it was here or elsewhere. Scan all your important travel documents into a PDF file, and email that file to yourself, or upload it onto Google Docs. If you carry any kind of PDA phone (I keep mine on me even on vacation because it's got a decent camera) you can store it on the memory of that device. Same for a lot of EReaders I am sure. At least this way if you misplace the original, as long as you can get online, you'll be able to make copies of these documents. No they're not the original, but having a scan of your passport can go a long way in getting a replacement when travelling.