My husband, daughter and I are taking a cruise on Star Princess in mid April and stopping at Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Montego Bay, and Princess Cays. I assume we will need to keep our passports on us when we are at port everywhere we stop.
We will not be doing any excursions, just shopping and hanging out at the beach.
So, I just wanted to get some ideas about keeping our passports safe when we are at the beach. I just don’t like the thought of leaving them with our beach towels while we play in the sand and water..
Vamom, you can leave your passport in your cabin safe, if you have another photo-ID. Otherwise you can make a copy of your passport and carry that with you without any problem.
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Yes, Jac is correct, you don't need to bring along your passports for excursions or beaches, etc. Making a copy is a good idea, although I've never done that, I just bring my sign/sail card. I did notice on our last cruise, there was a stop where they said to bring a pic ID, I just brought my drivers license and left the passport in the cabin safe.
We have always left our passports in the safe also but on our last 2 cruises we heard of people left behind in the port and they couldn't be flown to the next port because they didn't have their pastport with them. They were flown back to Fort Lauderdale.
My question...if they had a copy of it, could they have flown to the next port? What good is your S&S card in this case? We will be carrying a copy of our passport from now on!
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just a suggestion for keeping the passport safe at home. i always kept mine in the safety deposit box at the bank untill my sister asked me '' what if a emergency comes up and you need it when the bank is not open?? we have nephews in the marines over seas and you just never know when you might have to travel somewhere last minute ( god forbid it would ever happen ). so now i keep mine at home in a fire proof metal box.
just a suggestion for keeping the passport safe at home. i always kept mine in the safety deposit box at the bank untill my sister asked me '' what if a emergency comes up and you need it when the bank is not open?? we have nephews in the marines over seas and you just never know when you might have to travel somewhere last minute ( god forbid it would ever happen ). so now i keep mine at home in a fire proof metal box.
just a idea. does anyone else do this?
I keep our in the freezer compartment of our refrigerator. I also keep our plane tickets there. Some people think this is weird. I don't know why they would say that.
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I have a small floor safe bolted to the floor of my closet. It is fireproof for up to 3 hours. Not too big, but big enough to easily hold my passport, birth certificate, and other important documents. I think I paid about $100 for mine and see it as a good investment.
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These seem like sound ideas to me. I've actually been carrying mine around with me along with my cruise docs (in my backpack). I'm constantly looking at them, why deprive myself of them when I'm at work. At night everything stays right next to the bed.
On most of the Caribbean islands you will not need your passport but you will need photo id when you go ashore.
You should always make a photocopy of the photo and information pages of your passport and always carry that with you. This is standard for all cruises and regardless if you are on your own or doing a ship's excursion.
If you do carry your passport with you in the Caribbean it should be in a wallet that is waterproof and can be carried around your neck. This allows you to swim or snorkel without leaving it on shore. As I stated before you don't need to take it with you on shore in the Caribbean unless you want to.
In many countries such as China and Russia you will need your passport to exchange currency, cash travelers checks or check into a hotel on many overnight excursions. On many itineraries the ship will retain your passport for Immigration purposes and you must make a request for your passport, once the ship has cleared Immigration, to take it with you on shore. This is a must if you are doing your own excursion. In most European countries the photocopy is sufficient.
If for some reason you miss the ship in a foreign port you will be darn happy that you have that passport in your possession and not sitting in your cabin.
Take care,
Mike
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Tips for keeping passport safe??
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