A cruise line may keep your passport for the duration of your cruise or certain segments to make it easier for immigration to check passports when travelling between different countries.
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Some cruise ships, too, particularly small ones, may ask to hold onto your passport for the duration of your vacation so crew may validate arrivals in each port without having to disturb guests.
If you lose your passport, report it immediately to the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate and make arrangements to get a replacement passport, for a fee.
Most of the time you will not need to show your passport when going ashore, however, it is still sensible to take some form of identification with you and I suggest bringing a photocopy of your original passport.
Do I need a passport? We recommend that everyone taking a cruise from the United States have a passport book. Though some “closed-loop” cruises may not require a U.S. passport, we recommend bringing yours in case of an emergency, such as an unexpected medical air evacuation or the ship docking at an alternate port.
While cruising with a passport is always recommended, it's not required by law in certain circumstances. Closed-loop cruises from U.S. ports that visit Bermuda, Canada, the Caribbean and Mexico are part of an international agreement that allows U.S. citizens to cruise without a passport.
You Need a Passport for Cruises To and From Foreign PortsIf you are a U.S. citizen and your cruise embarks or disembarks in a foreign country, including Canada, you will always need your passport for the cruise (in some cases a passport card will suffice).
Even if the cruise is only visiting destinations within the British Isles Common Travel Area (which includes the UK, Ireland, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands), you must still take a passport.
For U.S. citizens: Royal Caribbean strongly recommends that all guests travel with a valid passport. For Round Trip cruises from the U.S. that DO NOT include Panama or Colombia, U.S. citizens 17 and under will be able to present either an original, n...
In the United States, anyone on a cruise ship whose last port of call was outside the US is required to pass through US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), unless if the last port of call was equipped with US preclearance facilities (in which case the ship will be treated as a domestic arrival).
Passport Control Process Before BoardingThe ship's officers will check each passenger's identification against an official database to ensure that everyone onboard is legally entitled to travel in the country of departure. This process is similar to what happens when entering a foreign country.
More often than not, the answer is no. U.S. citizens don't need a passport if the cruise starts and ends in the same U.S. city. This is known as a closed-loop cruise. That said, some may require a passport if you want to disembark at ports in any Caribbean destination.
In the US and flying internationally: A new passport is required. Reschedule your trip to a new date or see if you qualify for life-or-death emergency passport service. Outside of the US and scheduled to fly back home: Contact the nearest US consulate or embassy to have an emergency passport issued.
Carnival offers many Caribbean cruise options including sailings that depart and return to U.S. ports like Baltimore, Norfolk and New Orleans. These don't require a passport as they are closed-loop sailings.
Find a port agent.In cases when cruisers are late returning to the vessel, the ship's crew will often remove the passengers' essential items -- passports, cell phones and medication -- from the ship to leave with the port agents. These officials can help you with contacting your ship and making travel arrangements.
How Much Does it Cost to See a Doctor on a Cruise? A medical consultation on a cruise usually costs around $100 (£85) if during medical centre opening hours. This price rises to around $165 (£137) for appointments outside of opening hours and can rise as high as $205 (£170) if a doctor needs to visit a guest's cabin.
If everything is running like clockwork, however, you have absolutely nothing to lose by asking politely for an official stamp. More often than not, the officer will be happy to give you one and you'll have an extra memory to take away from your travels. It can even work in places where there isn't immigration.
Arriving at the UK borderThese visitors require a specific one month grant of leave, which has to be given by an immigration officer in the form of a stamp. Without this stamp the visitor will be unable to evidence they can undertake the permitted paid activity.