What to Expect on Port Days: Getting Off and On the Cruise Ship at Ports of Call
If you’ve never cruised before, you’re probably curious about what to expect on port days and how to prepare for them. Unlike sea days, when the ship is out at sea, and passengers stay on the ship without getting off at land, port days are those when the ship stops at one of the ports of call on the itinerary. When you booked your cruise, you likely selected your itinerary partly because of the planned ports of call, so this is your chance to get out and explore. Before disembarking at a port of call, here’s how you should prepare. What’s Needed to Disembark on Port Days You’ll need your ship card when you get off the ship (disembark) at a port of call. All cruise lines call this something different; for example, Royal Caribbean calls it a “SeaPass” card, and Carnival calls theirs a “Sail & Sign” card. Other cruise lines, like Virgin Voyages, don’t use a physical card at all, but rather a bracelet with a digital fob. A ship card is generally used as your stateroom key and is also used to make purchases and charge to your stateroom account. You will not be allowed to get off the ship without your card getting scanned, as this is how the cruise line keeps track of which passengers are on and off the ship at any given time. Guests generally won’t have to go through any scanner to exit the ship; the security crew will simply scan their ship card and allow them to disembark. Most ports do not allow cruisers to take food off the ship unless it is in a sealed original container (like a packaged granola bar, for example). The port of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Documents Needed to Get Back on the Ship While you generally only need your ship card to exit the ship, you’ll need your ship card and identification to get back on the ship. In some cases, such as with the cruise line’s private islands, you only need a ship card. If this is all confusing, don’t fret; the cruise line will typically make announcements on port days to notify cruisers of their needs. If you are traveling with children, their ship card and birth certificate (original or copy) are generally acceptable for embarking back on the ship on port days. Because passports aren’t always needed to cruise, you may not have one. Regardless, you typically only need a valid government-issued ID and your ship card to get back on the ship. Of course, always consult your cruise documents, and listen for announcements for guidance on what’s needed, but this generally holds true in most cases and at most ports. Do I Need to Bring My Passport at Ports? Many cruisers wonder whether or not to bring their passports to shore on port days. My advice? No. I always bring a copy of my passport and a valid government-issued ID with me on port days, and leave my passport in my stateroom safe. Now of course, in the unlikely event that I miss my “return to ship” time and the cruise ship departs without me, leaving me stranded at port, I’ll need my real passport to fly back home from a foreign port of call. So why, then, would I leave my passport back on the ship? Carnival Celebration docked at St. Thomas, USVI Well, acccording to John Heald, who is Carnival Cruise Line‘s brand ambassador, this line’s policy for handling passports in the case of a passenger missing the ship’s departure is this (sic): “In case of an emergency which meant you could not return to the ship we do indeed have a policy in place. Your passport would be collected from the guest cabin (including retrieving it from the safe) and by our housekeeping officers, a Guest Services officer and someone from our security team. We would then return the passport to the ships agent. We have one in every single Port who takes care of the ships needs during the time there. The agent would return the original passport to you.” Because of this policy, I know that if I get left behind, I can retrieve my passport from the port agent and then use it to fly back home. That’s why it’s important to not just leave the passport behind in the stateroom but to specifically leave it in the stateroom safe, which is always good practice anyway to ensure it stays safe and secure. If you’re sailing with a passport, deciding whether you want to bring it to port is completely up to you. What to Do Before Disembarking Okay, let’s back it up a bit and talk about preparing for disembarkation on port days. Before you even step foot off the ship, here are some important things to note and consider: Return to Ship Time The cruise line app will specify the times of that day’s port of call, and this is critically important as it tells you not just the estimated arrival time, where cruisers will disembark, but the most important piece of information – the return to ship time. You will always want to make note of this, as the ship will not wait for you if you are late to return (with the exception of a cruise-sponsored excursion that runs late; you can read more about this here). Local Time vs. Ship Time Note that ship time may vary from the local port time. The ship always goes by ship time, so be careful to note any differences, especially if your phone automatically updates the time once at port to the prevailing local time. Some cruisers disable their phone’s time auto-update feature to ensure that it always stays aligned with ship time, but whatever method you choose, always remember that local time may differ from ship time and, again, do not miss that “return to ship” time. As a general rule, I personally aim to get back to port 2+ hours before the return time out of an abundance of caution. You’ll also want to
