Take passports off ship in USVI/BVI?
 

Hi all. Forgive me for what may be a stupid question, but if my family is cruising with NCL and we port in St. Thomas, Tortola and Nassau, do we need to take our passports off the ship with us in order to enter those countries (we are Canadian citizens)? We are snorkeling and doing water based activities in those ports and I'm trying to figure out how not to lose passports/keep them dry if we are required to take them with us.

Thanks.

In almost all cases, immigration clears the full ship on arrival, and I rarely carry my passport ashore in the Caribbean. Instead, I carry a color photocopy and leave the original back in my safe. If you need it for some reason, carry it, but there's no need.

Some cruise lines "hold" your passport for the entire time you are aboard so they can present them to the immigration/customs officials at each port of call on your behalf. They return the passports to you just prior to your final stop.

In 30+ years of travel we've cruise all over the world and with the exception of Russia (St. Petersburg) we've never carried our passports with us.

Read the instructions before you leave the ship. I recall in one Caribbean port, you were required to have TWO IDs in order to re-board. We brought a color photocopy of the passport and drivers license.

There was a long line of people whose traveling companions had to go on the ship, get the 2nd ID, and return to the dock to hand it off so they could re-board.

We have cruises to nearly all of the major island in the Caribbean over several winters. Cannot remember a time when the ship's id card and a drivers license was not adequate for both on and off. We carry everything is a small, waterproof pouch about the size of a big deck of cards if going to a beach area.