We will be going on a Windstar cruise this summer, our first cruise. Do cruise ships usually have safes in the cabins? I don't trust hotel room safes; too many people have access to them. If necessary I use the hotel safe. But I was thinking we could leave our passport and (most of our) credit cards in the cabin safe while we leave the ship at a port. Fewer people have access to ships. And we wouldn't have to carry our stuff in a money belt.

You should carry you passport in a lot of European counties by law.

I don't understand the logic. Plenty of people would have access to a room safe on a ship, same as all the staff at a hotel, if that is your thinking.

ask Windstar. They'd know if your ship has cabin safes (if the on-line description doesn't list amenities)

But ribeirascra is correct - in many countries you would need to have your passport on you. And also - if you want to buy anything VAT-free you need to show your passport.

I'm a novice at cruising, but I understood that access to the ship was controlled, both for passengers and crew. That the only people who would be allowed on board would be current crew and passengers. No?

And I was planning on bringing a copy of my passport. That's not enough?

>>That the only people who would be allowed on board would be current crew and passengers. No?<< Yes, on Windstar, only the 150 other passengers and and close to that in crew . . . (on larger ships, 4000+ other passengers plus 3000 crew). But wouldn't Windstar be the ones to ask?


>>And I was planning on bringing a copy of my passport. That's not enough?<<. In some places, yes. But not everywhere. Better to have it with you IMO.

no copies. Who is to say it is not a fake?
I am not a person who would take a cruise, but would you not also need to show your passport to board the ship, after a day ashore?

I do not know of one country where a copy of a passport is acceptable legally without a "legal" stamp.
Also more thing.
What happens if you have say have an accident? Not that I am wishing this on any one, but they do happen. How do you prove who you are and that your health insurance documents are valid for you? If you are stuck shore side because of something like this, the ship will still sail without you. Your passports nicely tucked away in your cabin. How do travel on to meet the ship later or fly home?

Thanks to all. Guess I'll resurrect my well-used money belt.

I was not saying anything would happen. Rather (as others pointed out) even with "controlled access" there could be 3,000-5,000 people on a ship. Many more bodies than would be staying or on staff at a hotel. Was my point.

>> there could be 3,000-5,000 people on a ship<< Just to clarify, The OP is taking a Windstar (small vessel) cruise so less than 300 total passengers and crew.

OK. Point taken. 300 not 3000.

I don't see why a safe in the room on a ship would be any more or less safe than a safe in the room of a hotel. That's the logic I was "arguing" against.

This is interesting to me. I have been on European trips where the hotels have held our passports. Also was on a Baltic cruise where the ship collected passports and did not return them until a day before the cruise was over. (You would never need to show your passport to reboard a cruise ship in port - instead you will have a card with a magnetic strip that identifies you, and you do have to have that on hand to get back on the ship)

I travel a lot in Europe, as well as in many other countries, and I never carry my passport when I'm checked into a hotel or staying at an apartment. I usually have a copy with me, but if we're just heading out for dinner, sometimes not.

I would rather get dinged for not having my passport with me, than to lose it or have it stolen. I think if I needed it for some reason, the "authorities" would allow me to get it from my hotel. I leave it in the hotel safe - along with all but the cash I might need and one of my credit cards - or sometimes even hide it in the room if there is no safe available. I am prepared for some blow-back for sharing this info here.

No blow back from me. That's what I do too. Walking around with your original passport just seems like an accident waiting to happen to me.

And to your point, in all the years on this forum I have yet to see any posts warning about the use of room safes... I'd be interested in reading any plausible accounts.

This was not our experience at all on our recent Baltic cruise; additionally, we needed them for St. Petersburg.

The trouble is Europe is not one country. I quite clearly stated in Some countries in Europe it is a legal requirement. And then it can only be asked at certain times/events.You can be stopped at any time by the agents of security. Especially in these days of sometimes high terror alerts.
I also made a point that the ship can sail with passport and not the owner on board.
Maybe it is ok in your country to travel without ID, you are not on vacation in your country.
I had to look up what Blow Back meant. Unwanted Result , well without your passport you might as well encounter one.
This no blow back just good honest sensible advice.

I have read accounts of room safes being robbed -- though I can't put my "hands" on them right now. It just seems to me a room safe could be cracked by former guests and by present and former staff. That's more vulnerable than 146 passengers and about the same number crew.

Here in Belgium we need to carry ID, but that's not usually a passport, rather an ID card.
Rules are different in different countries.

The larger cruise ships all have room safes. I can’t imagine that Windstar wouldn’t. I have always carried my passport except in cases where the hotel kept it. That happened a lot in 1970, I don’t recall that happening since.