Mid Cruise Passport Check... Anyone Else Seen This?

Has anyone been on a cruise where they suddenly had to do a passport check for everyone? Celebrity Reflection is currently doing this with all passengers on board.

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Has anyone been on a cruise where they suddenly had to do a passport check for everyone? Celebrity Reflection is currently doing this with all passengers on board.

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Something must have happened to trigger this.

Rory said:
Something must have happened to trigger this.

Yeah, I heard of this happening once when someone had their passport and wallet stolen in port. The person went straight to the ship to report it, but their check-in card had already registered them as having boarded.

A guy I met on another cruise said it happened on his ship around 2017 or 2018. His cabin was next to the person who got mugged. The staff blocked the door joining their cabins and warned him to keep an eye out, thinking maybe the thief would try to pass as the real passenger. There was a full search on the ship and a passport check.

Not sure if they found the thief, but it seems the ship’s card system would’ve stopped them from leaving without raising an alarm.

Reflection made an unscheduled stop in Key West due to weather. Since it previously stopped in the Bahamas, now they’re required by U.S. customs to check everyone’s passports. It’s a quick stop, but this ensures everyone’s cleared to be back on U.S. soil.

Where exactly are you right now? What countries are on the itinerary? A random check sounds unlikely; maybe a country you’re visiting asked for this?

Jules said:
Where exactly are you right now? What countries are on the itinerary? A random check sounds unlikely; maybe a country you’re visiting asked for this?

Today’s a sea day. We were in Bimini yesterday and will be in CocoCay tomorrow. Both ports are in the Bahamas.

@Jory
I’ve done cruises with stops at those ports and never had to show a passport mid-cruise.

I’ve been on seven cruises, and that’s never happened to me. Sometimes they ask for passports to get off at certain ports, but that’s about it.

Never seen this before. Some kind of issue must’ve come up… how are they even organizing this check with everyone on board?

Had this happen on a South Pacific cruise. We had to turn our passports in for a day and got them back the next.

Shay said:
Had this happen on a South Pacific cruise. We had to turn our passports in for a day and got them back the next.

Tahiti needed mine, too.

Never heard of this. How are they doing it if everyone’s already on the ship? Do we bring our passports to a specific spot or get checked in a line?

Ray said:
Never heard of this. How are they doing it if everyone’s already on the ship? Do we bring our passports to a specific spot or get checked in a line?

When it happened to us, they had people called down by floor to start a line that went all around the ship. It was a mess and took forever.

We had to turn in our passports for Belfast. It was a rule specific to Northern Ireland. We got them back the next day.

It’s not really ‘random’ if every passenger has to do it.

Tan said:
It’s not really ‘random’ if every passenger has to do it.

I think they mean it was unexpected, not random like a few people getting checked.

Heard of this happening. Something to do with the order of the destinations on the itinerary.

On the QM2 in October, everyone had a passport check before docking in Southampton.

I’ve been on a few cruises with random passport checks.

Make sure to check for a stamp when you get it back.