Cyprus-Forum.com

[GorillaGal]

thanks everyone for your input. i have never heard of this practice before, and i guess being a New Yorker, i am a little suspicious. i have traveled outside of the USA before, but never had to surrender my passport before, i find it an odd practice, but since you all agree it "ain't no big thing," i'm not going to make a fuss over it.....or worry about it any more!

GG,

When I was in Cyprus (RoC) this year with my girlfriend for 2 weeks, we had in total stayed in 5 different hotels, and aside from asking for our passport at the initial check-in, our passports were returned to us immediately. All our hotels were pre-booked with a credit card in advance so there was no need for them to keep our passports as "hostage" to make sure we paid our bills before departing. Personally, I would not agree to leave my most valuable document with anyone, including any trusted hotels and I have never been asked to leave my passport in any of the countries I have ever traveled in. What the hell for.?? This is your ID. What if you needed emergency help from your embassy in a foreign land and you needed your passport for proof, but some person at the hotel misplaced it. What if they can't find your passport as you are on your way to the airport to catch a flight home. What if you needed to get some money from the bank and needed your passport and so on. NO NO NO, keep it on your person or at a safe at the hotel, but I would not hand it over to anyone for any length of time. It is non of their business to keep your passport after they have checked you into the hotel. As someone suggested, make several good copies of your passport before leaving the USA and give the hotel a copy if they need one, but keep your passport with you. The last thing you need at the times we live in with terrorism, is for you to try and explain to the American Embassy that the hotel has lost your passport. They will make you repeat the same questions over and over again, just to make sure you are telling the truth and that you did not pass it on to someone else in some kind of funny business, if you know what I mean.

point well taken! thanks for your input as well, Kikapu. i was planning on copying it and surrendering that to anyone who needs it.

[phoenix]

I agree with Kikapu, they just hold on to it to make sure you don't rush off without paying (all my experience of this is outside Cyprus though). If you offer to pay in advance they don't demand to keep hold of it.

Have a great time in Cyprus GG . . . and leave your worries in New York!

[Sotos]

I agree with Kikapu, they just hold on to it to make sure you don't rush off without paying (all my experience of this is outside Cyprus though). If you offer to pay in advance they don't demand to keep hold of it.

Have a great time in Cyprus GG . . . and leave your worries in New York!

Yes and if you have access to mini-bar then they might want to use a credit card to reserve the value of what the mini-bar contains. They will keep your passport only if there is a case for you to cheat them and not pay for something otherwise they will not keep it.

[orokliniservices]

any cruise line will hold your passport for the duration of your cruise.. if you go to an all inclusive hotel in say mexico, or anywhere else in the Caribbean.. they too will hold your passport but only for the 1st night. My personal experiences in Cyprus i've never had my passport taken for even one night. I've stayed in Napa, Limassol, Paphos and never surrendered it. They've only just asked me for a credit card for incidentals and to fill in a guest registration form.

Enjoy your trip over here!! When are you coming?

[Kikapu]

any cruise line will hold your passport for the duration of your cruise.. if you go to an all inclusive hotel in say mexico, or anywhere else in the Caribbean.. they too will hold your passport but only for the 1st night. My personal experiences in Cyprus i've never had my passport taken for even one night. I've stayed in Napa, Limassol, Paphos and never surrendered it. They've only just asked me for a credit card for incidentals and to fill in a guest registration form.

Enjoy your trip over here!! When are you coming?

I can understand with the cruise liners holding ones passport, specially if they are making several calls to different countries where the passports may be needed for inspection by host countries authorities. It is also necessary if the ship has an explosion or fire and there are casualties and deaths, so it's a way to identify the victims through their passports. Also if a passenger is missing or has gone overboard, they can soon identify the missing person. They also want to make sure, that every passenger has left the ship at the end of the cruise, by all passengers getting their passports back just before disembarking.

[GorillaGal]

any cruise line will hold your passport for the duration of your cruise.. if you go to an all inclusive hotel in say mexico, or anywhere else in the Caribbean.. they too will hold your passport but only for the 1st night. My personal experiences in Cyprus i've never had my passport taken for even one night. I've stayed in Napa, Limassol, Paphos and never surrendered it. They've only just asked me for a credit card for incidentals and to fill in a guest registration form.

Enjoy your trip over here!! When are you coming?

i arrive in Larnaca on dec. 18 in the evening, and i leave the morning of the 26th. i am staying in Larnaca. and i will be looking to meet up with anyone who wants to meet up with me, and maybe show me around. i will be posting a special thread about that later in the week, and start collecting contact numbers, and available times people might have for me. in downtime, i am hoping to help out in some of the pet shelters. if i get brave enough to rent a car, i would love to help June out with her shelter, that is closer to Limmasol.

[Get Real!]

Only the Police armed with a court order have the right to retain someone's passport so don't be fooled into any trickery and always report anyone who attempts to hold onto your passport, hotel or otherwise.