70-Year-Old Kicked Off Cruise Ship After Passport Gets Stolen

The cruise holiday of an old couple reportedly went sour when they were forcibly kicked off citing the husband’s stolen passport during the excursion in Rome.

The incident involving a British holidaymaker and wife happened on cruise Italy in April this year onboard the ship of Regent Seven Seas Cruises.

The couple was on board Seven Seas Explorer after paying $12, 400 for the luxury cruise holidays. Chris Crook, 70, and Sarah, 63 had booked on the 12-day all-inclusive cruise package holiday from Barcelona to Venice.

Halfway the travel, the old couple ended up in Rome stranded after losing a passport and evicted from the ship. They drained more money to got home with the haunting pain of a traumatic journey and regrets on the unsupportive attitude of the cruise line.

The nightmare in Rome

The couple's nightmare began in Rome where the ship arrived late at 4 pm instead of 7 was caused by a passenger’s heart attack on board.

That made the ship spent an extra day in the city. The next day, the couple went out exploring the city and headed to a side street outlet for lunch. Chris placed his jacket carrying the passport into a rucksack underneath his seat and headed to the washroom.

On return, he noticed the jacket was missing. The couple rushed to the local police station to file a report and headed to the ship that was to depart at 7 pm.

Back on board, Chris reported that his passport was missing. He had no other alternate ID such as a driving license. The cruise ship authorities insisted him to disembark immediately.

Chris asked then how can they do so since they are not even halfway through the all-inclusive trip. Also, this was not a one-off incident.

But the crew wanted him off and forced out the couple with their bags after promising that the taxi and hotel stay in the city will be taken care of.

But that was not to be. The bills of the taxi journey and hotel costing €250 ($280) a night plus taxes had to be borne by him.

The bank holiday and weekend forced the couple to stay in Rome for five days until Chris's emergency travel documents were ready.

The cruise line says it was following rules

A spokesperson for Regent Seven Seas Cruises expressed regret that Chris had to disembark after his passport was lost in Rome.

The cruise line said they had to follow the Italian immigration rules on that matter.

“Unfortunately, passport cards or a copy of a passport are not accepted.”

Chris was bitter that they were treated like pieces of meat and had to undergo a horrendous experience.

The travel insurance of Chris covered only a fraction of the extra costs. Chris points out that it was strange for Regent Seven Seas to disown a guest when other cruisers had systems to keep the passport of guests intact and also offer them IDs to show that the tourist is part of the cruise.

But this cruise line was unsupportive and lacked empathy. It never alerted passengers about the need for carrying an extra ID other than a passport.

Passport rules to remember

According to Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) rules, a valid passport is a must for land and sea borders voyage barring closed-loop cruises where sailings originate and end in the same American port. Guests traveling without a passport must be able to prove their citizenship.