Most hotels in the former Soviet Union were required by their gov't to hold
onto your passport for inspection during the term of your stay (still done
as of 2001). Even on a sleeper train from Hannover to Rome I was required to
surrender my passport during the night. It is not uncommon.
During the first Bush regime I had several friends in advanced sciences
(physics and biology) that were denied passports for no reason and were
unable to attend conferences for years. I am hearing that it may once again
be very difficult to get a passport if you have skills or political
interests that don't match the party line. It is politically harder to
cancel an existing passport than it is to simply delay in perpetuity the
issuance of a new one. The latest twist is that data on your credit report
can actual deny you permission to leave the country (new to the US).
Passport stamps are an anachronism. Your travels are now recorded in a
central database that is updated when the barcode/RFID on your passport is
scanned upon entry or exit. Most countries share the data and have done this
via both license plates and passport number for decades. (Just try taking a
car belonging to someone on probation in the US into Canada and see what
happens.)
Don't forget the possibility of a last minute port change!
David
Westerdaam next week!
"Ermalee McCauley" wrote in message
news:V-GdnbLNdsKjspzZRVn-ig@comcast.com...
>
> "Jean O'Boyle" wrote in message
> news:0U9Mf.61119$PL5.32439@newssvr11.news.prodigy.com...
>>
>> "Rosalie B." wrote in message
>> news:sf7202hkqmvghoht2og3sbo4uce3b8g0em@4ax.com...
>>> All the Canadians who boarded the NCL Crown in Philadelphia had their
>>> passports taken by the ship and the passports were not returned until
>>> they disembarked in Miami. As US citizens we did not have our
>>> passports taken, and I don't know what I would have done had the ship
>>> required that we give up our passports.
>>
>> When we took the NCL Crown to South America, they took everyone's
>> passports when we processed to board...They were returned to us before
>> final disembarkation..
>>
>> --Jean
>
> This happened to us a couple of times. I think one of the times was in
> Italy,
> maybe both times.
>
> Ermalee
>
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