Where to keep Seapass Card, phone, cash, etc.

[New to Cruising Brandi]

Hi everyone,

I’ll be on my first cruise in less than 2 weeks, and I’m getting more and more excited day by day!

As I’m looking into what to do once I am at shore, I was wondering what do I do with my phone, card, cash if I go into the water.  Or even in the pool on the ship.  Do I need to buy some special waterproof pocket/wallet?  Will there be lockers?  Or, will my husband and I have to go in the water one at a time while the other watches over the items?  Thanks again for answering all of my questions. 

[rjac]

Hi Brandi, welcome aboard! Feel free to ask away with any questions you and your husband may have. There is a wealth of knowledge here from many well seasoned Royal cruisers.

You will find a combination safe, you set it, in a closet in your room. Plenty of room to lock up all your valuables. When we go on shore, we take our sea pass card, passports, cash and camera. Depending on the port all that stuff goes in my small backpack (non beach/swimming) or in our beach bag with the towels & sunscreen, etc. If we go on an excursion that involves a boat (snorkeling, scuba diving) we have a waterproof bag to keep our stuff in. We have been cruising since 2006 and have never had a problem with theft when we were off the ship. Our cell phones get turned off and  live in the safe for the duration of the cruise, we don't sign up for the VOOM package to have cell service. 

If you are taking credit cards with you be sure to call them and let them know your travel plans, locations and dates. Nothing worse than trying to make a purchase and having your card declined and shut down!

Hope this helps! 

[CruisingwithCandM]

Hello Brandi!  I am not as experienced as many others on this board but I am a trusting soul so I do the following:

On the ship I will leave my sea pass wrapped up clothes or something else at my chair when I am in the water. That imlcudes my phone when I have it out for photos. Everything else stays in the safe back at the room.  

For beach breaks, I do the same but make sure I have a good view of my "stuff" from the water. Last cruise on Saint Kitts we worked out a deal with other excursion folks to take turns keeping an eye on each other's stuff. 

Like I said, I am probably way to trusting so I may learn some tricks from others with this thread. 

[New to Cruising Brandi]

Thanks for each of your suggestions. I would not have thought of the credit card situation. We once had a bank call us about having 2 transactions that occurred in different states in a short period of time. I forgot all about that. Thanks for the heads up. 

Also, I didn’t realize I had to bring my passport off of the ship on shore. I’m glad I know this ahead of time. 

[Lovetocruise2002]

When we are on the ship, everything gets locked in the safe except the Sea Pass card. If swimming, the card goes in hubby's shorts because they have a zipper pocket. If we are just walking around, I put the card in my pocket. I'm not a lanyard person so I always wear shorts that have storage somewhere. My kids wear lanyards. If we are sailing a ship that has wristbands, most of my family will wear the band instead of carrying the card.

When off the ship, we bring our wallets, passport, and sea pass card. It either goes in a waterproof drawstring bag or if we are just walking around the port, I might bring a small purse. 

[Ray]

7 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

 

When off the ship, we bring our wallets, passport, and sea pass card. It either goes in a waterproof drawstring bag or if we are just walking around the port, I might bring a small purse. 

I notice that you dont mention a handbag, is it wiser for females to leave them in cabin when visiting ports?

 

 

[Lovetocruise2002]

5 minutes ago, Ray said:

I notice that you dont mention a handbag, is it wiser for females to leave them in cabin when visiting ports?

I think it's a matter of preference.  I simply don't like large handbags, especially on vacation. I see many females carry a larger bag than I do. You have to be aware of pick pockets no matter what bag you carry. This is my go to cruise bag while walking around a port:

 

[Ray]

18 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

I think it's a matter of preference.  I simply don't like large handbags, especially on vacation. I see many females carry a larger bag than I do. You have to be aware of pick pockets no matter what bag you carry. This is my go to cruise bag while walking around a port:

 

thanks for that, that bag is about the same size as my wifes so i wont have the added expense of buying her a new one lol 

pickpockets are everywhere, even in our home cities so it's just about taking care and being alert. my wife usually puts strap over one shoulder around her neck with bag at other side to make it more difficult for bag snatchers, way i see it by doing it this way if they try to snatch her bag there's a good chance they will have to take her as well so its a win win situation 

 

[ellcee]

I didn't use it last time but I bought one of those waterproof lanyards that you can fit a cell phone in. I'm in NY and not very trusting.We left our stuff on the beach and I couldn't stop watching it. Next time I will probably use it. I saw others who had it and went in the water with it.

Chase credit cards - you don't have to call anymore, you can enter dates through the website.

[New to Cruising Brandi]

I was not planning on bringing a handbag or purse off of the ship.  I wanted to just bring my seapass card, cash, maybe credit card, and beach towels. Now I’m thinking of a comb now that I type this. I was going to give the money/ cards for my husband to carry in his wallet. I wasn’t sure about my phone, if it is even safe to bring, and like I said, what to do if we go in the water. I like all of your ideas. 

[Lovetocruise2002]

3 minutes ago, New to Cruising Brandi said:

I was not planning on bringing a handbag or purse off of the ship.  I wanted to just bring my seapass card, cash, maybe credit card, and beach towels. Now I’m thinking of a comb now that I type this. I was going to give the money/ cards for my husband to carry in his wallet. I wasn’t sure about my phone, if it is even safe to bring, and like I said, what to do if we go in the water. I like all of your ideas. 

Yes, if we go to the beach I don't bring a purse either. Everything just goes in our drawstring bag and the cards go in hubby's    pocket.

[Michael Vitale]

Wife has a beach bag (RC of course )   We leave everything of value in that and put towels over it on the chair. We then keep it within view as we go in the water. Not that hard to do, unless you’re going on jet skis, or parasailing, or something that takes you a good distance away from your belongings. 

[bhageerah]

Others may have other ideas but, we have brought a small travel safe to use.  We only take what we need off the ship in a bag and keep the valuables in the safe.  It is not sturdy enough to keep someone that is completely intent on robbing you from the items but it  works well enough to keep you from being robbed while you are in the water.  It features a lock and a cable that you can wrap around your chair or something else to keep it from "walking away" while you are in the water. Its fairly cheap and is just enough to keep our cell phone, passports, a few cards and some cash.  I secure it to the chair and cover it with the bag so it is not too obvious.  You can use it on the ship if you like but we honestly do not carry anything other than our sea pass card if we are going to the hot tub or pool since that is all you will need onboard.  

[henrysea13]

Quote

 

I like to travel a lot and many times find myself in places ripe with pickpockets plus I hate sitting on a wallet soooo I went on amazon and for 15.00 I solved my problem I bought a front pocket wallet its super slim and goes in the front not the rear pocket which makes it way harder for you to become a victim I have heard of victims loosing there wallet out of there back pocket in crowds without even disturbing the zipper equipped pocket top using a very sharp instrument of some sort cutting the fabric plus most pants have a double wall pocket in the front and only single wall in the back I personally only buy shorts with zipper pockets for roaming these thieve infested areas and have purchased long pants called CIA which have zipper pockets all around and zippers to make shorts out of long pants or vice a versa while I am not thinking I am 100 percent pickpocket proof at the least I am making it really hard for them to make a victim out of me 

[ellcee]

Uhh...I bought that safe and accidentally locked it before setting the new password. The directions are easy but I have an issue with one of my hands so I messed it up.....oops.

[fonemanbob]

To prevent pickpockets the wife carries a small purse always in front of her. I wear cargo pants or shorts and keep my wallet in my front pocket.  Last year in Spain a group of kids bumped us and I laid out one of them. They were known pickpockets and the police said nice going and we were on our way.  And I was lucky to not get my butt kicked. They took off in all different directions.  We had 3 other incidents there but none of them materialized into anything. Reason being we stared them down and they dispersed as they knew we were onto them.  If you are going to be  doing excursions among the locals we also purchased those metal cases for our credit cards  so as they cant be swiped and your credit and bank cards are safe in them. Swiping is becoming a huge problem these days.  Like RJAC stated our cell phones also go in the safe for the entire cruise.  

[Bob_KY]

Great ideas.  Like fonemanbob, I use an RFID blocking (mine is a slim front) wallet.  Many options and styles, just search RFID blocking wallet.

[Steve L]

On 8/12/2018 at 5:33 AM, ellcee said:

I didn't use it last time but I bought one of those waterproof lanyards that you can fit a cell phone in. I'm in NY and not very trusting.We left our stuff on the beach and I couldn't stop watching it. Next time I will probably use it. I saw others who had it and went in the water with it.

Chase credit cards - you don't have to call anymore, you can enter dates through the website. 

Did not know that about the Chase credit cards.....just did it online....thanks for the tip!

[Matt]

On 8/12/2018 at 9:28 AM, Michael Vitale said:

Wife has a beach bag (RC of course )   We leave everything of value in that and put towels over it on the chair. We then keep it within view as we go in the water.

That has been our go-to strategy as well.

[WhiteSoxFan]

We have a lockable vault that locks around the bar on a chair or lounger.  We use that when we go to the beach.  Put our valuables in it, lock it to the chair and throw a towel over it. 

[Keeves]

1) When I called Wells Fargo to tell them my travel plans, they said they don't bother with that anymore.

2) I've been keeping my wallet in my front pocket for  the past 50 years or more. Never understood why people like sitting on top of it.

[dejagatkins]

I only take one cc on shore (but don't use it) Carry just what I want to spend at that port and leave the rest in the safe. On the beach I use the secure Kyss bag. has a lock that wraps around the chair legs. Lot of folks use them

.http://www.kyssbags.com/ 

[KathyC]

I know this isn't all that helpful, but living in the NYC area I am not very trusting.  I don't walk away from my belongings.  We have a couple waterproof pouches that we can take in the water with us, that holds our phones and a couple cards.  We tend to use our phones for pictures more than a camera, and my camera will not fit in one of the pouches.  

If we are going to the pool or hot tub, we use one of the pouches, so the stuff is next to us on the ledge.  I am not a fan of getting wet and pretty much only go in hot tubs. If it's the pool, I am sitting with it.

On the beach, I don't go in the water (unless I'm making my way to a floating bar) so I stay with the stuff.  We do not choose excursions normally that require us to sit on a beach, but more often a boat excursion where we feel comfortable with our stuff being in the beach bag so we do not worry about it there.  I do have one beach excursion coming up in November, now that I think about it...so I guess I'll be sitting with the stuff.  

[CruisinUngs]

On 8/13/2018 at 6:26 PM, dejagatkins said:

I only take one cc on shore (but don't use it) Carry just what I want to spend at that port and leave the rest in the safe. On the beach I use the secure Kyss bag. has a lock that wraps around the chair legs. Lot of folks use them

.http://www.kyssbags.com/ 

I’m taking my first cruise in November and did a lot of research on this topic and it seemed to lead me to the Kyss bags every time. They are priced well but are on backorder frequently. My husband and I are taking our 3 year old son and this will be our first real vacation together. I don’t want to have to worry about watching our stuff and missing out on moments together when at the beach.

my main concern now is when we do our zip line excursion without our son. I’m trying to figure out how to keep our phones and such safe when were “zippin”. Thinking of buying a waist buckle pouch for under our clothes.

[tonyfsu21]

On 8/13/2018 at 2:34 PM, Keeves said:

1) When I called Wells Fargo to tell them my travel plans, they said they don't bother with that anymore.

2) I've been keeping my wallet in my front pocket for  the past 50 years or more. Never understood why people like sitting on top of it.

Interesting. There’s nothing worse then having your card shut off while making a purchase far away from home on vacation. I’m surprised (and doubtful) that Wells Fargo does not note something on your account to prevent auto fraud flagging from shutting your card off. I always call Amex and they note my account and everything always works out fine (especially necessary when spending $$,$$$.$$ on jewelry.)

[eaglesfaninfl]

Just got an email today from Bank of America. The mobile banking app on your cellphone along with the location finder can be used to verify credit cards when traveling. 

"Activate Verify Your Visa® Card Is With You in your Mobile Banking app.1

We’ll match the location of your phone with where your Visa card is used to help us approve transactions when you travel away from home."

Haven't set it up yet but it looks a lot easier than typing in your itinerary every time you travel!

[Skid]

On 8/13/2018 at 6:26 PM, dejagatkins said:

I only take one cc on shore (but don't use it) Carry just what I want to spend at that port and leave the rest in the safe. On the beach I use the secure Kyss bag. has a lock that wraps around the chair legs. Lot of folks use them

.http://www.kyssbags.com/ 

We used the Kyss bag last week and loved it. Even though all sizes are the same price, we went with the medium. We put in 4 towels, lotion, water shoes, cell phones, etc.

The same lock (combination) that wraps around the chair leg, tree or wherever you secure it, also locks the zippers together.

[MikeK]

  If you have never used a credit card out of the country there could be a fee involved.  It happened to us years ago so we only carry one for emergency purposes.  Also if you have a medical problem and have to go to a local hospital and miss the ship,  your passport doesn't do you any good locked in your safe in the cabin.   You will have to jump through serious hoops to get back in the country.   Relax and remember your on vacation!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ditchdoc]

Onboard I have always felt safe. If we are going to spend time at poolside, we generally carry some kind of small bag for seapass cards, phones, e-readers, sunglasses etc. Most of the time, one of us is there with our chairs, towels, shoes, hats and personal items. If we both want to get in the Jacuzzi or what ever, we don't leave electronics and such in plain sight. We might toss a towel over items or over the bag with items. We have never had an issue.

Going ashore, I never really felt unsafe anywhere we have gone with one exception. In Colon Panama, security police were stationed around the perimeter of the rather small tourist area at the dock. We started to leave the area to walk around town and were advised not to by the security police.

On shore I would carry the minimal. Seapass card, passport, some cash, maybe a credit card if you intend to make a larger purchase like jewelry or watches. Keep these in a secure pocket that buttons or Velcros etc.

[CruisinTexan]

I always take on of those small waterproof containers that you can wear around your neck!! Secure and I can keep a little cash and my cards safe and close at hand!! We have never had a problem on cruises...The only time we lost anything (aka robbed) was in a high dollar hotel in Cancun. Enjoy sour cruise!! DeStress!!!!!!

[markm]

When ever I travel overseas its a wallet with a chain in the front pocket and Pacsafe purse for the wife, if needed a Pacsafe daypack

[Skid]

2 hours ago, markm said:

When ever I travel overseas its a wallet with a chain in the front pocket and Pacsafe purse for the wife, if needed a Pacsafe daypack

Had not heard of this. Just looked at their website. Very nice. Thanks for posting.

[DDaley]

I bring everything (iPhone, cards, passport) into the ocean with me. I use "aLoksak" Navy-rated underwater bags and put them in the "splashsak" and wear it around my waist or, more often, attach it to whatever lounging float I have brought with me! Then I don't have to keep my eyes on the coastline. 

aLoksak Bags

Splashsak Waterproof Waist Strap

[WannaCruise]

We don't get internet so our phones stay in the stateroom safe (hopefully this won't have to change going forward as they seem to be putting cruise compass and planner on app).

I'm a camera person though, so unless doing an activity where you can't have anything on your such as Laser Tag or Abyss, I wear a waterproof waist pouch. It carries the sea pass, camera, small sunscreen and cruise compass and this is usually on me.  If going in the pool, then i'll just wrap the pouch in or under my towel. (Note although it is waterproof, I don't actually wear it in the water as it's a bit loose on my waist).

When going to a beach, we bought a lightweight bag.  It holds our towels, sunscreen, books, inflatable floats for the kids, etc.  DH isn't an ocean swimmer so it works out and he usually sits with the bag on a lounge chair (and his book) if I go in the water with our kids.  Of if by the pool at the beach/resort, we'll generally take turns going in the water.   I also use my waist pouch for cards, money, etc (which goes in the bag if I go in the water)

Would love for them to extend the wow bands as it's a great idea to hold your sea pass when you need nothing else.  Great for kids too.

[RTripp]

RC just got back to me today about “combination lock lid for storage “noted inside Chill Island Cabanas, are now not provided. Thanks RC for waiting 2 weeks to tell me ....great.Traveling HOTS in 2 weeks, so scrambled & found a Travelon small, slash proof combination locking bag from Kohl’s. I can carry as well as short locking cable provided. I will try to give a sceeen shot or provide url. https://mobile.kohls.com/product/prd-3402174/travelon-anti-theft-lockdown-medium-bag.    It’s on sale  came to $37.81 shipped.