Any Canadian experience with water damaged passports?

How unfortunate! Contact your airline to inform them & find out if they will allow boarding with passport as is. They may be able to better advice you.

Weird, my long post vanished. I messaged the Embassy in Italy and they said they don't deal with passport stuff and referred me back to the government of Canada web page. Definitely talk to the airline, as they will be the ones to assess the passport. Good luck. Sorry about the stress!!!

They don't have much choice, since the Embassy apparently won't be able to help them. Since they will have a few days before their flight ( I'm assuming they plan to stay in Rome), I still recommend that they call the Embassy as soon as you disembark, and explain the situation.

As long as they're staying within the Schengen region after the cruise, they will only have to go through Passport Control twice. Once at the (Rome?) airport, and on landing in Canada. Since they're returning home, and as long as they have other supporting ID if asked (DL etc) it will likely be OK. The damaged passports would most likely be rejected if trying to enter a different country. If they can't get new passports in Italy, they will have to get them when they get home.

For future reference, I highly recommend placing passports and other paper items of value inside a small ziplock bag before putting it in your purse or money belt/neck pouch.

here is the website's comments on damaged passports. Essentially - who knows? It depends on who sees it and interprets the amount of damage. Unfortunately, they don't discuss what to do if damaged while traveling. Problem is also that the people asking similar questions, don't come back to tell what happened.

Damaged passports
You should apply for a new passport if your current passport is damaged. If you travel with a damaged passport, you could face delays. You could be denied entry at border crossings or on flights.
A passport is considered damaged if it:
makes it difficult to identify the holder
looks like it has been changed or falsified
has been denied by an airline or at a point of entry due to damage
Examples of damage to a passport include:
removal of pages
unauthorized markings
tears in one or more pages
exposure to water or humidity
chewing marks from a child or pet
change of the information and/or photo
separation of the cover and inside pages
other forms of damage that aren’t listed here
Border authorities have discretion to allow or refuse your entry or exit. An airline may also prevent you from boarding a plane based on the condition of your passport.
If you’re concerned about the condition of your passport:
contact the airline before you leave
visit a passport office so they can look at it
When replacing a damaged passport, you must use the general application. We do not accept renewals.

This is only a guess based on my limited experience with a damaged US passport and local news coverage on a similar situation. On an outbound leg the airline can be overly picky about condition of passport since the airline will be responsible for returning the passenger if they are denied entry into the country on arrival. When returning the airline is not as picky since the individual is returning to their home country and, obviously, will not be denied entry so the airline has no responsibility for the traveler.

A couple of years ago, a frequently poster here claimed that you did not even need a passport to return IF you were a US citizen. You may be severely hassled, detain, search, etc., but you will get in. Not sure I would want to test that theory but it does suggest that a returning citizen probably has some additional rights that could override concerns with a damaged passport. I guess in these days of computers and data bases, the Canadian border people probably have an electronic copy of that passport and established procedures for dealing with the situation. If I was return to the US with a damage passport and could not get answers from a local office prior to departure, I would proceed expecting a hassle.

As for your friends, I would go directly to the embassy on arrival or the next day. You do have a little time on your side. If you are there in person, I doubt if the embassy would blow you off. They are there to service their citizens in times of trouble.

Good luck !!!

On the website for the Canadian Embassy in Rome, it says you can make an appointment on line, at that website, to visit the Embassy. I suspect the "Thursday only" information your friend received was for those without appointments. If your friend is able to get an appointment, she will just get a "laisser passer", and not a replacement passport, if the routine is the same as at the Embassy in Paris. The "laisser passer" will be accepted by the airline but inquire how to do this, because I think there is a special agent to see. Good luck to her.

And P.S. I sincerely hope that the Embassy employee your friend has to deal with is a pleasant and efficient person. The one we dealt with in Paris was surly and slow and yes! I am talking about you, Chantal!

Thank you all for your input. It makes us feel a bit better.

We do need to show passports to get off ship because it was a Transatlantic, but last time we did a Transat they didn't look very hard at the passports when we arrived - just stamped without a glance. I'm sure they are well informed who is on the ship before we arrive.

I shudder to think how people are treated in real emergencies. And older folks not computer savvy, or folks without good English or French. The service was horrendous.

Today we were in Valencia and it is wonderful! Tomorrow at sea, disembark at Civitavecchia Friday. We are waiting for our friends to decide what, if any, preemptive steps they want to take, of if they want to just proceed to airport on a wing and a prayer. They will definitely call the airline for guidance (Alitalia). Maybe Alitalia's reputation for diffident service will work in their favour on this one.

It would be interesting to know what the final outcome was of this story. Please post when you find out.

Yes, I would like to know too. I was not impressed by the responses I got regarding this. Just sending people to the website is not helpful if it does not address the issue.

I'd also be interested to know how this turns out.

Based on the comments in this thread, it sounds like dealing with the Canadian Consulate in Rome (and probable elsewhere) is going to be a bureaucratic nightmare! Offering service only one day a week is ridiculous.

Perhaps I'll pack along a couple of Passport photos on my next trip, "just in case".

Ken, I was thinking that too. Good to have a back-up. I will be in Rome in a couple of weeks and feel the urge to go in to the embassy and see what the reception is like!

Oh, I came across this email address to request emergency assistance - [email protected]
https://travel.gc.ca/assistance/emergency-assistance

So sorry about your friend's situation. One thing that I thought of when reading your post is whether someone from your cruise line can assist your friends with this issue. I am sure that the cruise company has run into damaged, lost, or stolen passports over the years, they may even have an expediter service they use in different countries or at the very least can help you navigate through the process.

Update #1

Please forgive me if I don't respond to every point at this time. I find detailed responses a pain on my device as opposed to a laptop.

As far as how the ship helped, they allowed a phone call to the Canadian Embassy. That was at Guest Services; if you know cruise ships at all you know that can be a noisy place. My friend had difficulty hearing so that wasn't much help. Also as discussed, the Embassy isn't exactly user friendly.

We called Alitalia once we got to our hotel in Rome. That call was much more reassuring. The woman put me on hold twice to speak to higher-ups (I called, since my friends are older and in a bit of a flap over it). Basically she said that though she cannot promise anything (it is up to the gate agents on the day), she felt that there would be no problem as long as all the information on the passport is in good condition and the picture visible. I confirmed that all info was pretty much perfect, and in my opinion while the photos are slightly degraded, they clearly identify my friends. The Alitalia agent suggested they allow extra time at the airport because they may have additional questioning or security. She was reluctant to make promises, obviously, but sounded fairly sure it would be ok.

At this point my friends are planning to just go to the airport very early on the day and hope for the best. We are staying on in Rome two more nights further than they plan to, so if they have problems we will still be with them.

How was it Ed from Pensacola used to put it? --"travel cheap so that when problems arise you can throw money at them like a firehose" -- or something like that. Not sure we are travelling as cheaply as he does but if it comes to that, it comes to that.
I'll update after they fly Wednesday.

In Rome now for first time in eleven years. Still love it.

Thanks for the update. I trust that your friends have no problems and a smooth ride home. And thanks for reminding all of us of Ed’s great and necessary advice. I laughed like the Devil the first time I read one of his postings with that line but have taken it to heart on all my journeys since.

UPDATE

They made it home. The Alitalia staff at the airport had much discussion amongst one another about the damage, but let them through. I'm sure it helped that they are 71 and 72 year old white persons.

West coast wanderer - we sent multiple emails to that address. Some went unanswered. The reply that was finally received was ambiguous.

The frustrating thing was that the Embassy couldn't give us any firm instructions (i.e., "bring new passport photos to us and we will get new passports for you"). We called several times, looping back to Canada. That woman kept repeating the same useless info-- go to Embassy but only on Thursdays, just Google, OR, most helpful of all [not] -- you need to apply for passports from within Canada [then why go to the Embassy on Thursday??].

I guess I'm naïve -- I expected more assistance from the Canadian Embassy. Thank goodness it turned out well. The lesson here is if something goes wrong, we are on our own.

Thanks for the update...

Do you think the person that you kept getting on the phone was a real person or an AI robot?

If your friends have the time and the will, they should complain to the Dept, of Foreign Affairs. Contact info is on line.

Nigel, she was a real person. I even asked if there was someone else I could speak to and she said no.

Norma, I'll suggest it. I hope they follow through.

First, thanks for coming back with the details that they got home successfully. I also recognize your assistance trying to make it easier for thrm.
I hope you will bear with me for using this platform with information for future readers.
It is clear that the phone conversations were not helpful,but a review of the website for the Cdn Embassy in Rome has a 'make an appointment' option as Norma mentioned above. I tried to make a dummy apointment and was successful with numerous daily options. Appointment options were Passport or Visa services. Clicking 'passport' stated 'all required paperwork required to be completed beforehand'. So essentially the same as if visiting a passport office in Canada and it seemed, straightforward (though any cost or timeline was not provided). For a traveler, it means having to print an online application and getting a passport photo (or as suggested, having spares with you); but the service is available.....and most days of the week.
Losing a passport is inconvenient but service is available at the cost of lost sightseeing time.
Replacing a damaged passport is also available, but the traveler has the ability to balance risk vs time lost/hassle factor.
Certainly, ineffectual phone personnel should be reported. But it doesn't necessarily represent all embassy function.

Maria, we tried that link but got nothing. Perhaps it was the wifi connection letting us down. At any rate, the woman on the phone should have made clear this was the only way to proceed, rather than just telling us to go on a Thursday.

Andrea. That is unfortunate about the connection. I hope feedback does get to the 'powers that be' that they need to up the calibre of their phone staff. Given the potential for calls during crises, knowledge, experience and empathy would go a long way.

One other possible technicality: usually it’s the consulate offices that handle citizens’ paperwork, including passports, at least for ex-pat citizens. Most consultes are stand-alone offices; however, in a capital city, the consulate would be attached to the embassy. So it’s a question of which one handles an emergency passport for a citizen passing through the country, consulate or embassy? Certainly abbreviated emergency passports are issued in cases of loss or theft. I hope they file a complaint or at least find out why this person was so unhelpful.