Mikble

Quick update-

So I spoke directly with a manager at customs and immigration in Maui who confirmed as Roger001 said that we would have cleared customs in Hilo- our first port of call back in the US.  Does that guarantee we won’t have any issues disembarking in Maui?  NO, not at all, but after speaking with NCL guest relations and with someone with CBP in Maui it has given us enough warm-fuzzies that we are planning to do just that.  I will post again how that goes after our cruise so that future travelers will know exactly what to do/not to do in these same circumstances.  

Thanks to to everyone who has chimed-in, I appreciate all your responses!

Thanks roger001.  I was “on-board” 😉 with your line of thinking except, if using your example, you clear customs in Key West why would all cruise lines make you go through customs “again” in Miami as you disembark?  I would suspect if you truly cleared customs in Key West the cruise lines wouldn’t make everyone go through that a second time if for no other reason than to get brownie points with their customers by making the disembarkation process go faster.

Thanks Casofilia!  I can't imagine customs will just be there waiting for me when I want to disembark - even if I do tell guest relations of my plan when I embark. Wish I knew the procedure well enough to know for sure if I'll actually be able to get off the ship in Maui, even though NCL said I could.

Again, thanks to everyone for your responses, it gave me the perspective I needed to have a meaningful conversation with NCL.

Here’s the outcome-

After nearly an hour on the phone with NCL pre-cruise guest relations being repeatedly told I can’t do that I finally spoke with a manager who essentially said while they could not pre-authorize us to disembark early, they also couldn’t force us to remain on the ship if we wanted to disembark in Maui.  That being said, she suggested if we planned to disembark early that we speak to guest services once on board and make them aware of our plans. 

Unfortunately, that approach makes us uneasy as we’ll be booking airline reservations home based on the assumption that we won’t hit any roadblocks getting off the ship in Maui.  Regardless, now that I’ve been advised what to do from NCL, the concern I have is how do I know for sure there will be someone from Customs and Immigration in Maui when we disembark the ship.  Can anyone familiar with how that process works tell me who normally arranges for Customs & Immigration to be there at disembarkation, or, would there typically be someone with Customs & Immigration there anyway at all US ports of call?

Thanks to everyone for your replies!  This is all good information to have in advance of my conversation with NCL.

Essiesmom- with regard to your comments about clearing immigration & customs at one of the previous Hawaiian ports of call, wouldn’t we need to clear immigration & customs as we disembark the ship for the final time which in our case would be Maui? 

My wife and are US citizens and have booked a 14 day French Polynesia to Hawaiian island cruise next March on the Norwegian Jewel.  We’re scheduled to embark in Papeete and disembark in Honolulu but would prefer to disembark the day before while in Maui.  Can anyone tell me if this is possible and if so what steps we’d need to take to make this happen. I don’t believe this would be a PVSA act violation so unless I’m wrong that should not be a reason to be denied early disembarkation.  I’ve searched the NCL web and couldn’t find their specific policy on this and I’d prefer to hear from others before I reach out to them.  If anyone has had recent experience with down line disembarkation specifically on NCL I’d appreciate hearing from you.

Thanks in advance for your responses.