ellie1145

28 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

Great news!  I’ll be on the same cruise.  🙂

Hope you have a wonderful cruise too! 🛳️

4 minutes ago, ace2542 said:

That is brilliant enjoy Lisbon and Vigo they are great places

Thank you, we will! 

We are staying overnight in a hotel near my daughter and grandchildren before we say goodbye to them tomorrow.
 

To our utter relief our son has just messaged to say it has been approved and he has his ESTA. 

Maybe his phone calls and the escalation of his case worked. We will never know. But we are so grateful. 

It’s been a really harrowing few days but I would like to thank all of you who have been so helpful and so concerned,  and who have shown such kindness. It has really been appreciated. 
 

There are, of course, lessons to be learned, but for the moment we can sleep easy and look forward to boarding the beautiful Anthem of the Seas on Sunday (with our son!)
 

Take care everyone and happy sailing!

A million thanks again. 

9 minutes ago, ace2542 said:

Is the payment showing as pending or is it not showing up at all? I can check my payments with my HSBC app on my phone 

There was a ‘’hold’ on it until today. Now that hold has disappeared. But no payment has been requested or taken from the credit card company again. 
 

He spoke to the CC company who say they haven’t received a request for the money. 

27 minutes ago, ace2542 said:

Have you checked the bank statement yet? Try and go to a public library use a pc computer with the keyboard you can touch or does a neighbour or friend have a pc you can use?

 

 

Yes he’s checked the bank statement. It hasnt been taken. 

4 hours ago, FionaMG said:

 

This is really unhelpful. It makes no difference WHY, the fact is they didn't and now they're understandably frantic. They don't need anybody to be preaching to them. 😕

Thank you for your support and very kind words FionaGM. This cruise was to be special because our son was accompanying us for the first time in a number of years. He’s had a stressful few months and really needs this break. 
 

As we get older it’s also great to have an extra pair of hands heaving suitcases  heaver’🤣

4 hours ago, UKWLDCruise said:

there has been reports in the press of ESTA payment problems going back to the start of the year.  The articles I have seen say that the helpline is aware of the fault.

 

It even is on some other websites and this comment came from MSE in Feb this year.

The exact same thing just happened to me whilst trying to process my ESTA on a desktop PC - what a faff!

Try following the link in your ESTA Application Number confirmation email - it eventually generated a payment link & worked for me on a different device, ie iPhone.

 

 

Thank you for your advice. I’m convinced it’s a payment issue

Many thanks to all the kind people who have taken the time to offer help and advice. 

He has spoken to the US again and got completely different information. The guy this morning said he could speak to the escalation dept. But this agent said he couldn’t and she’d send an email. But it’s 3-10 working days. So pretty useless

We’ve been doing ESTAS for years, ever since they were introduced. Never had this sort of problem. Just hope nobody else has this experience. 

3 minutes ago, cruiseaholic78 said:

No idea if this helps and I can’t imagine that you will get the ESTA without paying. This is a “general” answer I got after posing a question (sorry forgot what). 

 

Thank you for contacting the Traveler Communications Center. 

This is a general email, and we recognize that it may not address your specific situation. Please review the information below and reply directly to this email if this general information does not resolve your inquiry. 

Error in your Date of Birth
If you have made a mistake in your date of birth on your ESTA application, your incorrect application will need to be cancelled in order to re-apply. If this is the case, please respond to this email with your name, date of birth, and passport number to complete the cancellation request. You will then need to complete a new and correct application with the accompanying fee.

When you have to apply for a new ESTA
An ESTA application must contain correct pertinent biographical data. This includes full name, date of birth, citizenship, place of birth, gender, and passport information. Once an application has been submitted, no changes can be made because the ESTA application is considered an official document. 

If your application contains incorrect information for any of the above, you must submit a new application at: https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta. If an application that contains incorrect data is part of a group application, only the application with the incorrect data needs to be resubmitted. There is a fee associated with each application submitted. Erroneous or incorrect information can cause delays at check-in and/or upon arrival in the United States. 

A new ESTA application is also required if your responses to any of the ESTA eligibility questions (page 5 of the ESTA application) change.

If you are unable to submit a new application, please respond to this email with your name, date of birth, and passport number so that we can submit a cancellation request. You will then need to complete a new and correct application with the accompanying fee.

When you DO NOT have to apply for a new ESTA:
A change or error in employment, home address, work address, phone number, email address, travel itinerary, transit status, travel address, or in the point of contact information does not require that a new application be submitted, or that an existing application be updated. However, please have the correct information readily available, as it may be requested during the inspection process.

Thank you again for contacting the CBP Traveler Communications Center.
NOTE:   The answers provided in this forum are for general information purposes only.  Utilizing this forum does not constitute Reasonable Care under Informed Compliance guidelines.



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Here is an official website with hopefully an answer to your questions.

https://esta-america.com/is-a-fast-track-esta-possible/

 

I wish you good luck and hope you return with a positive result soon.

Rosalyn

Thank you Rosalyn. Much appreciated 

An update 

The application is still pending but the hold on the money from his bank account has disappeared and there is no payment taken. That suggests to me that something went wrong with the money transaction or am I barking up the wrong tree?

He is going to phone the US again with this information and also contact his credit card company to see what’s going on.

I very much appreciate any help on offer so thank you to all who have responded. 

We just can’t seem to find out if having an application number means he CAN’T reapply. 🙈

1 hour ago, hallasm said:

Did he get this e-mail with link. I Got The approval The same day.

 

I believe so, hallasm, as he has been able to get in to check the status of his application which is still pending as of 5 mins ago. 
 

My (adult) son’s ESTA application is still pending nearly 6 days later and we sail on Sunday. 
 

We have surfed the internet but it seems it’s very unusual for it to take more than 72 hours  it’s now over 120 hours and we are naturally frantic. 

Will he be able to do another application or will the pending one override everything?

No money has been taken either. Unfortunately he used the new app …..🙈

If his ESTA doesn’t come through by Sunday do you think he could board in Vigo on Tuesday? 
 

Clutching at straws here! 🙈

I guess this is a stupid question but would they allow him to get off in Bermuda and fly home from there without entering the US? So no ESTA required? 

Would we need to discuss this with RCI? 
 

I fear you can’t just disembark wherever you want to. 
 

3 hours ago, crazyank said:

The app is useless, go online and apply again. We just did it for my wife and had her ESTA in less than 10 minutes.

Had you already applied in the app? It’s really worrying knowing what to do. 

We can’t seem to find any information about whether you can actually make another application while one is pending. I think it must be a problem with the app. 

4 minutes ago, carolerwo said:

So sorry you are experiencing this.

We also had issues applying via the app on Tuesday. The payment page never came up. We submitted a Help Desk ticket and the automatic response said to expect a reply in 3-5 working days.

Fortunately on checking back in the app, the payment page came up and we could finalize the application. But so stressful.

Was he able to submit and make payment successfully?

His payment has also not been taken. 

46 minutes ago, crazyank said:

The app is useless, go online and apply again. We just did it for my wife and had her ESTA in less than 10 minutes.

Had you already applied in the app? It’s really worrying knowing what to do. 

26 minutes ago, crazyank said:

The app is useless, go online and apply again. We just did it for my wife and had her ESTA in less than 10 minutes.

Thank you for your input. We will try it. When he rang he was told not to do it again as it would put him at the back of the queue! 🙈

Our (adult) son did his ESTA on the app on Sunday night and it’s still showing PENDING 

Nobody will help even though he rang the help line. 

So what on earth can we do? It’s been 4 days and they say 72 hours. We are frantic as we think he won’t be allowed to board 

Has anyone faced this problem please? 

Thanks to everyone for your help and advice 👍🏻

We are hoping to buy Carnival shares and we would be most grateful for any advice on the best, and cheapest way to do that in the U.K.

many thanks!

7 hours ago, MissP22 said:

Unless something happened on that particular trip, embarkation lunch is always available in the DR either on deck 5 or 6. Did you check the doors on both sides to see which were open? What did the patter say? 

we have done nearly 30 cruises with Princess and this is the first time it wasn’t offered. We always go to the dining room and checked both sides but they said there was no lunch. Fingers crossed tomorrow will be different. There was no mention in the patter but then we’ve never seen it mentioned before. They really want you to go to the buffet 🤣

7 hours ago, Over from NZ said:

Last month on the Enchanted, we had lunch in the MDR when boarding in Rome. 

Thank you for that information. We will try again tomorrow and keep our fingers crossed! 👍