Why no stop at Immigration when leaving ship in Miami?

I have been on many cruises so I was quite surprised that upon leaving our Caribbean cruise aboard the Quest on 1/4/18, we did NOT have to stop at Immigration when we disembarked the cruise in Miami. After we gathered our bags, we were just directed to leave the terminal building. Is this something new?

Mary Lou

If it was a closed loop cruise that is why I think.

Kathy

Also depends where it went if it was like a cruise to just us territory (ex Puerto Rico)

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The December 22nd sailing of the Quest went to non US ports also, so that could not be the issue.

I am not sure what a "closed loop" cruise means. If it implies you leave and return to the same port, all of our 40+ cruises have left and returned to the same port. We always went through immigration and customs.

We were on this sailing and we also could not figure out why no customs or immigration stops. We were off the ship from luggage pick up and out the door. I have never experienced this.

As we docked in Terminal J, which is outside the main stream of docking berths, was our sailing overlooked?

I had to laugh with all of the chatter on limiting immigration we had passengers from numerous countries (I am not implying they were a risk) how does Immigration know they arrived in a US port?

Maybe someone out there is CC world has information on this.

You were already in the US as you called at Key West on January 3.

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You were already in the US as you called at Key West on January 3.

 

 

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We didn’t go through immigration there or in St. Thomas.

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I would think that the roster of passengers and crew would have been supplied to the US government at Key West. Didn't they have a scan or copy of your passport at check in?

I would think that the roster of passengers and crew would have been supplied to the US government at Key West. Didn't they have a scan or copy of your passport at check in?

Well, don’t they always scan your passport when you check in? If they just have to scan the passports at the beginning and provide this data to the authorities, why would we ever have to stand in line at the end of a cruise to get them scanned again? I live in Florida and go on 3 or 4 Caribbean Cruises a year and this is the first time I did not have to go through Immigration.

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Well, don’t they always scan your passport when you check in? If they just have to scan the passports at the beginning and provide this data to the authorities, why would we ever have to stand in line at the end of a cruise to get them scanned again? I live in Florida and go on 3 or 4 Caribbean Cruises a year and this is the first time I did not have to go through Immigration.

I have never had to go through immigration in Miami or Fort Lauderdale IF the last port is Key West.

So you are saying the reason is that the ship stopped in a US port before we disembarked? That sounds logical but I would have still thought that the authorities would want to see us and our passports at that port. We only showed our passports when we boarded - to the check-in desk staff. After that I put them in the safe until the day we disembarked.

My wife and I were on the same cruise and we were equally surprised that there was no immigration stop. As Canadians, I was expecting a cursory confirmation that I matched my passport photo. On a previous Celebrity cruise, the immigration officer commented that she really liked checking Canadian passports. The immigration systems are tightly coupled.

After a 4 day stay in Miami, we returned to Ottawa where we had to scan our passports and pass through facial recognition. Then an immigration officer asked 3 simple questions and we were on our way.

My expectation is that there should have been a similar setup in Miami.

That said, it was the best disembarkation that I have ever been through.

rob...

Interesting as we just disembarked a cruise in Miami and we didn't have to go through immigration either much to our pleasant surprise.

It was a round trip from Miami and we visited St Thomas but our last port was Aruba.

Our friends who we were travelling with also said they didn't have to clear immigration in Miami when they cruised in Oct either

Wonder if it's something new?

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Interesting as we just disembarked a cruise in Miami and we didn't have to go through immigration either much to our pleasant surprise.

It was a round trip from Miami and we visited St Thomas but our last port was Aruba.

Our friends who we were travelling with also said they didn't have to clear immigration in Miami when they cruised in Oct either

Wonder if it's something new?

 

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Cruisers from the 12/22-1/4 Azamara cruise raised this question and now your own return was without immigration or customs. Still wondering with all of the hype on border protection, certain ships arriving in Miami are arriving without either under review. Strange as no one seems to know why or maybe have just not seen this thread.

We will see if anyone has a perspective on why this is happening.

Could it be that because you have been on an American ship that left and returned to the US, you are not counted as having left the US.

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Could it be that because you have been on an American ship that left and returned to the US, you are not counted as having left the US.

 

 

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Nope. The US requires all Americans leaving the country to have documented evidence that one is an American citizen on return (document requirements vary). Requirement exist even for travel to Canada. Recently off an RCI cruise stopping at St Thomas (US), Puerto Rico (US) and Labadee. Had to show passports but there was no screening process. As a non-American you would be required to complete the full process. Plus, the ship is registered/flagged in Malta and not the US.