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US immigration on world cruise


AmandaLMcL
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If you are on a World Cruise and you are returning back to the USA after visiting other countries it will be handled at the first USA port of call.

 

For example you are returning back to the USA and the next to last port is Key West and final port is Miami immigration will be handled in Key West.

 

Keith

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Returning to Port Everglades from my world cruise, Customs was handled on board once docked for those of us who were over our spending limit. Immigration was handled in the terminal once off the ship. I don't recall any issues with either. Just a formality and the nice Customs lady waived the duty that I owed because I was not too far over the limit and the amount was small.

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Returning to Port Everglades from my world cruise, Customs was handled on board once docked for those of us who were over our spending limit. Immigration was handled in the terminal once off the ship. I don't recall any issues with either. Just a formality and the nice Customs lady waived the duty that I owed because I was not too far over the limit and the amount was small.

 

Nice way to be welcomed home!

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If you are on a World Cruise and you are returning back to the USA after visiting other countries it will be handled at the first USA port of call.

 

For example you are returning back to the USA and the next to last port is Key West and final port is Miami immigration will be handled in Key West.

 

Keith

My upcoming world cruise will stop at NYC for one day, go to Bermuda for 2 days, then end in Miami. Do you think they'll do immigration in NYC or Miami? NYC is our first USA port near the end, but Bermuda is between it and the final stop in Miami.

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My upcoming world cruise will stop at NYC for one day, go to Bermuda for 2 days, then end in Miami. Do you think they'll do immigration in NYC or Miami? NYC is our first USA port near the end, but Bermuda is between it and the final stop in Miami.

 

I think you may go through immigration both times; New York City and Miami.

 

Keith

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My upcoming world cruise will stop at NYC for one day, go to Bermuda for 2 days, then end in Miami. Do you think they'll do immigration in NYC or Miami? NYC is our first USA port near the end, but Bermuda is between it and the final stop in Miami.

 

If Bermuda is in between, you will have to do it both ports. For us, the bump out to Bermuda meant doing it in Charleston, SC since we stopped there before final disembarkation in Miami on last year's Oceania RTW. In Charleston, we had to go into the terminal for the face-to-face. Passengers were to be called by deck, but the non-US passengers on the earlier decks were taking so long that they started calling US passengers on other decks earlier than initially scheduled.

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If Bermuda is in between, you will have to do it both ports. For us, the bump out to Bermuda meant doing it in Charleston, SC since we stopped there before final disembarkation in Miami on last year's Oceania RTW. In Charleston, we had to go into the terminal for the face-to-face. Passengers were to be called by deck, but the non-US passengers on the earlier decks were taking so long that they started calling US passengers on other decks earlier than initially scheduled.

Thanks....that will help us make plans for NYC.

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Amanda, did you get the information you were looking for?

 

Keith

So far we have only cruised the Med and the Baltic. None of the countries there seem to create the fuss the US does regarding immigration. We will be leaving from Southampton (UK passports) and San Fran will be the first US port of call. H

aving only experienced the US immigration at airports until now, including being put through immigration when in transit through the USA (a 2 hour stop over, all of which is, every time, spent standing in the immigration queue :mad:).

If it takes them 2 hours to process 500ish people off an 777, how do they cope with the numbers on a large ship? :confused:

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It can take a while. First, the US requires EVERYONE to disembark. If SF is the end of a segment, the ship will probably stagger diembarkation, which will help. People on tours will get off first. Those in transit and not wanting to visit the port often come off last. So the lines vary, I've gotten through customs in 10 minutes or as long as an hour. The trick is, unlike a plane where everyone gets off at once, the ship will try to adjust the flow. All that said I've heard of long lines in some US ports. And no reboarding until everyone passes immigration. The ship must have a passenger count of zero before boarding can begin.

 

Sent from my SM-J700T using Forums mobile app

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So far we have only cruised the Med and the Baltic. None of the countries there seem to create the fuss the US does regarding immigration. We will be leaving from Southampton (UK passports) and San Fran will be the first US port of call. H

aving only experienced the US immigration at airports until now, including being put through immigration when in transit through the USA (a 2 hour stop over, all of which is, every time, spent standing in the immigration queue :mad:).

If it takes them 2 hours to process 500ish people off an 777, how do they cope with the numbers on a large ship? :confused:

 

Amanda the process can vary based on cruise ship and port.

 

 

I have done immigration in San Francisco.

 

 

In our case we were assigned a time to show up at a large lounge on the ship where there were several personnel there so the process moved along. I have found that on or coming off a ship that the process goes much faster then at an airport with far less questions asked.

 

 

Keith

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  • 3 months later...
So far we have only cruised the Med and the Baltic. None of the countries there seem to create the fuss the US does regarding immigration. We will be leaving from Southampton (UK passports) and San Fran will be the first US port of call. H

aving only experienced the US immigration at airports until now, including being put through immigration when in transit through the USA (a 2 hour stop over, all of which is, every time, spent standing in the immigration queue :mad:).

If it takes them 2 hours to process 500ish people off an 777, how do they cope with the numbers on a large ship? :confused:

 

On our 2015 WC, on arrival NYC the US Immigration required a face to face with every pax ashore. It took them about 5 hours and they required a zero pax count before anyone could return to the ship. We arrived early evening and it was almost midnight before you could return aboard.

 

 

The processing time varies depending on the port and percentage of non-US & Canadian pax. Probably over 95% of the pax were non-US or Canadian, so they all required finger prints & photos.

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Oh that it were possible to avoid the USA!!! Homeland Security treats everyone as if they are a terrorist. They are abrupt, discourteous and do nothing to welcome visitors to their country?

 

While we have experienced that type of reception, especially after 9/11, as frequent visitors to the US, this is not our experience for at least the past 5 years. In NYC, while the entire process took many hours the actual officers were pleasant.

 

We have arrived in many US ports and crossed the land borders in BC, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec & New Brunswick hundreds of times with our RV (caravan). While at home we are about 20 miles from the border and usually cross the line at least once a month, finding the greatest majority of the Border Officials polite and courteous. Yes, there are exceptions, but these days we find them very rare.

 

If we have UK family/friends with us, we head into secondary, while they check Visa's and take photos/finger prints, but we find them helpful and mostly very pleasant.

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On the 2018 HAL GWV, our last port was Puerto Rico. We cleared immigration in the terminal (which took very little time) and customs in Fort Lauderdale. I have Global Entry and there was a line in Fort Lauderdale for Global Entry. We handed our customs declaration card to an officer who waved us on. Easiest disembarkation I have had on any cruise.

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