Mariner eastern itinerary question

[SunSkater]

Hello,

 

My name is John and I am new to cruising and new to these boards. I am sailing the eastern itinerary on Mariner of the Seas in late November and have a few questions regarding the ship's arrival in St. Thomas. I hope to be able to predict with a little more confidence then I now have when my tennies can make contact with the dock.

 

When the itinerary lists arrival time for St. Thomas as 7:00 AM, I assume that is the time when the ship is mooring rather than the time when we can actually leave her. Fair? I also assume that RCCL has been doing this gig long enough that they are usually where they say they're gonna be when they say they're gonna be there. Is that fair as well? If so, when were those of you who wanted an early start able to leave the ship and start your day?

 

I will check with RCCL about this but would very much like to learn your experiences as well.

 

Thanks.

 

jkt

 

(I did have some related questions but perhaps they are better asked in their own threads. I'm still new at this :) ).

 

~~~~~~

For those of you who sailed this itinerary in winter, was it your experience that the ship remained on eastern standard time throughout the cruise, or did the ship's company set the clocks forward at some point after transiting into Atlantic Time Zone waters.

 

I have read that American law requires that US cruise ship passengers arriving at an American port via a foreign one (e.g., Charlotte Amalie via Nassau) must clear customs/immigration. Was that your experience? If so, was it a seamless, behind-the-scenes blanket clearance or did it involve a longer process?

[beachchick]

Generally, the ship will arrive very close to the time listed. But you must keep in mind that sea and weather conditions can require variations on this. Expect to be on time, but go with the flow if circumstances prevent it.

 

You are correct that on this itinerary you must go through US immigration/customs (whatever it is; I forget) before leaving the ship. It is not a behind the scenes, blanket deal. Everyone lines up and goes through this essentially perfunctory check in the dining room. You must have all your ID ready. Your seapass will be marked when you are cleared (if you don't have the mark, you are not allowed off the ship). After that, you will be allowed to go ashore. They know what they are doing, but we didn't get off the ship until after 9.

 

As for other questions, we are more than happy to help with whatever we can, but please do a search (set it to go back a few weeks; you don't need to search from the beginning of time) before posting a question. Sometimes the same questions are asked and answered over and over and over again--sometimes several times on the same day. We love to help, but it does get tedious sometimes. If a search doesn't yield results or the answers you need, then please do ask--and don't think that we will consider your questions stupid or dumb. We were all newbies once and know how it feels. We will not think you are crazy for asking a silly question.

 

Have a great cruise.

 

beachchick

[dexter]

When we arrived in St. Thomas a couple of weeks ago, the CD announced that immigration would begin at 7:30am and it did. We were off the ship no later than 7:45am and on our way to St. John. It never takes too long after the ship docks.

[cruisingrightalong]

OK....now asking a question?

Going to St. Thomas in a couple of weeks on the Brilliance and again in May...from above...we have to not go thru the regular "checkout" from the ship?

 

We have to go thru a special checkout to go to St. Thomas...don't mind..just inquiring minds need to know.

 

Lou

[beachchick]

For St. Thomas: If you are coming directly from a US port (including Puerto Rico or any other USVI), I don't believe you have to go through any customs stuff because, technically, you haven't left US controlled ports. It's only if you've been to a non-US port (Mariner goes to Nassau first) that you have the customs thing.

 

Hey, getting ashore by 7:45--that's awesome! Did you have a full ship? On ours they called us in groups. I think we were about the 5th group called. Still, it was only about 30 minutes from the time we got in line until the time we were able to get our stuff together (take passports back to the cabins specifically) and get ready to leave the ship.

 

beachchick

[WNYer]

We will be on the March 20 Mariner. We are going with friends and have scheduled a tour with Godfrey tours. The wives and daughters are being picked up by Godfrey at 9:00 and the husbands and sons are being picked up at 10:00. I read that we should have our confirmation from Godfrey printed out to prove that we need to be off early. Can someone tell me exactly what steps we need to take? Who do I show the confirmation to? Does the whole family go to immigration at the same time? Do people just go whenever they want or are there specific times? I have no idea how this works. :confused: Thanks for your help!

Linda

[lschrage]

We will be on the March 20 Mariner. We are going with friends and have scheduled a tour with Godfrey tours. The wives and daughters are being picked up by Godfrey at 9:00 and the husbands and sons are being picked up at 10:00. I read that we should have our confirmation from Godfrey printed out to prove that we need to be off early. Can someone tell me exactly what steps we need to take? Who do I show the confirmation to? Does the whole family go to immigration at the same time? Do people just go whenever they want or are there specific times? I have no idea how this works. :confused: Thanks for your help!

Linda

 

You can go through immigration at any time. And no, the whole family doesn't need to be together. Once you clear immigration, they give you a "pass" to get off the ship. If you don't have a pass, you don't get off the ship.

 

The line moved fairly quickly. I went around 7:30 am and the line was quite long and took about 30 minutes. My husband went around 8:45 and was in and out in less than 5 minutes.

 

Lynne

[lschrage]

For those of you who sailed this itinerary in winter, was it your experience that the ship remained on eastern standard time throughout the cruise, or did the ship's company set the clocks forward at some point after transiting into Atlantic Time Zone waters.

 

The ship was an hour ahead due to the Atlantic Time Zone. Make sure you set your watch when you get on board.

[WNYer]

Thanks Ischrage!!

[SunSkater]

Thank you all for your responses. You've been very helpful.

 

We were thinking about booking a daysail from Red Hook and concerned about time pressures. I know the daysail captains will hold their yachts for exclusive bookings, but we're just one couple. With 7:00 AM shipboard being 7:00 AM on the ground, it just got a whole lot better, and I think we might swing it. (If we get out of bed early enough. ;) )

 

Once again, thank you.

 

John.