Arriving at a US Port....Department of Homeland Security

[bigpeewee]

My wife and I will be passengers on the Diamond Princess in May 2013. We join the ship in Beijing (China) and disembark in Vancouver (Canada). We will fly from Vancouver to Los Angeles and then fly home to Australia.

 

We are Australian citizens and will travel on valid Australian Passports.

 

My question concerns our entry to the US and the requirement for us to be in possession of the necessary documentation to satisfy the US Immigration Department on arrival. On a previous occasion we have flown from Australia direct to Los Angeles. We were in possession of the appropriate Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (ESTA) documentation issued under the US Visa Waiver Program, and entry to the US at LAX was straightforward.

 

This time our ship will arrive at ANCHORAGE (Alaska) as our first port of call on US soil. I also understand that the staff (crew) of the Diamond Princess will take possession of our Passports when we board the ship in Beijing.

 

Does anyone know if staffs of the US Department of Homeland Security (Immigration Department) in Alaska look upon "transient cruise ship passengers" in a different way compared to an arrival by air at Los Angeles airport?.......... Presuming they do, then we will complete the "normal" document entry requirements when we arrive LAX from Vancouver.

 

Thanks.........\\\

[Pam in CA]

Very good question. I'm on the same cruise, i.e., the Diamond from Beijing to Whittier to Vancouver.

 

We will probably be required to disembark the ship in Whittier and re-board rather than be able to stay on the ship. I'm sure someone knows whether we go through US Immigration there before re-boarding.

 

Regardless of what happens in Whittier, when we disembark in Vancouver, we go through Canadian Immigration and when we go to the airport, we check in and go through US Immigration at the Vancouver airport and then Security. You will not go through it in LAX. Vancouver is one of the few Canadian airports where you go through US Immigration before actually flying to the US. Make sure you plan on plenty of time to get to the airport through all the various lines just to get to the gate. It can take a couple of hours from the time you arrive at the airport until you get to the gate. I haven't booked our return flights from Vancouver to LAX yet but won't book anything before 2pm.

[SeaDog-46]

Big Peewee

 

Purchased ESTA online - before joining Volendam at Sydney to Vancouver.

Face to face with immigration onboard before landing in Hawaii.

At Vancouver on reboarding for inside passage cruise - US immigration finger printed us with hand scanner.

 

Good flight back from Vancouver with AirNZ via Auckland to Brisbane.

Did not want to go via LAX.

 

John

email - hayati88@bigpond.com

[sueandkent]

Very good question. I'm on the same cruise, i.e., the Diamond from Beijing to Whittier to Vancouver.

 

We will probably be required to disembark the ship in Whittier and re-board rather than be able to stay on the ship. I'm sure someone knows whether we go through US Immigration there before re-boarding.

 

Regardless of what happens in Whittier, when we disembark in Vancouver, we go through Canadian Immigration and when we go to the airport, we check in and go through US Immigration at the Vancouver airport and then Security. You will not go through it in LAX. Vancouver is one of the few Canadian airports where you go through US Immigration before actually flying to the US. Make sure you plan on plenty of time to get to the airport through all the various lines just to get to the gate. It can take a couple of hours from the time you arrive at the airport until you get to the gate. I haven't booked our return flights from Vancouver to LAX yet but won't book anything before 2pm.

 

Just an FYI, all Canadian international airports have US immigration, just the regionals don't.

[bigpeewee]

Thank you...very informative response.

 

In relation to the Vancouver airport.... We intend flying Air Canada to Los Angeles. Does the Vancouver airport have seperate International and Domestic Terminals?...... Indeed, if we transact the US Immigration requirements at Vancouver, are we then flying on an International or domestic "flight" to Los Angeles?

 

Thanks ....\\\

[bigpeewee]

hank you...very informative response.

 

In relation to the Vancouver airport.... We intend flying Air Canada to Los Angeles. Does the Vancouver airport have seperate International and Domestic Terminals?...... Indeed, if we transact the US Immigration requirements at Vancouver, are we then flying on an International or domestic "flight" to Los Angeles?

 

Thanks ....\\\

[Snow cat]

hank you...very informative response.

 

In relation to the Vancouver airport.... We intend flying Air Canada to Los Angeles. Does the Vancouver airport have seperate International and Domestic Terminals?...... Indeed, if we transact the US Immigration requirements at Vancouver, are we then flying on an International or domestic "flight" to Los Angeles?

 

Thanks ....\\\

 

Yes, YVR has separate int'l, domestic and US destination check-ins, with US immigration cleared there as previous poster indicated. As far as YVR is concerned, you will be international because domestic to them is within Canada.

[aaerobear]

Vancouver has a special terminal for flights to the USA, all US and Canadian airlines with direct flights to the states leave from there.

[bigpeewee]

Thank you once again everybody....\\\\

[joll]

My question concerns our entry to the US and the requirement for us to be in possession of the necessary documentation to satisfy the US Immigration Department on arrival.

This time our ship will arrive at ANCHORAGE (Alaska) as our first port of call on US soil. I also understand that the staff (crew) of the Diamond Princess will take possession of our Passports when we board the ship in Beijing.

 

Does anyone know if staffs of the US Department of Homeland Security (Immigration Department) in Alaska look upon "transient cruise ship passengers" in a different way compared to an arrival by air at Los Angeles airport?.......... Presuming they do, then we will complete the "normal" document entry requirements when we arrive LAX from Vancouver.

 

Thanks.........\\\

 

We did a similar trip on the Diamond Princess from Singapore to Vancouver (via Alaska) in April/May 2012. We had Australian passports with a Chinese Visa and current ESTA authorisation for entry into the US. The ship's personnel do take your passport so representatives from the various other Asian countries you will visit can come onboard and check them while the ship is travelling. If you are going to any Japanese ports, you will probably have to line up for them to take your fingerprints and pass by a machine which takes your temperature.

 

Our first US port was Seward, Alaska and we had to go through US Immigration onboard. We were given Group No. 3 and the checks started at 7.30 am. We went through quickly (no fingerprints or photos) and were waiting for our tour by 8.30 am. However, some people didn't get cleared until noon. We were probably given an early number because we were booked on a Princess Tour scheduled for 9.00 am departure!!

 

At the end of our cruise when we disembarked in Vancouver, we had to go through Canadian Customs & Immigration. Pretty quick even with passengers from the Sapphire Princess disembarking as well. We had 2 days in Vancouver before catching the train to the airport. Very easy for us as our hotel was only a couple of blocks from the Granville Street Station. The train took 22 minutes (mostly underground) and the stop is right at the Airport Terminal. The tickets cost CAD $2.50 and $1.75 (senior). We flew Air Canada to LAX and then Air New Zealand to Brisbane via Auckland, New Zealand.

 

At Vancouver Airport, our bags were labelled for Brisbane, scanned and sent to the plane. We then had to go through US Customs and Immigration - shoes off, photos, fingerprints etc. although we would just be transitting LAX - it took about 30 minutes.