Enchantment not so enchanting...

[Starry Eyes]

Aren't customs agent supposed to intercept drugs, keep banned materials out of the country and collect duties? To do so effectively, should they not observe people's attitudes, dress and travel habits? Of course, the seemingly low-key retired couple in their seventies on their annual cruise could be running drugs or buying in excess of the customs allowance, but what are the odds? OTOH, condescending people wearing expensive jewelry or carrying designer bags are more likely than that low key retired couple to have purchased items above their duty free allowances. Still, the latter couple is more likely to be questioned than the former. Targeting?...yes, probably so, but understandably. If the OP does not wish to be flagged by and questioned about his watch, he could simply leave the watch at home, like baldercash. Or, like Aquahound, wear it, accept that, though an expensive watch will draw some attention, any inquiries can be politely managed.

 

I took some one way flights back in 2001-3 when such flyers were receiving increased post 9/11 scrutiny. Though I knew they were wasting resources screening me, I accepted that that booking pattern raised questions, so I politely answered those questions.

[cruisinfanatic]

If no one got "targeted", Customs agents would sit on their hands all day.

Big deal!

[pittnh]

Just sailed the past 4 day on the Enchantment of the Seas; won't do that again. Before anyone takes offense to this post, let me say that we achieved Diamond status with this cruise and we definitely love RCCL. On the Enchantment the thing that we noticed immediately upon boarding was how dirty the pool deck area was. It was so bad at the pool bar that I wouldn't sit my backpack on the deck. It was a real turn-off.

 

Never the less we headed to the Lido which we soon discovered was not opening until 11:30am! Why board passengers at 11:00am if you are not going to open the Lido until 11:30? People were cramming the entrance area waiting for it to open, and when they did finally open the Lido people rushed forward like there wasn't going to be enough food for everyone!

 

We realized quickly that the Lido on this ship is not large enough to handle the number of passengers on board. People were walking around with trays of food searching for a open table. I am not sure is this was a problem caused by stretching the ship and adding passengers, or if there were a lot of early arriving passengers. We never noticed this problem on the Grandeur. So we stayed away from the Lido for the remainder of the cruise.

 

We felt that the crew was very friendly, and most of the public areas were clean. The ship is definitely showing her age, and we wondered if some of the cleaning issues were attributed to the fact that the crew is still adjusting to 3 and 4 days cruises as opposed to the 9 and 12 day trips they were used to. One crew member told us that the Enchantment is leaving the fleet after the arrival of Quantum, and that the Grandeur will be replacing her. Strictly a rumor, but interesting to say the least. She said that the Explorer will replace the Grandeur out of Baltimore.

 

We only ate in the dinning room one of the nights, but the service was fine and the food was so-so. We ate in Chops three nights, and as always it was great. Not very crowed which surprised me a little.

 

We missed Coco-cay the first day for winds, so instead of giving us a day at sea the Captain headed directly for Nassau. We pulled in at 2pm and did not sail again until the next day at midnight! I am sorry folks but Nassau isn't that nice, lol. I would have rather done the day at sea. We were able to stop at Coco-cay on Thursday, so no sea day but I am sure the Captain saved some fuel which made Miami happy.

 

A heads up on Customs in Port Canaveral. I recently retired as an Airline Captain, and I cannot count how many times over the years that I have gone thru customs and filled out "dec" cards. I always list a 0 in the dollar amount if I didn't purchase anything, and never had a problem.

 

In Port Canaveral the agent asked if we were bringing in food or fruit, or if we had purchased anything. We answered no to both questions, and then I saw him look at my Rolex watch. He flagged us immediately and they detained us for a search of our luggage. We were targeted plain and simple! Not because they suspected us of being illegal, or possibly because we were smuggling drugs. NO, it was because we were nicely dressed and had on nice jewelry.

 

Once we were taken aside in a separate area we noticed that it was mostly Anglo Saxon women and some men, but no minorities at all. I immediately felt that Customs was definitely targeting people that they suspected might be smuggling expensive jewelry or other items purchased in Nassau.

 

I asked to speak with the Supervisor and I told him that I could see what was happening and that I would be launching a complaint. After several minutes of back and forth he finally relented and told us to take our bags and go without a search. As we were leaving we noticed them tearing thru others bags.

 

Word of warning if sailing out of Port Canaveral. If you are nicely dressed and have nice jewelry on you are subject to a search.

 

 

whiner, whiner, forty-niner

[morganboys]

so your name got pulled at ramdom for a check and you get all upset and snippy. im suprised with the attitude you gave them they didnt delay the process just to hold you up longer for being uncoopertive. they are just doing their jobs. let them do it an move on.

 

as for the windjammer not being open at 11. if im not mistaken the cruise compass states it opens at 11:30 every day.

 

the odd thing about message boards regardless to which ones is when a poster comes on all fired up and looking for a fight or looking to bicker. there are plenty of people on them that are looking for the same so you get a backlash. Then throw in the cheerleader and start popping the popcorn.

[baldercash]

If no one got "targeted", Customs agents would sit on their hands all day.

Big deal!

 

Didn't they just catch a man with an altered passport & pressure cooker in his luggage flying into the Sates?

 

They serve a purpose and a necessary part of travel. It is just not implemented well like most things governments control.

You just want to hope the IRS & US Customs does not get access to the Diamond internationals Caribbean data base : )

[Paulxyz2004]

[quote name='baldercash']
You just want to hope the IRS & US Customs does not get access to the Diamond internationals Caribbean data base : )[/quote]

I don´t know about that one, but the one thing for sure is they get a list with onboard purchases from the ship.

[Paulxyz2004]

[quote name='BlueSkySailing']So you say one thing and do another! Interesting :rolleyes:[/quote]

Yeah, noticed that too, but he´s way too hung up with himself to not return.

[centurycruiser]

[quote name='bigque']If you are diamond I have never heard a diamond member that has been sailing RCI as long as you refer to the Windjammer as the "Lido" but that's just me! [/quote]

I've been cruising since 1970 on many different lines and no matter what ship or cruise line I am on, the buffet is in the "lido." DW always knows what I mean when I say "let's go to the lido." :)

[quote name='bigque'] What I have a problem with as a person being a "minority" is the insinuation that minorities were somehow not targeted in customs because they were somehow in a different class of people as you because you perceive yourself to be of an upperclass of people because you wear expensive jewelry. I may be reading too much into it but that is the way I took it! Some things I think people ought to keep to themselves or choose their words differently.[/quote]

About 2/3 of our cruises are from PC because it is only an hour away from home. Because we travel frequently by cruise and air we don't usually buy any extras to bring home and maybe 90% of our declarations say $0. I've never been hassled by customs/immigration there, but, once when traveling with a small group a young black man with us was pulled aside to have his luggage inspected. I told DW, let's wait for him. The custom agent asked us "are you with him?" I told him we were and he sent the young man on his way. I felt that was definitely an issue of CWB (cruising while black).

[cruisinfanatic]

[quote name='centurycruiser']I've been cruising since 1970 on many different lines and no matter what ship or cruise line I am on, the buffet is in the "lido." DW always knows what I mean when I say "let's go to the lido." [/quote]
Lido is only your interpretation

[centurycruiser]

[quote name='bigque']If you are diamond I have never heard a diamond member that has been sailing RCI as long as you refer to the Windjammer as the "Lido" but that's just me! [/quote]

I guess I am not the only one and I am [I]Halfway to Pinnacle[/I].

[grneyes]

Lido?
Over 25 Cruises never heard that word on a RC ship.

[F27TW]

[SIZE=3][COLOR=black]What a bunch of fools there are lurking on here. Focusing on the word the OP used ("lido") instead of what was being said. You did know what he was referring to, though.[/COLOR][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][COLOR=black][/COLOR][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][COLOR=black]Pitiful group ... [/COLOR][/SIZE]

[Big_G]

OP,

Stunningly good looks, superior intellect, and some good old fashion Jedi mind tricks usually work for me. Next time leave the Rolex home. :rolleyes:

[Eriksgarden]

Everyone we encountered in PC in April were professional and nice. We had no problem with Customs.

And next March, we are sailing on Enchantment. Please tell the racists to stay home. Thanks!

[kruzerci]

We were on the 4 night a week before yours. I am not discrediting nothing you said, but I will say I was impressed with the ship and it is a massive improvement over the Monarch.

I'm thinking your negative overall experience had to do with your own "misfortune" and your attitude.

As far as the rumors you heard, I see no validity to any of them. Explorer cannot sail from Baltimore, Enchantment is certainly not leaving the fleet, and there is no indication that Grandeur will replace her from Port Canaveral.

The captain couldn't help the fact that you missed Cococay. And as far as cutting costs... I think you are looking for something to complain about. When we missed CocoCay on Monarch, we spent the day floating off the coast of the island. In that case, they saved fuel and raked in money from the onboard bars and casino, which they gave up for your early arrival in Nassau. Much like your random customs search, I highly doubt there was a conspiracy to cut fuel costs.

I'm going to suggest looking at the glass as half full next time, you may find you enjoy your next 25 cruises more ;).

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

[quote name='Eriksgarden']Everyone we encountered in PC in April were professional and nice. We had no problem with Customs.

And next March, we are sailing on Enchantment. Please tell the racists to stay home. Thanks![/quote]

Now I'm getting confused. Who are the racists in this scenario? Were the customs agents racist? I don't recall that the OP mentioned their race. Or was he implying that they singled him out because of his race and wealth?

Were there no other races besides Caucasians ever pulled out for extra scrutiny? Was the OP in line long enough to observe every single person who received extra scrutiny?

There are very wealthy, well dressed Afrcian-Americans and Asian-Americans who cruise. Yes, some even wear Rolexes or similar high end watches. Does the OP imply that such cruisers would not have been singled out?

While I agree with the OP that the Windjammer/Lido is very crowded on boarding day and maybe even the pool area was dirty when the OP observed it, I find it hard to accept that he was especially targeted by customs agents simply because he is an affluent, fit, well-dressed, enviably "Rolexed", retired airline captain and white male.

I would tend to think he was just a random passenger pulled over as were most of the others that day who received extra scrutiny.

[Gil T. Azell]

[quote name='Aquahound']This is the way you talk about a Customs agent....calling him a "peon," and insulting his intellect, then you go on and call other people on this thread "attack dogs?" Really?!

Wow. :rolleyes:



Bingo.[/QUOTE]

[FONT="Trebuchet MS"][SIZE="3"]While I wouldn't call the agent a peon the agents working this particular Enchantment cruise weren't the brightest. I was on this cruise and pulled aside. However I was not bothered by it. I had 4 bottles of alcohol and my fellow was quite concerned. I am not a US citizen and I tried to explain to him that I was not keeping it in the US but traveling on so that I was indeed allowed to pass through the US with it. He at first didn't agree but once I pulled in one of his co-workers it was all ok.

Then he kept insisting did I have a visitors visa. I said no I didn't need one. He said yes you do. I continued to try and tell him no as I do not need one but the man didn't get it. Finally I just said yes I do. Then he wanted to know exactly when I was in Port Canaveral last and what ship would I be boarding next or was I re-boarding the Enchantment. This just after I told him no I was traveling on to home.:rolleyes:

The man really didn't get it and the questions he was asking would easily frustrate anyone. Luckily I have a high tolerance level for stuff like this so I was more amused than anything. He asked questions that didn't make sense and if you tried to tell him differently he would get angry. He kept me detained quite awhile and it wasn't until his co-worker walked back over and observed our conversation that he finally said I could repack my things and be on my way.

While I was repacking I overheard his coworker explain that no I did not need a tourist visa and correct him on a few other points. I could easily see how this particular agent could put someone on edge as when I kept giving him the correct information he kept telling me I was wrong. In the end I believe that he thought I worked on the ship due to my many stamps in my passport and his questions. Another incorrect assumption on the part of the agent.

If the OP had the same agent as I had then I can completely understand his frustration. From what I saw he wasn't the only agent there at that time that had a similar attitude. Some of them were just rude even when you were polite back to them. If the OP had a similar agent to me than the agent's attitude was set before you even said hello.

[/SIZE][/FONT]

[Gil T. Azell]

[FONT="Trebuchet MS"][SIZE="3"]As far as the ship goes I thought it was clean as always. However I must admit I paid more time at the bar areas than anywhere else. I was up on the main pool deck everyday and all was well that I saw. However maybe something happened in the area the OP was in before someone had a chance to clean it up. They were doing maintenance work on the pool deck during this cruise.

It doesn't mean anything that the OP referred to the Windjammer as the Lido especially if you cruise multiple lines. Heck...I am Pinnacle and I often call one lounge another lounge from another ship. Also he did say that the ship had an unscheduled overnight in Nassau so that should have shown the naysayers that he was indeed on the ship. It's funny how people can pick on one thing out of a post and make assumptions. You should be working with the customs agents.:p

As far as Nassau went I thought that was an great bonus to be able to overnight. Lots of people went off the ship that evening to dance the night away in the local bars. The decision to overnight was a happy one for me but not for the OP. Just goes to show that not everyone feels that same way and not all will be happy.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[Gil T. Azell]

[quote name='kruzerci']We were on the 4 night a week before yours. I am not discrediting nothing you said, but I will say I was impressed with the ship and it is a massive improvement over the Monarch.

I'm thinking your negative overall experience had to do with your own "misfortune" and your attitude.

As far as the rumors you heard, I see no validity to any of them. Explorer cannot sail from Baltimore, Enchantment is certainly not leaving the fleet, and there is no indication that Grandeur will replace her from Port Canaveral.

[B]The captain couldn't help the fact that you missed Cococay. And as far as cutting costs... I think you are looking for something to complain about. When we missed CocoCay on Monarch, we spent the day floating off the coast of the island. In that case, they saved fuel and raked in money from the onboard bars and casino, which they gave up for your early arrival in Nassau. Much like your random customs search, I highly doubt there was a conspiracy to cut fuel costs.
[/B]
I'm going to suggest looking at the glass as half full next time, you may find you enjoy your next 25 cruises more ;).[/QUOTE]

[FONT="Trebuchet MS"][SIZE="3"]We didn't miss Coco Cay but reversed the itinerary by going to Nassau first and overnighting and then headed to Coco Cay. The Grandeur and Majesty were in port with us in Nassau when we arrived. I think the fact that all the big honchos from Miami were on the Majesty had more to do with the decision to overnight rather than add a sea day. Either way it made a ton of passengers and most of the crew very happy![/SIZE][/FONT]

[Gil T. Azell]

[quote name='daljettjockie']Just sailed the past 4 day on the Enchantment of the Seas; won't do that again. Before anyone takes offense to this post, let me say that we achieved Diamond status with this cruise and we definitely love RCCL. On the Enchantment the thing that we noticed immediately upon boarding was how dirty the pool deck area was. [B]It was so bad at the pool bar that I wouldn't sit my backpack on the deck.[/B] It was a real turn-off.

[/QUOTE]

[FONT="Trebuchet MS"][SIZE="3"]I missed that you said the pool bar. I probably talked to you at the pool bar as I was there every day.;):)

I never noticed any dirty areas around the pool bar so it must have been a moment that something happened just prior to you arriving. Honest my feet were clean.;)[/SIZE][/FONT]