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Non Us Citizen cruising

pieshops

By pieshops,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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pieshops

pieshops

Posted
Posted

I am asking this for a friend.

 

He is a non US Citizen and will be taking an NCL Cruise from and back to New Orleans.

 

Does anyone know what the procedure is when the cruise docks? Will they be able to get right off the ship when the ship clears or is there more of a procedure to it.

 

They need to catch an early flight so they asked if I knew.

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Demonyte

Demonyte

Posted
Posted

Nothing special, just normal immigration procedures (only visual inspection of documents - no fingerprints etc).

 

The passport/ESTA/visa control is done either onboard or in the terminal, that varies by the cruise and port (it's controlled by CBP). If the passport control is done onboard, everybody on the ship needs to wait until everyone are cleared before disembarking.

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cliffd64

cliffd64

Posted
Posted
I am asking this for a friend.

 

He is a non US Citizen and will be taking an NCL Cruise from and back to New Orleans.

 

Does anyone know what the procedure is when the cruise docks? Will they be able to get right off the ship when the ship clears or is there more of a procedure to it.

 

They need to catch an early flight so they asked if I knew.

 

There will be immigration issues, and I suggest that you should call NCL to see what the requirements will be depending on the type of status your friend possesses. I would not rely solely upon responses given here due to the potential for complexity in each individual situation.

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Demonyte

Demonyte

Posted
Posted
There will be immigration issues, and I suggest that you should call NCL to see what the requirements will be depending on the type of status your friend possesses. I would not rely solely upon responses given here due to the potential for complexity in each individual situation.

 

NCL has no say regarding the immigration process so I would never ask anything related to that from them - if one needs info, CBP is the place to contact.

 

And if the persons have already boarded the ship in NOLA, they have already passed the immigration at some airport - in my personal experience the checks in cruise terminals and/or onboard the ships have been way easier.

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pieshops

pieshops

Posted
  • Author
Posted
There will be immigration issues, and I suggest that you should call NCL to see what the requirements will be depending on the type of status your friend possesses. I would not rely solely upon responses given here due to the potential for complexity in each individual situation.

 

 

Why do you say for sure there will be immigration issues?

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garycarla

garycarla

Posted
Posted

Here is what someone with less than normal immigration status is supposed to do. On the day or arrival back into the United States, they are usually instructed to meet somewhere to clear with border control. Ignore this.

 

His name will be announced over the PA system. Ignore this.

It will be announced again : " Will ____ please contact the front desk immediatley". Go ahead and ignore this.

 

Meanwhile, they will hold up everyone waiting to find and clear this person. No problem. Enjoy your breakfast.

 

 

Okay... hope a few of you go the satire. This seems to happen on almost every cruise.

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garycarla

garycarla

Posted
Posted
I am asking this for a friend.

 

He is a non US Citizen ...

 

They need to catch an early flight so they asked if I knew.

 

 

This question is looking for trouble. No mention of the specifics as to non-U.S. Citizen at all.

 

Early flight could mean anything from 9am to noon depending on what someone considers early.

 

Your friend needs to do some research with NCL as to what they will require to board, with specific information about status, visa, etc. The answer will vary depending on what country he is from, documentation and the countries this particular cruise will visit. The rules will apply to both the United States and each of those countries. And, as many have eventually discovered, the normal rules to visit some countries are different for a cruise ship vs other means of arrival.

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cliffd64

cliffd64

Posted
Posted
Why do you say for sure there will be immigration issues?

 

What I mean by issues is that the immigration experience will be different from all US citizen passengers who just have to go through customs with their luggage. That's all. :) Your friend's particular situation is not clear...

 

We have no other details such as whether or not your friend currently resides in the US under a working or student visa or is arriving in the US as a tourist just to go on the cruise, or any other situation you can think of. Each separate situation has a different and unique impact on the process...

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Guindalf

Guindalf

Posted
Posted

OK, so they're not going now, but for future reference...

 

I was a UK Citizen (now dual nationality, so I can just use my US credentials) and the procedure may be different for other nationalities.

 

We started cruising in 2002 and I had to surrender my passport on embarking. I was called to one of the lounges on the morning of debarkation to get my passport back and be seen by immigration. This applied when I had my green card too.

 

Later cruises dropped this requirement and I was able to keep my passport and GC and there were no issues whatsoever.

 

Without knowing the nationality of the OP's friend, I can't say this would be the same for them as it depends on whether visas are required for the countries visited.

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garycarla

garycarla

Posted
Posted
thank you everyone for your responses, I was just told they have decided not to do the cruise so never mind lol.

 

Thanks again

 

That has to be the quickest that folks here scared somebody away!

 

 

LOL! Just kidding.

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Guindalf

Guindalf

Posted
Posted
Just in General: If you don't have a US or Canadian passport, don't make an early flight - you could be tied up in immigration for a few minutes or a few hours.

 

Makes little difference. No-one gets off the ship until everyone is cleared anyway!

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njhorseman

njhorseman

Posted
Posted (edited)
Makes little difference. No-one gets off the ship until everyone is cleared anyway!

 

That's not true. In many ports the immigration check is done on the pier after you disembark and pick up your luggage. The ship has to be cleared for disembarkation, but the passengers are only processed thereafter. Depending on the situation that day (how many customs/immigration agents are on duty; the number of non-US citizens on the particular sailing; how closely they are checking foreign nationals that day) a non-US passenger may take far longer to clear the process than a US citizen.

Edited by njhorseman
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holula

holula

Posted
Posted

I have a UK passport and I've never had a separate immigration line after a cruise - all passengers have ended up in the same line. Sailed from 5 ports and done 12 cruises and sometimes I wish there was a non-US line!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

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sc2011

sc2011

Posted
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As a non American citizen I can tell you they won't let you on the ship without proper documentation to get off the ship. They clear non US citizens ahead of time. Getting off is as easy as everyone else. I'm a green card holder who has traveled with US citizens for many years.

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njhorseman

njhorseman

Posted
Posted (edited)
I have a UK passport and I've never had a separate immigration line after a cruise - all passengers have ended up in the same line. Sailed from 5 ports and done 12 cruises and sometimes I wish there was a non-US line!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Again, the process differs by port. I'm sure you've never disembarked in NY City, for example.

Edited by njhorseman
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njhorseman

njhorseman

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I have, twice. Did I miss something?

 

Judging by your cruise history you probably haven't disembarked in recent years...after Pier 88 was remodeled and CBP adopted the current immigration/customs procedures where all passengers are processed in the same way they are at an airport...after disembarkation.

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Trevor Fountain

Trevor Fountain

Posted
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Judging by your cruise history you probably haven't disembarked in recent years...after Pier 88 was remodeled and CBP adopted the current immigration/customs procedures where all passengers are processed in the same way they are at an airport...after disembarkation.

 

Oh, thanks for the explanation. On the Dawn's maiden voyage across the Atlantic, New York customs/immigration officials were on board whilst at Sea. They collected everybody's passports, and interviewed all non-us citizens. We had to queue for hours. A real pain in the butt.

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