Clearing customs and immigration in St Thomas, repo cruise

[Cruzin-K]

My upcoming repositioning cruise is going from New Orleans to Boston. Our first US port of call after visiting foreign ports will be St. Thomas. There are no other ports between St Thomas and Boston. I'm assuming we will have to clear immigration in St. Thomas. Does anyone know how that process works? Will we clear on the ship? Also, where will we have to clear customs? (For those wondering, customs and immigration are not the same thing). What will happen in Boston? In theory, we should not have to go through immigration in Boston because we already did that in St Thomas. I am wondering about customs though. If we clear customs in St. Thomas, people could still purchase other items on the ship during the next three days that would then have to be declared in Boston.

 

It would be nice to just be able to get off the ship in Boston without having to talk to anyone, just grab the luggage and go.

 

I'm trying to figure out what time I'll be able to get off the ship because a friend will be picking me up in Boston and I don't want her to have to wait around for hours.

Edited March 19, 2015 by Cruzin-K

[zqvol]

My upcoming repositioning cruise is going from New Orleans to Boston. Our first US port of call after visiting foreign ports will be St. Thomas. There are no other ports between St Thomas and Boston. I'm assuming we will have to clear immigration in St. Thomas. Does anyone know how that process works? Will we clear on the ship? Also, where will we have to clear customs? (For those wondering, customs and immigration are not the same thing). What will happen in Boston? In theory, we should not have to go through immigration in Boston because we already did that in St Thomas. I am wondering about customs though. If we clear customs in St. Thomas, people could still purchase other items on the ship during the next three days that would then have to be declared in Boston.

 

It would be nice to just be able to get off the ship in Boston without having to talk to anyone, just grab the luggage and go.

 

I'm trying to figure out what time I'll be able to get off the ship because a friend will be picking me up in Boston and I don't want her to have to wait around for hours.

 

You will clear Immigration on the ship in St. Thomas and again in Boston, just like the St. Thomas stop never happened. You will clear customs in Boston.

[sail7seas]

Going direct from St. Thomas to Boston makes it optional for Immigration Clearance in Boston. However, you will have to clear Customs in Boston and the Officials always have the choice to hold an Immigration Inspection if they choose.

[dioxide45]

We have never had to clear immigration in St Thomas after a stop in a foreign Caribbean port. Several cruises with a Nassau then St Thomas then home port.

 

St Thomas is in a different Customs Zone than the mainland USA. I would suspect that you will need to clear customs when returning back to the US even if St Thomas is your prior stop.

[Cruzin-K]

Yeah, I pretty much figured it would be Boston for customs. It's a bit of a waste of Government resources for us to have to go through immigration twice though. Oh well.

 

If the ship is arriving in Boston at 6 a.m. I wonder what time they'll let the first group off the ship :confused:

[dioxide45]

Yeah, I pretty much figured it would be Boston for customs. It's a bit of a waste of Government resources for us to have to go through immigration twice though. Oh well.

 

If the ship is arriving in Boston at 6 a.m. I wonder what time they'll let the first group off the ship :confused:

 

I am still confused as to why you would need to go through immigration in St Thomas. Is this because it is a re-positioning cruise? On closed loop cruises, we have never had to go through immigration in St Thomas.

[Cruzin-K]

I am still confused as to why you would need to go through immigration in St Thomas. Is this because it is a re-positioning cruise? On closed loop cruises, we have never had to go through immigration in St Thomas.

 

Yes, because it's a repo cruise and St. Thomas will be considered the port of entry back into the U.S. It'll be the same on my repo cruise this fall from Quebec to Ft. Lauderdale. The first port in the U.S. will be Bar Harbor, Maine. I've already done the research for that one and found out that the immigration officers will board the ship and we'll have to see them before we can board the tenders to go ashore. I'm not sure how that will affect disembarkation in Florida though. Same issues as this one I guess, but not as critical, because we have an early afternoon flight from Florida and in Boston I have someone driving to the port to get me. No matter how long things take in Florida, I'm sure I'll make my flight. However if I'm stuck on the ship for hours in Boston, it will inconvenience my friend quite a bit.

 

On my closed loop cruises, St. Thomas has never been the final port of call, so I really can't compare this cruise to any of those. I have heard a few stories of how bad it was going through immigration in Key West, when that was the last port of call heading back to Miami or Ft. Lauderdale on closed loop cruises though.

 

edit: after doing more searching on my home computer (instead of trying on my phone) I'm not really certain what they'll do in St. Thomas. They definitely make you clear immigration arriving in St. Thomas after a transatlantic, and of course my Canada cruise originates outside the U.S. which explains the Bar Harbor thing. I'm not 100% certain what they do on a repo cruise starting in the U.S., hitting a few foreign ports and then coming back into the U.S. to a different port than you started at. Part of why I have this thread I suppose. :o

 

edit 2: oooh, I just might have found something. This thread mentions that because the cruise goes to a distant foreign port (Aruba) that's why we have to go through immigration in St. Thomas. The near ports might not have that requirement. Could be right, could be wrong. who knows

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=36628460

Edited March 20, 2015 by Cruzin-K

[dioxide45]

Yes, because it's a repo cruise and St. Thomas will be considered the port of entry back into the U.S. It'll be the same on my repo cruise this fall from Quebec to Ft. Lauderdale. The first port in the U.S. will be Bar Harbor, Maine. I've already done the research for that one and found out that the immigration officers will board the ship and we'll have to see them before we can board the tenders to go ashore. I'm not sure how that will affect disembarkation in Florida though. Same issues as this one I guess, but not as critical, because we have an early afternoon flight from Florida and in Boston I have someone driving to the port to get me. No matter how long things take in Florida, I'm sure I'll make my flight. However if I'm stuck on the ship for hours in Boston, it will inconvenience my friend quite a bit.

 

On my closed loop cruises, St. Thomas has never been the final port of call, so I really can't compare this cruise to any of those. I have heard a few stories of how bad it was going through immigration in Key West, when that was the last port of call heading back to Miami or Ft. Lauderdale on closed loop cruises though.

 

edit: after doing more searching on my home computer (instead of trying on my phone) I'm not really certain what they'll do in St. Thomas. They definitely make you clear immigration arriving in St. Thomas after a transatlantic, and of course my Canada cruise originates outside the U.S. which explains the Bar Harbor thing. I'm not 100% certain what they do on a repo cruise starting in the U.S., hitting a few foreign ports and then coming back into the U.S. to a different port than you started at. Part of why I have this thread I suppose. :o

 

edit 2: oooh, I just might have found something. This thread mentions that because the cruise goes to a distant foreign port (Aruba) that's why we have to go through immigration in St. Thomas. The near ports might not have that requirement. Could be right, could be wrong. who knows

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=36628460

 

Just saw your edit 2. That is interesting and good to know. Seems like you will go through immigration on the ship in St Thomas before you can leave the ship but will go through Customs when you get to Boston.

Edited March 20, 2015 by dioxide45

[Cruzin-K]

Just saw your edit 2. That is interesting and good to know. Seems like you will go through immigration on the ship in St Thomas before you can leave the ship but will go through Customs when you get to Boston.

 

At this point, I think I've done a very good job of confusing myself much more than necessary :( I think I need a fruity drink :D At least all this will be cleared up in a few weeks. I'll be sure to report back on my experience.

[sail7seas]

Yeah, I pretty much figured it would be Boston for customs. It's a bit of a waste of Government resources for us to have to go through immigration twice though. Oh well.

 

If the ship is arriving in Boston at 6 a.m. I wonder what time they'll let the first group off the ship :confused:

 

Immigration is the inspection of people.

Customs is the inspection of things.

Until you import (bring those things into U.S.), they are not subject to U.S. Customs. Until you disembark with all your luggage, they cannot do CustomsInspection thus it is at the end of your cruise, in Boston.

 

St. Thomas is part of the U.S.V.I., the United States Virgin Islands. They are U..S. Territory. When you enter St. Thomas, you are entering U.S.A. As a point of interest, St. Thomas, Charlotte Amalie is in the same Federal Court District as Boston.

 

Edited March 20, 2015 by sail7seas

[Cruzin-K]

Immigration is the inspection of people.

Customs is the inspection of things.

Until you import (bring those things into U.S.), they are not subject to U.S. Customs. Until you disembark with all your luggage, they cannot do CustomsInspection thus it is at the end of your cruise, in Boston.

 

St. Thomas is part of the U.S.V.I., the United States Virgin Islands. They are U..S. Territory. When you enter St. Thomas, you are entering U.S.A. As a point of interest, St. Thomas, Charlotte Amalie is in the same Federal Court District as Boston.

 

 

Thanks. I wonder why it is then, that we never have to go through immigration every single time we disembark in a U.S. Territory, no matter where the port of call falls in the itinerary. I've been to St. Thomas and St. Croix quite a few times as a port of call on a closed loop cruise and never had to present myself to immigration authorities.

 

Makes sense about customs, about bringing stuff off the ship. Technically, much of what you buy in a foreign port could be consumed between St. Thomas and Boston, thus avoid having to declare it :D :eek:

[CPT Trips]

My understanding is that you need immigration clearance anytime you enter the US from a foreign country. It's conceivable that this would be more than once on a trip. Not that a real itinerary comes to mind.

 

No customs issue with buying something duty free, and possibly not legal to import into the US (Cuban cigars), consuming it aboard ship and never bringing it into the US. The key is that it never came into the US.

[biker@sea]

Yeah, I pretty much figured it would be Boston for customs. It's a bit of a waste of Government resources for us to have to go through immigration twice though. Oh well.

 

If the ship is arriving in Boston at 6 a.m. I wonder what time they'll let the first group off the ship :confused:

 

First walk off starts a little after 8 .

 

I schedule livery service for 9:30 .

Edited March 20, 2015 by biker@sea

[chengkp75]

Yes, because it's a repo cruise and St. Thomas will be considered the port of entry back into the U.S. It'll be the same on my repo cruise this fall from Quebec to Ft. Lauderdale. The first port in the U.S. will be Bar Harbor, Maine. I've already done the research for that one and found out that the immigration officers will board the ship and we'll have to see them before we can board the tenders to go ashore. I'm not sure how that will affect disembarkation in Florida though. Same issues as this one I guess, but not as critical, because we have an early afternoon flight from Florida and in Boston I have someone driving to the port to get me. No matter how long things take in Florida, I'm sure I'll make my flight. However if I'm stuck on the ship for hours in Boston, it will inconvenience my friend quite a bit.

 

On my closed loop cruises, St. Thomas has never been the final port of call, so I really can't compare this cruise to any of those. I have heard a few stories of how bad it was going through immigration in Key West, when that was the last port of call heading back to Miami or Ft. Lauderdale on closed loop cruises though.

 

edit: after doing more searching on my home computer (instead of trying on my phone) I'm not really certain what they'll do in St. Thomas. They definitely make you clear immigration arriving in St. Thomas after a transatlantic, and of course my Canada cruise originates outside the U.S. which explains the Bar Harbor thing. I'm not 100% certain what they do on a repo cruise starting in the U.S., hitting a few foreign ports and then coming back into the U.S. to a different port than you started at. Part of why I have this thread I suppose. :o

 

edit 2: oooh, I just might have found something. This thread mentions that because the cruise goes to a distant foreign port (Aruba) that's why we have to go through immigration in St. Thomas. The near ports might not have that requirement. Could be right, could be wrong. who knows

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=36628460

 

No, I think it is more to do with post #8 in that thread. If St. Thomas is your first port of call, you are just going from one US port to another, just like from Miami to Key West. However, if you have gone to a foreign port before St. Thomas, regardless of what port, you clear Immigration in St. Thomas. A few cruises clear Immigration in Key West when they return from foreign, and then end the cruise elsewhere in Florida.

[zqvol]

Thanks. I wonder why it is then, that we never have to go through immigration every single time we disembark in a U.S. Territory, no matter where the port of call falls in the itinerary. I've been to St. Thomas and St. Croix quite a few times as a port of call on a closed loop cruise and never had to present myself to immigration authorities.

 

Makes sense about customs, about bringing stuff off the ship. Technically, much of what you buy in a foreign port could be consumed between St. Thomas and Boston, thus avoid having to declare it :D :eek:

 

 

You do go through immigration every time, you just may not realize it. Usually the immigration check is done electronically, just like at most foreign ports and you do not present yourselves to the immigration authorities, and you only know about about it when you hear that the ship has been cleared. St. Thomas used to be a big exception and everyone had to go visit the immigration officers with their passports before you were cleared. This took a matter of seconds and after you visited them, you could leave the ship.

 

The last few times I have been in St. Thomas this has not happened.

 

If you have to do it, it is not a big deal, it literally takes under 10 minutes and you are free to go about your business.

[CPT Trips]

You do go through immigration every time, you just may not realize it. Usually the immigration check is done electronically, just like at most foreign ports and you do not present yourselves to the immigration authorities, and you only know about about it when you hear that the ship has been cleared. St. Thomas used to be a big exception and everyone had to go visit the immigration officers with their passports before you were cleared. This took a matter of seconds and after you visited them, you could leave the ship.

 

The last few times I have been in St. Thomas this has not happened.

 

If you have to do it, it is not a big deal, it literally takes under 10 minutes and you are free to go about your business.

 

It's been a while since stopped in other than our final US port after a foreign port. I sure won't miss the in person eyeball. It's not the time it takes for the process that was a hassle. Some of our previous cruises require the immigration eyeball way too early in the morning. :eek: Some of the cruises would not permit anyone off the ship until all pax were eyeballed. The best situation was see the immigration official and get a chit that allowed getting off.

[jamessemaj]

St. Thomas is not a point of entry to the US, it is a transit port for the ship and passengers. Boston will be the point of entry and the full immigration and customs routine.

[CPT Trips]

St. Thomas is not a point of entry to the US, it is a transit port for the ship and passengers. Boston will be the point of entry and the full immigration and customs routine.

 

You sure?

 

One can fly from St Thomas to US airport without a passport.

[zqvol]

You sure?

 

One can fly from St Thomas to US airport without a passport.

 

That is true but you will still go through both in Boston. It is not a big deal, show your passport to the guy that takes your customs form and you are done.

 

It's not like its any extra step in the process.

[dioxide45]

We were on B2B close loop cruises where St Thomas was the last stop after four other foreign ports on each cruise. We never physically went through immigration in St Thomas.

 

One can fly back to the mainland USA from St Thomas without a passport, but having one makes it easier to go through customs flying out of STT. St Thomas is in a different customs zone than the mainland USA. So you have to clear customs when leaving St Thomas through STT. You aren't required to have a passport, but it makes the process a little smoother. You won't go through customs or immigration when landing on the mainland from STT.

 

Still not sure what any of all of this means to those on a US to US repo cruise when visiting St Thomas after other non US stops.

Edited March 21, 2015 by dioxide45

[Arzeena]

Cruizin-K

 

You will be doing both at Boston.

 

We have been through this 2 times before, both on NCL ships. NCL organized it very nicely. US citizens in one place, non US in another to ease congestion. Took 2 mintues. They give you set times (according to your deck) to get down to the "greeting" area and from there they split up the US citizens and non citizens, so the lines were not long. Then they put a sticker on your seapass card and that's all.

Once this whole process took 10 minutes and the other time a little bit longer....because at that time people whose decks were not called yet were all trying to get into the line and causing congestion so they had to call security.....like they do on disembarcation day!:rolleyes:

Edited March 22, 2015 by Arzeena

[Cruzin-K]

Cruizin-K

 

You will be doing both at Boston.

 

We have been through this 2 times before, both on NCL ships. NCL organized it very nicely. US citizens in one place, non US in another to ease congestion. Took 2 mintues. They give you set times (according to your deck) to get down to the "greeting" area and from there they split up the US citizens and non citizens, so the lines were not long. Then they put a sticker on your seapass card and that's all.

Once this whole process took 10 minutes and the other time a little bit longer....because at that time people whose decks were not called yet were all trying to get into the line and causing congestion so they had to call security.....like they do on disembarcation day!:rolleyes:

 

Boston will be the disembarkation port :)

[sail7seas]

Cruizin-K

 

You will be doing both at Boston.

 

We have been through this 2 times before, both on NCL ships. NCL organized it very nicely. US citizens in one place, non US in another to ease congestion. Took 2 mintues. They give you set times (according to your deck) to get down to the "greeting" area and from there they split up the US citizens and non citizens, so the lines were not long. Then they put a sticker on your seapass card and that's all.

Once this whole process took 10 minutes and the other time a little bit longer....because at that time people whose decks were not called yet were all trying to get into the line and causing congestion so they had to call security.....like they do on disembarcation day!:rolleyes:

 

 

 

It is my understanding the cruise lines have just about no say in how the Officials will conduct Immigration and Customs Inspections. They tell the cruise line how it will organize. They choose where and how to set up, who will be cleared where, when to start and all details. Cruise lines certainly have every reason to be fully cooperative.

 

If you happen to be on a ship where the Inspections do not flow smoothly, before you might blame the cruise line be sure it is their fault. I have seen when the ship set up things just the way initially instructed and then the Officials changed their mind for whatever reason and it had to be rearranged. There likely was some valid reason for this but the cruise line could have been blamed when they were not the cause of a delay.

 

 

[Arzeena]

It is my understanding the cruise lines have just about no say in how the Officials will conduct Immigration and Customs Inspections. They tell the cruise line how it will organize. They choose where and how to set up, who will be cleared where, when to start and all details. Cruise lines certainly have every reason to be fully cooperative.

 

If you happen to be on a ship where the Inspections do not flow smoothly, before you might blame the cruise line be sure it is their fault. I have seen when the ship set up things just the way initially instructed and then the Officials changed their mind for whatever reason and it had to be rearranged. There likely was some valid reason for this but the cruise line could have been blamed when they were not the cause of a delay.

 

 

 

The cruise line gets blamed even for the weather! ;)

 

Doesn't make a difference to me who calls the shots....the cruiseline or the officials.....I know things can happen and delays can take place any time.

What I posted was about two great experiences and I give credit to the cruise line AND the officials both for a fast and smooth experience. Actually, one of them was during the government shutdown and everyone was talking about how long this was going to take and blah blah blah.

Actually 3 great experiences......I forgot to mention that we had to do that once on the Enchantment as well, in Boston, on the Bermuda and North East cruise....but that was not quite like the other two...I mean, we did not have to stand in line for the officials to see our passports. They did it some other way if I remember correctly.

Edited March 23, 2015 by Arzeena

[Arzeena]

Boston will be the disembarkation port :)

 

We are also doing a similar Repo from NOLA to Boston next month. But on NCL.:):)