US Customs On A B2B

[cruisin froggy]

Yes, the Carrie B. Sorry. Thanks.

[Gallivanting Souls]

What is Cowbus? Does it cost? Is it a tour you must sign up for?

 

Thanks. Answers my questions. looks likes as of 9/15, it is $20 r/t p/p.

[Sam.Seattle]

Thanks. Answers my questions. looks likes as of 9/15, it is $20 r/t p/p.

umm..... I am seeing "Purple & Gold" LOL

 

Rode the Cowbus and it was great!

 

Also, (for Crusin Froggy) the ship might offer an excursion for the Carrie B which also includes some sight seeing prior and short walk aloing the river.

[Knickearth]

we do many b2b's. Years ago, we were allowed off whenever we wanted and went thru the process of disembarking, but sailed thru customs. We were allowed to return whenever we wanted. So we shopped and came back for lunch.

They changed this a few years ago. If you disembark to shop, etc. we were informed that we could only come back on when the new passengers were boarding. If we didn't disembark we were assigned a time and place and escorted (literally in a circle) to show our passports and then reboard.

 

Hope this helps

[cruisin froggy]

umm..... I am seeing "Purple & Gold" LOL

 

Rode the Cowbus and it was great!

 

Also, (for Crusin Froggy) the ship might offer an excursion for the Carrie B which also includes some sight seeing prior and short walk aloing the river.

 

 

Yes, the excursion is what I was thinking of. Thanks.

[pablo222]

Yes I am totally aware of where Sawgrass is and how long it would take to get there. I may be renting a car in FLL for the day so that would take care of getting to the mall and back.

 

And to pablo222, it just so happens that I may be heading to the mall with a crew member so I wonder if this would make the cowbus a better option?

 

If you are comfortable driving, I would rent. You are on your own schedule,

and depending on how many people share, it could be cheaper.

 

Consider renting from :

Budget at 1515 SE 17th St #117a, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316

 

Maybe 10 minute walk from berth 2. Much easier than catching bus

to the airport to rent a car.

 

On all the b2b in the US that I have been on, I have had to turn in

customs declaration after I left the ship. Your mileage may vary.

 

You will have an in-transit card, so you can walk-off whenever you

wish. If it were me, I would walk off the instant walk-offs begin.

That way you avoid any line build up for customs.

 

If you are too early for rental car, just have breakfast at Panera bread

on SE 17th St.

 

And, if this is on a sunday, you might want to check sawgrass hours.

Also, on Sunday, depending on the community, you may not be able

to purchase liquor before noon.

 

Crew can come off the ship (usually) as soon as they are not

on duty.

 

And, depending on the ship, crew may have to be back on board at 1400.

That may cut your plans short.

[satxdiver]

Total Wines in FLL opens at 9 AM everyday except Sunday when it opens at 12 PM.

[spcl4cs_gal]

If you are comfortable driving, I would rent. You are on your own schedule,

and depending on how many people share, it could be cheaper.

 

Consider renting from :

Budget at 1515 SE 17th St #117a, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316

 

Maybe 10 minute walk from berth 2. Much easier than catching bus

to the airport to rent a car.

 

On all the b2b in the US that I have been on, I have had to turn in

customs declaration after I left the ship. Your mileage may vary.

 

You will have an in-transit card, so you can walk-off whenever you

wish. If it were me, I would walk off the instant walk-offs begin.

That way you avoid any line build up for customs.

 

If you are too early for rental car, just have breakfast at Panera bread

on SE 17th St.

 

And, if this is on a sunday, you might want to check sawgrass hours.

Also, on Sunday, depending on the community, you may not be able

to purchase liquor before noon.

 

Crew can come off the ship (usually) as soon as they are not

on duty.

 

And, depending on the ship, crew may have to be back on board at 1400.

That may cut your plans short.

 

Thanks for all of your information. I'm going to see if any of the airport rental places would have a shuttle to and from the airport/pier. Because I will be using my Aeroplan points to get the car it will need to be a company that Air Canada deals with.

 

Regarding the crew I believe this crew member will need to be back on the ship for the dinner shift since they work in one of the dining rooms...they may take the day off but still need to return for dinner.

 

We are in Ft Lauderdale on a Thursday I believe.

Edited September 23, 2015 by spcl4cs_gal

[pablo222]

Not quite right...it isn't your cruise card that does the magic, it is your "IN TRANSIT" card. Just show it and you get waved on past everyone else, whenever you are ready to reboard.

 

Once you go off the ship, you can not reboard until close to noon.

 

They have to get everyone off before they start letting anyone

(even intransit back) on.

 

The exception to this is if you go off and on with the group of intransit

passengers. Then, you reboard immediately.

[diverward]

Because I will be using my Aeroplan points to get the car it will need to be a company that Air Canada deals with.

We are in Ft Lauderdale on a Thursday I believe.

 

Aeroplan only deals with Hertz and Avis. Neither of which has a shuttle from the port to the airport. Their rental locations are near the port itself and Aeroplan does not give you an option to rent from those places. I tried but no go. So we are going with Budget which has offices on SE 17th St. which is near Pier 2. Hope this helps.

[spcl4cs_gal]

Aeroplan only deals with Hertz and Avis. Neither of which has a shuttle from the port to the airport. Their rental locations are near the port itself and Aeroplan does not give you an option to rent from those places. I tried but no go. So we are going with Budget which has offices on SE 17th St. which is near Pier 2. Hope this helps.

 

So Aeroplan is insisting on renting from an airport location?

[diverward]

So Aeroplan is insisting on renting from an airport location?

 

Yes, that is what it seems to be doing. I tried putting in the city center location but it comes back as saying there is a problem with the pick up location or location unknown. Only when you put in an airport for pick up and drop off will the website go to the next page. If you don't mind taking a taxi to the airport, it is fine. Taxi fare is between $15.00 to 20.00 one way. Hope this helps.

[vickie_bernie]

I often wondered but never asked the question as to if you had purchased duty free alcohol during the voyage, do they deliver it after the first leg or do they know you have BTB and wait until the second leg is done? My guess is the latter because it does make sense, but wouldn't it be great if they delivered the bottles of hootch for you to enjoy during the next voyage?

 

we do a lot of back to backs and we have found that they know we are "in transit" so they have told us we can't buy liqour for turn around day.

 

But we did feel like we were teenagers when we asked friends who were getting off to buy us a bottle and we just paid them the cash. Sneaky I know but came in handy for the thirty day second leg.

 

 

 

It should be noted that even if you are in Transit you do have to go thru customs - normally it is a quick thing. Note though you are not allowed to bring anything ashore that is going to stay ashore. Our friend bought some rum in a port and was going to drop it off with the friend but the customs agent wouldn't allow her to take it ashore. She had to return it back to the ship. We have had our knapsack checked when going ashore too to ensure we were not leaving anything in the country.

 

we normally head off later in the morning and run errands and then when we get back to the ship we just show the "in transit" card - we still need need to go thru the security line (which is usually the longest delay) but once thru that we just walk right on.

 

Enjoy

[caribill]

Yes, that is what it seems to be doing. I tried putting in the city center location but it comes back as saying there is a problem with the pick up location or location unknown. Only when you put in an airport for pick up and drop off will the website go to the next page. If you don't mind taking a taxi to the airport, it is fine. Taxi fare is between $15.00 to 20.00 one way. Hope this helps.

 

Note that fees and taxes will be significantly higher when renting at the airport vs. an off airport location like the Budget office mentioned in an above post. If you end up paying $40 for two taxis to/from the airport plus the higher taxes/fees, it may cost more than renting from a local office that will shuttle you to/from their office.

[diverward]

Note that fees and taxes will be significantly higher when renting at the airport vs. an off airport location like the Budget office mentioned in an above post. If you end up paying $40 for two taxis to/from the airport plus the higher taxes/fees, it may cost more than renting from a local office that will shuttle you to/from their office.

I agree with this but she is using Aeroplan (Air Canada Frequent Flyer Plan) to pay for the car rental. All fees and taxes are paid for. No extra charges. In the long run the cost will be about the same with taking a taxi to the airport or renting from off airport location. This is why we are renting from Budget which is only 5 minutes away.

[pablo222]

Regarding the crew I believe this crew member will need to be back on the ship for the dinner shift since they work in one of the dining rooms...they may take the day off but still need to return for dinner.

 

We are in Ft Lauderdale on a Thursday I believe.

 

Thursday is excellent. The only issue would be if there were multiple

princess ships in port, so that you were not at berth 2. Very unlikely

on a Thursday.

[Steelers36]

Total Wines in FLL opens at 9 AM everyday except Sunday when it opens at 12 PM.

 

Ugh!! Our turnover day is Sunday. Kind of messes with my afternoon plans. Maybe I can get there the Tuesday prior.

[spcl4cs_gal]

Thursday is excellent. The only issue would be if there were multiple

princess ships in port, so that you were not at berth 2. Very unlikely

on a Thursday.

 

According to cruisett.com we will be the only ship in port (FLL) on October 29th. :D