customs clearance in Key West

[Former Goalie]

We recently were in Key West, and enjoyed seeing all the cruise ships in port, especially N Amsterdam and Eurodam. We will be on HAL soon - our last port before disembarking in Port Everglades is Key West. This will be the first port after several foreign stops - the Bahamas, Jamaica, Grand Cayman. Those who have done similar routes: will we need to clear customs in both Key West and Fort Lauderdale/Port Everglades?

[Snook]

No. You will only clear Customs in Port Everglades.

[jtl513]

You will have a passport check in Key West and then Customs inspection in FLL. The KW passport check is a quick walk through, your key card is punched, and you are free to go ashore.

Edited February 1, 2016 by jtl513

[sail7seas]

Customs is the inspection of things you are importing (carrying) into the country.

 

Immigration is the inspection of people entering the country.

 

The CBP authorities can do an Immigration Inspection in Key West if they wish.

[Keith1010]

This can vary but but usually immigration is done at the firs port of entry followed by customs check as you disembark the ship.

 

Keith

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have done your Nieuw Amsterdam cruise a couple of times and Eurodam cruise -- both having Key West before getting back to Ft Lauderdale.

We had immigration in Key West - it was done on the ship. We were called by decks and went through the Queen's Lounge. As you enter you scan your ID card. Your ID card is then punched. You walk by the officials and show your passport. As you leave, your ID card is scanned again.

No one can get back onto the ship until everyone has gone through this process.

Foreigners are called to a different lounge.

Then the next day is Ft Lauderdale. If this is where you are disembarking, you will still go through immigration and turn in your customs form as you leave the building.

Many of us were staying on for the next cruise. But we still had to go through immigration again. The first time we had to get off the ship and after going through immigration we had to stand in the baggage area for over an hour - there were only 9 seats. The next 2 times we did this cruise, we stayed on the ship and had to sit in the show lounge until the officials were done in the terminal and came onto the ship for us to go through immigration.

[Cruzaholic41]

The CBP authorities can do an Immigration Inspection in Key West if they wish.

 

It's not an optional thing. If the ship is coming from foreign port, Immigrations is mandatory in Key West. The OP will certainly have to clear Immigrations.

[gigianne]

Just off the NA yesterday and it is exactly the procedure as posted by KK. It goes very quickly as long as all passengers cooperate. After receiving printed instructions 2 days before - there were still announcements being made once all the deck numbers had been called - "all passengers must report - even if you are staying on the ship".

[Krazy Kruizers]

It's not an optional thing. If the ship is coming from foreign port, Immigrations is mandatory in Key West. The OP will certainly have to clear Immigrations.

 

 

Right -- it is mandatory when Key West is the first US port and the ship has just visited a foreign port.

It has been that way for years.

[Tripper10]

No. You will only clear Customs in Port Everglades.

 

This is not true, we had to clear customs in Key West at 730 am on the day before we left the ship in Fort Lauderdale.

[RuthC]

This is not true, we had to clear customs in Key West at 730 am on the day before we left the ship in Fort Lauderdale.

Customs? Did anyone explain why on earth you would need to clear Customs when you weren't bringing goods ashore permanently? How did you complete the form, if there had been any purchases?

Were you allowed to declare your exemptions? How did Ft. Lauderdale handle the Customs declaration the next day?

[jtl513]

This is not true, we had to clear customs in Key West at 730 am on the day before we left the ship in Fort Lauderdale.

Pretty sure you're mistaking Immigration for Customs.

.

Edited February 1, 2016 by jtl513

[Tripper10]

Pretty sure you're confusing Customs and Immigration.

 

Yes, you are correct .

[sail7seas]

This is not true, we had to clear customs in Key West at 730 am on the day before we left the ship in Fort Lauderdale.

 

How can you possibly clear customs if you don't have your luggage? Customs is the inspection of things you are bringing into the country..... no one had their luggage packed and with them in Key West, did they?

 

Are you sure you don't mean Immigration? Did you complete and turn in a Custom's Declaration in Key West?

 

[RuthC]

Pretty sure you're mistaking Immigration for Customs.

.

 

Yes, you are correct .

That makes a LOT more sense.

[tropicbird]

Don't get too caught up on semantics. While there is a specific difference between Customs and Immigration, the words are often used interchangeably in casual context, and most people don't really care about the difference between the two.

 

I think we know what everyone means, the dreaded bureaucracy of parading by early in the morning with passport in hand. The last time I ran this route, it took a ridiculous amount of time and was a real pain in the keister. Folks were missing non-ship sold shore excursions due to long lines and not enough inspectors.

 

Interestingly, cruise lines can apparently get waivers, as I've done several trips on Royal Caribbean that visited a non-US port and then come to a US "port call" before returning to a US home port, where we did not need to do the "passport hustle".

 

Glad to hear that this process has been relatively trouble-free lately. We are doing the NA Western in March and will get to participate in the "security" procedures in EYW.

[sail7seas]

You have pointed out a major difference between Customs and Immigration.

"Parading by in the early morning with passport' happens on the ship and without luggage.

Customs happens when we disembark at the end of our cruise, with our luggage and we

do not parade by. We individually are stopped by an official who can question us, read our declaration and inspect all that we

are carrying, if (s)he wishes.

 

Edited February 5, 2016 by sail7seas

[tropicbird]

I don't think anyone seriously thought that they had to pack all their luggage before the stop in Key West and then unpack again for the last night of the cruise.

[Aquahound]

Interestingly, cruise lines can apparently get waivers, as I've done several trips on Royal Caribbean that visited a non-US port and then come to a US "port call" before returning to a US home port, where we did not need to do the "passport hustle".

 

Ships don't get waivers. It has to do with the actual port. In Key West, all ships coming from foreign port will clear Immigrations. No exceptions. St. Thomas, on the other hand, doesn't do it. It has nothing to do with a ship getting a waiver....it's just not done there anymore.

Edited February 5, 2016 by Aquahound

[RuthC]

Don't get too caught up on semantics. While there is a specific difference between Customs and Immigration, the words are often used interchangeably in casual context, and most people don't really care about the difference between the two.

 

I think we know what everyone means, ....

I "get caught up on" the precision of words; that is not semantics.

When someone makes an emphatic statement that they had to clear "Customs", I read that to mean "Customs", and not "Immigration", and I do know the difference. It made for a confusing, and ultimately incorrect, statement.

[Lorey2007]

Ships don't get waivers. It has to do with the actual port. In Key West, all ships coming from foreign port will clear Immigrations. No exceptions. St. Thomas, on the other hand, doesn't do it. It has nothing to do with a ship getting a waiver....it's just not done there anymore.

 

Next year our cruise from Miami the first port will be Key West does that mean there will be no immigration check?

 

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[Happily@Sea]

Next year our cruise from Miami the first port will be Key West does that mean there will be no immigration check?

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Forums mobile app

 

Yes, no immigration check. We left from Tampa in Mar/Apr, Key West next day - no immigration needed. When I was coming the other way [back to FLL on different cruise] had to go through immigration there..

[POA1]

Yes, no immigration check. We left from Tampa in Mar/Apr, Key West next day - no immigration needed. When I was coming the other way [back to FLL on different cruise] had to go through immigration there..

 

Tampa to Key West would not have an immigration check. You haven't been to a foreign port yet.

 

Once you go to a foreign port, you'll have immigration at the first US port you hit. We've had it in the USVI, Puerto Rico, and Key West.

[navybankerteacher]

I "get caught up on" the precision of words; that is not semantics.

When someone makes an emphatic statement that they had to clear "Customs", I read that to mean "Customs", and not "Immigration", and I do know the difference. It made for a confusing, and ultimately incorrect, statement.

 

Worthwhile comment. Understanding the meanings of words is not "semantics" - it is knowing what you are talking about. The difference between "customs" and "immigration" is greater than that between "ship" and "airplane" - which are just two means of transportation - but are rarely "used interchangeably" -- except by the uninformed.