NAVIGATOR TA Boston customs debacle

[Brit-Cruiser]

We were expecting rougher seas on the crossing there were a couple of very sunny and calm days , one day there was alot of wind and the decks were closed but we did not feel the ships was rocking much.

 

The only real rough sea was the night we left New York, but that was during the night and we were asleep.

 

i woke for a comfort break and noticed it was a little bumpy , but soon nodded off to the rocking.

 

We did select an mid ship low down cabin ( deck 6) we could have had a higher deck for the same price but choose to stay low down just in case

 

could have got off earlier in Boston if we had a higher cabin and a lower muster station number :rolleyes:

 

We had muster station A04. Due to line up to clear immigration at 9.40. We ended up in line behind B, C & D muster stations who had not been called & seemed to be unable to follow the " wait until you are called" instruction on the info sheet.

When we were finally told to proceed to immigration, the line was looping round past the star lounge. Why they bothered calling our muster station at this point, so we could join a 2 hour line was beyond me!

We were also on deck 6, but a very front balcony. We had amazing views coming into New York, but the motion was quite severe.

[bogofman]

We were on this cruise worst cruise we have been on never slept for 5 nights due to creaking walls in the cabin, also never managed to get off in Boston.Disembarkation 3 hours wait for luggage in Maimi meant we missed another trip we had paid for with the ship.Could not wait to get off as well.

 

We chose, self disembarkation, this has been our preferred option for many cruises, and allows us full flexibility when to leave and we don't have to have the bags packed and out side the night before.

 

We have very good 4 wheel cases that makes wheeling them very easy.

 

We waited until around 9.30 in cafe ( we were picking up a car hire and the hotel would not be ready until 2pm so no rush)

 

We walked off the ship with our bags, no lines at all straight off and walked past the chaos in the baggage reclaim, then through to immigration,

 

No lines again

 

quick check of passport and off we went. to the car hire shuttle out side the main door,

 

It must have taken 10 minutes to leave the cafe on deck 5 to be seated in the shuttle van

 

 

This has got to be the way to leave the ship.

 

have done this in UK and Europe with the same success :)

[bogofman]

We had amazing views coming into New York, but the motion was quite severe.

 

Sounds like you were on starboard, we picked port so we had to be on deck after we past the statue of liberty

 

We picked port so that we had the sun ( when out) for the whole cruise

 

Two days on the crossing it was really hot on the balcony and needed sun screen.

 

i bet starboard was another story:rolleyes:

[nomoreknothead]

Reading these post makes me think maybe I was on a totally different cruise! While the seas were a bit rough a few nights, It was nothing compared to the swells I been through coming out of the Gulf of Mexico at times. Now it was too chilly to enjoy our balcony and it did rain along the way, but I expected this since we were sailing the northern Atlantic in November.

 

We were totally surprised to get back in from our trolley tour in Boston and find that the immigration process was still on going. We met in the theater early that morning for our tour and was escorted to the dining room and quickly made our way through immigration. I'm still not sure what the hold up was after the tour groups passed through.

 

We had a wonderful TA cruise, enjoyed all the ports and the ship! I wasn't ready to come home!

 

Sorry everyone didn't have the same experience as we had!

[tokyo1949]

We received a list of immigration clearance times depending on Muster Stations the evening before our last sea day giving the impression it would take place on the last sea day. Not a chance! Incredibly RCI always knew that some passengers wouldn't be able to leave the ship until the afternoon and yet did nothing to inform passengers about this beforehand. There were little to no announcements and it took us 2.15 hours from our scheduled time to clear. Green landing cards were needed because the ESTA machines were not being used with passengers not being advised on how to fill these in which was causing delays. RCI staff refused to help and just blamed customs staff.

We finally got off at 1.30 pm, having to return at 4.30 for a 5pm sailing.

 

Then to our anoyance the ship had been told to check all life boats resulting in us departing after 7pm

 

I have never heard so many upset cruiser in all the Cruises we have been on,

 

At some stages the queue for the customs, in the dinning room, was almost double the length of the royal promanade

Sorry RCI but you have been doing this for years and knew full well a full day in Boston would not be possible for all passengers and as this had to be organised and approved. Your lack of concern is appalling. Guest Services staff did not want to listen and refused to note our complaint. A full letter will be winging it's way to head office once home.

 

We had to hear from other passengers that a letter apologising with two drinks vouchers attached had been issued but we didn't even receive that and had to query this at Guest Services. We already had a basic drinks package which was fine for us, plus the Diamond lounge facility so not really that much of an apology.

 

I'm sure others will fill in more details as they return

 

This is our first TA west bound is this always the case, where the first port of arrival in the US is lost to clearing customs

 

I agree with what you said. We were affected in the same way and didnt clear immigration until 2.30pm too late to take the shuttle into the city as the last one back was 3.30pm. RCCL does this itinerary every year and so know the problems but dont care less that guests missed a port of call. We have complained in various ways regarding this but dont expect RCCL to be bothered about any of us.

[dolphingirl47]

We had the same sort of problems on Indy a couple of weeks ago. Our clearance at St Thomas started at 7 am and went through to around 4/5 pm with only eight officers to clear the whole ship. The best way to get off as early as pos is to book an RCI excursion ,even if you don't go on it, they do try and get you off on time for the tour.

 

That did not help on that occasion. We had an excursion booked through Royal Caribbean, which was supposed to leave at 9:15. We were in the theater at 7:30 and they started calling excursions about 30 minutes after this. They called US citizens for our excursion about an hour after we got there and then nothing for about an hour. There were just some announcements that there were some long lines. My husband and I got separated as people came out of the elevators and pushed in. I was finally off the ship at 11:23. Fortunately they still did have trolleys available and I even managed to meet up with somebody for a late lunch. My husband finally cleared immigration at 2:30 and stayed on the ship. He visited Boston last year so was OK to miss it.

 

We were on this cruise worst cruise we have been on never slept for 5 nights due to creaking walls in the cabin, also never managed to get off in Boston.Disembarkation 3 hours wait for luggage in Maimi meant we missed another trip we had paid for with the ship.Could not wait to get off as well.

 

That sounds awful. We were supposed to get off the ship at 9:00 and there was some delay. We were called at 9:25 and from there it was very smooth sailing. When we got to the baggage hall, I saw my suitcase and my husband's was not far behind. Customs was incredibly quick and a car rental shuttle pulled up pretty much as soon as we were outside. We were in our rental car at 10:00 (thanks to Skip The Counter).

 

Corinna

[pennyspain]

Also on this TA cruise and cannot believe the chaos at Boston. It was not the immigration officers fault. The fault was totally RCs and the way the lines were 'organised'! One long snake around the MDR, with officers taking about 10 second to process passengers, then waiting 30 seconds for crew to call next passenger forward! Absolutely senseless. There should have been lines in front of each officer, so no time wasted. And RC has not even had the good grace to respond to any criticisms. Hopeless......

[easyboy]

Also on this TA cruise and cannot believe the chaos at Boston. It was not the immigration officers fault. The fault was totally RCs and the way the lines were 'organised'! One long snake around the MDR, with officers taking about 10 second to process passengers, then waiting 30 seconds for crew to call next passenger forward! Absolutely senseless. There should have been lines in front of each officer, so no time wasted. And RC has not even had the good grace to respond to any criticisms. Hopeless......

Nice to have another side of the story. 30 second interval is unusually long.