Near riot on Silhouette on 5/27

[Bryce1962]

I haven't made any claims whatsoever, that was someone else, but you're repetitive posts are really obnoxious while people are trying to have a real conversation.

 

For someone who is 55 or 56 I'd think you would know acting like a child is a bit petty and uncalled for.

 

whatever will bewilder me

 

 

Interesting, I am following the posters advice and looking for the relevant information.... which I can't find. I then provide evidence.

 

I just want someone to explain what I'm missing.

 

Have I offended you by asking for facts?

 

Not fake facts or alternative facts.... I think you need to chill. My posts are relevant to the OP..... are yours[emoji1417]

 

 

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[Bryce1962]

By the way theriac I have just looked at some of your other posts.... you like an argument I think and the use of "whatever will bewilder me".... we're done.... go fishing somewhere else.

 

 

 

 

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[Fouremco]

Still nope. I rather doubt that US immigration, for instance, would appreciate a crew member telling passengers which line they can and cannot get in, and who goes first. That is US Immigration control, not the crew's. I would like to see a crew member trying to override an Immigration officer's commands. That would be something to witness. :evilsmile:

 

Same would apply with any immigration control. ESPECIALLY Russia's!

As I posted earlier and as others have noted here, Celebrity and other lines routinely direct passengers in the lines for US immigration when disembarking at both the Port of Miami and Port Everglades. I assume that they do the same at other US ports as well. Suite and other priority passengers are led to the head of a line by a crew member, with the assistance of terminal employees if necessary.

 

We have Nexus and Mobile Passport and choose whichever line appears to be the quickest. In April, we were one the second couple in line when a terminal employee clipped a rope in front of the couple ahead of us as a crew member led approximately twenty suite passengers to stand in front of us. Only when they were finished being processed was the rope dropped and our line allowed to continue.

 

Customs/Immigration officers couldn't care less about how the lines are managed as long as only one person or family group at a time approaches their kiosk.

[C 2 C]

As I posted earlier and as others have noted here, Celebrity and other lines routinely direct passengers in the lines for US immigration when disembarking at both the Port of Miami and Port Everglades. . Suite and other priority passengers are led to the head of a line by a crew member, with the assistance of terminal employees if necessary.

 

We have Nexus and Mobile Passport and choose whichever line appears to be the quickest. In April, we were one the second couple in line when a terminal employee clipped a rope in front of the couple ahead of us as a crew member led approximately twenty suite passengers to stand in front of us. Only when they were finished being processed was the rope dropped and our line allowed to continue.

 

Customs/Immigration officers couldn't care less about how the lines are managed as long as only one person or family group at a time approaches their kiosk.

 

That may still hold true in Port Everglades (last year) but in Miami, we were told by the Reflection (Feb 2017) concierge that Celebrity could not escort Zenith and suite passengers to the front of the line. Others may have had a different experience.

[Cindy]

That may still hold true in Port Everglades (last year) but in Miami, we were told by the Reflection (Feb 2017) concierge that Celebrity could not escort Zenith and suite passengers to the front of the line. Others may have had a different experience.

 

 

I've had a concierge escort to get off the ship and into the terminal, but once there we stood in line like everybody else. That was my experience with multiple cruise lines in FLL, Galveston, and New Orleans.

 

 

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[keesar]

That may still hold true in Port Everglades (last year) but in Miami, we were told by the Reflection (Feb 2017) concierge that Celebrity could not escort Zenith and suite passengers to the front of the line. Others may have had a different experience.

 

There was escorting to the front of a particular line in Port Everglades this year. I did not see that happening in Miami.

 

What I find interesting is that some private tour operators advertise avoiding long lines in some of the attractions. That perk is an incentive to some cruisers. Isn't that cutting the line?

[SantaFeFan]

That could be their thinking, because you are not actually in the country until after you go through immigration.

 

You are in their country as soon as you leave international waters, which is 12 nautical miles from shore determined by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. That you haven't been through immigration yet is immaterial. You are still under their jurisdiction, as you are in the host country's territorial waters. Immigration is the "permit" process that allows you to enter public areas of the country. Government controlled areas are between the international line and immigration check point. Either way, the country is in control, not the cruise line. The local government can demand anything they want, even to deny entry and access to the port if they so choose. It is not the crew's, nor even the captain's, right to tell people what immigration line they can use, and who can go first. The only control the ship has is who gets off first. After people are physically off the ship and they are standing on the country's property, it is the host country who will always have jurisdiction.

[cruisemom42]

There was escorting to the front of a particular line in Port Everglades this year. I did not see that happening in Miami.

 

What I find interesting is that some private tour operators advertise avoiding long lines in some of the attractions. That perk is an incentive to some cruisers. Isn't that cutting the line?

 

Avoiding the line and cutting the line are two different things. Sometimes licensed local guides have special access to places with small groups, sometimes they may be able to purchase special 'skip the line' tickets in advance for their party.

 

And sometimes cruiselines have the 'clout' to be able to arrange for a major tourist destination to open on its normal off day ONLY for cruise ship passengers. (It happens regularly in Istanbul for the Haghia Sofya and at times in Russia, at least in the past, for the Hermitage.

 

These things equal out (at least IMO) and it's a matter of doing your homework and picking the best option for any given port; however, they have nothing to do with immigration.

[cruiseerf]

For Seasoned cruisers there are a few rules we live with:

 

When you dock.....it goes like this.

 

Ship needs to be cleared by local immigration OR you need to begin lining up to clear immigration.

Medical Emergencies are first off

Tours have TOP priority to cut the exit lines at any time.....That is included in their tour price.

Suite Guests and Zenith Guests get Priority disembarkation also infront of anybody else waiting.....they paid for it.

THEN....Everyone else can deboard.....It's a simple process.

 

We know this and even as suite guests in certain ports like India and certain South American Ports......We know we could get a better tour on our own.....but the easy on/off provided by Celebrity AND their tour operators.....is well worth the $$$ we have to pay. In India private tour operators are not allowed "ON" the port and port buses are almost non existent......so you have to walk through the filthy dangerous ports sometimes for 2+ miles to reach the entrance where your "Private guide" is waiting. We made this mistake once.....Never again. Russia is a Very difficult port as so much depends on authorities and how many ships are in...immigration officers etc. Much patience is needed if you have your own tour......it can take 2-3 hours to clear sometimes and the tour operators know this and don't tell because then more people would take ships tours.....Do your homework and you will be fine.

 

Safe sails.

[SantaFeFan]

For Seasoned cruisers there are a few rules we live with:

 

When you dock.....it goes like this.

 

Ship needs to be cleared by local immigration OR you need to begin lining up to clear immigration.

Medical Emergencies are first off

Tours have TOP priority to cut the exit lines at any time.....That is included in their tour price.

Suite Guests and Zenith Guests get Priority disembarkation also infront of anybody else waiting.....they paid for it.

THEN....Everyone else can deboard.....It's a simple process.

 

We know this and even as suite guests in certain ports like India and certain South American Ports......We know we could get a better tour on our own.....but the easy on/off provided by Celebrity AND their tour operators.....is well worth the $$$ we have to pay. In India private tour operators are not allowed "ON" the port and port buses are almost non existent......so you have to walk through the filthy dangerous ports sometimes for 2+ miles to reach the entrance where your "Private guide" is waiting. We made this mistake once.....Never again. Russia is a Very difficult port as so much depends on authorities and how many ships are in...immigration officers etc. Much patience is needed if you have your own tour......it can take 2-3 hours to clear sometimes and the tour operators know this and don't tell because then more people would take ships tours.....Do your homework and you will be fine.

 

Safe sails.

 

I guess we must have been lucky in August 2010 when we had a private guide and driver both days we were in St. Petersburg. The first day we just got into the line about 8:00 am with everyone else and got through immigration fairly quickly. The guide met us just beyond immigration at the agreed upon time of 8:30 am and walked us to the car a few hundred feet away. We got off the ship with no issues, and very little wait. There was one more cruise ship in port at the time, a HAL ship I believe.

 

The second day we met our guide at 9:00 am, again with no issues getting off the ship or through immigration, which again went pretty quickly. There were two other ships in port - the same HAL ship as before, and another I didn't recognize.

 

Where we had issues was returning the first day. We arrived back at the ship just before 10:00 pm after a very long day, and we had difficulty finding an open immigration line to get back on the ship. None of the stations were manned at first. Then after about 15 minutes, someone finally appeared, almost out of nowhere.

 

All in all, not a bad experience for us at all.

[caribill]

 

What I find interesting is that some private tour operators advertise avoiding long lines in some of the attractions. That perk is an incentive to some cruisers. Isn't that cutting the line?

 

Most of the time that means you skip a long ticket line because the tour operator purchased tickets in advance.

 

I was once in Florence, Italy on a day there was free admission to the museums. The line for the museum I wanted to visit went around the block, probably a two hour wait. I walked right in because I had purchased in advanced a timed ticket. I was not cutting the line, I just had done advance planning.

[jgsatgka]

We were on a private tour and were in the hall at the time the issue took place. I guess I am not sure what a "near riot" looks like as we heard a commotion up ahead which lasted about, let me say, 15 seconds maximum. The hall settled down, the lines moved and we got through security eventually. Life went on. As well, I am not sure how much control Celebrity has over Russian Security to enable them to form special Shore Excursion lines. It was worth the wait but I am sorry that some were inconvenienced.

[The_Big_M]

Actually they do. The reason why is when you sign up for a cruise you agree to the passenger contract and code of conduct. Part of that includes a phrase about obeying crew instructions. When a crew member tells you to let other passengers in front failure to follow the instruction puts one in violation of that agreement on or off of the ship. In close proximity to the ship, in a port area and prior to clearing immigration control that agreement would clearly apply. One may not like it, but if one made a major issue about not following the instruction could result in action taken under terms of the contract and code of conduct.

 

Actually, they don't.

 

The reason why is none of those require you to follow crew instructions as a blanket statement.

 

You do need to comply with certain, reasonable instructions which are specified in those documents - but it doesn't mean they can tell you anything, anywhere for the duration of the cruise, and you have to comply.

[luvtheships]

Most of the time that means you skip a long ticket line because the tour operator purchased tickets in advance.

 

 

 

I was once in Florence, Italy on a day there was free admission to the museums. The line for the museum I wanted to visit went around the block, probably a two hour wait. I walked right in because I had purchased in advanced a timed ticket. I was not cutting the line, I just had done advance planning.

 

 

I'm doing the same exact thing for the louvre

 

I will be right there on a night when it's free admission but for the relatively inexpensive cost of admission I will bypass the free admission and go elsewhere and come back a few days later with my mid morning prepaid timed admission tickets

 

 

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[phoenix_dream]

Many posters have commented that getting to the front of the line is ok for those who booked Celebrity shore excursions and that is part of the deal. If you read the actual wording, the promise is for priority disembarking - first off the ship. There is nothing that I have read that states or even implies getting put to the front of the immigration line. With that in mind, I remain unhappy with these practices and don't think it is right of Celebrity to do that. But nothing I can do about it so just have to deal with it. Definitely first world problems:)

[hubofhockey]

Many posters have commented that getting to the front of the line is ok for those who booked Celebrity shore excursions and that is part of the deal. If you read the actual wording, the promise is for priority disembarking - first off the ship. There is nothing that I have read that states or even implies getting put to the front of the immigration line. With that in mind, I remain unhappy with these practices and don't think it is right of Celebrity to do that. But nothing I can do about it so just have to deal with it. Definitely first world problems:)

 

It sounds like a Celebrity problem. We did the St Petersburg / Baltic itinerary on Princess and don't remember hearing from anyone about problems like these, even in Russia. It probably took us 20 minutes for the entire process and our tour guides from SPB Tours were all set for us.

[Chunky2219]

I have to sympathise with the OP and take exception to all the flaming.

 

Sure, ship's tours get priority, we all know that. But if that's the case, don't let people off the ship to get in a queue then try to jump others in front. Have a shedule for disembarkation and customs clearance just the same way as at a tender port. It's not rocket science.

 

Or......... crazy idea I know........just arrange with the port agent to have a separate feed line for official tours and someone acting as gatekeepers at the head of the line for the hoi polloi, feeding them to an immigration desk when one is free. If they can make a decent job of it when I'm boarding to take up my over-priced suite, they can do it at a port.

 

The worst I've ever had with this was at the Manhatten terminal, NYC. Everyone was scheduled to disembark in deck number order. It didn't matter if you had a suite or any other call for priority. Ship's tours were supposed to get sorted, but immigration insisted on it being their way or no way.

 

It soon got all pear shaped because of people not following the rules, and our time quickly dropped back by first an hour and then another 45 minutes. When we eventually got called it was chaos in the terminal and it was even worse for those on ship's tours - buses stacked up outside and tour guides going crazy with half their pax still not through. I'm glad to say that we sailed straight through, which is one of the only benefits of being in a wheelchair and getting pointed at the special line.

 

 

.

[Jade13]

As I posted earlier and as others have noted here, Celebrity and other lines routinely direct passengers in the lines for US immigration when disembarking at both the Port of Miami and Port Everglades. I assume that they do the same at other US ports as well. Suite and other priority passengers are led to the head of a line by a crew member, with the assistance of terminal employees if necessary.

 

 

 

We have Nexus and Mobile Passport and choose whichever line appears to be the quickest. In April, we were one the second couple in line when a terminal employee clipped a rope in front of the couple ahead of us as a crew member led approximately twenty suite passengers to stand in front of us. Only when they were finished being processed was the rope dropped and our line allowed to continue.

 

 

 

Customs/Immigration officers couldn't care less about how the lines are managed as long as only one person or family group at a time approaches their kiosk.

 

 

Exactly what we experienced in November. We have Global Entry and at Port Everglades a rope was used to stop the line and allow Suite passengers ahead when disembarking the ship. This was after a HAL cruise.

 

 

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[eileenover]

The cruiselines use it as a hook sometimes too to get you to book saying you have priority debarkation in ports because you booked thru them

 

Yes I know I know...but honestly short of getting yourself arrested in a foreign port for causing problems, what can you do?

 

In the future don't book that cruiseline...check how many ships are in port that day before you book ship or private excursions or even book that particular ship and date and just look for a different date...although not guaranteed of course not to change

 

For me....I'd just wait in line and perhaps a stern no you can't cut in front of me so go to another line

 

But shoving...NOT in a million years

 

Almost got arrested in 1978 for taking a pix of an Egyptian airline plane in Luxor. Lucky they didn't grab my camera and lucky the much younger me did not mouth off but just said sorry I didn't realize.

 

 

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Well, let me add my pennyworth:

We have been to Russia 4 times ----once to Sochi and 3 times to St Petersburg. On the last two occasions we have been suite guest with Celebrity.

 

The process, as we've understood/experienced it:

a) We waited in Michael's Club until the concierge asked us to follow him/her

b) We headed to the gangway, being guided past other passengers by the concierge

c) We were escorted off the ship by our concierge and then taken to the immigration area where we joined a queue

d) We were processed by the Russian officials

 

On the second the two Celebrity visits (Sochi), our concierge, Laurence, was hit by a passenger who took umbrage because we were given priority on the ship!

 

Also, as a word of warning, a number of passengers (all Americans), were not allowed through immigration because the Russian officials felt that the photos did not match the passenger ----beware a change of hairstyles! No, I'm not joking. I discussed it with some of the more 'informative' crew and was told that things like this do happen.

[KuffMUp]

I'm not a seasoned cruiser. I have taken both private tours and tours with the cruise line depending on my homework. I do expect that people who purchased through the cruise line get priority over my privately booked tour. Never had a problem, but I have never been to Europe or the Baltics.

 

I did have an issue with a "gentleman" on our last cruise coming through the long line about the time I was entering the terminal. He pushed me and announced he gets to go before me because he was a suite guest. I didn't push back but let him know I too was a suite guest. I guess some people feel entitled. I patiently stood behind him in the suite check in line.:confused:

[Kiwifromkiev]

The problem is not so much with the Celebrity but more with the Russian authorities. They are the unfriendliest and rudest bunch you will meet, and deliberately create anxiety and unnecessary wait!

 

 

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[DYKWIA]

The problem is not so much with the Celebrity but more with the Russian authorities. They are the unfriendliest and rudest bunch you will meet, and deliberately create anxiety and unnecessary wait!

 

 

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Worse than the US TSA? Blimey ;p

[awhcruiser]

:D Too funny!

Worse than the US TSA? Blimey ;p

[busby]

Travelled with Celebrity Eclipse on Baltic cruise in July last year, booked private tour in St Petersburgh ,no problem at immigration first come ,first served no privelage given for celebrity tours no pushing or shoving very well organised by staff .

[Kiwifromkiev]

Worse than the US TSA? Blimey ;p

I think they just might be! ;p