US Immigration horrendous

[DirtyDawg]

We sailed out of Vancouver on the Solstice in May. There were 2 other ships with passengers embarking that same day. Wow ... it was really bad then, too!! We were told to wait until 11:30 AM to show up but our flight landed at 9:00 AM at YVR, so what to do?? Well, we just headed to the port and good thing we had as there were people already lining up and our wait was about 3.5 hrs in all, but heard others, that arrived later, had up to 6 hours of standing in lines and waiting. It was one line followed by another line and some pax got those green boarding cards but weren't told what to do with them so threw them away. Ooooohhhh.... there was an angry mob onboard. Not us, though ... we had breakfast on the flight so we weren't starving and as soon as they handed me that glass of welcome champagne, that experience was way off in the distance in my 'rear view mirror'!! :D

I still heard people complaining about it 8 and 9 days into the cruise ... geez!! I can't imagine they could even be enjoying their cruise if they were still letting that affect them so many days into their cruise.

But, yes, I agree ... Vancouver needs to do something about that embarkation process, especially when there is more than 1 ship involved. I said that on another post and got reprimanded by Canadians ... 'it is US immigration ... not the Port of Vancouver ... that is responsible'. Well, maybe so!! All I know is that there was only 2 US immigration officials for all those thousands of people and nobody around to direct you to the 'next' line or room in which they wanted you to wait so I see both sides being responsible for the chaos. Oh yeah, and that hall where people had to sit and wait after check in ... well, nobody did it ... so maybe the pax themselves were partly to blame. BTW ... the rest of cruise was absolutely fantastic!!

 

Yikes, that's bad. Just 2 agents for all those people? WOW! I know the port can't do anything about the number of agents but if they know this is an issue they could at least do something to make the wait less miserable.

[Cruise Junky]

Thankfully, only Solstice intown when we board so fingers crossed it's not too bad.

[lynncarol]

It's not always a picnic even for US citizens trying to get back into the USA after traveling abroad, especially at some points of entry. JFK airport was an over 3 hour nightmare...standing in line forever (very hard on my arthritic hip) while rude TSA officials yelled at everyone. I hear Miami is even worse. I can easily see why visitors from foreign countries would not want to visit the USA anymore.

[Ayton lady]

Having visited my son and family in Vancouver from UK last year we travelled by train from Vancouver to Seattle to pick up our cruise. Never again! 3 of us were separated at the US customs in Vancouver station and all sent to a room to pay an entry $6 in a separate room. No explanation and a 20st 6ft man of few words directed me for further questioning. Exact money was required and the fact of being separated was scary. Yes we all had ESTAs but apparently we found out afterwards there is an added charge if you then enter the US by road or train. Met up again and caught the train but I won't be travelling to the US again in a hurry.Scary and threatened are the only words I can use to describe the experience.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

US Immigration in Vancouver is hell, even for US citizens. At least they gave you a place to sit. I stood in an endless line for almost 4 hours with no food and no water. I will never sail out of Vancouver again.

[Whitla42]

My son (22) first trip aboard without parents , was travelling to L A from Dublin , Ireland with two friends . He got refused and was told his friends didn't get on the plane , he was given no reason as to why but was asked why he was going as he was going to Las Vegas too he said holiday and was told that isn't a good enough reason . His friends were on the flight as they were told if they didn't go they would have to pay again.

My son did go the next day but had to pay extra for the flight and connecting flight. He got no help from them or even told why

[Ru2on]

My first experience at LAX International airport was an eye opener and one I'm not in a hurry to repeat. Could not believe the rude screaming women, yelling at everyone to "hurry hurry come on get a move on , faster , faster" . They wanted us all to power walk/run through lengths and lengths of twisting turning empty roped off areas to get to them, screaming at us all the way ..when all they had to do was unclip a section so we could all take the direct route towards them . It was %#^ ridiculous, scary and so unnecessary. Totally understand the need for security and order but this felt like a Power kick and resulted in a feeling of chaos not order. The man who actually checked our passport was polite & professional...but those Women they were just BAD

I hope Australia does not follow the U.S, at this point our international entry is nothing like this.

 

 

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[WesternTrader]

Non-US citizens have an easy option; boycott the US until they treat would-be entrants in a civilised manner. As for the number of people with valid visas turned away, apparently due to their ethnicity or place of birth - like the UK teacher with a school trip, or the Australian MP on a parliamentary delegation, don't get me started . . .

 

Most US citizens I have met, not least on Celebrity cruises, have been wonderful, but your country's attitude to non-US citizens stinks to high heaven. There are enough other places on this planet to visit until people realise the reputational damage which is being caused.

 

 

Stuart

 

+1

We last visited the USA in 2007 and enjoyed a wonderful tour of the West Coast including some truly remarkable National and State Parks. But never again. We'd love to go back to visit some more places including Alaska, but the way we were treated by immigration and security on that visit left us with a feeling that we were an encumbrance. Recently, we were beginning to think that we'd risk another trip for the chance to see Alaska, but reports like this only serve to validate our earlier decision - we'll try the Antarctic or Svalbard instead.

 

As you state, the world is a big place and we now tour in places and countries where our hard earned tourist pounds are welcomed and valued!

 

To the OP - I'm sorry to hear your account and I hope the cruise somehow compensated for your poor initial experience. Try the Baltic and Saint Petersburg next time... even Russian officials don't make you wait nearly 5 hours; maybe they value the revenue!

 

WT

[Texas Jake]

It's not always a picnic even for US citizens trying to get back into the USA after traveling abroad, especially at some points of entry. JFK airport was an over 3 hour nightmare...standing in line forever (very hard on my arthritic hip) while rude TSA officials yelled at everyone. I hear Miami is even worse. I can easily see why visitors from foreign countries would not want to visit the USA anymore.

 

 

TSA is for domestic air travel. US Customs and Border Patrol is for arriving international passengers. With connecting international flights, you have to deal with both. I avoid JFK and try to avoid the entire northeast for international arrival.

 

I do agree that US citizens are not treated well at certain airports. US Customs and Border Patrol checkpoints which are operated up to 100 miles from the Mexican border are the absolute worst since the agents can send you to secondary for "mere suspicion" aka the agent is being a jerk.

[Covepointcruiser]

My worse experiences in customs and airport security were in Ireland and most recently Australia. We were returning from a New Zealand Cruise on New Zealand Air and had to connect in Austrailia to our US abound flight.

Moving from our arrival gate to our departure gate within the same terminal we were forced to wait in a long line. When we finally reached the front we had to go through X-ray machines and every carryon we had were opened and tossed. I never realized that folks on New Zealand to Australia flights just connecting to another flight are such a danger! We are seniors and US citizens and fit no risk profiles. Same thing occurred in Ireland a few years ago. Thank the terrorists for this treatment!

[iSailor]

We were embarking onto a Celebrity Infinity in Vancouver last week going to Alaska. The USA immigration at Vancouver port were a disgrace. Firstly they made all non US or Canadian citizens sit in the hall until all the US and Canadian citizens had passed through. This took over 2 hours. Then they decided to make the rest of us stand in a Disney queue to be seen, which took on average another 2 hours. Half way through the machines broke down, and so instead of fingerprinting and pupil iris photographing everybody they suddenly went to just stamping your passport and letting you through! It took us nearly 4 hours to get through. We arrived at the port at 11.30am hoping to be on board by 1pm. It was 4.15pm when we walked on board and immediately we were ushered into the Lounge for Emergency drill. Even in here we had to wait for all other passengers to board before they started the drill and we were not even given a drink of water whilst we waited! Imagine if in Southampton we made US Citizens sit and wait until all other passport holders had been allowed to board, there would be outrage! This will be the last time I travel to the USA via a cruise ship and I am sure many others felt the same.

Same thing as U.K. Custom.

I remember it took all day to clear the passengers on the ship a day before we arrrived in Southampton.there were long line all day.

Why can't they have more officials working but only two. On last year Tansatlantic.

[bigbenboys]

We have cruised out of Vancouver 2 times now. Yes you have to go through US and Canadian customs, then check in. 1) Your leaving Canada. 2) Your going to a US port, ours were Hawaii both times. Our last cruise docked at Vancouver Place on May 17, 2017. They had 3 cruise ship docked. Leaving the ship went just fine for us. From what I read here on CC many people had a ruff time leaving the ship and getting on coaches. We took a bus to Bellingham airport, friend drove us home to Seattle. From the talk on the bus people were going to miss there flights out of Seattle.

[Cruise Raider]

Yikes, that's bad. Just 2 agents for all those people? WOW! I know the port can't do anything about the number of agents but if they know this is an issue they could at least do something to make the wait less miserable.

 

It was the first Alaska cruise for the season so thought they got their act together after this debacle. According to the OP, I am not sure they have, though.

[hosscow]

I'm one of those who will never sail out of Vancouver again. The port knows how many ships and passengers will sail in any given day, they should pay for the proper amount of agents to process passengers or stagger the ships throughout the week.

[cruising cockroach]

I do think that either the Port of Vancouver needs to be more convincing or they will end up losing business in the future.

 

Well, it could well be a ploy by the USG to move/repatriate as much cruise business to Seattle as possible.

 

I am sure passengers are already paying a fee for CBP usage. It'd appear one doesn't get much value out of that.

[broberts]

I'm one of those who will never sail out of Vancouver again. The port knows how many ships and passengers will sail in any given day, they should pay for the proper amount of agents to process passengers or stagger the ships throughout the week.

 

I don't believe US CBP sells its services.

[Cruise Junky]

Well, it could well be a ploy by the USG to move/repatriate as much cruise business to Seattle as possible.

 

I am sure passengers are already paying a fee for CBP usage. It'd appear one doesn't get much value out of that.

 

But you can only do the worst itinerary out there from Seattle so they won't get very far. No one ways from Seattle.

[WpgCruise]

We're now seeing more cruise lines homeporting ships in Jamaica, Cozumel, the Barbados and other non U.S. ports, the reason being the U.S. Immigration process is so onerous that people are looking for alternatives to avoid the bother of entering the U.S. for a vacation.

I'm a strong proponent of sovereign countries enforcing whatever rules they want, and the U.S. can make the rules and determine the process for people entering the country.

Consumers can also determine if they want to enter the U.S.for a cruise and obviously many are choosing to avoid the hassle, and cruise from other countries.

We all have a choice.

[QueenofEverything]

We also sailed from Vancouver on May 17th. It was horrendous. Believe me, there was plenty of blame to go around. While it is true that CBP did not have enough people, neither did the cruise lines or the port. We were on Royal Caribbean and it was their first sailing out of Vancouver for the season. They did not have enough employees and those that were there were grossly undertrained. The port was also to blame because the whole place was mass confusion. There were no signs and very few people giving directions. The port could have helped the day a great deal by having more employees there directing very harried passengers. And hey, how about some signage??

[caribill]

My worse experiences in customs and airport security were in Ireland and most recently Australia. We were returning from a New Zealand Cruise on New Zealand Air and had to connect in Austrailia to our US abound flight.

Moving from our arrival gate to our departure gate within the same terminal we were forced to wait in a long line. When we finally reached the front we had to go through X-ray machines and every carryon we had were opened and tossed. I never realized that folks on New Zealand to Australia flights just connecting to another flight are such a danger! We are seniors and US citizens and fit no risk profiles. Same thing occurred in Ireland a few years ago. Thank the terrorists for this treatment!

 

Works the same at Heathrow. Even if in the same terminal you must go through security again. Lines can take more than one hour, so be sure to have plenty of connecting time in your schedule.

 

Actually, works the same for international arrivals at USA airports with the additional task of claiming and rechecking luggage before then going through security for a connecting flight.

[SALAD MUNCHER]

Same thing as U.K. Custom.

I remember it took all day to clear the passengers on the ship a day before we arrrived in Southampton.there were long line all day.

Why can't they have more officials working but only two. On last year Tansatlantic.

 

 

Hi I am the OP, I took my mother on a Back to Back in May 2017 on the QM2. During the trip on arrival at New York my mother was not feeling good (85 yrs old) so we cancelled our trip to Manhattan. However, everyone who was on board had to get off the ship and do a 'round robin' through US customs and immigration, regardless whether or not you intended to leave the ship. It took me three hours to get through this situation, even though having to wheel mum through in a wheelchair we were given 'priority' over the long queue! However on the way back UK Immigration was on board, gave everyone a specific day and time to go down to the area of inspection to have their passports checked. It took all of 10 minutes!! Nothing like the same!!

[Wiltonian]

Thank the terrorists for this treatment!

 

No! There are two ways of dealing with people; courteously and discourteously. The terrorist threat is the cause of the need for greater security, and probably longer times to pass through immigration controls.

 

The terrorists cannot be blamed for:

1. The charmless jerk at LAX who, several years ago, grunted and pointed to a hand-written sign saying look at the camera, because he could not be bothered to speak to people;

2. The turning back of people with valid visas, given no reason, but who happen to have been born in certain countries, despite having UK or Australian citizenship for decades;

3. The animosity with which would-be tourists to the US are routinely treated;

4. The under-staffing of immigration control points, making them incapable of dealing with large numbers from a large plane or cruise ship.

 

A few years ago, I visited NZ, travelling one way through Hong Kong (in the People's Republic of China) and the other way through LAX. The contrast in treatment could not have been greater. The US government should contemplate the reputational damage that this causes globally - not that there are not other causes to consider.

 

Stuart

Edited July 29, 2017 by Wiltonian
auto-correct mis-correcting!

[Project_gal]

I have a friend who no longer has her sister visit from Germany because of the horrible experience her sister had arriving at JFK.

It is sad that we are losing tourism dollars by making travel here so burdensome, but it is tragic that we are losing the friendship and goodwill of the people of other countries and cultures who have been so important to international relationships.

 

You are correct to feel like this.

 

I have been travelling to the USA for nearly 30 years and still note the few human experiences at Immigration. I have arrived in the USA by plane from Europe, plane from Canada and by cruise ship. More often you feel like cattle would be treated better. (The only exception to this was Philadelphia but that was before 9/11 and, no doubt, that is no longer the same.) What you cannot do is predict in which way you will be treated badly - if you did, you could plan strategies to minimise your pain. US Immigration is one of the most inventive organisations in the world. It frequently makes us consider why we are so willing to spend good money in your country and one day we will decide it is no longer worth the indignity.

[bUU]

I don't believe US CBP sells its services.

I believe you're correct. The cruise line has only a little influence over what government officials decide is sufficient for their (the government's) objectives, which, for good or ill, increasingly is cost cutting rather than fostering the tourism industry.

[ccotting]

I'm one of those who will never sail out of Vancouver again. The port knows how many ships and passengers will sail in any given day, they should pay for the proper amount of agents to process passengers or stagger the ships throughout the week.

 

Remember this is US Customs. Not the port, not Canada. It is an advantage to go through the US customs prior to Boarding and makes your first stop from Canada in the US/Alaska smoother. That said, they make their own decisions about staffing and time to process. All US Customs areas are slower since recent political decisions in the US. Write your hometown politician, this is an area the port nor Celebrity control.