Immigration Chaos Port Everglades

[cruising cockroach]

16 minutes ago, bogofman said:

We will be returning on the 28th and need to get to miami for our flight to UK,

 

Are you saying if we elect to disembark at say 8am, and walk our bags off, we would have to stand in line until all US passengers have disembarked, they could be disembarking until after 9.30

 

Probably a case of YMMV depending on who is in charge that day and what they feel like doing.

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

1 minute ago, cruising cockroach said:

 

Probably a case of YMMV depending on who is in charge that day and what they feel like doing.

 Sorry, what is YMMV?

[cruising cockroach]

2 minutes ago, Silvery Seas Cruiser said:

 Sorry, what is YMMV?

https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/why_differ.shtml

 

Substitute "will" for "may"

[BridgeMates]

Even Americans returning to the US also experience unbelievably long lines at immigration sometimes.

Returning to DFW from Europe a couple years ago it took 1-1/2 hours to get thru immigration and then more wait time at customs.  Applied for Global Entry as soon as we got home.

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

Thanks for your quick reply. I can't keep up with all the commonly used abreviations these days. 

[CHEZMARYLOU]

1 hour ago, Silvery Seas Cruiser said:

 

I suspect the turmoil at Terminal 18 was due to Reflection's docking there instead of Terminal 25 because of some unclear problem with Terminal 25. I would guess that you may not experience what we did if your ship returns to the same dock from which it departs.

I don't see how changing terminals from where we embarked to where we disembarked would have impacted the delays.  It was just a cluster on the part of the immigration officials IMO.

[Dkristene]

We were also in this mess.  Fortunately, have Nexus/ global entry so eventually got in that line and got through quicker than others. It appears that this process ( finger scanning, pics etc ) is  not new and only happening in ports.  It is also occurring at airports, although likely not with the high volume of people at one time.  Non US cituzens were made to feel like they were rated second class and treated accordingly.  I felt very badly for the elderly who had to stand for hours. Unfortunately, this was a bad end to what had been a wonderful cruise. 

[cruising cockroach]

1 hour ago, Dkristene said:

ers. It appears that this process ( finger scanning, pics etc ) is  not new and only happening in ports.  It is also occurring at airports, although likely not with the high volume of people at one time.  

 

I thought the photo and fingerprinting at U.S. airports has been in place for well over a decade?  This practice has since spread to other countries.

[mrsgoggins]

9 hours ago, bogofman said:

We will be returning on the 28th and need to get to miami for our flight to UK,

 

Are you saying if we elect to disembark at say 8am, and walk our bags off, we would have to stand in line until all US passengers have disembarked, they could be disembarking until after 9.30

 

 

We have disembarked at Port Everglades a few times without delay, BUT .... May 2016 at the end of a Panama Canal cruise, we were in line for 90 minutes!  On that occasion, although they had a US only line initially, they closed it and there were US citizens in the line with us.

 

I am just thankful that in January this year we were through in no time, because we had stood in line for 2 hours 5 minutes at Orlando international on entry to the US ..... along with families with young children.  And as a frequent visitor to the US for 30 years, the older I get, the more this sort of thing is putting me off.  But then again, we UK citizens have no idea how long it will take us to enter our favourite European places after next March 😉. 

[Gordoncruickshank]

11 hours ago, lovescarborough said:

Yes , we do exactly the same !  I hope this isn't going to be the norm at Fort Lauderdale. We've been there many times and never had much of a wait. After the horrors of immigration arriving at Miami airport, I don't think we could stand this at the end of the holiday! 

As do we. I even put in an overnight in Heathrow as I don't trust BA to run the early flights from Glasgow and Edinburgh. As for the time pre and post cruise it all depends on when I can get cabin upgrades with Virgin. Typically we do 3 pre and 1 post cruise but this year we have 2 nights before and 3 after. 

[Gordoncruickshank]

11 hours ago, yorky said:

Miami last time was our worst experience at any airport in the world. The over zealous Inspections, even adding another as you tried to leave the terminal plus understaffing with even those doing checks slowing everything to a snails pace was truly awful. There were passengers at the baggage pick up just about fighting with each other in frustration. We also cruise in and out of Fort Lauderdale next year so as with yourself hope it’s not another horror show. 

Strange how experiences differ. We always cruised From Fort Lauderdale and always found that the experience at the end of the cruise was terrible. When the Eclipse moved to Miami we have had no real issues although this year when we left (we were moving to the Silhouette for a week, which was one of the two cruises the Silhouette did from Miami last winter, the arrangements for moving from one ship to another were dreadful.

 

We usually do suites and the whole terminal thing In FL has improved immeasurably since they separated out the suite passengers luggage and you usually get moved into the global entry line.    

[jeffsin251]

Myself and my wife were on this cruise... and i can confirm our treatment at Port Everglades was truly awful.

We have visited third world countries who can organise immigration better than this.

As the U.S is not a third world country I can only assume that they deliberately disadvantage non U.S Citizens, treat them like cattle, shout at them...hold them in huge lines and show no empathy whatsoever... the only thing missing was a big stick to beat us with..

I would imagine that would have appeared if we complained too loudly..

This delay cost me £180 in missed pre booked transfers and new taxis but the real damage was realising that as Brits, we are clearly not welcome in the U.S.

That is a shame, as we enjoyed our time in Florida, but we will stay away from the U.S in future and holiday where we feel a touch more welcome

 

Edited December 14, 2018 by jeffsin251
wrongly underlined

[CruiseMGM]

I am so saddened by this whole thread, and as an American, I truly and sincerely apologize to the non-US citizens and those posters who have experienced such horrible treatment. I am so sorry this happened to you.  I am hopeful this was an anomaly and not the wave of the future. But there are times I despair. Best wishes to you, OP, and all others who have spoken up. My husband and I would welcome you to our country if we could, and I think, I hope, a vast number of Americans feel the same way.

[vanman]

On ‎12‎/‎9‎/‎2018 at 12:51 PM, Barwick Cruiser said:

Was there a separate, maybe faster, line for Nexus holders?  How many ships disembarked with you?  Hope it's more organized next month when we sail!!

Yes there is a sign for Global Entry. We informed the staff that we had Nexus and were told to go in the line for US citizens. We only waited about 15 minutes. The line for Non-US citizens was massive and wasn't moving. So glad to have Nexus.

[Jim_Iain]

3 hours ago, jeffsin251 said:

Myself and my wife were on this cruise... and i can confirm our treatment at Port Everglades was truly awful.

We have visited third world countries who can organise immigration better than this.

As the U.S is not a third world country I can only assume that they deliberately disadvantage non U.S Citizens, treat them like cattle, shout at them...hold them in huge lines and show no empathy whatsoever... the only thing missing was a big stick to beat us with..

I would imagine that would have appeared if we complained too loudly..

This delay cost me £180 in missed pre booked transfers and new taxis but the real damage was realising that as Brits, we are clearly not welcome in the U.S.

That is a shame, as we enjoyed our time in Florida, but we will stay away from the U.S in future and holiday where we feel a touch more welcome

 

Sorry that you experienced such a delay in immigrations on your last cruise.   I guess you need to add the U.K. into the 3rd world nation category!

 

We arrived Heathrow recently and experienced the same disorganization you describe.   If you were a U.K resident - no problem.   We arrived at immigration to a crowd of over 1,000.   They had ONE immigration officer on duty.   As time went on a couple more agents arrived but it took us over 2 1/2 hours to clear immigration.   Lucky I was able to reach our driver to let him know we were delayed.

 

 

[mrsgoggins]

4 hours ago, jeffsin251 said:

 

As the U.S is not a third world country I can only assume that they deliberately disadvantage non U.S Citizens, treat them like cattle, shout at them...hold them in huge lines and show no empathy whatsoever... the only thing missing was a big stick to beat us with..

I would imagine that would have appeared if we complained too loudly..

 

 

I have entered the US well over 60 times in 30 years, and I really do think that the intimidating, aggressive, behaviour is unique to the USA alas.  When you have a pleasant entry, it is memorable.  I’ve already mentioned my 2 hours and 5 minutes in a line at MCO last year, and then because I dared to ask if something had gone wrong (we could see our cases had been taken off the by-now empty carousel) the Agent became quite aggressive and suddenly there was a ‘problem’ with my passport and I was taken off to a side room without my husband, where I was ‘kept’ for another 30 minutes.  I was getting a bit distressed so I went to the counter to ask if it would be much longer. That Agent made what can only be described as a joke phone call (he turned away from me and mumbled) and I was then released.  Moral for me was get through Immigration and say nothing.

 

At least my 90 minute queue at Port Everglades was shared by Americans too.  My next time through Port Everglades was as easy as previous ones had been.

 

After the many years of great USA vacations (we have travelled extensively throughout the USA)  I’m also coming to the conclusion that I’ll be staying closer to home after the next few years, and I’ll never enter via Orlando again.  

 

 

[Michidoeme]

This is nothing new.  Also 9 years ago coming off Equinox we stood in line for 2.5 hours before we even got to immigration.

[Saab4444]

On 12/10/2018 at 3:34 AM, cruising cockroach said:

 

I thought the photo and fingerprinting at U.S. airports has been in place for well over a decade?  This practice has since spread to other countries.

This happens when you first enter the country at the beginning of your journey to get your 90 day visa stamp. However, when you return from a closed loop cruise this has already been done and you just re-enter. Checking the visa stamp and verifying your passport picture is totally sufficient. Collecting all data again after a closed loop cruise is just wasted time and torture.

Edited December 15, 2018 by Saab4444

[alwaysonaship]

On 12/14/2018 at 7:39 AM, CruiseMGM said:

I am so saddened by this whole thread, and as an American, I truly and sincerely apologize to the non-US citizens and those posters who have experienced such horrible treatment. I am so sorry this happened to you.  I am hopeful this was an anomaly and not the wave of the future. But there are times I despair. Best wishes to you, OP, and all others who have spoken up. My husband and I would welcome you to our country if we could, and I think, I hope, a vast number of Americans feel the same way.

Embarrassing as a welcoming to anyone not from the USA. Shameful. 

[cantstopingcruising]

Canadian passengers returning to Fort Lauderdale, please keep us updated.

 

Are these problems continuing, or has there been an improvement?

 

Thanks.

[Hodgson]

WOW, very sorry to hear this. We returned on 2 Dec from RC Adventure of the Seas and did not experience this at all. The folks behind us in line were non-American and we’re treated like anyone else getting through Customs. 

[K12Guy]

On 12/9/2018 at 4:10 PM, Turtles06 said:

As an American, let me say that I am very sorry this happened.  It's a terrible way to welcome anyone to our country.  

I can appreciate your apology, but this happens in pretty much any country. Last May it happened to us in Dublin, Ireland. Residents there had a completely separate line and they were cleared before any non-residents. We made the mistake of not being assertive getting to Immigration, not realizing six or seven jumbo jets arrived within an hour of each, flooding the immigration area and causing a huge backup.

[K12Guy]

On 12/9/2018 at 3:21 PM, Silhouette2017 said:

I think it’s new that they are now fingerprinting and taking photos of non-Americans. At least on previous cruises they didn’t do that. 

For some reason I am of the opinion that facial recognition software is being put into place to make the arrival experience faster. I think once a person has been fingerprinted and photographed the process will be faster for subsequent arrivals. At least I am hoping that's correct.

[gerelmx]

11 minutes ago, K12Guy said:

For some reason I am of the opinion that facial recognition software is being put into place to make the arrival experience faster. I think once a person has been fingerprinted and photographed the process will be faster for subsequent arrivals. At least I am hoping that's correct.

 

Past Oct 5 I cruise onboard the Summit to New England and Canada, I enter USA at DFW airport, there I was finger printed, photo, USA VISA scan and Passport scan and stamped with a permit valid to stay in USA for 6 months. When we return to Cape Liberty, N.J. The lady that was guiding you to which line to go, tells me stop here in the yellow line, look at the camera and don't move. After that a green light turns on, she say you can go home you are cleared, I didn't show my passport or USA VISA.

 

This was the fastest and easy immigration I have done in my Life, hope this system is implemented everywhere.

[K12Guy]

1 minute ago, gerelmx said:

 

Past Oct 5 I cruise onboard the Summit to New England and Canada, I enter USA at DFW airport, there I was finger printed, photo, USA VISA scan and Passport scan and stamped with a permit valid to stay in USA for 6 months. When we return to Cape Liberty, N.J. The lady that was guiding you to which line to go, tells me stop here in the yellow line, look at the camera and don't move. After that a green light turns on, she say you can go home you are cleared, I didn't show my passport or USA VISA.

 

This was the fastest and easy immigration I have done in my Life, hope this system is implemented everywhere.

I think that's the plan. I wonder if there is written communication anyplace that tells folks what is going on? Maybe in a brochure of some kind that is commonly ignored? Not that I WOULD ever ignore an informative brochure, of course.