Will we get passport stamps - or do they have egates in Sydney?

[lissie]

We're doing a Syd-Bne-PNG-Cns--Syd round trip on NZ passports. 

 

I'm just curious - will we get exit stamps in/out of Australia?  Do  you have to leave the ship in Cairns to get  "stamped" back into Australia even if you are staying on the ship for the day?   Just curious - I realised I have no idea how passport control works on boats. 

[Stickman1990]

No - they haven’t stamped passports - in or out - for many years

[OzKiwiJJ]

Whether you have to go through a face-to-face passport check (as they call them these days) on returning to Australia very much depends on what ports you have visited. Sometimes it's done on the ship but lately they seem to be done onshore. After the PNG cruise we did in 2016 we had the passport check in Brisbane which was our first Australian port after the overseas ports. All cruises coming from NZ also have passport checks at the first Australian port of call. However on our most recent cruise to New Caledonia and Vanuatu there was no passport check, and I don't recall passport checks on any other South Pacific cruises for those countries and Fiji.

 

So be prepared to have to go off the ship in Cairns, if it's docking there, and you probably won't be allowed back on until the ship has reached a "zero count" ie all passengers have gone through the passport check. The Cairns cruise terminal is right in the city so enjoy a walk around the waterfront area until you are allowed to reboard. If your cruise stops at Yorkey's Knob, thus requiring tenders to go ashore, they may do the passport check onboard.

[lissie]

1 hour ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

So be prepared to have to go off the ship in Cairns, if it's docking there, and you probably won't be allowed back on until the ship has reached a "zero count" ie all passengers have gone through the passport check. The Cairns cruise terminal is right in the city so enjoy a walk around the waterfront area until you are allowed to reboard. If your cruise stops at Yorkey's Knob, thus requiring tenders to go ashore, they may do the passport check onboard.

Cairns is listed as a possible tender port - but when  I checked the cairns Port authority - it looks like Queen Elizabeth  tenders at Yorkey's Knob 

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, lissie said:

Cairns is listed as a possible tender port - but when  I checked the cairns Port authority - it looks like Queen Elizabeth  tenders at Yorkey's Knob 

Hopefully if passport checks are required they will do them onboard then. 

[MicCanberra]

I would think that Queen Elizabeth at Yorkey's Knob with a tender service, I would think they would come on board.

[lyndarra]

On 12/16/2019 at 3:39 PM, MicCanberra said:

I would think that Queen Elizabeth at Yorkey's Knob with a tender service, I would think they would come on board.

I would not have expected any immigration being done at Yorkey's Knob as it can be affected by weather, preventing the use of tenders. I've experienced that in the past on Radiance OTS. She waited a while, several hours, but it was decided the wind was too strong to launch tenders so she continued on to Darwin.

[MicCanberra]

I suppose if they don't do it there, then it will be the next port.

[OzKiwiJJ]

3 hours ago, lyndarra said:

I would not have expected any immigration being done at Yorkey's Knob as it can be affected by weather, preventing the use of tenders. I've experienced that in the past on Radiance OTS. She waited a while, several hours, but it was decided the wind was too strong to launch tenders so she continued on to Darwin.

The passport control officers might travel on the ship and do the processing after leaving PNG. I've seen that happen on some cruises to various places - we did one Top End cruise that had a stop in Lombok and the passport control was done on a sea day between Lombok and the next port.

[lyndarra]

7 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

The passport control officers might travel on the ship and do the processing after leaving PNG. I've seen that happen on some cruises to various places - we did one Top End cruise that had a stop in Lombok and the passport control was done on a sea day between Lombok and the next port.

I have seen that also but I've never noticed immigration boarding at a tender port like Yorkey's where they may not be able to board at all. Immigration personnel usually board a ship when it is docked as they have all their 'office' equipment plus personal luggage. That's my perception and I will stand corrected if others have experienced otherwise.

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, lyndarra said:

I have seen that also but I've never noticed immigration boarding at a tender port like Yorkey's where they may not be able to board at all. Immigration personnel usually board a ship when it is docked as they have all their 'office' equipment plus personal luggage. That's my perception and I will stand corrected if others have experienced otherwise.

Good point about all the equipment. Hmmm, that means that for the example I quoted the immigration people must have boarded on embarkation day in Fremantle as the next port was Geraldton (a tender port) then two sea days, then Lombok (a tender port), then two sea days during which the processing was done, before the next docked port of Broome. 

 

It will be interesting to hear what actually does occur on the OPs cruise.

[lissie]

13 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

I suppose if they don't do it there, then it will be the next port.

Really? Given the paranoia about boat people - would they really let us aliens wander around Cairns without officially being in the country? 

[lyndarra]

1 hour ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Good point about all the equipment. Hmmm, that means that for the example I quoted the immigration people must have boarded on embarkation day in Fremantle as the next port was Geraldton (a tender port) then two sea days, then Lombok (a tender port), then two sea days during which the processing was done, before the next docked port of Broome. 

 

It will be interesting to hear what actually does occur on the OPs cruise.

Also, if going to Lombok, Indonesian immigration would be on board to do visas, that is, if they still required.

[OzKiwiJJ]

24 minutes ago, lyndarra said:

Also, if going to Lombok, Indonesian immigration would be on board to do visas, that is, if they still required.

The visas were required at that time but not face-to-face passport checks.

[lyndarra]

9 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

The visas were required at that time but not face-to-face passport checks.

that was my experience.