Question regarding Alaskan Cruise

[david,Mississauga]

On 4/20/2023 at 2:05 PM, speerssquad said:

Thanks every one for your replies to my thread. We are working on a pardon and we will go prepared if they pull us to secondary at the port. Not much we can do right now with the wait times for pardon's and waivers.

 

The son of a friend obtained a pardon from the Canadian government for the "sins of his youth".  The US government would not recognise the pardon unless he paid what to me seemed like a large amount every five years. He is still doing that.  

[speerssquad]

10 minutes ago, david,Mississauga said:

 

The son of a friend obtained a pardon from the Canadian government for the "sins of his youth".  The US government would not recognise the pardon unless he paid what to me seemed like a large amount every five years. He is still doing that.  

Yes some crimes do need a waiver but we have been told by a lawyer to not do one until we are advised to as once you do this you can never stop. Even if your record is removed. We have been told to do a pardon and take it with us with our legal letter for now once we have it.

[speerssquad]

This is just a update as I want to help others who might go through this. There is a LOT of misinformation on the internet so here is my experience:

The Vancouver Cruise Port (When passing US Customs) will deny you if you have ANYTHING on your record. Luckily we were allowed to pass through (We were first denied but after talking to the supervising officer he allowed us through) but the very nice border control officer gave us some very helpful information.

 

1. If you have a record apply for a waiver to cross- either they grant you one or they tell you that you don't need one and you can carry that letter going forward.

2. If you have been denied entering the USA you will be flagged and should look into getting a waiver

3. If you are Canadian and have a record, do not listen to anything on the internet. Do not risk being denied because others have slipped through. If you are denied, no insurance covers that and you may not get your luggage back until the vessel returns.

 

Other than that we had a great vacation and have applied for a waiver for next time.

[Heidi13]

18 hours ago, speerssquad said:

This is just a update as I want to help others who might go through this. There is a LOT of misinformation on the internet so here is my experience:

The Vancouver Cruise Port (When passing US Customs) will deny you if you have ANYTHING on your record. Luckily we were allowed to pass through (We were first denied but after talking to the supervising officer he allowed us through) but the very nice border control officer gave us some very helpful information.

 

1. If you have a record apply for a waiver to cross- either they grant you one or they tell you that you don't need one and you can carry that letter going forward.

2. If you have been denied entering the USA you will be flagged and should look into getting a waiver

3. If you are Canadian and have a record, do not listen to anything on the internet. Do not risk being denied because others have slipped through. If you are denied, no insurance covers that and you may not get your luggage back until the vessel returns.

 

Other than that we had a great vacation and have applied for a waiver for next time.

 

Just to clarify, this has nothing to do with Vancouver Cruise Terminal, or checking in with a cruise line, neither of which have access to the criminal record base.

 

You issues were trying to depart Canada and enter the USA, which just happens to be at the same time you were boarding a cruise. You would experience exactly the same issues at YVR, had you booked a flight to the States.

[speerssquad]

27 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Just to clarify, this has nothing to do with Vancouver Cruise Terminal, or checking in with a cruise line, neither of which have access to the criminal record base.

 

You issues were trying to depart Canada and enter the USA, which just happens to be at the same time you were boarding a cruise. You would experience exactly the same issues at YVR, had you booked a flight to the States.

Yes, my point was, passing through the Vancouver Cruise Port with a Criminal Record will be an issue as the CBP officers for the US Customs portion of your clearance will flag you and may deny you. There are a LOT of other posts out there that talk about being able to board the ship etc at certain ports even when visiting other countries (despite having a record). This was just feedback and hope it helps. 

 

The main point, if you have a record, get a waiver.

[LHT28]

19 hours ago, speerssquad said:

This is just a update as I want to help others who might go through this. There is a LOT of misinformation on the internet so here is my experience:

The Vancouver Cruise Port (When passing US Customs) will deny you if you have ANYTHING on your record. Luckily we were allowed to pass through (We were first denied but after talking to the supervising officer he allowed us through) but the very nice border control officer gave us some very helpful information.

 

 

You got lucky  the Border agent could just as easily  said  NO 

[Heidi13]

20 hours ago, speerssquad said:

Yes, my point was, passing through the Vancouver Cruise Port with a Criminal Record will be an issue as the CBP officers for the US Customs portion of your clearance will flag you and may deny you. There are a LOT of other posts out there that talk about being able to board the ship etc at certain ports even when visiting other countries (despite having a record). This was just feedback and hope it helps. 

 

The main point, if you have a record, get a waiver.

 

Many of the posts you make reference to, with respect to other ports, are factual in that the cruise line cannot deny you boarding, as they have no access to the criminal record database. Had you booked a cruise to Alaska, Seattle, Hawaii, L/A, etc, that stopped in Victoria first, you would have had no issue boarding the ship in Vancouver. The issue you experienced in Vancouver would happen at your first US Port.

 

In Seattle, US citizens with a criminal record that do not meet Canadian entry requirements are not denied boarding, as the cruise line has no access to this data and you do not complete Canadian Border inspection in Seattle. However, they may experience an issue upon arrival Victoria. Once the manifest is sent to Canadian authorities, they advise the ship of any pax they wish to interview. The ship is not advised why, only that specific pax are to be retained aboard. Once interviewed, they can be released for shore leave, restricted aboard and in rare cases can be removed from the vessel in restraints. At no time is the cruise line or Master informed of the reasons. 

 

As a Canadian with a criminal record, if you attempt to board either of the ferries that depart downtown Victoria, you may be denied boarding by US Border Services, which work in Victoria. This is a similar situation as Vancouver, and many Canadian airports, where US Border agent are employed.

 

When cruising to countries other than the US, most do not have access to Canada's criminal record database, so would have no knowledge of your record, unless they require a Visa and those questions are asked. No cruise line has access to this information.

 

If you have a criminal record, I'll suggest without a waiver you avoid any travel to the USA - cruise, flight or driving.