NZ to SYD, Biosecurity?

[LindaD22]

On another site pertaining to air travel, it was brought up that all travelers from NZ will be screened upon entry to AUS for soil, seeds, etc that might be brought in. Specific mention was made to shoes worn in NZ, especially if one has visited a farm or other such excursion. It was said that travelers need to declare their activity and the shoes worn could be inspected and even steam cleaned, if needed. How is this handled for cruise passengers? We leave in a couple of weeks for a NZ cruise from SYD and this is the first I’ve heard about this, so looking for more info. 

[dazadelaide]

Nothing new, customs have been doing this for many years now.

They just ask if you have been in any farmland and you just say yes or no.

A few times they asked to see our shoes most times they haven't.

Once coming back from Bali, they made 3 young men wash their shoes in a sink until clean.

On our last cruise back into Australia the same thing applied, we were just asked they inspected our shoes while checking our cases and then let us through no problem.

Daz

[LindaD22]

Ok, good to know. On one excursion we will be visiting a sheep farm, so we’ll make sure to clean our shoes and have them handy for inspection. 

[OzKiwiJJ]

I'm not sure how it's handled these days but I recall having very strict checks after we came back from a South Island trip years ago. I'd had the foresight to take a small scrubbing brush with me and our sneaker soles got a thorough scrubbing on our last night. The biosecurity guy who checked them was most impressed!

[lyndarra]

They will be checking for soil and seeds. As well as scrubbing off any dirt, check for seeds which may have stuck to, for example, laces (common) or eleswhere.

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, lyndarra said:

They will be checking for soil and seeds. As well as scrubbing off any dirt, check for seeds which may have stuck to, for example, laces (common) or eleswhere.

Seeds also get stuck in the grooves in the soles that even a scrubbing brush misses. My trusty nail file sorted those ones out!

[LindaD22]

I have never packed a scrubbing brush when cruising but there’s a first for everything!

[ceeceeDee]

We nearly always go horse riding in Vila. I make sure to thoroughly clean my riding boots (fairly easy - no laces or ripple soles) the minute we get back on the ship. Hubby just wears joggers. A bit more labour intensive to clean, but no biggie. Strictly speaking, our footwear is usually only a bit muddy anyway. I usually have an old toothbrush in our luggage which does the job of getting into any crevices. We've never had a problem with bio security and no one has ever inspected our footwear.

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, LindaD22 said:

I have never packed a scrubbing brush when cruising but there’s a first for everything!

We knew we were going to do some bushwalking there, plus we stayed a night with friends on a farm, so we decided to go prepared. It was a very small one but had nice stiff bristles so good for cleaning sneaker soles.

[MicCanberra]

A few years ago we went to NZ for the Masters games, we scrubbed our boots clean before we returned knowing they would be inspected. The funny thing is that we had played on Astro turf for all our games. They still checked once back in Australia.

[arxcards]

On your Australian entry card, there is a series of yes/no questions on the declaration. We aren't picking on New Zealand, as the declaration applies to anywhere in the world. Just answer honestly with a yes, and join the declaration line.

 

After your excursion, just clean your footwear as best as you can.

 

 

[arxcards]

As you are probably already aware, the US asks similar questions when you return home. It is pretty normal around the world and shouldn't come as a surprise. We faced a bit of scrutiny when transiting through the US after time in the Canadian Rockies.

[LindaD22]

7 minutes ago, arxcards said:

As you are probably already aware, the US asks similar questions when you return home. It is pretty normal around the world and shouldn't come as a surprise. We faced a bit of scrutiny when transiting through the US after time in the Canadian Rockies.

 

I wasn’t surprised by the idea of questioning upon entry, of course. I just had never given thought to the condition of my shoes and the necessity to clean them properly in order to comply. I think I’ll pack an old toothbrush, as suggested, and give our shoes a good once-over. 

[cruiselvr04]

What are they looking for in the question of lakes or fresh water streams? 
 

We are taking an excursion to the hot springs in New Zealand.  Do I answer yes?  We can wash our “swimmers” before we come back into Australia. 

[MicCanberra]

If you have been in contact with any lake's or fresh water streams answer yes, temperature wouldn't matter.

Definitely wash your swimmers, etc.

 

The best thing to do is answer honestly, it may mean further questions, but that is much better than a fine or worse breaching our biosecurity and bringing in a bug or pest that may destroy our ecosystem or an industry.

[lovedecruise]

How does the inspection work then, if the ship berths at Athol Bay, after coming from NZ? Passengers are loaded onto the tenders and could be wearing the shoes they wore on farm visits etc.  The ship then moves to the OPT for the night and passengers disembark the next day. By then the shoes have already been worn on Australian soil, or are you required to make a declaration before tendering into the Opera House?

[arxcards]

53 minutes ago, lovedecruise said:

How does the inspection work then, if the ship berths at Athol Bay, after coming from NZ? Passengers are loaded onto the tenders and could be wearing the shoes they wore on farm visits etc.  The ship then moves to the OPT for the night and passengers disembark the next day. By then the shoes have already been worn on Australian soil, or are you required to make a declaration before tendering into the Opera House?

There are some curious possibilities.

 

Is Sydney the first Australian port on your cruise? It is the norm to be processed as arriving into Australia before going ashore in your first port. That would normally be done in a secure zone inside the cruise terminal. If Sydney is your first Australian port, I can only see it working from anchorage in Athol Bay if your arrival is processed on the ship before tendering.

[lovedecruise]

58 minutes ago, arxcards said:

There are some curious possibilities.

 

Is Sydney the first Australian port on your cruise? It is the norm to be processed as arriving into Australia before going ashore in your first port. That would normally be done in a secure zone inside the cruise terminal. If Sydney is your first Australian port, I can only see it working from anchorage in Athol Bay if your arrival is processed on the ship before tendering.

Yes, we will be arriving from NZ. Our last port will be Dunedin and then we have a day in the Sounds before 2 sea days and arrival at Athol Bay.  Do you think we will have to fill out the complete declaration form or just the bio security section? Guess it will all have to be redone the next day when we dock and disembark, as there may be people who don’t get off on that tendering day. 

[arxcards]

11 minutes ago, lovedecruise said:

Yes, we will be arriving from NZ. Our last port will be Dunedin and then we have a day in the Sounds before 2 sea days and arrival at Athol Bay.  Do you think we will have to fill out the complete declaration form or just the bio security section? Guess it will all have to be redone the next day when we dock and disembark, as there may be people who don’t get off on that tendering day. 

I can't be sure. I think it will be all or nothing, whichever day it happens.

Maybe @gbenjo has a heads-up for how Celebrity Edge will be handling this in Feb?

[lovedecruise]

43 minutes ago, arxcards said:

I can't be sure. I think it will be all or nothing, whichever day it happens.

Maybe @gbenjo has a heads-up for how Celebrity Edge will be handling this in Feb?

Thinking back , I remember a cruise many years ago,  Aust/NZ, when Customs officers came aboard to process us all and we had to fill in the declaration form etc in readiness for our arrival at the next port. 

[arxcards]

12 minutes ago, lovedecruise said:

Thinking back , I remember a cruise many years ago,  Aust/NZ, when Customs officers came aboard to process us all and we had to fill in the declaration form etc in readiness for our arrival at the next port. 

I was going to mention the same. In our case, customs officers boarded in Dunedin and processed us on the way to Hobart. That was pre-covid though, and I believe it was partly related to them not having customs facilities/staff in Hobart. After restart, I heard they were no longer allowing the officers to fly over and board the ship, but that was largely due to rules around distancing, quarantining, isolation etc. No point sending 3 officers to do a job and have them in isolation instead. Things change, and that may now be an option again.

[gbenjo]

52 minutes ago, arxcards said:

I can't be sure. I think it will be all or nothing, whichever day it happens.

Maybe @gbenjo has a heads-up for how Celebrity Edge will be handling this in Feb?

Celebrity has no say in how this would be handled .We do what ABF say as per their rules. My guess would be, as the cruise commences in NZ that  there would be a face  to passport  process at the OPT on the 25th and Athol Buoy on the 24th would just be a "port of call" with no restrictions.ABF seem to have changed the rules in regard to passenger clearance being done on the ship prior to arrival, I think it was determined by the number of pax on the ship and I don't recall what that number is and if it is still the case at all.Regardless of when and where, the orange passenger arrival card has to be filled out in full but no other forms are required, just a  passport at the face to face process. 

I could be totally wrong about this but it is my 'educated guess"

[arxcards]

2 minutes ago, gbenjo said:

Celebrity has no say in how this would be handled .We do what ABF say as per their rules. My guess would be, as the cruise commences in NZ that  there would be a face  to passport  process at the OPT on the 25th and Athol Buoy on the 24th would just be a "port of call" with no restrictions.ABF seem to have changed the rules in regard to passenger clearance being done on the ship prior to arrival, I think it was determined by the number of pax on the ship and I don't recall what that number is and if it is still the case at all.Regardless of when and where, the orange passenger arrival card has to be filled out in full but no other forms are required, just a  passport at the face to face process. 

I could be totally wrong about this but it is my 'educated guess"

Sounds fair.

And as with the question earlier, they can wear the "farm shoes" is Sydney one day, but don't get to declare them till the next.

[OzKiwiJJ]

2 hours ago, arxcards said:

I was going to mention the same. In our case, customs officers boarded in Dunedin and processed us on the way to Hobart. That was pre-covid though, and I believe it was partly related to them not having customs facilities/staff in Hobart. After restart, I heard they were no longer allowing the officers to fly over and board the ship, but that was largely due to rules around distancing, quarantining, isolation etc. No point sending 3 officers to do a job and have them in isolation instead. Things change, and that may now be an option again.

We had that after NZ cruises in 2015 and 2017 but they stopped that in 2019. We had to do passport checks in Hobart that year.

 

I heard a rumour that they didn't have enough "Border Force" officers to allow them to spend three days on a cruise ship any more.

[Cruiseskier]

Getting off the ship at OPT, how long does it take to process through the terminal if you said yes to farms vs. no to farms? Does each person speak to an officer after collecting bags.  Coming off the Celebrity Edge.(Large ship).