How long to clear immigration on Celebrity first Japan port after Korea

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We are planning a cruise around Japan on Celebrity, and have a stop in Busan, S. Korea. Then, our next port is Nagasaki, Japan. I have heard cruisers must clear Japanese immigration again after the S. Korea port, and that it may take a while to get off the ship. Can anyone who has experience with going through Japanese immigration following the S. Korea port stop give me an idea of how long to allow to get off the ship? We are thinking of doing a private tour here, and I do not know when I should schedule the start time. Also, if you ask in advance, will Guest Services provide an early slot to clear immigration if you tell them you have a private tour scheduled?

Thank you!

[hubofhockey]

For us, it was 25 minutes.  They gave out numbers of boarding groups, but ignored them and let everyone lined up early immediate access to immigration.  I would count on 25-35 minutes unless you do a Celebrity tour.  This was Hakodate for us.  

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17 hours ago, hubofhockey said:

For us, it was 25 minutes.  They gave out numbers of boarding groups, but ignored them and let everyone lined up early immediate access to immigration.  I would count on 25-35 minutes unless you do a Celebrity tour.  This was Hakodate for us.  

Thank you!

[Northern Aurora]

This past spring we also went through immigration in Hakodate.  I am surprised that the above poster was able to get through it in 25 minutes.  While there were a number of inspectors the line was all the way out of the cruise terminal.  In our case we are Zenith level members of the Celebrity loyalty program and also were in a Suite so a Retreat Concierge took us to the front of the line.

[Hlitner]

Perhaps it will help to explain the Japanese system.  When you exit or enter Japan, everyone must go through a face-to-face with at least one Japanese immigration official.  In the case of cruises, it is handled different ways in different ports.  In some places, the Japanese officials will set up shop in a lounge on the ship.  Once they are in place, set-up all their laptops, make sure they are working, then they will start seeing passengers   The ship determines how they want to organize the queue (the general rule is that their excursions will get preference).  You must wait your turn, present yourself (with your Passport) to the Japanese official, and get the appropriate entry or exit stamp.   In some ports, this will be done off the ship in a port building.  

 

How long does it take?  Roll the dice.  On our most 2023 cruise ( March-April) it varied from about 45 minutes to 2 hours!  Much will depend on how many on your ship, how many Japanese officials, etc.  In April-May of 2023, when we were on the Westerdam, we returned to Japan (from Taiwan) and spent nearly 2 hours waiting in the queue.  Once we finally got to an official we were quickly cleared (and got our Passport Stamp) and then, within 5 minutes, had our Passports checked by 4 other Japanese officials (on the ship and on the pier).  

 

Will your clearance procedure be faster?  Who knows?  One thing that is certain is that you will need to go through the procedure (the Japanese are anal about following their procedures) whether it take 5 minutes or 5 hours!  But no matter how slow or fast, you can be sure the officials will be polite.

 

For us, the good news is that when we return to Japan, next year, our ship will have no more than 450 passengers :).   We just hope that the Japanese send more than one official.

 

Hank

[hubofhockey]

2 hours ago, Northern Aurora said:

This past spring we also went through immigration in Hakodate.  I am surprised that the above poster was able to get through it in 25 minutes.  While there were a number of inspectors the line was all the way out of the cruise terminal.  In our case we are Zenith level members of the Celebrity loyalty program and also were in a Suite so a Retreat Concierge took us to the front of the line.

That’s what it took.  I didn’t anticipate and told my TBL guide to come a little late.  Waited only 10 minutes.  They told people to wait in lounges, but then just said everyone could go.  I’m sure and retreat people had 0-5 minute waits, at most.

[Northern Aurora]

22 minutes ago, hubofhockey said:

That’s what it took.  I didn’t anticipate and told my TBL guide to come a little late.  Waited only 10 minutes.  They told people to wait in lounges, but then just said everyone could go.  I’m sure and retreat people had 0-5 minute waits, at most.

 

We were in Hakodate in 2018 when we visited their major attractions and so in 2024 were in no hurry to leave the ship.  We left the ship late morning (the plan was to enjoy a local lunch and also shop for chopsticks) and it took us, with the guidance of a Retreat Concierge, at least 10 (if not 15) minutes to be taken through the long line which snaked outside of the cruise terminal to the front of the line. There we waited a few more minutes before being waved down to an immigration official.

 

Our OP needs to pay attention to the post by @Hlitner.

Edited June 18 by Northern Aurora

[hubofhockey]

6 minutes ago, Northern Aurora said:

 

We were in Hakodate in 2018 when we visited their major attractions and so in 2024 were in no hurry to leave the ship.  We left the ship late morning (the plan was to enjoy a local lunch and also shop for chopsticks) and it took us, with the guidance of a Retreat Concierge, at least 10 (if not 15) minutes to be taken through the long line which snaked outside of the cruise terminal to the front of the line. There we waited a few more minutes before being waved down to an immigration official.

 

Our OP needs to pay attention to the post by @Hlitner.

They either figured it out or our cruise lucked out.

[Donald]

Like many things in Japan, Westerners do not entirely understand how Immigration works there.

As in America, different areas have different rules and procedures - which are subject to interpretation and implementation by local / regional Supervisors. 

I have worked on ships sailing around Japan for many years. It is rare that the same port has the same Immigration procedures two visits in a row.

Sometimes Japanese Immigration requires face-to-face inspections at random ports; sometimes they do not. Sometimes they require all inspections to be done onboard; sometimes they require the inspections ashore.Sometimes they insist on searching all hand baggage at the Immigration inspection; sometimes not. Typically Japanese Immigration is very slow and thorough; but sometimes they just wave some - or all - passengers through.

Just be patient and go with the flow.

[Bfb832cc]

Thank you all for responding. We have decided we would not have a clue when to meet a private guide since immigration can be so variable (and potentially long), so we have given up on that idea. I appreciate everyone's input on their experiences.

[travellovers2]

sorry, posted on the wrong topic. 😕

Edited June 20 by travellovers2

[hubofhockey]

Our arrival in Hakodate on the Celebrity Millennium was the first Japanese port after our return from Busan, South Korea.  We had a private tour and I was a bit nervous after seeing our group number, which I believe was in the upper 20s.  It said to stay in public areas and group numbers would be called.  The day before, a sea day, I went to the main desk asking them if we could change our group #.  They told me that I was late doing this, but gave me Group 6 or something close to that number.

 

We were in a lounge area before any group numbers were called and were told in the lounge that anyone ready to go could head off the ship, which was a nice surprise.

 

When we exited the ship, we entered into a good sized hall.  There was a line, which took about 20 minutes to go through.  I am assuming those in front had Celebrity excursions or Retreat status.  In any case, there were several people working at immigration and the process in Hakodate had perfect precision.  We got out 30 minutes before we were scheduled to meet with our guide.  We built in an hour for the process.  Fortunately, we found him after 10 minutes with a Tours by Locals sign with my name on it.  

 

This was our experience, but it is specific to a ship with 2,000 people and in Hakodate.  Our 20-25 minute total process in Hakodate was the longest wait at any port.  I will say this about this Millennium itinerary.  The buffet areas was overly congested on morning port days and absolutely horrible for Hiroshima with a 1 pm port day.  If you have Aqua class, use Blu for breakfast whenever possible (or any class where you can avoid the morning buffet on a morning port day, unless the port time is 7 am or otherwise early. 

 

I would recommend booking a private tour and just being in touch with your guide the day of your tour.  We did one Celebrity tour because of a 3 pm departure, the second day n Osaka.  We went to Nara on the Celebrity bus.  The guide was awful.  The experience was not as promised.  However, we still had a good time experiencing Nara.  Overall, we loved this itinerary and the M class ships on Celebrity with Aqua class.  

[Bfb832cc]

Thank you so much!!!

[seeriteR]

@Hlitner Hank, once again you are a wealth of information! We are on HAL Noordam Jan-Mar traveling through Asia. I'm currently researching visa requirements for the 12 countries we will be stopping at (some twice). Perhaps you can answer this question. Do you know how much HAL charges for visas on board in each destination? We are US Citizens trying to save a buck wherever we can and I've heard the HAL markup on doing visas on board can be 100%. Of course, we have not heard anything about what visas are required or will be provided. Which visas would it be worth having HAL provide? Right now, it seem Indonesia is my top concern. Some of the countries don't require a visa or only an arrival card so those are easy.

 

Our sailing is Jan 4 - Mar 16 out of Singapore. We stop in Philippines, Indonesia, PNG, Australia, Timor-Leste, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Philippines, Taiwan, Japan, Taiwan, and finally, Japan.

 

Jim

 

PS, I enjoy reading your many, many posts over the years!

[Hlitner]

Have no clue as to your visa situation, since we have not relied on HAL for visas for a few years.  With 12 countries we would certainly do our homework, carefully checking the visa requirements on the government web sites and also checking the Dept of State web site for info on each country.

 

If you do need multiple visas pre trip, it can be worth the money to use a decent visa service (pre cruise) to save the hassles of dealing with each country.  And make sure you have a few blank pages in your Passport.  You also should find out if there are any vaccination requirements.

 

Hank

[seeriteR]

On 9/2/2024 at 12:51 AM, Hlitner said:

Have no clue as to your visa situation, since we have not relied on HAL for visas for a few years.  With 12 countries we would certainly do our homework, carefully checking the visa requirements on the government web sites and also checking the Dept of State web site for info on each country.

 

If you do need multiple visas pre trip, it can be worth the money to use a decent visa service (pre cruise) to save the hassles of dealing with each country.  And make sure you have a few blank pages in your Passport.  You also should find out if there are any vaccination requirements.

 

Hank

Yep. Working on all that. The Dept of State website is an excellent resource for US Citizens looking for visa information as it provide links to the official government sites, not third party visa services.

 

HAL recommends CIBTvisa Service but they are the same price (even more, with postage) than HAL would charge. Indonesia may be going visa free for Americans in October which will help us. I'm thinking of letting HAL do Cambodia and possibly Vietnam. I think I'm good on the rest.

 

Thank you! Smooth sailing to you!