Immigration in St.Thomas

[BahamasGirl18]

I just read a thread on the ports of call that you have to go thru immigration in St.Thomas....Could someone explain this?....And to clarify, do we need to have a passport?

[PH8]

Ok,if your cruise is anything like mine was(Mariner),this is what happens,.....

 

When the ship docks in St Thomas,the immigration people get on...........the passengers on the ship have to have their passports checked by them.........

 

We lined up in the Royal Promenade area and the line proceeded thru the dining room(where immigration was)..once the line started moving,it didnt take very long at all.........................when everyone has done this,the ship is cleared and passengers could get off...

[Havana Daydreamin]

When the ship docks in St Thomas,the immigration people get on...........the passengers on the ship have to have their passports checked by them.........

 

We lined up in the Royal Promenade area and the line proceeded thru the dining room(where immigration was)..once the line started moving,it didnt take very long at all.........................when everyone has done this,the ship is cleared and passengers could get off...

 

This was exactly our experience on Explorer last September.

 

Just FYI...a passport is the best bet and will soon be required at the end of the year. But at this point, you can use whatever official identifcation of citizenship that you used when you embarked.

 

It was a breeze...REMEMBER to also have your seapass because RCI staff will mark it to indicate that you have in fact passed through immigration.

[OPSoccermom]

And keep in mind that, just like the muster drill, you don't want to hide or try to blow this off. If you do, it can result in a delay in clearing the entire ship and will hold everyone up.

 

You'll hear them trying to page those who don't show up.

[PoohUnderstands]

The why..... when you visit ports outside the US, when you hit the first port of the US, you have to go thru immigration. Since St. Thomas is an US possession, that is why you go through immigration there and not in S. FLA. Now if you had visited a foreign port between St. Thomas and S.FLA, then immigration would have been at disembarkation in S. FLA!

 

As previously stated, immigration must be completed before you get off the ship for tours, etc. It takes about 30 minutes or so, but when we first got in line it was alittle intimidating in that the line was almost the whole length of the ship!!! But once they started moving, it went pretty fast. It just ended up being a minor inconvenience.

 

Remember, you still have customs to go thru in SFLA.

 

Pooh

[KelJ]

You must do this even if you are NOT disembarking.

[phantom728]

We had to do the same thing on our trip last year on Explorer. The reason was that we visited St. Maarten the day prior to visiting St. Thomas, so since we had been to a foreign port prior to a US port we had to clear immigration.

It was a very easy process.

[crusinmama06]

ALSO, sometimes it can be VERY early in the morning. The past few times we've been to St.Thomas, we had to be in line at 8am with our kids. Many kids in line were wearing their pajamas (is that a dress code violation? :D )

 

And everyone in your room (including the kids) must appear or like the PP's said, they WILL call your name over the speaker until you arrive.

[Enchantment 04]

On my last cruise on the Jewel, we had to do this in Key West. The line went by very quickly but some people didnt show up for a while so it shortened our time in Key West.

 

And some of you may be asking why we did this in Key West. Our itinerary got reversed, and key West was the last port of call before we arrived back into Fort Lauderdale.

[Don Pedro]

We were on the Navigator of the Seas December 2004 and November 2005 for eastern Caribbean cruises and did not have to clear US Immigration in St Thomas. Most of the ships are scheduled to stop in St Thomas before St Marteen. If these stops are reversed it probably triggers the need to clear immigration.

[Schplinky]

Don,

 

We were on Navigator and did not have to clear either but, upon reflection, we went from Miami-San Juan - St. Thomas. The fact is, we still had not left the U.S. and I presume this to be the reason we were not required to clear.

[rrshinn]

If you depart from one US Port (Continental USA, San Juan or the Virgin Islands) you should not have to clear Immigrations when entering another US port. For example the Navigator itinerary is perfect. Miami to San Juan to St. Thomas, no need to clear till you return to Miami. Others where you may go to St. Maarten first before St. Thomas be prepared to get up early and walk the immigration line. I always try and look at this when picking my Eastern cruise.

[zantedeschia]

If you depart from one US Port (Continental USA, San Juan or the Virgin Islands) you should not have to clear Immigrations when entering another US port. For example the Navigator itinerary is perfect. Miami to San Juan to St. Thomas, no need to clear till you return to Miami.

If you go from Miami to San Juan to St. Thomas back to Miami, you won't go through immigration because you never left the US. (But you won't do this on a cruise because of the Jones law.)

 

I still think people are confusing immigration with customs.

 

However, if you went to St. Maarten and the Bahamas in there as well, then yes, you'd have to go through immigration, because you left the United States.

 

For the record, if you haven't done anything bad, there's no reason why you won't be allowed re-entry into the United States. Customs is a completely different story, I always fret slightly about customs.

 

If on an itinerary you have a US stop before your final destination, say in the case people that have flown into Puerto Rico, or if you hit St. Thomas before New Jersey or St. Thomas before Miami, or Key West before Miami, you will go through customs and immigration at the first point where you re-enter the US.

 

If St. Thomas is the point where you leave the US, or Puerto Rico, no you won't go through immigration there.