Help: immigration/customs on Eastern route

[cpa2be]

Can any recent eastern cruisers tell me about the procedures to present yourself to customs or immigration at any of these ports? We go to San Juan - St Marten - St Thomas - Nassau.

 

We did this same itinerary in 2003 and everyone had to go to the dining room on the morning of docking at St Thomas and show their passport, etc. to an official before leaving the ship. It went very quickly - just a slow walk around the dining room and you could leave the ship.

 

Last year due to a hurricane we were re-routed and had to spend a horrible 5 hot hours in line in San Juan to go through customs. Everyone was required to do this whether you intended to go into port or stay on the ship. Please tell me this won't happen again! :eek:

 

I've read conflicting posts and would like to know what to expect.

 

Thanks!

[Langley Cruisers]

We did this same itinerary in 2003 and everyone had to go to the dining room on the morning of docking at St Thomas and show their passport, etc. to an official before leaving the ship. It went very quickly - just a slow walk around the dining room and you could leave the ship.

 

Yes, that is exactly what we did in May on Explorer. There were two designated lines: one for U.S. Passport holders (not residents, as I am an American citizen who lives in Canada), and one for non-U.S. passport holders. We did the same dining room walk as you described, and showed our passports to the officers who had come aboard ship that morning. Like you, our line moved quickly, much more so than the other line where my husband was (he is Canadian). I was finished before he was, if that means anything to anyone.

 

~Karen

[wrp96]

Unless your itinerary changes, you should only have to go through immigration in St. Thomas and again when you get back to your disembarkation port.

[Lanark Lass]

Just back from Eastern Cruise on Sunday.

 

We had to go through immigration at San Juan, it was chaos, had to be down there at 7 am, the Immigration officers were 40 minutes late. We ended up missing our tour. Luckily our tour was booked through RCL and we go out money back.

 

We then had to go through it all again when we got back to Cape Liberty.

 

 

Lanark Lass

[wrp96]

Lanark Lass, you were on a different ship than the OP is sailing on. He won't have to go through immigration in San Juan because he isn't visiting a foreign port first. He will have to go through immigration in St. Thomas though.

[cpa2be]

Thanks for the clarification, Wrona. The previous post had me worried. Visions of standing in line for hours popped into my head! :mad:

 

Can I assume the St. Thomas immigration will be a fairly quick walk through again? Do you know if this is the way St. Thomas always performs their checks?

[wrp96]

Thanks for the clarification, Wrona. The previous post had me worried. Visions of standing in line for hours popped into my head! :mad:

 

Can I assume the St. Thomas immigration will be a fairly quick walk through again? Do you know if this is the way St. Thomas always performs their checks?

 

I can't say that it's the way St. Thomas always performs their checks, but it is the way I've always seen it.

[KarinaGW]

I was on the same cruise as Lanark Lass and had a completely different experience.

 

Admittedly, she was going through the non-US line and I wasn't, but, well here's what I wrote:

+++

Ah, Day 6. Immigration Day. Woo hoo. Actually, it wasn't so bad. Got up at 6:30 and got down to Deck 5 at 7:10. Oh, dear heavens, the line stretches from the Dining Room (where Immigration was) all the way down the Promenade and circling the far staircase. Got in line along with a couple thousand of my closest friends. Within 25 minutes, we had gotten all the way through the process and exited the dining room at 7:35….just to find NO LINE.

+++

And, actually, they were funnelling people out of the Deck 5 line at the dining room staircase down to the lower deck because they were freed up down there. Here's a link to the Immigration sheet we got: http://cafekarina.org/explorer/scans/misc/pages/immigration.htm

[cpa2be]

Thanks, Karina.

Your experience didn't sound too bad. Sadly, our San Juan problem last year was just awful. It was impossible to find the end of the line because it went from one of the ship to the other, through the casino, out onto the deck and wrapped around the ship. They did serve water and cookies to keep folks from complaining too loudly. This was on a 95 degree day. Ahhh, memories...

[cb at sea]

Wow--this is so odd--we've NEVER had to go through any immigration thing--We have had to go through customs at the end of the cruise, yes, but NOTHING during any ports or during the cruise itself! Wonder why?

[wrp96]

Wow--this is so odd--we've NEVER had to go through any immigration thing--We have had to go through customs at the end of the cruise, yes, but NOTHING during any ports or during the cruise itself! Wonder why?

 

It depends on your itinerary. You'll only have to go through immigration if you go from a foreign port into a US port, so if on your itineraries you visited San Juan and St. Thomas first (or Key West) and then went to all your foreign ports after that then you would've never had to go through immigration midcruise.

[Alexis]

Wow--this is so odd--we've NEVER had to go through any immigration thing--We have had to go through customs at the end of the cruise, yes, but NOTHING during any ports or during the cruise itself! Wonder why?

 

That is the same as us.

We just returned on Saturday from the Navigator Eastern cruise to the exact same ports as the OP lists. San Juan, St. Maarten, St. Thomas, and Nassau.

We did not have to go through customs/immigration until we docked back in Miami and disembarked the ship.

[Nurse Daybreak]

Thanks for the clarification, Wrona. The previous post had me worried. Visions of standing in line for hours popped into my head! :mad:

 

Can I assume the St. Thomas immigration will be a fairly quick walk through again? Do you know if this is the way St. Thomas always performs their checks?

 

It was that way last Feb on AOS. The walk wasn't even a slow walk. We were in and out in less than 5 minutes.:)

[cpa2be]

Thanks everyone. I appreciate your comments.

[wannabeamerican97]

I thought St Thomas was a american island , can understand going thru immgration at ST Martin but not ST Thomas.

[negc]

I thought St Thomas was a american island , can understand going thru immgration at ST Martin but not ST Thomas.

 

St. Thomas is a US territory and it is for that very reason that you have to go through immigration if your previous port of call was a foreign port. You are reentering the United States and are required to go through immigration.

If you visited no foreign ports prior to your arrival in San Juan or St. Thomas you do not need to see the immigration authorities. We have had to go through this process when we visited Nassau before going on to San Juan and it was handled quickly and efficiently. As far as the comment about the temperature being 95 degrees on that day, I don't understand why the outside temperature should have effected your comfort while you were in line inside the temperature controlled ship.:confused:

[wannabeamerican97]

Ok i understand now.

We are going on the eastern carib on the mariner,and st thomas is the day before we go to st martin, so they will do immgration check there , then port caneveral at the end of the cruise.

[negc]

I'm not sure that you do understand. You will not have to stand in line and go through immigration in St. Maarten. The island's authorities will clear the ship and you will be allowed to go ashore. No personal involvement on your part is required. If your itinerary takes you directly from Port Canaveral to St. Thomas without first stopping in Nassau and then goes on to St. Maarten and another foreign port before returning to Port Canaveral, the only time you will have to go through customs and immigration is in Florida when your cruise ends. However, if your first port of call on the Mariner is in the Bahamas, you will be required to go through immigration when the ship reaches St. Thomas. It really shouldn't be painful experience. Once the initial surge of passengers who absolutely have to be the first in line, subsides, you may find that you can process through quite quickly.:)

[cpa2be]

negc - the 95 degree heat was most definitely a problem because we spent a good deal of the 5 hours on an outside deck wrapping back and forth around the ship. No one could understand why the long delay in getting through customs. When we finally made it to the officials, they studied our passports for an uncomfortably long period of time then looked at us for another long spell. All of this was done without so much as a nod or a grunt. It was the general concensus of many passengers that these officials were purposely stalling the process because we were an unscheduled, last minute stop at their port.