Immigration and debarking on islands

[NCTribeFan]

:confused: OK, so now I'm totally confused.

 

A recent review mentioned having to go through immigration before leaving the boat in St. Thomas.

 

I don't remember doing that when I was on my Empress cruise (Tampa, GC, MoBay, St. Thomas, San Juan).

 

I've booked an independent tour in St T. We arrive at 9 am (4 ships in port that day), and my confirmation email said the driver would meet us by the dock at 9.

 

So, do I need to write back to them and tell them we can't possibly be ready to go at 9 because of immigrations?

 

There are always threads about whether or not to take your passport with you. In the past, I've always taken mine, but decided, thanks to all the CC advice, to only take copies ashore.

 

Sounds like, in this case, that we'll have to take them, so the pouch-around-the-neck-thingy won't be much use for this port for the beach portion of the tour, because the passport won't fit, correct?

[Rirruto]

The explanation I received was that this is done because St Thomas is a US territory, and if you have gone to a foreign country before arriving in St. Thomas, then you would need to go through immigration. I will be coming from San Juan before arriving in St Thomas so I suspect I wouldn't have to go through immigration.

[Frick_&_Frack]

Based upon the itinerary, if you have had a non-US port stop after leaving the US but prior to St. Thomas, you will go through immigration prior to debark in St. Thomas. It's usually relatively quick and painless (show Room Card & Passport and you get a little slip of paper that allows you to exit the ship). We usually just take the passports and one of us runs back to the room to drop them off (when we've had this situation in the past and need to leave the ship as soon as possible).

 

We have had times where the entire ship must clear immigration before anyone gets off and others where, once you clear, you can get off. Lately, it appears the latter is in favor with the cruise lines.

 

Normally this process is prior (or starts prior) to the actual posted "arrival" time. Though, with ships, nothing is 100% certain.

 

I would, however, have one member of your party quickly take the passports back to the room prior to going on any tour with a beach involved.

 

I'm certain a recent cruiser will be able to let you know about their experiences.

[NCTribeFan]

I have absolutely no recollection of doing anything like that in the past, and the time we stopped in St T was post-9/11.

 

Our first stop is in Nassau, then St. T, San Juan and Grand Turk.

 

I guess I'll send the tour operator an email just to let them know that we may not be able to get off the ship as soon as it docks. Hopefully, they won't leave us. We don't have to pre-pay with them, so we'd still be able to find plenty to do and not be out any money.

 

Thanks for the info. I'm going to ask the Triumph review OP to respond to this thread.

[i'llbesea-ingyou]

Just did this last week. We were on the Triumph Eastern itinerary. We stopped at their private island, Half Moon Cay on Sunday and on Tuesday we went to St. Thomas. If you to another country first (Bahamas) and then to a U.S. port, you have to go thru immigration. We also had a 9:00 a.m. tour booked. They started the immigration process at around 8:15 and we were one of the first people on line and had plenty of time for our tour. The whole ship, including the crew are subject to immigration. The tour bus drivers were all waiting outside for everyone with signs. Don't worry, you should be fine. We did have to show our passports and our sail and sign card. I think a birth certificate and drivers license were okay too.

[NCTribeFan]

Thanks!

 

Worrying and being obsessive just come naturally to me, I guess!

[i'llbesea-ingyou]

Dont' feel bad, I'm the same way. I obsess over everything and worry too but honestly, as much as I obsessed and worried about every little thing before this trip, it all turned out great, worked itself out and things ran very smoothly and I wasted all of that energy for nothing. Trust me, you'll be fine. Have a wonderful trip! Any other questions, please ask away!:)

[Sandi149]

NCT are you talking about your guide on St. Thomas? Did you decide to go with Sunny Liston?

[NCTribeFan]

I ended up booking with the Air Force 1 guys. Just a feeling and they had some really good reviews. Of course, Sunny and Godfrey had some really good reviews, too.

 

I'll just let DD do the running back to the cabin to lock up our passports. We won't need them to get back on the ship, I assume?

[Sandi149]

I ended up booking with the Air Force 1 guys. Just a feeling and they had some really good reviews. Of course, Sunny and Godfrey had some really good reviews, too.

 

I'll just let DD do the running back to the cabin to lock up our passports. We won't need them to get back on the ship, I assume?

 

So can you have the Air Force 1 guy pick you up at 10 instead of 9?

 

Ohh btw, you won't need to use your passports in St. Thomas.

[i'llbesea-ingyou]

You will need your passport to get off in St. Thomas if your cruise stops in the Bahamas first. We just did this last week. All we needed to get back on was our sail and sign cards but we brought the passports just in case.

[Sandi149]

You will need your passport to get off in St. Thomas if your cruise stops in the Bahamas first. We just did this last week. All we needed to get back on was our sail and sign cards but we brought the passports just in case.

 

Yes, that's true.....I forgot she was going to a non US port first. We sailed from NY to San Juan to St. Thomas so we didn't need the passports. Actually after that when we sailed to Tortola (British), we didn't need them either. Nobody asked to see it. We just brought copies of it with us.

[i'llbesea-ingyou]

It can definitely be confusing! :)