What! I have to be up at 6 a.m. on the Eastern! Ready to cancel the cruise!

[jodifla]

What nonsense is this?!

 

[clovely]

What nonsense is this?!

Are you talking about breakfast on the last day? I'm not sure if you're serious. But several here have suggested going to the buffet instead of the seated dinners or even sending one person to the buffet to bring back breakfast and enjoying it on the balcony and not being rushed. If you're not in a rush to catch a flight or a transfer, might as well take your time and be the last person off the ship anyway, no crowds to get your bags or do customs (if necessary).

I plan to be first on and last off the boat. If 6:00 is deathly early for you, it's just part of travelling. If you were flying somewhere chances are you'd have the same issues to get to catch a flight.

 

[clovely]

But I see by your ID that you've done this before....so maybe I am not understanding what you're talking about.

 

[DrCavin]

Here is the info:

http://dcltribute.com/navigators/east_carib/sttins.htm

We didnt think it was that bad, we had to be there between 7:30 & 8:00 so that isnt as bad as 6:00

 

[cindalu]

I think she is talking about on the Eastern when the ship goes to St. Maarten and you have to get up early.


I can shed some light on the reason why because of 9/11 it is required. I will also be on the Eastern in Nov while I am not thrilled about this it would not stop me from cruising. This is a requirement for all cruise lines not just DCL.

Hope this info helps

 

[dannyb]

The problem is the ship goes to St. Maarten (outside the US) and then to St Thomas (USVI). You are returning to the states after having been in a foreign country, and it is necessary to clear customs.

You can't leave the ship unless you've had your hand stamped; if you don't have an early excursion, you can probably go towards the end of the time that the immigration folks are there. For non-US citizens, it is a bigger deal.

 

[MrsMork]

It is because you stop in a non US port (St Maarten) and then return to a US Port (St Thomas). Everyone is required to go thru customs before the ship can be cleared for anyone to get off.

 

[pjpoohbear]

I find the time after customs on the last day, to be so peaceful and a great time to get final photos, walk the ship and take moments to remember those special moments. And we are 6:00 am on the dot, but they did have coffee and juice for us, lol.

Penny

 

[mbaker]

Every passenger crowds into the theater just to sit there for an hour while 2 under paid and over stress members of TSA or ICE look at everyone's passport and make some sarcastic comment. IMHO it's stupid. Can you tell we had a bad experience with this?!

 

[Dreamer04]

I've done this and it really goes fast. The kids came in their pjs. I would like to hear from someone who did the Eastern prior to 9/11. Its my belief that this is not only since the attacks, but, as always, I could be wrong.

 

[maminnie]

In 2004 we did this and I remember going to the large theater and sitting in rows. You filed down to the agents and they looked at your paperwork. Then you exited to the left of the agent to a lower door area. There was an agent/door on each side of the theater.

I do remember that it is very early but the process did go smoothly at the time of morning that we went. We had an early excursion so we had to get up anyway.

maminnie

 

[WDWLVR]

The last time we did this was in December 2004 and we were in St. Thomas on Christmas morning. So after being in the WD Theatre for midnight (actually 11pm) Mass we were back early in the morning for the this. We never did have to sit down. There was a slight light outside but it moved quickly, we walked down the stairs to the front of the theatre, showed our passports and out a side door. I went up to breakfast, DH went back to the room to lay down.


Yes a bit of a pain but not too bad.

 

[BuzzBoyMom]

I hope we have better luck next time. We went in close to the beginning, sat down. Others came in after us and sat down. The CM allowing people to go up allowed a bunch of others who came in after us to go ahead up. To say that our section got a little rowdy is an understatement. I mean, I don't mind waiting my turn at that terrible hour of the morning, as long as others who came in later wait their turn. Not sure what the issue was. After people jumped on the CM, she said she was new. Hopefullly this won't happen next time.

 

[TiggerKing]

This does not specifically relate to 9/11. The US, like the EU, uses a "first point of entry" set-up for immigration. That means that when you re-enter US territory (in this case the USVI) after being on foreign soil (St. Maartin), everyone on the ship MUST clear customs. Now, there are two ways to do this. You either do it while still on the ship, and customs still has some control over all the people, or you require all the people to file through a customs terminal, similar to what happens at the airport.

If you have ever flown outside the country and had to catch a connecting flight, you also had to go through customs the minute you landed on US soil, even though that wasn't your final destination. Same principle applied to the ship at St. Thomas.

 

[Keggy]

I've done this and it really goes fast. The kids came in their pjs. I would like to hear from someone who did the Eastern prior to 9/11. Its my belief that this is not only since the attacks, but, as always, I could be wrong.

We went on the Eastern in March of 2000 and did not have to do this.

Kelly

 

[TheWog]

Really? Cancel because of this? It is part of the deal. You just go down in your jammies, show your passport and head back to bed. They have coffee and pastry waiting for you if you are so inclined.

 

[Dreamer04]

Hi Keggy! Thanks for answering. Was there any kind of customs for St Thomas? Or at another time during the cruise?

 

[jodifla]

Really? Cancel because of this? It is part of the deal. You just go down in your jammies, show your passport and head back to bed. They have coffee and pastry waiting for you if you are so inclined?

I have a 4 year old who does not get up easily. Hope everyone is ready for a lot of screaming.

 

[Frank and Lola]

I have a 4 year old who does not get up easily. Hope everyone is ready for a lot of screaming.

They say children get their temperment from their parents. Life is good if this is what you have to worry about.

Have a great day.

Frank

 

[din]

We just got back from the eastern and the process for US citizens took all of maybe 10 mins for us. We had to wait a little because my Mom who cannot climb stairs was escorted through the side door and then she was done in lesss than 5 mins. We then headed for a nice relaxing breakfast.

Most cruisers, staff was cheerful and the customs agents were nice. Unfortunaterly some of the cruisers were rude and cranky to the staff. No flames please but someone bumped into me while I was standing by the wall waiting for my mom and she about yelled at me. The cast member looked at me and was shocked.