DCL-Getting through customs prior to departure

[Inga]

Hi there folks

I have a question regarding boarding procedures for Canadians before getting on the DCL.

In '99 we did a 3 day land/4 day sea package and were disappointed with the un-seamless transition of our trip after our land portion. Canadians and other non-US citizens had to stand in a special line and go through all sorts of paperwork, etc in order to get on the boat. I was quite upset at the end of it, as we were told how 'seamless' this vacation was supposed to be.

Now we are planning a 7 day cruise for September and I would like to set my expectations for what we will have to deal with at the port. What is the procedure for non-USA citizens in order to get on the boat? Because we are stopping at several different countries this time around, is it a painful process at every port-of-call?

Thanks!
Tanya

 

[MickeyCanada]

Inga - I went on the 7 day last August. We did go to a different line than Americans, however, we didn't have any special paper work that had to be filled out there. They checked our passports and our paperwork that was already done prior to arriving, which wasn't much anyway. It all took about 5 minutes with the issuing of the cards to our staterooms, which really was fast. However, the part I did not like was being a non-US citizen we had to clear immigrations at 7:00 am on the morning of St. Thomas, (which we were actually advised 6:00 am) and again upon arriving at Port Canaveral. That really is a pain when you are on vacation especially with young children, as every family member MUST report to Immigrations even babies. My 5 & 7 year old kids sure were cranky all morning in St. Thomas! There really must be another way for non-US citizens. Anyway enjoy your cruise.

 

[diz karen]

We also had very little trouble when boarding the ship. It took a couple of minutes and that was all.

 

[cuddles8]

We went on the three day last April and I had no trouble at all. I am Canadian with a green card and still had to get up early and it went very fast.

 

[Limmer]

Mickey Canada,
I am not planning on getting off the boat in St. Thomas, do I still have to go to customs?

 

[Inga]

I was reading through Dave's Navigators from May 26th on and it looks like ALL foreign travellers on the boat have to check in with customs before anyone is allowed to get off the boat...so it looks like all those non-US citizens have to get up and check in whether you are planning to get off the boat or not!

Inga

 

[MickeyCanada]

Inga you are correct about that. Every Non-US citizen MUST report to immigrations whether you want to get off the ship or not. When we arrived in St. Thomas, our ship was supposed to be cleared by 8:00 am. We didn't get cleared until after 9:00 am, because of one family who did not show up to immigrations. It really is sad when people don't listen to instructions, as everything was pointed out very clearly on the day of embarkation.

 

[Inga]

MickeyCanada

Were you advised to meet at 6am but in reality it was 7am? 6am is pretty early for a vacation day!

Inga