This was my 6th trip to St. Thomas by ship, and the first time we had to report for customs and immigration. In the past they posted customs at the end of the gangway and you cleared when, and if you left the ship. They say the changes came about because of September 11th. Only thing I can figure is that they now want to check EVERYONE on the ship, not just those who are going ashore.
After our first visit to St. Thomas, our St. Thomas day has been our day to sleep in. Since this was the first time our kids had been to St. Thomas, we did do an excursion for the first time in years, but not until 1pm, so if not for the 6:30am customs and immigration call, we still could have slept in.
As I posted elsewhere, I'd pay a dollar extra to pay for a customs agent to be posted at the gangway the entire time the ship is in port, I'm sure $2700 would cover the salary cost.