ESTA's for DCL Caribbean

[Fantasia Sam]

I'm just thinking about this but does anyone know for sure how the ESTA's work with going on a Western Caribbean Cruise with regards to visiting Mexico and Bahamas?

Thanks ever so

 

[wilma-bride]

I presume the ESTA you get prior to visiting the US remains valid while you're on the cruise so there shouldn't be any problem re-entering the country.

 

[bazzanoid]

I presume the ESTA you get prior to visiting the US remains valid while you're on the cruise so there shouldn't be any problem re-entering the country.

Yep!

The ESTA gives you permission to land on US soil and is valid for two years, so even if for some unbeknownst reason you needed to land on US soil every day for two years at different points of entry, you're still covered.

An ESTA is not permission to enter the US, only permission to land / disembark onto US soil.

That said, the stamp in your passport when you first enter the US is valid until it's last day, so you would just need to show that when disembarking at the end of your cruise.

If you are traveling under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP), your I-94W (immigration stamp) that you were issued when you first entered the U.S. can be used for reentering the U.S. at the end of your cruise - as long as the cruise ends before your 90 day admission period has expired and you did not travel beyond adjacent islands or contiguous territory, and you were not outside the U.S. for more than 30 days.

 

[luke]

Yeah we just got the ESTA to enter the US and went straight on our cruise without giving it a second thought

 

[disneyholic family]

i was worried last year when DD and DSIL went to Alaska...
DD is an American, but DSIL isn't.
He has a multiple entry tourist visa to the US (where we live isn't an ESTA country yet - supposedly next year it will join the list).

Anyway, i was worried they'd have a problem going in and out of the US - they entered the US in New York, but then a week later, exited the US in Alaska when they boarded a one way southbound alaskan cruise headed for Vancouver Canada. But after debarking in Canada, they re-entered the US the very next morning (by train from Vancouver to Seattle).
I was worried that the entry/exit/entry in such a short period of time might be a problem for him.

So i wrote to the US embassy to ask. They said no problem. And it wasn't.
If it wasn't a problem for someone on a tourist visa, it shouldn't be a problem for an ESTA visitor.

 

[Fantasia Sam]

Thanks all - good to know, I was looking at cruises and thinking about my options and that came to mind.

Thanks