Immigration in St Thomas?

[tbserena]

Has anyone been on the Eastern cruise recently that can tell me what goes on regarding immigration checks in St Thomas? When does this occur, how long are the lines, etc? Why do they do this at St Thomas?

 

[plutojudy]

I haven't been on the Eastern since April 2002. But, back then,
they did it the morning you arrive in St Thomas, no one can go ashore until everyone has cleared immigration. They have a very good system. They fill the rows in the theatre and then feed these people into lines to show appropriate documents. So first come, first served. They do this because you are re-entering US territory afoter being out of the country in St Martin. If anything has changes since we cruised, people will correct this.

 

[Kimnicki]

Plutojudy is correct. We just came off of the 3/6 Eastern. There are set times when you are to report to immigration. I believe the people with excursions went around 6:45am, decks 1,2 and one other deck went around 7:00-7:30, and the remaining decks went from 7:30-8:00am. If you were staying onboard, you went around 8:00-8:30am. We were there on time and it took almost an hour as there were only two immigration officers checking documents. We took it with a grain of salt....what was one hour out of 7 days!

Kim

 

[tbserena]

I guess you're right....it's all part of the adventure!!

 

[ZebraStripes]

Do you recall what time you would do immigration if you had a non-Disney excursion?

Kris

 

[Kimnicki]

I don't recall the letter stating that the early immigration for those with excursions had to be "Disney". So I would assume if you had an early excursion, Disney or otherwise, you could go the the early meeting.


Kim

 

[tbserena]

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

Go to this link. It's "Dave's" website where he has copies of the Navigator's, etc. It says that detailed explanations for what time to be at the immigration at St Thomas are given to people who have planned excursions. I would think that you could tell anyone at Guest Service your "non Disney" excursion time and they could tell you what time to get in line.

 

[mshinrockford]

But if I understand this correctly, no one leaves the ship until everyone has cleared customs. As a result, although those with early excursions may be allowed to clear customs earlier than others, they still can’t leave the ship until EVERYONE has cleared customs. In this sense, there doesn’t appear to be any real advantage to clearing customs earlier in the morning. Am I right?

 

[ClarabelleCow]

while clearing customs, do they have the scanners to scan passports, or is it by computer, or do they just look at your documents?

 

[mickeyboat]

I think I read that everyone has to clear customs before anyone can leave the ship but I don't think that is truly the case. I was sitting waiting for tender tickets after excursion-bound cruisers had already boarded the tender boat. There were people in the tender ticker line who had not yet cleared customs and had to return to do so.

The process is simple. Go to the Walt Disney Theater at the assigned time (you will be provided a note in your stateroom the night before). CM's will direct you to a seat. Row by row, people move to the front of the theater to present their documents to an immigration official. He physically examines the documents. People with passports tended to get through more quickly than those with birth certificates and drivers licenses. The proceed to the exit where a CM will stamp your arm with an invisible stamp which glows under a special light. When you leave the ship, the CM will make sure you have a stamp to verify you have gone through immigration.

It did take a while. Most people said it took over an hour. It took us abut 45 minutes. The CM's made the process as smooth as possible. The immigration officials were late boarding the ship so the entire process was delayed. DCL provides juice and pastries outside the theater- grab something on the way in.

I saw a lot of people with sleeping children on their shoulders and a few in pj's and tropical clothing from the night before.

If you have any more questions, I will try to answer them.

Denae