No more getting up at 6:30?

[ChiTownZee]

Is it true US Citizens no longer have to get up for the 6:30 customs/immigration (not even sure what it's for) thing???

 

[Señor Ferrari]

The latest word is that this has been suspended for 60 days, beginning with the Feb. 2 cruise. I for one hope that it is discountinued permanently, as I don't think that the added security, if at all existant, outweighs the inconvenience.

 

[ChiTownZee]

Does anyone know why is it only for 60 days? Is it some kind of test?

 

[mmouse37]

Hate to burst the bubble but on last week's 2/23 cruise it was up at 6:30 and back to the Walt Disney Theatre!!!! On Tuesday we had a notice in our room that everyone had to report to the theatre to clear immigration.

My kids protested, but we all made there in various states of alertness. The process did go very smoothly though.

MJ

 

[D L and K's Mom]

We cruised last July (3 day) and we didnt have to do this?? IS this something only for the 7 day cruise?? We are going again next July and I would love to know if this is done on the 4 day also.....I am Not a pretty sight that early in the am......hee hee

 

[wishiwasgolfing]

I know people who have been on other cruises that did not have to do this. Is this just a disney prcedure? They Check every person who boards the ship at every port so what is the purpose
of this. It does not make sense. And it really is a major inconvienence.

 

[taswira]

I second the question: Is this only for the 7 day? I cruised on the Wonder in January and we did not do this. I seem to recall them making some kind of request of NON-US citizens, but nothing for which US citizens had any early call. So is it Magic only???

 

[Señor Ferrari]

My understanding is that this only happens on ships that call at a US port after having called at a foreign port. So this would only have to happen on the Magic, not the Wonder. The Wonder calls only at the Bahamas, so you'd only have to pass through US Immigration when you return to Port Canaveral. The Magic stops at St. Maarten, Netherlands Antilles, and then St. Thomas, USVI, so the immigration check happens on Wednesday morning in St. Thomas.

Bad news that they've re-instated this. I'd be interested to hear if other cruise lines are still doing this. Disney swears up and down that it is the US Immigration and Naturalization Service that requires it. If that's true, I would suspect other cruise lines would have to do it if they follow a similar itinerary. I've heard anecdotal evidence that some cruise lines don't have to do it, but I've never been made clear what the itineraries were in cases where it didn't happen. For example, if you sail from Miami to San Juan, to St. Thomas, you've called only at US ports. If the next call was to the Bahamas before going back to Florida, I can see that you wouldn't have to go through immigration when calling at St. Thomas. That's assuming I understand the guidelines for this immigration check....

 

[dianthus]

When we cruised on the Magic in October, 2000-this procedure was not in place. Only non US citizens had to report for clearance.
I believe it is for extra customs security since the Magic goes to St. Maarten first, then returns to a US port.

Dave from Marietta had a thread a while back suggesting the Magic go to St. Thomas first, then go on to St. Maarten to avoid this problem, but someone cited maritime regs, etc.., or that the ship would get to Castaway Cay too late on Friday... I thought it sounded like a great idea!

I have also heard other cruise ships do not do this in St. Thomas, but they may have different itineraries than the Magic.

Do they assign you a time to report, or does everybody just "herd" on down to the Theatre at 6:30AM? That can't be that efficient? After the clear you, what is the earliest time you can disembark the ship?

 

[gobbi45]

When we cruised last week, 2/23, everyone had to clear immigration. (on the Magic) Non US citizens and people going on early excursions reported to Rockin Bar D. ( I believe) All others had to go to the Walt Dis theatre for 7:15. It was extremely organized. There are CM who direct you to fill in the seats as you enter. Then, they take one row at a time and you show your birth cert, or passport to an immigration officer and then you are on your way. It went pretty quick. I asked one of the crew members why we had to do it this time, since some did not do it during some recent cruises, and he said it is since 9/11 and they are trying to avoid "patterns"

 

[Karel]

Originally posted by dianthus
Do they assign you a time to report, or does everybody just "herd" on down to the Theatre at 6:30AM? That can't be that efficient? After the clear you, what is the earliest time you can disembark the ship?

When we sailed in Nov. they assigned each deck a reporting time. I think the lowest decks got the earliest time.

 

[ChiTownZee]

Did anyone hear from Disney why they suspended it and then reinstated the procedure? I'm just curious why they did.