Question about Immigration in St. Thomas

[I Luv Disney Cruise]

The last time (May 2001) I went on the Eastern cruise we didn't have to do the immigration in St. Thomas.

I understand that everyone has to go to immigration before they will let us off the ship.

I was reading in the passporter book that the time this happens is between 5:00am - 6:00am. Is this correct?

I guess I am a wimp when it comes to getting up early on vacation. I normally get up around 5:30am for work, but when I am on vacation I want to sleep in at least till 8:30 - 9:00.

Can anyone fill me in on the details of this? Thanks.

 

[tlgoblue]

On our 1/25 sailing, we needed to be there by 8:30 a.m. (I seem to remember something about last name time slots, but I could be wrong. DH is in charege of details like that.) It was not too bad and went very smoothly. They have coffee and danishes and such, and really get you through in a hurry. The whole process took my family <5 mins. Yes, everyone has to clear before anyone leaves the ship. Anyone returning from a foreign country (St. Marteen), to U.S. territories, must clear immigration. (9/11 fall out.) With so many shore excursions scheduled to leave in the wee hours, they need to get everyone through, hence the early hours. It's not a real deal buster. Have a great time!

Tracy

 

[reneesam]

On our cruise last week, the 6:30am time was for those who had shore excursions. Everyone else was to go 7-8:30. You can't sleep thru it as they make a loud announcement (inclusding into the staterooms!) at around 7:45. They mark you off by stateroom # and they did overhead page a few passengers by name at around 8:30. It took 5 minutes.

 

[kajohn]

We just got back and it only took a couple of minutes to do. However, the silly part I thought, is they made such a big deal of doing it in St. Thomas, but when you get back to the United States in Cape Canaveral (after being in the bahamas), they barely glanced at our passports, and didn't require any documentation from the kids! You think they would be more concerned when entering the mainland with bags and bags of luggage!