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US Immigration in Key West


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Hello. I posted this over in the Key West forum but it was suggested by another member that I also post here in the DCL forum to get a more accurate answer.

We booked a 5 night cruise leaving from Miami in December on the Disney Magic. Key West is the first stop. I was assuming that we would not have to clear US customs/immigration here since we are coming directly from a US port but the DCL representative I spoke to earlier today made mention of needing to clear US immigration in Key West. To clarify, she specifically said we would need to present ourselves to immigration officials even if nobody in our party was getting off the ship (i.e. not the usual ship clearance that happens at most ports). I could see this if we were first going to the Bahamas or someplace else, but Key West is the first stop, arriving the morning after we leave Miami. Do we really need to clear immigration (in person) when arriving directly from Miami? I could drive (and have done so) 6 hours or so to Key West and not go through immigration (of course), so I am not sure what the difference is. Could it be because its a foreign flagged vessel? Thanks for any help/insight.

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No clue WHY as we went to Castaway first, but honestly it is NOT a big deal. You go to the theatre and are seated in rows then are sent back row by row. CBP looks at your passport/documentation and then you get a sticker on your KTTW card from a DCL crew member. Not difficult, and it doesn't take long.

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When we went from PC to Key West (Key West was our first stop), we did not need to clear Customs. It has only been necessary when we went to a foreign port first.

 

Remember when we used to go to St. Maarten first and then had to clear in St. Thomas? I'm not at all an expert in this area, but my understanding is that if you go from one US port to another, there is no need to clear. If you dock at a foreign port, there is a clearance at the next US port.

 

As noted, it was not a big deal--you showed up at the theatre at your assigned time and they called you up by rows. It only became an issue when there was always that handful of people who didn't show up...and the rest of us couldn't disembark until those stragglers were run down and cleared. In one case, it was one of our dinner tablemates who calmly explained that he'd been sleeping.

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  • 2 weeks later...
When we went from PC to Key West (Key West was our first stop)' date=' we did not need to clear Customs. It has only been necessary when we went to a foreign port first.[/quote']

 

Thanks. This makes sense. The DCL rep must have been thinking about visiting a foreign port first. When going directly from another US port (Miami in our case) I really couldn't understand why we would need to present ourselves to immigration. Really wouldn't be any different than taking the ferry from Marco Island or Fort Myers.

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In February we went to castaway cay first. At key West we had to go to a lounge on the ship along with everyone else and see a customs agent before we could get off.

Castaway Cay is a Bahamian island. You were on foreign soil, outside of the US. Thus, on your next US entry (Key West), you had to go thru Immigration.

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Castaway Cay is a Bahamian island. You were on foreign soil' date=' outside of the US. Thus, on your next US entry (Key West), you had to go thru Immigration.[/quote']

Right. I was just clearing up that other people were insisting there was no passport check when they went so they obviously had to have gone to key West first.

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