Key West

Hi,

Key West is the last port before Miami and disembarkation, could anyone tell me what happens with immigration. Looking to book a private tour that starts at 930 so concerned if immigration takes an age we will miss it (ship docks at 8).

Thanks in advance.

Docking in Key West is like stopping at other ports. You show your SeaPass card, bring your license or photo identification, and off the ship you go. There is no formal immigration per se. You should make your excursion unless the ship is delayed in arriving in Key West. We never had a problem.

Docking in Key West is like stopping at other ports. You show your SeaPass card, bring your license or photo identification, and off the ship you go. There is no formal immigration per se. You should make your excursion unless the ship is delayed in arriving in Key West. We never had a problem.

Even with it being the last port? Or a port after a foreign port?

When I was on Disney last year we went to their private island in the Bahamas the first full day, THEN to Key West and had to go through Immigration when we got to Key West. There we gathered in the theater at a time given to us in a letter placed in our stateroom to present our documents to CBP. I don't know how Celebrity does it though.

Even with it being the last port? Or a port after a foreign port?

 

When I was on Disney last year we went to their private island in the Bahamas the first full day, THEN to Key West and had to go through Immigration when we got to Key West. There we gathered in the theater at a time given to us in a letter placed in our stateroom to present our documents to CBP. I don't know how Celebrity does it though.

That’s what I thought might happen, clearly don’t want to overstretch ourselves if it is long drawn out process.

We had to do the immigration thing in Key West last year on X. If I remember correctly they let those with tours booked go thru first and then the pecking order. We received a letter in our cabin with our designated time to get off and it was around 9:45. We were told to bring the letter. We went down at that time and still had 20 to 30 minutes before getting off. As we were walking down they also made an announcement that the lines were now open for everyone and that didn’t help either.

We are US citizens and it was just a process of showing our passports and getting our card punched to show that we went thru the line. We could then get off of the ship or stay on but everyone had to go thru even if you weren’t getting off of the ship.

It may be a different process for non US citizens.

9:30 may be cutting it close. Best to make contact with the tour company and get their advice as you won’t be the first that they have had comming off the ships.

Even though the ship docks at 8:00 immigration has to get on board and set up. Plus there are always those that hold up the line because they are looking for their passport and etc.

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

We have gone through thus on X a few times. We are Canadians so need to get in a separate line to present to Immigration. I would think you can make a 9:30 excursion but may need to ensure you are the line earlier rather than delaying. Once you pass the Immigration inspection your sea pass card gets punched therefore they know you have completed.

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Thanks everyone not sure what to do. Might have to sleep on it!

That's why we prefer the itins that stop there first rather than last....

but your pvt excursion operator should be aware of timing issues,

We did this last year on X as well. We were given a letter as to the approximate time to get in line for immigration. They were running way ahead of time and asked that those that hadn't gone through yet to please report to the back of the line. We went late in the process and were through the line and allowed to disembark within 10 minutes. We actually had them hold our table at breakfast and went back to finish up afterwards since it was so quick.

We have experienced really long waits, one of which was in San Diego ... but were pleasantly surprised by how quick they were on our sailing when stopping in Key West.

Docking in Key West is like stopping at other ports. You show your SeaPass card, bring your license or photo identification, and off the ship you go. There is no formal immigration per se.

Not exactly. There is generally an immigration procedure to go through at the first US port after visiting foreign ports. This could mean Key West, St. Thomas or San Juan, or the final port of debarkation, depending on the exact itinerary.

Perhaps when you stopped at Key West it was either the first port of call, or the stop immediately followed a stop at another US port.

That's why we prefer the itins that stop there first rather than last....

 

but your pvt excursion operator should be aware of timing issues,

I would love to stop in key west last. That way on disembarking it’s get the luggage and get on the road

I would love to stop in key west last. That way on disembarking it’s get the luggage and get on the road

Does that mean there will no immigration in Miami when we disembark?

We were on the Serenade a few years ago, and went through immigration in Key West. Lined uo on the ship, and met in a designated area. Didn't have to go again in FLL.

Does that mean there will no immigration in Miami when we disembark?

You still have to go through immigration when you disembark. We prefer when Key West is our first stop rather than last as we avoid the whole immigration process.

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Does that mean there will no immigration in Miami when we disembark?

When we reached Miami, after our stop in Key West the previous day, we just walked right off the ship, grabbed our luggage off the carousel and walked right out of the terminal. There were no custom's form to turn in, no waiting in line and no stopping to show our passports or anything of that sort. This was in November 2017. First time we've ever just walked off the ship without any immigration check on the day of disembarkation. We are US citizens ... might be different if hold a passport from another country. I don't know.

We just did this a few weeks ago on Summit. We had a letter delivered to our cabin with a time to report. We showed up slightly earlier to join a line that ran the whole length of the shop from the theater, through the casino and then into Rendezvous Lounge, where they were set up. We first gave our cabin numbers to Celebrity employees to be checked off a list, then we basically said hello to immigration, who did not even look at our passports, then had our cards punched to signify we had completed the process. It seemed to take forever, but was less than an hour.

When we arrived the following day in Port Everglades, the process was the usual. There was a Global Entry line that allowed us to bypass the wait. No kiosk, just no switchback lines.

From now on, I will try not to select Key West as a last stop.