Solstice - Sailing from Auckland to Sydney - Australian Immigration??

I'm a US citizen sailing on the Solstice. I'm unsure when Australian immigration commences. :confused: My last New Zealand ports are cruising the Sounds. Some forums say Australian officials board the ship PRIOR to arriving in Melbourne but I still find the answers confusing. If that is the case, is that when I show my Visa? Or is this information incorrect and I have to go through Australian immigration the morning I arrive in Melbourne?

Be sure to get the electronic visa for Australia before you leave the US.

The Australian officials may board the ship prior to arriving in Melbourne.

The ship may collect your passport when you board and when the officials board they can review the passports & electronic visa records and you may never physically see the immigration officials.

You will get instructions on the ship before arriving in Melbourne.

Another vote for getting an ETA. You never actually get the visa but you do get written confirmation and the ETA is automaticly attached to your US passport. We did the trip the other way two years ago and on the two day sail across the Tasman Sea we all had to go to the MDR at our appointed times and meet with New Zealand immigration officials to get processed in. No promises but it is likely that you will do the same thing with the Australians going the other way. It really speeds things up once you arrive.

When cruising back from Hawaii AU immigration boarded in NZ and processed our passports prior to arriving in Sydney. It’s likely they will do same for you but whatever the process it will be clearly explained and documented in ships daily.

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My experience on that same itinerary on Celebrity was they boarded in Dunedin (the last NZ port); you have to hand your passports into Celebrity then, then immigration review your passport/visa info, and you collect before you arrive in Aust.

Thus, on your first port in Aust there are no delays through immigration then and you can enter port straight away. Great for the passengers!

My experience on that same itinerary on Celebrity was they boarded in Dunedin (the last NZ port); you have to hand your passports into Celebrity then, then immigration review your passport/visa info, and you collect before you arrive in Aust.

 

Thus, on your first port in Aust there are no delays through immigration then and you can enter port straight away. Great for the passengers!

Our experience was exactly the same. They boarded in NZ. So easy, we were given a time to go with passports to the MDR and were sorted in minutes!

Celebrity where possible where visas are required before entry try and get immigration personnel on board before reaching that destination. The practice is to collect all passports and present them to Immigration officials. When we travelled from NZ to Australia although we don't require a visa we had to front immigration officials. Fortunately there are plenty of sea days between Dunedin and Australia. Be aware that if you require a visa and don't have the required visas for countries you are visiting and your country does not have arrival visa status you may be denied embarkation. The moral is ensure you check visa status before leaving home and if a visa is required you arrange it beforehand

Thank you for the input!