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Have DUI, can I get off ship in Victoria BC


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Houseboat Cruising...and others with interest.

I just got back from a 7 day Seattle - Alaska - Victoria - disembark in Vancouver with my GF who had a DUI about 1.5 years ago. We were worried about it as we had read the comments on CC and on the Canadian sites regarding entry into Canada with such a conviction, even though it was a misdemeanor.

 

Well, we had absolutely NO problem. We took the White Pass bus to Canada out of Skagway and then the train back down. At the Canadian border crossing a Canadian customs agent walks on board and you hold your passport next to your face as he walks down the aisle checking to see if you look like your photo...and who does?

Then we filled out Canadian declaration forms to get into port in Victoria whether or not you are getting off the ship. We turned those in attesting that we didn't have over 10,000 dollars and no fruit and such, burt no question about past conviction was on the form. We walked off the boat in Victoria and no one even looked at a passport except the ship folks made sure you had it with you as they scanned your sea pass to let you leave.

In Vancouver we got off the boat again with no ID required, got our luggage and went to the airport for the flight home. We cleared US customs in Vancouver after going through Canadian TSA without incident, and arrived back in the USA.

 

So in her case it was not an issue. Now, I'd love to hear from someone who entered Canada via plane for instance to get on a cruise in Vancouver and see if they had an issue as we might like to do that Canadian trip sometime in the future.

 

Our worry proved to be for naught !!!

Edited by FrogCruiser
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"even though it was a misdemeanor. "

 

But that's the thing, its not a misdemeanor in Canada but a criminal offence. I'm quite sure the Canadian officials knew full well about this on her record but they decided to let it pass. Others might not be so lucky, all depends on how the Immigration officials are feeling that day.

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... with such a conviction, even though it was a misdemeanor. ...

 

I am glad things worked out on your trip.

 

Canadian border services evaluate convictions (and charges) based on Canadian law regardless of where the offence was committed.

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Houseboat Cruising...and others with interest.

I just got back from a 7 day Seattle - Alaska - Victoria - disembark in Vancouver with my GF who had a DUI about 1.5 years ago. We were worried about it as we had read the comments on CC and on the Canadian sites regarding entry into Canada with such a conviction, even though it was a misdemeanor.

 

Well, we had absolutely NO problem. We took the White Pass bus to Canada out of Skagway and then the train back down. At the Canadian border crossing a Canadian customs agent walks on board and you hold your passport next to your face as he walks down the aisle checking to see if you look like your photo...and who does?

Then we filled out Canadian declaration forms to get into port in Victoria whether or not you are getting off the ship. We turned those in attesting that we didn't have over 10,000 dollars and no fruit and such, burt no question about past conviction was on the form. We walked off the boat in Victoria and no one even looked at a passport except the ship folks made sure you had it with you as they scanned your sea pass to let you leave.

In Vancouver we got off the boat again with no ID required, got our luggage and went to the airport for the flight home. We cleared US customs in Vancouver after going through Canadian TSA without incident, and arrived back in the USA.

 

So in her case it was not an issue. Now, I'd love to hear from someone who entered Canada via plane for instance to get on a cruise in Vancouver and see if they had an issue as we might like to do that Canadian trip sometime in the future.

 

Our worry proved to be for naught !!!

 

I'm glad everything worked out. Thanks for coming back and reporting your personal experience from a recent 2016 cruise as it helps others who may have similar questions or concerns for future cruises into Canada.

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  • 3 weeks later...

There was a passenger on our Pacific Coastal cruise from San Diego to Vancouver. When the ship stopped in Seattle, Security came to the stateroom and directed the passenger to pack their belongings and depart the ship as Canada would not allow them entry. The charge was a 35-year old marijuana possession charge in Canada. The passenger was told that the record could be cleared if he had made a request long before cruising. Instead of clearing the charges before the cruise, he just crossed his fingers. He lost.

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  • 1 year later...

Wanted to know what happened when you boarded in Seattle and if you tried to get off the ship in Victoria. Saw lots of conflicting advice but no replies with direct knowledge. Wife and I wanted to take cruise out of Seattle that visits Victoria but don't want to get hassled or embarrassed trying to entry BC. Would rather stay on the ship. Hope you can help. Thanks.

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Wanted to know what happened when you boarded in Seattle and if you tried to get off the ship in Victoria. Saw lots of conflicting advice but no replies with direct knowledge. Wife and I wanted to take cruise out of Seattle that visits Victoria but don't want to get hassled or embarrassed trying to entry BC. Would rather stay on the ship. Hope you can help. Thanks.

If you search the boards you actually will find an occasional response like the one from FrogCruiser where it wasn't a problem; others who saw the opposite end of the spectrum like CrewNews with someone being arrested; and yet others in-between with pax being sent to meet a CBSA officer on the ship and told they were not allowed to get off.

 

 

Those are your possible options, but nobody can tell you which you will face. It depends how bad your crime was by Canadian standards (if not a crime at all, very low chance of any hassle barring repeat Misdemeanours), how long ago it was, whether it was properly logged on any computerized system (i.e. will it show up at all), and most unpredictably if something does show up how the individual CBSA officer who handles your case decides to deal with it.

 

 

If you gave full details of the offence(s) and punishment(s) you're worried about you might get a clear-cut "you have no chance whatsoever" answer, e.g. any kind of custodial sentence of 10+ years, any violent crime and you basically have zero chance. But everything that on paper passes the 'deemed rehabilitated' clause is discretionary for CBSA, so nobody - not even another CBSA person if you call them and ask - can guarantee you WILL be let in.

 

 

The ONLY way to find out for sure if something will 'pop' is to try crossing a Canadian border; the only way to ensure a problem that does show up goes away is to have your record cleared by paying the fee and submitting the IMM1444 form for a criminal rehabilitation request.

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However. I think I can say with reasonable assurance that after pot becomes legal through out the great white north ....maybe as early as July ..your simple possession charges of ones youth will not be an issue. Going south we will still experience being turned away by US federal authorities.

 

I concur that you will never know for sure if you have a DUI conviction until you actually try to cross the border. Your cruise line may have policy to not sell you a ticket But once you are on you are not likely to have any issue other than not being allowed into a Canadian Port. Usually this would be Victoria on the West Coast. In the East could be a few places in the MAritimes and Quebec.

 

I do believe the issues are dealt with quite a bit differently if your cruise ends in Canada rather than just a service call stop for the purpose of evading penalties under the Passenger Service Act. You likely won’t be boarded in the first place if your conviction is on file and is one that would be Indictable in Canada. Which a DUI is along with many other more serious matters.

 

At th e border bold faced bluffing or not owning your issues are sure fire ways to guarantee a ban on proceeding. If your conviction was properly recorded by your court of conviction by your PD you will be toast if caught in a lie. Records are shared by our countries now and have been for a while.

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Hi!

A group of us are booked on an Alaskan Cruise in June through carnival. Just recently found out that if you have a DUI it might be a problem gaining entry into our last port of call, Victoria. It’s a closed loop cruise from Seattle. The gentleman in our group has a couple DUIs on his record that are over 10 years old, however one of them that he though was done and over with was not. So he was sentenced only recently for that which resulted in jail time of 30 days. There’s absolutely nothing on his record after 2007 other than I would assume the sentencing part. What is the likihiid of him still being allowed to board the cruise ship in Seattle. We already feel confident that he will not be allowed off the ship in Victoria, but will for any reason he be stopped from boarding in Seattle? We’ve been contact in contact with several immigration consultants and lawyers and carnival but cannot get a clear direct answer. Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

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Hi!

A group of us are booked on an Alaskan Cruise in June through carnival. Just recently found out that if you have a DUI it might be a problem gaining entry into our last port of call, Victoria. It’s a closed loop cruise from Seattle. The gentleman in our group has a couple DUIs on his record that are over 10 years old, however one of them that he though was done and over with was not. So he was sentenced only recently for that which resulted in jail time of 30 days. There’s absolutely nothing on his record after 2007 other than I would assume the sentencing part. What is the likihiid of him still being allowed to board the cruise ship in Seattle. We already feel confident that he will not be allowed off the ship in Victoria, but will for any reason he be stopped from boarding in Seattle? We’ve been contact in contact with several immigration consultants and lawyers and carnival but cannot get a clear direct answer. Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

 

If you have read some of the past posts you will see that we all have one take. You never will know for sure until it happens. HOWEVER you should be able to ask your cruise line the question now. “WILL YOU BOARD ME?” Yes....then go for it. They want passengers & a dui to them is something they can usually work around especially on that closed loop. You are not allowed off the ship in Victoria. Happens frequently. If they say NO. You have your answer. Deal direct with a named cruise line person in authority if you have a TA make sure they help. But insure you get the name of the cruise line staffer. TA’s sometimes just want to sell tickets.

PS

Make sure the facts of your “Gentleman’s “ convictions are true?:halo:

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Hi!

A group of us are booked on an Alaskan Cruise in June through carnival. Just recently found out that if you have a DUI it might be a problem gaining entry into our last port of call, Victoria. It’s a closed loop cruise from Seattle. The gentleman in our group has a couple DUIs on his record that are over 10 years old, however one of them that he though was done and over with was not. So he was sentenced only recently for that which resulted in jail time of 30 days. There’s absolutely nothing on his record after 2007 other than I would assume the sentencing part. What is the likihiid of him still being allowed to board the cruise ship in Seattle. We already feel confident that he will not be allowed off the ship in Victoria, but will for any reason he be stopped from boarding in Seattle? We’ve been contact in contact with several immigration consultants and lawyers and carnival but cannot get a clear direct answer. Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

The time period for being 'deemed rehabilitated' starts not from the date of the offence, but from when the 'debt to society' is repaid - fines, jail time, education classes, probation etc. Until it's ALL finished, the clock does not start. Plus, multiple misdemeanours of the same type is usually enough in and of itself to fail the 'deemed rehabilitated' test. By any remotely sane definition of the term 'recently' that means this person will absolutely NOT be allowed into Canada - the fact he weaseled out of serving his time for about a decade will be held against him rather than seen as any kind of positive factor. This person did not make one mistake - they have a pattern of the same criminal (by Canadian standard) behaviour.

 

Whether they'll be allowed to board at all... only the cruiseline can make that call, unless they've started forwarding info to CBSA before boarding. Possible, but as a private company I believe still not required... but given you've apparently spoken to several professionals in the field AND the cruise company and been unable to get an answer, frankly I have no idea what you hope to find by posting here! He either tries crossing the border and finds out, or stays home and remains ignorant - if I were him I'd cancel this cruise and take one that doesn't enter Canada to play safe.

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Old thread but #7 is from poster BruceMuzz.... who has had many years in the cruise industry. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1190057&highlight=BruceMuzz+DUI

Yes it’s old post. The sharing of info between the US and Canada NOW works both ways since then. So even harder to enter. Bruce said basicly the same as we do now. You will never know for sure until you attempt to enter. We can give suggestions and been around here for awhile too. Some of us have backgrounds closer to the subject than being employed by a cruise line. Others don’t. :halo:

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Yes it’s old post. The sharing of info between the US and Canada NOW works both ways since then. So even harder to enter. Bruce said basicly the same as we do now. You will never know for sure until you attempt to enter. We can give suggestions and been around here for awhile too. Some of us have backgrounds closer to the subject than being employed by a cruise line. Others don’t. :halo:

 

As has been mentioned, it may be possible to gain some assurance entry. https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/inadmissibility/overcome-criminal-convictions.html

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