Clearing immigration in the first US port after visiting a foreign port

[DonnaK]

I just realized that on our recent CB cruise out of Brooklyn, after visiting Bermuda, we did not have to clear customs in San Juan or St. Thomas before continuing on with the itinerary. We've always had to do this on previous cruises that called on either of these two places after we had been to a foreign-flagged island, even cruiseline's private islands in the Bahamas.

 

We had to clear customs in Bar Harbor Maine after visiting Canada on our last CB cruise R/T from NY in Aug 2008.

 

What has been other people's experiences? Have they stopped requiring the clearing of customs mid-cruise when returning to a US port after visiting a foreign one?

[Toto2Kansas]

If I am not mistaken, they did away with this a few years ago. We used to have to clear in St. Thomas if we visited another foreign port first (which was a real pain), but we no longer have had to do that in recent years.

[cherylandtk]

Yep, they no longer make us do the early morning report to the lounge when arriving in St. Thomas or San Juan. It has been that way for a couple of years now.

[FLACRUISER99]

Yep, they no longer make us do the early morning report to the lounge when arriving in St. Thomas or San Juan. It has been that way for a couple of years now.

They don't do it anymore,thank God.

[DonnaK]

This is great news!!! That was such a hassle, especially the waking up early part, and needing to wait for everyone to go through the process before the ship was cleared for us to go aboard.

 

I haven't sailed the Caribbean in 3 years, so I guess the rule changes in the meantime.

 

Does anyone know if this is true only for Caribbean cruises? (Two years ago, we did have to clear in Maine after visiting Canada). And, is it only a special arrangement on Princess cruises...or has the government done away with it on all cruiselines?