Disembarking in Key West

[hsimmons3]

Does anyone know how long it takes to get off the ship in Key West? We are not using RR to do our wedding, so we need to high-tail it to get a marriage lisence. We are supposed to dock at 3:00. Any ideas or experiences will be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks!

[stephp6]

Your travel agent should be able to get you that info on when you can disembark. You can't get your license before the cruise? Do you not live in Florida?

[MandyGirl]

Not to scare you... but here was our personal experience when cruising into Key West Thanksgiving 2003 on HAL Maasdam.

 

We had just come from Cozumel, so we had to clear immigration. Apparently, Key West for clearing immigration means EVERYONE must go through immigration before ANYONE can get off the ship. There were a few cabins who thought the rules didn't apply to them, so they were paged every 5 minutes. Finally, when they presented themselves to immigration, we were allowed to disembark (two hours late). We were already in port for a short amount of time that day, so this shortened it even more. The next morning we were disembarking in FLL, so Key West was the last of our ports of call.

If you are coming from a non-US port prior to Key West, the laws since 9/11 require clearing immigration. Each port is different, but this was our experience in 11/2003 in Key West. It was very frustrating :mad: that a few people chose to dampen the time in port for the entire ship. (In St Thomas, we have been able to clear immigration, receive a pass, and disembark the ship - but Key West had the "everyone" rule). We have found the rules to be different in various ports (such as Key West vs St Thomas) when coming from non-US ports immediately prior. The times posted in your cruise itinerary are dependent upon things like this...

[dcdiva]

We sailed from Ft. Lauderdale with Key West as our first port of call. Even though we had not left the country, there was still immigration to clear before getting off of the ship. Depending on how early you get in, you may still have plenty of time. In our case, we never would have made it back in time for our wedding.

 

We are not Florida residents and Royal Romance was able to get our license for us. But if you are not a Florida resident, you may be able to do this via mail without the help of the wedding planner. We certainly were not required to appear in person to apply.

[claroquesi]

got married in Key West. DO NOT live in Fla. Got liscence via mail from

 

aweddingforyou.com

 

but you may not make it depending on when your cruise is....