flying in and out of USA

[kevinyork]

What is the point of the US visa waiver form, if not to allow them to check beforehand on those entering the US??

 

After this last Christmas's debacle the electronic ESTA or whatever it is called is clearly just a moneymaker for the US. A rip off. To think people on our cruise paid their fee online only to not be cleared with sufficient speed to actually see the USA! Talk about a kick in the teeth. Whatever happened to the 'special relationship' between the US and UK... Seems it is one way after all.

[englishgal]

My!, I got lots of answers to my query.

 

I am trying to understand the Jones Act!!:confused:

 

I just cannot understand it as the ship goes into other countries before back into USA (Mexico and Costa Rico).

 

As I said, P&O have been very helpful.:)

[capnpugwash]

My!, I got lots of answers to my query.

 

I am trying to understand the Jones Act!!:confused:

 

I just cannot understand it as the ship goes into other countries before back into USA (Mexico and Costa Rico).

 

As I said, P&O have been very helpful.:)

 

Flying has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the Jones Act, that only deals with ships. If P&O are blaming the Jones Act for anything to do with flights, they are misleading you. You can fly to and from USA from any International Airport if you choose.

[cruiseluvva]

 

BTW, who has spotted an US immigration officer with a smile........ever?

 

Maybe we've been lucky, but in about 20 visits to the US - by both air and sea - we've almost always found them very pleasant and some have been positively friendly. Only on one occasion was the Homeland Security official surly.

[newport dave]

Maybe we've been lucky, but in about 20 visits to the US - by both air and sea - we've almost always found them very pleasant and some have been positively friendly. Only on one occasion was the Homeland Security official surly.

 

Same with us, I have got to say though, that they aren't very efficient in processing people or very proactive in bringing in extra staff when you have massive queues.

[Boatdrill]

US Immigration people are the rudest and most inefficient people I have ever come across, we won't ever visit the US again after the last debacle.

 

I am sincerely sorry to hear that you feel our immigration officers were

the rudest and most inefficient people you have ever come across.

 

If you feel that because of them, and only them, you cannot in good conscience visit our country again, I am sincerely sorry to know that,

and can't help but wonder what other high bar you have set for other countries.

[Boatdrill]

Maybe the captain lied then when he announced over the tannoy that the offer to come aboard at Acupulco had been declined and that we cold therefore expect delays at SF.

 

I am not standing up for P&O here in any respect, but, if they welcomed immigration on board in OZ and NZ and elswhere on this world cruise, I doubt they would have made an exception for the US.

 

 

OK, I'll go with what the captain said. I'm a loyal scout, and don't want to cross him.

 

If US Immigration declined on their own (even though P&O was paying for it) to fly staff down to Acapulco, spend one or two nights there, and clear the ship many days before it was due to arrive in San Francisco, I support their decision 100%.

 

I can just hear US Immigration now: "We already have pre-clearance in major Canadian airports, now we have to fly down to Acapulco to pre-clear a ship ? Forget about it." :)

[jocap]

I am sincerely sorry to hear that you feel our immigration officers were

the rudest and most inefficient people you have ever come across.

 

If you feel that because of them, and only them, you cannot in good conscience visit our country again, I am sincerely sorry to know that,

and can't help but wonder what other high bar you have set for other countries.

Certainly, this could happen in other "friendly" countries, and no doubt does, but we don't hear about it so frequently or consistently.

I found it difficult to leave Sharm el Sheikh airport, but that was because of sheer muddle rather than hostility.

A simple scenario:

We left the Sea Princess at 8.50, and queued for immigration, after a fortnight's cruise from FL and back.

At 10.10, the little, middle aged, dumpy lady- just like me- ahead in the queue was barked at:"Where were you born?"

Flustered, she replied "Derbyshire"

"I know NOTHING about English counties...which town?"

So, I, like the little lady, not used to having people bawl at me, was ready for the question, and replied with the town on my passport.

"I know NOTHING of English towns. Which county were you born in?"

We managed to catch the Princess coach at 10.30, but hadn't finished, because after lunch we had to go all through it again to enter the airport.

OK, not too bad, really, but I've never been shouted at by immigration anywhere else....belts off, shoes off, full body "feel" in Spain when Libya was being bombed...but all done with utter courtesy. It was the shouting, after reading the notices on the wall saying how courteous they were...

Jo.

[kevinyork]

I am sincerely sorry to hear that you feel our immigration officers were

the rudest and most inefficient people you have ever come across.

 

If you feel that because of them, and only them, you cannot in good conscience visit our country again, I am sincerely sorry to know that,

and can't help but wonder what other high bar you have set for other countries.

 

I dont think anyone would criticise a country for wanting to ensure its borders are protected. However, the US Immigration Department is simply inefficient and inflexible. I have flown into India many times and there in the space of 15 minutes about 3 tiers of Officers check your documents, all smiling, all saying hello and goodbye and all taking no time at all. Having worked for HM Border Agency i can say that the US attitude to immigration is outdated and ineffective.

 

As per the post above, on entry at New Orleans the Officer looks at my passport and says 'youve been to Egypt'. Not sure if it was a question or a statement but I answered 'Yes' (clearly I had as the stamp was in my passport). He didnt reply. What is the point? Having conned us out of our ESTA application fee and having ensured we all have machine readable passports during that application process why cant they swipe us through on entry to the US instead of maintaining this facade that they are actually doing something worthwhile.

[capnpugwash]

The good thing and the bad thing about these boards is that they are full of anecdotal "evidence". Sadly or perhaps fortunately, experiences do differ, I have been through US immigration at airports and at Brooklyn Cruise terminal. I think that I have done it perhaps 200 times since 1986 and I have had bad experiences with surly staff, I have waited in line for up to 45 minutes; but the vast majority of times the officers have been charming and welcoming to me, perhaps they don't smile but they are not rude and I have never been shouted at. In the 1990s they introduced Inspass at most east coast airports, I had to register at JFK which took 20 minutes and my full details and the impression of my right hand was taken and encoded on a card. This enabled me to skip the lines at immigration by going to an unmanned booth, insert the card and my hand and assuming that it recognised me, I would retrieve my card and a printed slip of paper which gave me entry.

Sadly and I think stupidly this was suspended after 9-11.

I have always found that to be treated well one needs to treat others well and that has worked well with me, mostly, not at Miami or Toronto unfortunately, but it is the exception that proves the rule.

[Merlin7]

OK, I'll go with what the captain said. I'm a loyal scout, and don't want to cross him.

 

If US Immigration declined on their own (even though P&O was paying for it) to fly staff down to Acapulco, spend one or two nights there, and clear the ship many days before it was due to arrive in San Francisco, I support their decision 100%. WHY?

 

I can just hear US Immigration now: "We already have pre-clearance in major Canadian airports, now we have to fly down to Acapulco to pre-clear a ship ? Forget about it." :)

Again, why?

I do not understand what you are getting at.

[Boatdrill]

I support US Immigration's decision not to fly staff down to Acapulco

because it's clearly not an efficient use of staff to spend at least three days (one to fly there, one onboard, one to return) to pre-clear a cruise ship that will be in San Francisco in several days. It's a waste of time and (my)money as a US citizen.

 

Question: Would the citizens of the UK permit their officers to fly to Barcelona to pre-clear a cruise ship full of Americans, that would be in Southampton in several days ? Doubt it, and the shouts about American arrogance would be heard around the world.

 

In closing I want to say how surprised I am by the attitude of some on this board, towards the US Customs and Border Patrol officers, and the procedures for disembarking after arriving in the US. I can appreciate being unhappy with long waits, but some of the hard-egded comments here are

astounding. I didn't know you (UK passengers) had it in you.:(

 

Each UK citizen I have ever encountered while having to check their documents on behalf a major cruise line have been nothing but kind, pleasant, and well-mannered, even under stressful situations. They are

a wonderful example of the British people.

[William Dean]

I support US Immigration's decision not to fly staff down to Acapulco

because it's clearly not an efficient use of staff to spend at least three days (one to fly there, one onboard, one to return) to pre-clear a cruise ship that will be in San Francisco in several days. It's a waste of time and (my)money as a US citizen.

 

Question: Would the citizens of the UK permit their officers to fly to Barcelona to pre-clear a cruise ship full of Americans, that would be in Southampton in several days ? Doubt it, and the shouts about American arrogance would be heard around the world.

 

The United Kingdom Border Agency are aboard Queen Mary 2 on every eastbound crossing, in order to deal with immigration before the ship reaches Southampton. Not surprisingly it is a popular assignment, and the staff fly out to board in NYC.

 

The US used to do this on the westbound, until 11/9/2001, since when they have decided not to fly them over.

 

WD

[Merlin7]

I support US Immigration's decision not to fly staff down to Acapulco

because it's clearly not an efficient use of staff to spend at least three days (one to fly there, one onboard, one to return) to pre-clear a cruise ship that will be in San Francisco in several days. It's a waste of time and (my)money as a US citizen.

 

Question: Would the citizens of the UK permit their officers to fly to Barcelona to pre-clear a cruise ship full of Americans, that would be in Southampton in several days ? Doubt it, and the shouts about American arrogance would be heard around the world.

 

In closing I want to say how surprised I am by the attitude of some on this board, towards the US Customs and Border Patrol officers, and the procedures for disembarking after arriving in the US. I can appreciate being unhappy with long waits, but some of the hard-egded comments here are

astounding. I didn't know you (UK passengers) had it in you.:(

 

Each UK citizen I have ever encountered while having to check their documents on behalf a major cruise line have been nothing but kind, pleasant, and well-mannered, even under stressful situations. They are

a wonderful example of the British people.

 

It is also a waste of my time and money when immigration take half a day to process a whole ship and when there are only 8 staff at a port to deal with the same situation.

[William Dean]

It is also a waste of my time and money when immigration take half a day to process a whole ship and when there are only 8 staff at a port to deal with the same situation.

 

Quite. And, as this thread shows, does the US a great deal of damage in public relations terms. Justified or not, this does seem to be the case.

 

WD

[jocap]

I support US Immigration's decision not to fly staff down to Acapulco

because it's clearly not an efficient use of staff to spend at least three days (one to fly there, one onboard, one to return) to pre-clear a cruise ship that will be in San Francisco in several days. It's a waste of time and (my)money as a US citizen.

 

Question: Would the citizens of the UK permit their officers to fly to Barcelona to pre-clear a cruise ship full of Americans, that would be in Southampton in several days ? Doubt it, and the shouts about American arrogance would be heard around the world.

 

In closing I want to say how surprised I am by the attitude of some on this board, towards the US Customs and Border Patrol officers, and the procedures for disembarking after arriving in the US. I can appreciate being unhappy with long waits, but some of the hard-egded comments here are

astounding. I didn't know you (UK passengers) had it in you.:(

 

Each UK citizen I have ever encountered while having to check their documents on behalf a major cruise line have been nothing but kind, pleasant, and well-mannered, even under stressful situations. They are

a wonderful example of the British people.

When an NCL ship stops at Turkey, en-route to Alexandria, the Egyptian immigration officers are flown in, and spend the sea day in between, marking every passport with a visa. They leave the ship on the 3rd day, when she arrives in Alex. I presume the shipping line pays for this.

BTW- it's not a matter of attitude, or hard edged comments....some of us are unaccustomed to being shouted at, and don't meet with it elsewhere.

Most of us will remain well-mannered, out of common courtesy, but may be seething inside!!!;)

Jo.

[dsrdsrdsr]

I've flown into Chicago airport several times, and the immigration people have always been either friendly or businesslike. Never surly or aggressive.

 

How does it work on board ship, then? I've never been on a cruise where we had to clear immigration, except nominally in Russia and that was a charade really. It's always done en bloc before disembarkation, and passports not needed. Presumably we get off and queue for the customs officers as if it was an airport arrival.

 

But Arcadia's Alaska trip calls in at San Francisco as its first US stop, then on to Seattle and Alaska; then Canada before going back to the US west coast; then Central America, before the US east coast. Do we have to go through the whole performance at every port, or just the first port, or every time we come to the US after visiting other countries?