Immigration procedure at Seward

[Bellamariya]

We are Australians that are going to book an Alaska cruise from Vancouver to Seward with the intention to fly out from Anchorage to go home.

One of our friends recently went on a holiday in Canada and had to change planes at LAX. The procedure there was for them to be fingerprinted and iris scanned despite the fact that they were not leaving the airport and were not staying anywhere in the US.

We have cruised many countries including China and Japan and haven't come across anything like this before.

Should we expect that the immigration procedure at Seward/Anchorage will be like this?

[njkruzer]

Whatever happens will happen when you board the ship in Vancouver. Once you board you will.be in US waters/ ports the whole way. There is no customs or.immigration in Seward. You just walk.off get your luggage and head to wherever you are going. We went through immigration on arrival.in Vancouver-- which is Canada and then something US immigration when we boarded the ship. Hope that helps.

[Bellamariya]

Whatever happens will happen when you board the ship in Vancouver. Once you board you will.be in US waters/ ports the whole way. There is no customs or.immigration in Seward. You just walk.off get your luggage and head to wherever you are going. We went through immigration on arrival.in Vancouver-- which is Canada and then something US immigration when we boarded the ship. Hope that helps.

 

Thanks that does help :)

A few of us have traveled to Canada and are familiar with their procedures.

[Very Frequent Flyer]

What about getting on at Seward and cruising southbound, disembarking in Vancouver?

Edited February 24, 2014 by Very Frequent Flyer

[Bellamariya]

What about getting on at Seward and cruising southbound, disembarking in Vancouver?

 

I would like to know this too :)

[garycarla]

Back to OP. A bit strange how the U.S. Customs/Immigration works and assume it is the same for non U.S. Citizens. They have U.S. officers in the cruise terminal in Vancouver just before you board the ship. As mentioned, they basically have decided you are "entering the U.S. at that point".

 

Again, no idea what non U.S. citizens encounter.

[1025cruise]

If the US requires you be fingerprinted, it will happen in Vancouver when you get on the ship. Vancouver is different as you will clear US Immigration at that point, since the rest of the cruise is in the US. For the southbound, since you will have cleared in Anchorage (or wherever you landed), you are all set until you get to Vancouver and clear Canadian Immigration.

[Stevesan]

We are Australians that are going to book an Alaska cruise from Vancouver to Seward with the intention to fly out from Anchorage to go home.

One of our friends recently went on a holiday in Canada and had to change planes at LAX. The procedure there was for them to be fingerprinted and iris scanned despite the fact that they were not leaving the airport and were not staying anywhere in the US.

We have cruised many countries including China and Japan and haven't come across anything like this before.

Should we expect that the immigration procedure at Seward/Anchorage will be like this?

 

China, Japan, Canada and Australia have not experienced a twin towers disaster..

The LAX security agents would be fools if they accepted a traveler's word that they wouldn't leave the airport.

 

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=twin+towers+attack&qpvt=twin+towers+attack&FORM=VDRE

[garycarla]

China, Japan, Canada and Australia have not experienced a twin towers disaster..

The LAX security agents would be fools if they accepted a traveler's word that they wouldn't leave the airport.

 

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=twin+towers+attack&qpvt=twin+towers+attack&FORM=VDRE

 

This has nothing to do with Twin Towers.

 

In many countries there are "Transit Areas" that allow passengers to skip immigration, etc because they are not exiting the safe area and therefore can not enter the country. They are in a "limbo zone" and are not entering the country, so no immigration is required. Some international travelers are accustomed to this as the norm. Has nothing to do with twin towers, but how the secure zone is set up for that airport, or section of that airport.

 

Edward Snowden landed in Russia, but was not in Russia until he left that secure zone, for example. And did not deal with Russian authorities until he left that zone.

[Bellamariya]

So US immigration will be there at Vancouver and that is to be expected as we are cruising to Alaska.

I was just wondering if anyone could explain what we can expect.

Will it be like our friends experience at LAX or is this confined to LAX?

I personally will be flying into LAX as we have a week or so at Mammoth Mountain prior to flying to Vancouver but other friends will be flying into Vancouver and just want to know what to expect.

[em-sk]

So US immigration will be there at Vancouver and that is to be expected as we are cruising to Alaska.

I was just wondering if anyone could explain what we can expect.

Will it be like our friends experience at LAX or is this confined to LAX?

I personally will be flying into LAX as we have a week or so at Mammoth Mountain prior to flying to Vancouver but other friends will be flying into Vancouver and just want to know what to expect.

 

Entering Canada usually does not involve finger printing and iris scanning. Usually for most people you answer the silly questions, they scan your passport, you pickup you luggage, hand-in a your declaration card and enjoy the rest of the day. If something pops up on the computer or the answers to the questions don't match what the customs people view are normal you may end up having a more involved interview.

 

From Canada going into the US is dependent on the port of entry there are a lot of of boarder crossing between Canada and the US. They tend to do things a little differently if you are entering by Sea Plane, Normal Air, Rail, ferry or driving across. No idea how the US authorities will pre-clear the cruise ship before it sails to Alaska, but it not necessarily the same as air travel.

 

As for entering Canada. I have not done an Alaska cruise yet, though I may do one this year. I did do a West Cost cruise last year. We filled out the Canada customs cards and handed in the cards to the cruise line when we boarded the ship in LA. The entire ship was cleared into Canada when we arrived in Victoria, next day was Nanaimo and finally disembarked in Vancouver. Since the ship was cleared in bulk in Victoria there was no customs at all in Vancouver.

 

I would just go with the flow.

Edited February 25, 2014 by em-sk

[Bellamariya]

Yes we have been to Canada and know how easy it is :)

It's the US processes that have some concerned.

I originally asked about immigration in Seward but it sounds like I should have asked for details of what actually happens in Vancouver.

[em-sk]

Yes we have been to Canada and know how easy it is :)

It's the US processes that have some concerned.

I originally asked about immigration in Seward but it sounds like I should have asked for details of what actually happens in Vancouver.

 

Several Canadian Airports have US Pre-clearance, where you clear US formalities before boarding the aircraft. The same pre-clearance arrangement occurs for ferries from Victoria to Washington state, some cruise ships and the train service between Vancouver and the US.

Edited February 25, 2014 by em-sk