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Port Everglades Starting Mobile Passport Control Program

Fouremco

By Fouremco,
in Holland America Line

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serendipity1499

serendipity1499

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On October 23, off the Nieuw Amsterdam, we were one of two ships into the Port in Fort Lauderdale, which meant that approximately 4 - 5,000 people entered the customs hall at basically the same time, between 8 and 10 am.. The lines were mixed and endless and horrific and there were a total of 4, count them, 4 agents in the booths. Inching along and two and a half hours later, my husband and I finally reached the head of our line, when he collapsed and dropped to the floor. The Sheriff hollered for a chair, he tried to stand, fell again, the line behind us was horrified, I was in shock, someone grabbed our passports out of my hand, and a chair was finally brought to get us through the wickets. It must have seemed odd to Homeland Security for someone to fail just on their doorstep and perhaps we were seen as a diversion or distraction or something, so then I had them hollering at me, as well as the 4 or 5 paramedics who brought the ambulance and were shouting questions at me. Off to the hospital, Broward General Medical Clinic, who were thankfully amazing and so very helpful. It turns out, his blood pressure was 84, caused entirely by dehydration and the lack of somewhere to sit, rest and not stand in line for 2 hours and 30 minutes. They didn't hold him overnight, but the rest of the day was spent there and of course, missing our flight... You just cannot treat seniors like that, and 99% of people in that line were seniors, most of whom were also missing their flights even though they likely had plenty of time under normal circumstances. This whole thing was appalling and it will be a very long time, if ever, that we will take a Holland America cruise out of Port Everglades again. I realize it was not HAL's fault, but I hope they can make it known to Customs/Security that this situation is ridiculous and totally unacceptable.

 

I am so sorry you had to go through that..

 

We arrived on the Zuiderdam this past Sunday & the New Amsterdam was across the street from us in a different terminal & customs area but there were only two porters in sight in terminal 21 & like you only 4 Custom's Agents to clear the entire ship..We were delayed in disembarkation & the lines were very long..

 

It was a mad house & I was almost in tears only because there were no porters & my 87 year old DH had to handle 3 suitcases (two 26 inches & one 21 In.) but very cumbersome without a porter ...I assumed wrongly that we could find a porter..I was handling our hand luggage.. In addition I've been told that there were Drug sniffing dogs who scanned our arrival, although I did not see them..I learned one lesson to only take one bag & one carry-on per person now..

 

They moved us through fairly quickly but DH forgot one of our bags..I had to run back with a Customs agent to find the bag..Fortunately a very nice Customs Agent Guard helped us to the curb even though he was not supposed to do that.. I suspect they did not want to have a repeat of the awful problem you had.. I'm happy to hear that your DH is OK though..It must have been an awful scare for you..

 

I actually believe that it is the U.S. Customs & Immigrations who are to blame for these fiasco's..We've never had such a poor disembarkation.. I don't think that there is enough staff to handle the thousands of Psgs. now arriving on the mega cruise ships..

Edited by serendipity1499
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caribophile

caribophile

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I've been following this thread with great interest, especially after hearing about the long lines at Port Everglades. I've downloaded the app on my Samsung smartphone. It accepted my passport info and such, but now I see in their FAQs that Canadians must hold a valid passport and have B1 or B2 Visa status. Guess I'll be in one of those long lines after all. :(

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Dogstar

Dogstar

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caribophile, a Canadian tourist is issued a B-2 Visa upon USA entry, without application if I recall correctly for less-than-90-day visits, so you/we should be okay to use the MPC app with our Canadian passports ...

 

https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/visit/visitor.html

 

At least I'm hoping this works. Any bit of time saved expediting through line(s) will be helpful.

Edited by Dogstar
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Fouremco

Fouremco

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Don't confuse status and the requirement for a visa. If you go look down far enough in the link provided by Dogstar, you'll see the following:

 

Citizens of Canada and Bermuda do not require visas to enter the United States, for visit, tourism and temporary business travel purposes. For more information see U.S. Embassy Ottawa website, U.S. Consulate Hamilton website and CBP website.

 

Additional resources for Canadian visitors to the United States can be found on the U.S. Embassy and Consulate websites in Canada

 

Again, this app is intended for Canadian as well as US citizens, and you do NOT need to acquire a visa.

 

I'll be disembarking from the Koningsdam on November 23 and fully intend to use my MPC app. I'll report back on my experience.

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CruiseMissives

CruiseMissives

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Thank you Serentipity for your comments... - I appreciate your sympathy and it's nice to know that we're not the only ones to go through that horrible experience and trauma at the FL Port. I re-iterated this whole thing on our HAL survey, questioning why entry was not done as had been done in the past - i.e. agents boarding the ship at 8:00 am, setting up in the showroom, passengers given times the night before with set times to present to customs, sitting in rows in the Showroom and then called by rows, when 15 minutes later we were on our way out and off the ship. I reiterate I realize that HAL in not responsible to Homeland Security entry, but I was quite disappointed to receive nothing more thank a standard bla-bla-bla "thanks and go away" response from HAL.

 

We will of course, continue to cruise with Holland America as it has been our line of choice for almost 30 years, but will perhaps in the future find another more hospitable port.

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Susudio

Susudio

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According to a Port Everglades press release, CBP's Mobile Passport Control Program will being starting at the port on November 4th. http://www.porteverglades.net/articles/post/port-everglades-launches-mobile-passport-control-program/

 

Open to US and Canadian citizens - I have already downloaded the app and have loaded DW's and my Canadian passport information - the program is intended to speed up the disembarkation process (or airport arrival). Port Everglades is the first marine POE to benefit from the program.

 

What is less clear to me as yet is how the various programs - MPC, Global Entry, Nexus, etc. - are going to operate at the port. Will there be multiple lines for the different programs, or will all the expedited program members go in a single "fast" line? Also, do you just use one program, or can you use Nexus and MPC, for example, at the same time? I suspect the latter but haven't seen anything yet explicitly stating so.

 

With a cruise out of Port Everglades just over a week away, I hope to get a better idea soon of how all of this comes together.

We are going on are going on a cruise in December out of Port Everglades and would like to know how you found the lines for Nexus card holders . Were they all in same line as the new Mobile Passport?

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Randyk47

Randyk47

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We are going on are going on a cruise in December out of Port Everglades and would like to know how you found the lines for Nexus card holders . Were they all in same line as the new Mobile Passport?

 

You're entering the US so you'll use the Global Entry lane(s) if available.

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Fouremco

Fouremco

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We are going on are going on a cruise in December out of Port Everglades and would like to know how you found the lines for Nexus card holders . Were they all in same line as the new Mobile Passport?

First, welcome to Cruise Critic. Good to have another Maritimer aboard!

 

We've not sailed out of Port Everglades since they started having a separate line for Nexus and similar programs, but all of the posts I've read indicate a significantly shorter line.

 

There are several threads on the introduction of MPC to Port Everglades on other cruise line boards, and the few reports I've seen from people disembarking there over the past couple of days seem to indicate that the fast-track line divides in two, with Global Entry, Nexus etc. in one line and MPC in the other. Apparently the MPC line is faster, but that may be because fewer people have it yet. Interestingly, one report says that they were asked at first for their paper declaration as the staff still didn't seem too clear on the workings of the MPC.

 

Based on what I've read so far, I'll keep my Nexus card in my wallet and opt for the MPC line if things don't change in the next couple of weeks.

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Fouremco

Fouremco

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I'm so confused! Sailing harmony in January to Mexico. Should I use this app? Will it Save time?

Yes, according to those who have used it.

 

As the app is a simple download and it only takes a couple of minutes for each profile you set up in the app, you have lots of time to read related threads before making up your mind, assuming you have passports. As it only started a couple of day's ago, you'll soon be getting more and more posts of first hand experiences to help you decide.

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RosieRoo

RosieRoo

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Downloaded the app this morning while on the Allure of the Seas. You don't need wifi if you have data on your phone. The whole process took minutes. Set it up on my husbands iPhone and added myself to his account. Once you are set up, you just go in and put your travel info in, it asks just a few questions and it issues you a barcoded receipt good for four hours. We did self assist so we entered the terminal before 7 am and there really wasn't a long line, but there was a separate line for mobile passport and no one was in it. We just went up, scanned our receipt, handed our passports to the agent, and were on our way. The whole process took just a few minutes.

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willowtak

willowtak

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HELP I tried downloading the app, partially filled it in. It asked how you were entering the US ship/plane. I put ship. The only choice was Royal Caribbean. How do I get Holland America. I am leaving on Wednesday. Thanks for any help you can give me.

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Fouremco

Fouremco

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Does everyone in your party have to have the same home address? I'm traveling with my mother and my brother, and we all have different addresses. I am the only one that has a smart phone.

 

As long as you are travelling together, it's not an issue. If you could use a single paper form in the past for family members travelling together, no matter what their living arrangements, then you can with the app.

 

HELP I tried downloading the app, partially filled it in. It asked how you were entering the US ship/plane. I put ship. The only choice was Royal Caribbean. How do I get Holland America. I am leaving on Wednesday. Thanks for any help you can give me.

Pure guess on my part, but maybe RCI was the only one with a ship arriving when you filled it out? Maybe that's one reason why you aren't meant to fill in the trip information until you arrive. I just did a dummy run and had a choice of Carnival, HAL, Princess and RCI, all of which had ships arriving today.

Edited by Fouremco
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RosieRoo

RosieRoo

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HELP I tried downloading the app, partially filled it in. It asked how you were entering the US ship/plane. I put ship. The only choice was Royal Caribbean. How do I get Holland America. I am leaving on Wednesday. Thanks for any help you can give me.

 

You can set up the app in advance, but you can't fill in your trip info until the day you return because the barcode they assign you is only good for a four hour window, enough time to disembark and get thru customs.

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foflocruiser

foflocruiser

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HELP I tried downloading the app, partially filled it in. It asked how you were entering the US ship/plane. I put ship. The only choice was Royal Caribbean. How do I get Holland America. I am leaving on Wednesday. Thanks for any help you can give me.

 

As of Monday (today), all terminals and cruiselines/ships have been entered into the APP. Make sure to connect to your home WIFI to receive this update

Edited by foflocruiser
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