US Green Card -- Check in at the port used to be a pain ...

[MikeNJ1109]

My wife is a German citizen with a US Green Card, everything nice and legal. Every cruise we've done previously on RCL (our last cruise was five years ago) -- out of Miami, Orlando and Bayonne -- getting through the check in process at the Pier has always been very time consuming.

 

We get that it's probably not the doing of the RCL check in staff, rather they are taking their lead from CBP officials at the pier. That said -- we are cruising out of Fort Lauderdale on the Harmony in November, and have already completed the online check in portion. Has anyone in CC land with a US Green Card had recent experience in the Pier Check in Process? Is it still more time intensive or have they become a bit more efficient?

 

Just curious ...

 

Thanks,

 

Michael

[pspercy]

I never noticed a green card slowed things down during the many years I travelled with one but finally taking the time and $$ to go for Naturalisation simplified lots of things and anyway it was the right thing to do. Good luck:)

[MikeNJ1109]

I never noticed a green card slowed things down during the many years I travelled with one but finally taking the time and $$ to go for Naturalisation simplified lots of things and anyway it was the right thing to do. Good luck:)

 

Germany is one of the countries where if you voluntarily naturalize in another country, you have to renounce your German citizenship ... unless you get prior approval from the appropriate German government office in advance. Going through that process can be time consuming, tedious and can sometimes require a German lawyer to help guide through the process.

 

I should add that when we fly internationally, everything is seamless ... no delays whatsoever. And she was also able to sign up for Global Entry, which has been a wonderful thing for us when we arrive back in the US after an international trip. The only time we travel where things are -- "slow" -- is during cruise check in at the pier prior to embarkation. Go figure.

 

As such, for now, she's content to keep things as is. :)

 

Michael

[lbjen]

Germany is one of the countries where if you voluntarily naturalize in another country, you have to renounce your German citizenship ... unless you get prior approval from the appropriate German government office in advance. Going through that process can be time consuming, tedious and can sometimes require a German lawyer to help guide through the process.

 

I should add that when we fly internationally, everything is seamless ... no delays whatsoever. And she was also able to sign up for Global Entry, which has been a wonderful thing for us when we arrive back in the US after an international trip. The only time we travel where things are -- "slow" -- is during cruise check in at the pier prior to embarkation. Go figure.

 

As such, for now, she's content to keep things as is. :)

 

Michael

 

That’s unfortunate, we were able to keep our original citizenship when we naturalized, luckily. Although since we will probably never live there again, it’s probably not of much use ;)

[jamesr3939]

As you know, she can use her Permanent Resident Alien (Green Card) for re-entry at the Global Entry kiosk, as long it's the newer card with the RFID chip. However, I just looked on the CBP www site and it no longer shows any sea ports as having kiosks. It use to show a couple ports, but I can't find where any are listed any longer.

[MikeNJ1109]

As you know, she can use her Permanent Resident Alien (Green Card) for re-entry at the Global Entry kiosk, as long it's the newer card with the RFID chip. However, I just looked on the CBP www site and it no longer shows any sea ports as having kiosks. It use to show a couple ports, but I can't find where any are listed any longer.

 

The Fort Lauderdale / Port Everglades cruise port has the Global Entry machines ... it'll be nice to take advantage of that, as we have an 11AM flight out of FLL and don't want to fight the crowd at Customs.

 

Michael

[bumorgan]

We have sailed twice in the last year with Carnival & NCL. My wife used her new green card without a problem. Her passport with her maiden name and the green card with her married name. Customs had no problem with the mismatch. We asked if he wanted to see the marriage license and he just chuckled and said welcome back. Our next 2 cruises are with Royal and I hope things go just as smoothly.The cruise lines require her to register for the cruise with her passport name.

Hope this helps. Enjoy your cruise!

[Biker19]

:confused: why do you bother with the green card? The German passport is the best document to have in the world (much better access than a US one).

[Mark+Anne]

Germany is one of the countries where if you voluntarily naturalize in another country, you have to renounce your German citizenship ... unless you get prior approval from the appropriate German government office in advance. Going through that process can be time consuming, tedious and can sometimes require a German lawyer to help guide through the process.

 

As such, for now, she's content to keep things as is. :)

 

Michael

 

I am a German citizen and green card holder, and those are exactly my sentiments. I keep thinking about going through the process, but haven't done so yet, well, maybe someday.........

 

Living in Florida, we cruise quite a lot, and I have noticed lately that check-in with a green card, at the cruise terminal as well as at the airport, is much quicker than it used to be. Maybe the new cards are easier to read electronically, or maybe they have started training their check-in agents better? Whatever the reason, I like it! Anne

[Mark+Anne]

:confused: why do you bother with the green card? The German passport is the best document to have in the world (much better access than a US one).

 

 

We Germans like to do things the legal way!! Anne

[Biker19]

We Germans like to do things the legal way!! Anne

What's illegal about using your passport instead of a Green card? :confused:

[scottygirl]

I am a U.S. citizen now but when I had a Green Card I used my British Passport to travel and never had any issues.

[Mark+Anne]

What's illegal about using your passport instead of a Green card? :confused:

 

The green card is legal proof that you are a permanent US resident, versus, i.e. a visitor to the US. It is used in addition to your passport when leaving and coming back into the US. When travelling outside the US, of course, I only need my (German) passport :D Anne

[Biker19]

The green card is legal proof that you are a permanent US resident, versus, i.e. a visitor to the US. It is used in addition to your passport when leaving and coming back into the US.

We are talking about the checkin process at the pier - a passport is enough to checkin and there's no need for the green card.

[jamesr3939]

The Fort Lauderdale / Port Everglades cruise port has the Global Entry machines ... it'll be nice to take advantage of that, as we have an 11AM flight out of FLL and don't want to fight the crowd at Customs.

 

Michael

 

I know PE was listed on the CPB www site recently, but I don't see them listed now. Perhaps somebody who has sailed within the last month can say for sure.

 

We have SENTRI and are sailing next week. So I was checking within the last two months to see if we could use GE, which we could at PE. But we are sailing PC so it doesn't matter either way.

[iahawkfan21]

My wife always takes her passport with her just in case, but has used nothing but her green card the last 5 years of cruising since we got married. It's the document we check-in with online, at the port, and when disembarking. We have never had an issue or noticed any sort of delays at all using her green card at any port or stage of the process the last few years.