Immigration Process arriving in USA on a cruise .

[Cathyd696]

Hi , I’m sailing Vancouver to LA on the bliss 30/09/18 our first USA stop will be San Francisco I’m from uk and have my ESTA visa , can anyone tell me what the process is on arrival ?

What happens how long it takes etc ?

TIA.

[tutuwahineLV]

You will most likely go through immigration in Canada before boarding the ship. They have it set up that way due to all the Alaska cruises that depart from their. If I remember right, you go through the security check/screening, then immigration, then you're on to check in for the ship.

[BaWBarmy]

Hi , I’m sailing Vancouver to LA on the bliss 30/09/18 our first USA stop will be San Francisco I’m from uk and have my ESTA visa , can anyone tell me what the process is on arrival ?

What happens how long it takes etc ?

TIA.

 

Your ESTA is not a Visa. It gives you authority to travel to the US only. The UK is part of the Visa Waiver Program so no Visa is required. At Immigration you will have to stand by a booth and will have your fingerprints and retina scan registered, your passport will be checked and you may be asked a few questions. Once the border guard is happy they will stamp your passport and you will be allowed to continue on your journey.

 

It can be quite intimidating, just remember to be civil and answer all questions. Don't try to joke or behave in a frivolous manner. Most border guards I have had to deal with have been great and they know you're going to be a little nervous, even when you have nothing to hide.

 

Enjoy your cruise. The Bliss is lovely.

[Cathyd696]

Your ESTA is not a Visa. It gives you authority to travel to the US only. The UK is part of the Visa Waiver Program so no Visa is required. At Immigration you will have to stand by a booth and will have your fingerprints and retina scan registered, your passport will be checked and you may be asked a few questions. Once the border guard is happy they will stamp your passport and you will be allowed to continue on your journey.

 

It can be quite intimidating, just remember to be civil and answer all questions. Don't try to joke or behave in a frivolous manner. Most border guards I have had to deal with have been great and they know you're going to be a little nervous, even when you have nothing to hide.

 

Enjoy your cruise. The Bliss is lovely.

Thank you and will happen in San Francisco

?

Glad it is not only me that gets nervous at the border security questions , always do they make me nervous for some reason . So looking forward to getting on the bliss , thanks for your help .

[em-sk]

Thank you and will happen in San Francisco

?

Glad it is not only me that gets nervous at the border security questions , always do they make me nervous for some reason . So looking forward to getting on the bliss , thanks for your help .

 

The airport, train station, and port in Vancouver all have US-pre-clearance. That means if your going to the US, we will go through US boarder control in Vancouver before you get on your ship/train/aircraft. It is then treated as a domestic arrival in the US.

 

The exception would be if your cruise is doing another stop in Canada before going to the US.

[Cathyd696]

The airport, train station, and port in Vancouver all have US-pre-clearance. That means if your going to the US, we will go through US boarder control in Vancouver before you get on your ship/train/aircraft. It is then treated as a domestic arrival in the US.

 

The exception would be if your cruise is doing another stop in Canada before going to the US.

Thank you I was worried it would take a long time in San Francisco and would take time off out visit there. We are in Victoria, Vancouver island after departing Vancouver .

[casofilia]

Make sure you carry a hard copy of your ESTA on your person when checking in; do not have it in your checked in luggage.

[casofilia]

As you are travelling Vancouver-Victoria-San Francisco you are likely to have to go through Customs and Immigration in SF. We have found going through the plane and train migration in Vancouver is for direct transfer to the USA.

[Froggitt]

Make sure you carry a hard copy of your ESTA on your person when checking in; do not have it in your checked in luggage.

Hard copy of ESTA is totally useless, it can easily be forged using photoshop etc. If they want to see it, they will look it up on the puter. (I write the number down in my passport just in case).

[nikkiw60]

We are on the same cruise but flying from U.K. to Seattle then taking train to Vancouver.

 

 

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[casofilia]

If they want to see it, they will look it up on the puter.

That is all very well if you are entering by land or air and the entry point has a computer connection to the right authorities. Most ports where you board do not have that possibility, We have been asked for a hard copy when boarding cruise liners in Dover, Quebec and Yokohama and also when on board by the US Authorities going in to Bar Harbour.

[em-sk]

As you are travelling Vancouver-Victoria-San Francisco you are likely to have to go through Customs and Immigration in SF. We have found going through the plane and train migration in Vancouver is for direct transfer to the USA.

 

If you have another stop in Canada, then you will not do US customs in Vancouver.

[martincath]

As noted above, SF is where you will be processed for US immigration. There are already quite a few posts on this over on the roll call for that Bliss cruise, but in short expect to potentially stand around for hours in SF - much smaller ships than Bliss take 3+ hours to be processed as the pier is small, CBP are only allocated there for the rare occasions per year when SF is a terminus or immigration port of call, so they don't get much of a chance to get used to the port setup, and the vast majority of cruisers will be US & Canadian citizens. There will almost certainly be just one officer responsible for processing all the non-US/Canucks onboard - if there are unexpectedly few other foreign passport holders you may actually get sorted faster than the locals but it's simply too random to know!

 

Key advice (apart from have a bottle of water on you) is do not book a morning excursion in SF the day you arrive. We've done exactly this situation - Van to Vic then to SF, on a ship with ~2000 people instead of the ~4000 you'll have. We got lucky, among the first folks off, so it didn't really strike us as an issue that only 3 or 4 CBP guys were working. Then we heard the horror stories afterward of people not getting onto the pier until after noon...

 

I hope that SF have learned from this and other debacles over recent years - while there is no space on the pier for more desks, CBP can board a vessel and set up extra screening points onboard and this is something that does get done on some cruises. More staff means more cost to be billed to NCL though, who are not big spenders, so I would personally HOPE that there's extra screening onboard but PLAN for the worst - everyone filtering through one small room with just a handful of CBP!

[casofilia]

I hope that they sort out actual docking!!!! When we arrived from Yokohama on the Jewel we docked "back to front" so the early luggage was on the wrong side of the ship!!!!! A real shambles.

[Cathyd696]

As noted above, SF is where you will be processed for US immigration. There are already quite a few posts on this over on the roll call for that Bliss cruise, but in short expect to potentially stand around for hours in SF - much smaller ships than Bliss take 3+ hours to be processed as the pier is small, CBP are only allocated there for the rare occasions per year when SF is a terminus or immigration port of call, so they don't get much of a chance to get used to the port setup, and the vast majority of cruisers will be US & Canadian citizens. There will almost certainly be just one officer responsible for processing all the non-US/Canucks onboard - if there are unexpectedly few other foreign passport holders you may actually get sorted faster than the locals but it's simply too random to know!

 

Key advice (apart from have a bottle of water on you) is do not book a morning excursion in SF the day you arrive. We've done exactly this situation - Van to Vic then to SF, on a ship with ~2000 people instead of the ~4000 you'll have. We got lucky, among the first folks off, so it didn't really strike us as an issue that only 3 or 4 CBP guys were working. Then we heard the horror stories afterward of people not getting onto the pier until after noon...

 

I hope that SF have learned from this and other debacles over recent years - while there is no space on the pier for more desks, CBP can board a vessel and set up extra screening points onboard and this is something that does get done on some cruises. More staff means more cost to be billed to NCL though, who are not big spenders, so I would personally HOPE that there's extra screening onboard but PLAN for the worst - everyone filtering through one small room with just a handful of CBP!

Well that’s is not good news , I’ve a tour booked for 11 am , there’s is no afternoon tour left that day , I guess we’ll have to see what happens hopefully we’ll get off the ship quickly or we’ll be stuffed with our tour .

[Froggitt]

If they want to see it, they will look it up on the puter.

 

That is all very well if you are entering by land or air and the entry point has a computer connection to the right authorities. Most ports where you board do not have that possibility, We have been asked for a hard copy when boarding cruise liners in Dover, Quebec and Yokohama and also when on board by the US Authorities going in to Bar Harbour.

I was also asked for a hard copy in Dover for a TA, and was directed to the PCs with a printer to print it out. However that was NCL wanting to see the ESTA, not the US authorities.

 

Think about it, do you really think the US Border Protection people would accept a visa waiver from your laser printer, that you could easily have created the night before with Powerpoint or Photoshop? The same people to do a retina scan and take fingerprints?

 

Presumably the matching of passport number against ESTA is done by some central agency, and they flag to the local ports details of those people without a match.

[casofilia]

If I have not made it clear I have always found that it is NCL, or foreign shore people working under NCL instructions, who want to see the paper copy as NCL don't want people on the ship who won't be accepted when the ship arrives in the USA.

[KeithJenner]

I always carry a hard copy of my ESTA with me whenever I am travelling to the US. As stated above, it is not for the US authorities, but on a couple of occasions (when travelling by ship) it has been required in order to be allowed to board and having a copy has saved the time and effort of printing a copy.

 

It has never been required for flight (and it would be a surprise if it ever was), but it doesn’t hurt to have a copy just in case.

 

 

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[Cathyd696]

I always carry a hard copy of my ESTA with me whenever I am travelling to the US. As stated above, it is not for the US authorities, but on a couple of occasions (when travelling by ship) it has been required in order to be allowed to board and having a copy has saved the time and effort of printing a copy.

 

It has never been required for flight (and it would be a surprise if it ever was), but it doesn’t hurt to have a copy just in case.

 

 

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Thanks all , I’ll be sure to print ESTA before hand .