Question for Canadians on disembarking?

[CanuckCFAN]

Okay fellow Canadians or any other Non American out there, I have a question regarding customs and disembarking!

 

On my last cruise (Carnival Victory) departing from Miami, all Canadians and Non US citizens were asked to vacate their rooms and report into customs by 6:00 am on our final morning :eek: !

 

First of all, we had to get up at 5:00 am in the morning on our last day, which really bites considering we would not make it home until 11:00 pm that night :(!

 

Then, we actually vacated our room at 5:45 am, thinking we would be one of the first in line, be done in 5 minutes and head upstairs for breakfast...

 

Man was I wrong!

 

When we arrived, I was completely shocked to see a line-up which actually took us 3.5 hours to clear!

 

By then we had approximately .5 hour to run upstairs to the lido deck, scarf something down and report into the disembarkation lounge to wait for our "colour" to be called before leaving the ship.

 

We were supposed to be off the ship at 10:00 am!

 

What a horrible, horrible way to end the cruise...

 

Actually the embarking and disembarking on this seven day cruise was so atrocious for that very reason alone I vowed never to cruise Carnival again :mad:.

 

My question to you guys is...

 

What was the disembarking process like on Princess?

 

Does anybody have any tips or ideas to make this as painless as possible?

 

I sure don't want a repeat of the debacle we had to experience on our last cruise, as we will be dsembarking in San Juan this time!

 

Any information or assistance would be greatly appreciated!

 

Thanks

CCFan

[Lacy]

Your experience was miles away from ours. We left our room at about 8:00, went for breakfast and vacated our room at 8:30. We had a choice of any public lounge or the Princess Theater to wait for disembarkment. Coffee and water was available. We were not treated differently from US citizens until we arrived at Customs and were asked to wait in a different line. Both lines progressed at the same rate. Hope that you find this experience much better.

[Julia & David]

CanuckCFan,

 

We have cruised only on Princess and have never gone through anything like you described. We have so far, only embarked and disembarked at Fort Lauderdale. It was all a breeze except trying to locate your luggage but I think that must be the same at any disembarkation. I don't know why you would have had to go through any of that.

 

Good luck this time, I am sure it will be painless.

[princess fan]

3.5 h seems like an awfully long time to get through the Homeland Security Welcome Party. Maybe there were a lot of Canadians on the cruise? Sometimes you can get an idea of how many "unwelcome aliens" are on board during the cruise, and plan your strategy accordingly. Normally we get through this process within less than an hour when the ship docks in Florida. Carnival does try to get their ships emptied by 9:30 a.m. on the weekends.

 

On our last cruise, on the Island Princess, we landed in LA on a Thursday, and we had disembarkation tickets for 8:00 a.m. We had breakfast, emptied out our cabins and were off the ship on schedule. However, the US formalities were in the terminal building. Even that went smoothly. There were only 75 Canadian couples on board, some more Brits, and most of the rest US.

 

Still, the immigration formalities are at the call of the authorities, rather than the cruise line.

 

Since you mentioned not getting home till 11:00 p.m., you might consider a Pacific cruise instead of a Caribbean. It might be just as easy to get to the port, depending on where you live.

[mr green]

No problems with Princess, all persons treated the same, other than the few who don't pay their bills. We all retain our passports, and we are asked to leave our rooms by 8.00am. john

[chrysalis]

always been "a piece of cake" for us...no probs at all...and certainly not like you describe your experience has been in Miami. (All of our Caribbean cruises have been from FLL)

[Canuck Cruzer]

The only cruise I have done so far was on the Grand Princess last April out of Galveston. I lose a bit of my memory every Friday, and there have been a lot of Fridays since...but I will try to recall what we did...

 

The night prior to disembarking, we were given a new notice saying they were going to try a new process. I beleive in the past (and I could be wrong) was that there was a two step process - all on the ship.

 

They were going to try something new that weekend by combining the steps into one...off the ship in the terminal.

 

We were up very early - 6ish if I remember. Because we were staying a night in Houston post-cruise, we were one of the last groups off. It was almost 1pm, I believe, before we got off. We didn't have to do anything on the ship, other than wait...and wait.

 

Once off, we got our luggage, and then stood in a long line to go through customs and such. We did have a separate line that was much shorter. It was a long process though. Not sure if they stuck with it afterwards. My understanding was this was the first time they were trying it the way we did it.

 

If someone else has had a similar experience...feel free to correct me. Like I say, I lose a bit of memory every Friday.:D

[Kallen]

We've sailed Princess twice, out of Fort Lauderdale, and didn't have the same experience at all. Both times, we got up, packed up the carryons and jackets, and put them out of the way by the door, then went to the Horizon Court for breakfast. We returned about 8:30 and the steward had already done the beds and bathroom cleaning. We picked up our carryons, said our goodbye (and gave him a little something extra for all of the wonderful service he provided), and headed off to the lounge to wait for our color to be called. We went through immigration in the main building, not on board. The only time we had to go through immigration on board ship was when we were going ashore in St. Thomas.

[CanuckCFAN]

Thanks everybody!

 

Whew!

 

I was told by our TA, Princess, Celebrity and Royal Caribbean are much more civilized in this matter, and from the responses I have received here today, I guess she was right...

 

I have to tell you the whole experience with Carnival was quite hellish and I truly wouldn't want to do it over again!

 

I do believe on that particular sailing Carnival did see many more Canadians and Brits then usual and I don't think they (the crew and customs agents) were quite prepared!

 

Princess fan, believe it or not we are actually from Guelph, Ont. and yes as pathetic as it sounds we did not get home from Miami until 11:00 pm that evening...

 

Did I mention we booked our air through Carnival?

 

No word of a lie...

 

Our flight went something like this...

 

Miami to Chicago

Chicago to New York

New York to Toronto

 

We were up at 5:00 am, off the ship by 10:00 am, we left Miami at 2:00 pm and arrived at YYZ at 11:00 pm!

 

I swore I would work out my own flight this time around, however our TA STRONGLY advised against it as we are flying into San Juan.

 

Apparently Princess will guarantee only one (1) stop over max. from most departure cities and will give us the chance to look over their flight arrangements and make changes (for a cost) if the times don't work for us...

 

So, once again we are using the cruise line to book our flights :rolleyes:!

 

Lets hope they can work out a better flight itinerary then Carnival!

 

Once again thanks for your assistance!

 

Cheers

 

CCFAN

[chrysalis]

Guelph, you say...DW and I went to UG and my dad lives on college ave.

[2ndsailing]

If you're flying with Air Canada, you will be able to check your luggage and get your boarding passes at the pier. We did this last weekend and it was great!!

 

Can't wait for our next cruise....hopefully its sooner rather than later.:)

[princess fan]

Hey CCFan! Guelph, you say? I figure that's about an hour and a half from YYZ, and maybe two hours from Buffalo. You do have alternatives for air, and you might try something on your own sometime. We always fly down about a day or two in advance, just in case of winter snow storms, or whatever. If there's a storm, the cruiseline won't promise to hold the ship until you get there, but at least they will be in the loop, and can exercise their clout against the airlines. A strategy that works, until the cruiselines figure it out and start charging cancellation penalties, is to book their air at deposit time, but then as soon as you find an alternative that works for you, price and time-wise, to drop their air. Just make sure that all happens before final payment date, or any other applicable penalty date.

 

But you're going to SJU. Figure on awkward flight times and long transfers. Have a look on Travelocity or Expedia or whatever to see the schedules and prices between YYZ or BUF to SJU on the dates you need. Pay close attention to the times! Ask your agent for advice on anything you choose, just to make sure it all fits together. Your agent is right: SJU is not as simple as MIA or FLL. And you might be surprised at the hotel rates, if that's part of your strategy.

 

BTW, our last cruise final day schedule went like this: 5:00 - awake, breakfast, pack and wait. 8:00 - off the ship, through US formalities and on to Princess bus. 10:00 - check-in at LAX airport. 12:00 (LA time) - direct five-hour flight on EL AL. 8:00 pm (Toronto time) - land at YYZ. 10:00 - home in Hamilton, one hour from the airport. PS: We booked our own air!

[CanuckCFAN]

Wow... What a small world :D!

 

What the heck are you guys doing all the way up in Sudbury then?

 

Actually never mind... Don't bother answering, I already Know the answer!

 

My dads family is from North bay, actually a little town called Bonfield, you probably have never heard of it, anyway a few summers ago DH and I took the kids to Bonfield for the summer, we also spent one week camping in Killarney and a few days in Sudbury (Science North rocks my then 7 yr old son said)!

 

I truly have to say, you guys live in the most beautiful part of Ontario!

 

I just can't stand your winters... YUCK!

 

DH and I actually went to UofT!

 

Never in a million years did I think I would end up in small town Guelph.

 

I was born and raised in the beaches (Toronto), and planned to spend my entire adult life there as well! However, as luck would have it, DH (my fiancé back in those days) landed a job with Linamar straight out of school (Programing Engineer).

 

I was still not working so we thought we would move to Guelph temporarily, get a little experience then start making our way back to TO (the competition in the Engineering market in Toronto is insane :().

 

Well sixteen years and 2 children later, DH is still with Linamar (Senior project Engineer) and I work for GE (about a 5 minute walk from home)...

 

I guess we can safely call ourselves Guelphites now!

 

We actually live in the north end, just off of Imperial, south of Speedvale!

 

So Chrysalis did you or your wife grow up in Guelph?

 

CCFan

[denys222]

I live near the US border in New Brunswick and fly out of Bangor, Maine. Last year we booked thru Expedia and landed excelent travel arrangements. This Febuary we booked directly with American Airlines and got better travelling itiniery and prices than we would have with Expedia($200. savings)Also we do not have to put up with airlines customs. Many hotels near the airport will let you park your vehicle in their lots for minimal fees and provide airport shuttle. Sailing the Golden feb.11th.

[Katie333]

Just my 2 cents at having done this on both Carnival and Princess. Carnival was the PITS! Up early, long lines, everything you describe. My husband is American but we live here so they took his passport too for some reason (?) and he had to wait there with me. Even the immigration guy looked a little embarassed when he saw my DH's US passport.

 

Princess, no different than other passengers, just waiting for our colour to be called. MUCH MUCH BETTER!

[CanuckCFAN]

Thanks guys... I really appreciate the feedback!

 

Denys22, This time out we already chose the Princess cruises air/hotel package, however next time (and there is always a next time :D) I think we may do something similar to you.

 

We are not that far from Buffalo so we might just drive down and fly out from there.

 

It is so much cheaper for us to fly out of the US!

 

Katie333,

I am so relieved to find Princess is so much more civilized... I thought I would give Carnival the benefit of the doubt and figure the disorganization was due to too many "non-Americans" on this particular cruise! However, it appears as the problem may be more far-reaching then a few odd cruises...

 

What a horrible way to end a cruise! You really do end up feeling like some sort of troglodyte!

 

Take care everybody!

CCFan

[Skallywag]

Okay fellow Canadians or any other Non American out there, I have a question regarding customs and disembarking!

 

On my last cruise (Carnival Victory) departing from Miami, all Canadians and Non US citizens were asked to vacate their rooms and report into customs by 6:00 am on our final morning :eek: !

 

First of all, we had to get up at 5:00 am in the morning on our last day, which really bites considering we would not make it home until 11:00 pm that night :(!

 

Then, we actually vacated our room at 5:45 am, thinking we would be one of the first in line, be done in 5 minutes and head upstairs for breakfast...

 

Man was I wrong!

 

When we arrived, I was completely shocked to see a line-up which actually took us 3.5 hours to clear!

 

What a horrible, horrible way to end the cruise...

 

Actually the embarking and disembarking on this seven day cruise was so atrocious for that very reason alone I vowed never to cruise Carnival again :mad:.

 

My

[Skallywag]

We found the same when we cruised Disney last October. We had our passports taken on embarkation and had to rise very early at St. Thomas and again at Port Canaveral on the last day. We had to take all of our carryon stuff down to breakfast and were not allowed back into the cabin.

This spoilt our holiday for us and it totally uneccessary these days.

Glad to hear this does not seem to happen on the Princess cruises. Anyone from England know different please?

[sueandkent]

Interesting information. We were considering trying other cruiselines in the future just to see what else if out there. Carnival is definitely off the list now for two reasons:

1. I would be nervous surrendering my passport to them

2. These debarkation stories are far too scary to even risk it.

I'm glad I read this thread.

[sueandkent]

Interesting information. We were considering trying other cruiselines in the future just to see what else if out there. Carnival is definitely off the list now for two reasons:

1. I would be nervous surrendering my passport to them

2. These debarkation stories are far too scary to even risk it.

I'm glad I read this thread.

We've cruised Princess out of both FLL and San Pedro and never had a problem either time. We were treated the same as all the passenger on board.

[chrysalis]

CCFan...I know Bonfield (doesn't everybody?). We live very close to Science North, visit Killarney via our boat (see my avitar pic), which we live on in the summer...keep it at Little Current, Manitoulin Island. Winter not so bad here, just a bit longer. I suspect we have less snow than you?

 

Did not grow up there....just went to U there, as did my dad, etc. He just moved there a couple of years ago.

 

Enjoy your cruise...we are on the Sea Princess for 14 days in March.

[West Coast]

Our flight went something like this...

 

Miami to Chicago

Chicago to New York

New York to Toronto

 

We were up at 5:00 am, off the ship by 10:00 am, we left Miami at 2:00 pm and arrived at YYZ at 11:00 pm!

 

Wow! Think of the FF miles. Probably in the 2300 range. Cool, if you're into stuff like that!

[rho88]

on my last cruise on NCL, they also took our passport. Disembarkation wasn't as bad though. All non-americans had to go to a gathering area to meet US customs at 6am. The whole process lasted about an hour.