Paradise/CUBA/Customs

[ChosenOne]

I will be on the Paradise in April for a cruise to Cuba.  My sister & I are Platinum and will have preferred debarkation.  Ship is due to dock at 8AM.  Anyone who has been on a Cuba cruise recently...can you tell me how long it took you to get through customs once you were able to get off the ship?   Concerned because we are meeting a relative and would like to give him a better idea of what time he should be ready to come pick us up.  Thanks!

[riffatsea]

I would ask on the Cuba board here on Cruise Critic:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/765-cuba/

You might also tell them if you are stopping in Havana or one of the other port cities.

BTW you'll go through immigration,showing your passport. They may also check if you are bringing in goods for your relatives.

 

[corlyf]

riffatsea, noticed you are from SD. I also live in SD and taking a cruise out of Long Beach Mar 23rd. Recommendations on where to park? Thanks in advnace!

[ChosenOne]

SORRY  I realize I did not indicate that I meant when we return to Tampa from Havana, how long does it take to get through customs?   In particular on a Carnival cruise if that makes any difference.  Debarking with our luggage in the first group, does anyone know on average how long it takes to clear through customs in the U.S.

 

Edited February 21, 2019 by ChosenOne
clarification

[RWolver672]

Even though you asked about recent cruisers, I will tell you what happened to us in October, 2017.  It's possible it could happen again.

 

We were FTTF and met in the dining room for debarkation.  It seemed like it took forever for them to tell the self debarkation to start getting off of the ship.  We could see the lines backed up in the gangway from the dining room.  They weren't moving.  Finally they called us and we were led into a hallway where we stood not moving.  Then gradually we started moving until we got into the terminal where we stood at the top of the escalators for another half hour or more.  

 

They started letting us go down, only to find out that the ques were full right back to the escalators.  The workers kept apologizing for the delays.  Only one customs agent showed up for work that morning.  There was something not right with one of the first passengers off and he had to go check through their luggage so that's what stopped the whole process.

 

Finally another agent showed up and the first one came back.  Then the line started slowly moving.  It was probably 10:30 by the time we got to our luggage.  

 

I'm not saying that this is an every day occurrence but it's something that can happen.  You never know for sure how early you will be cleared.

[Bobbysjack]

We were on the Paradise in October 2017, and disembarkation was very slow. It took us almost two hours to get off the ship and through customs. I don’t know if this was a typical Tampa experience or just because it was a Cuba cruise. We haven’t had that type of delay on any other Carnival cruise. 

[ChosenOne]

This is what I am concerned about!  Just one person can screw up the whole process.  Last time out of Tampa (not a Cuba cruise)   it took quite a while because there was only one agent which is Ridiculous!!!!

[riffatsea]

9 hours ago, corlyf said:

riffatsea, noticed you are from SD. I also live in SD and taking a cruise out of Long Beach Mar 23rd. Recommendations on where to park? Thanks in advnace!

There is a home port board with info about Long Beach on this site.

The parking lot at the pier in Long Beach costs about $20  per day.

We drive up the day before and stay at the Maya Doubletree Hotel and leave our car there.

It is close to the pier and they have a shuttle included. We find that paying for the hotel room is often a similar price to paying for parking at the pier.

[newcruiser1956]

On 2/20/2019 at 6:14 PM, ChosenOne said:

I will be on the Paradise in April for a cruise to Cuba.  My sister & I are Platinum and will have preferred debarkation.  Ship is due to dock at 8AM.  Anyone who has been on a Cuba cruise recently...can you tell me how long it took you to get through customs once you were able to get off the ship?   Concerned because we are meeting a relative and would like to give him a better idea of what time he should be ready to come pick us up.  Thanks!

3

 

I was one of the first people off the ship (everyone was eating breakfast and the tours did not seem to start until 10) I cleared immigration in  less than 5 minutes,  stopped to exchange cash (another 5 minutes) and out the door of the building.  Was a very fast process.  If you are meeting early, I am betting you won't have tons of people coming off until a little later. 

 

[Tiger0613]

1 hour ago, newcruiser1956 said:

 

I was one of the first people off the ship (everyone was eating breakfast and the tours did not seem to start until 10) I cleared immigration in  less than 5 minutes,  stopped to exchange cash (another 5 minutes) and out the door of the building.  Was a very fast process.  If you are meeting early, I am betting you won't have tons of people coming off until a little later. 

 

You apparently didn't read post #4.  ChosenOne was asking about debarkation in Tampa.

Edited February 23, 2019 by Tiger0613

[May1cruiser]

Returned august 2018 from Cuba, we started around 8 am and it took until 10:45 back in Tampa. Very slow process and there were multiple agents open. It seems there is a bottle neck going downstairs(escalators) to the lower level. It actually reminded me of the old way we used to go through customs with more questions from the agents. 

 

In Cuba, we were not a carnival excursion, so had a later number to leave the ship. it was an hour give or take. I loved Cuba, but not the extra costs, time, and forms to access the island.