Customs in Southampton?

[travellingnana]

We will be disembarking a Norway cruise in Southampton.  We are US citizens.  Will we have to go through customs, or can we just walk off and go?  Thanks.

[ducklite]

Of course you will go through immigration (and self-declare for customs if you need to).  Even when you fly back to the US you'll have to clear US CBP.   

[travellingnana]

10 minutes ago, ducklite said:

Of course you will go through immigration (and self-declare for customs if you need to).  Even when you fly back to the US you'll have to clear US CBP.   

Would you advise me to add on an hour before we can leave?  More?

[TheOldBear]

28 minutes ago, travellingnana said:

We will be disembarking a Norway cruise in Southampton.  We are US citizens.  Will we have to go through customs, or can we just walk off and go?  Thanks.

 

Its going to vary with the ship and itinerary - for example, our recent cruise had on board UK customs both on the NY to Southampton and Hamberg to Southhampton legs.

There was no id check other than scanning the ship's card leaving and returning to the ship.

 

What was odd is that there were no passport stamps for the entire cruise, and I needed to show my passport only once - when returning to the ship after a Normandy tour.

[ducklite]

10 minutes ago, TheOldBear said:

 

Its going to vary with the ship and itinerary - for example, our recent cruise had on board UK customs both on the NY to Southampton and Hamberg to Southhampton legs.

There was no id check other than scanning the ship's card leaving and returning to the ship.

 

What was odd is that there were no passport stamps for the entire cruise, and I needed to show my passport only once - when returning to the ship after a Normandy tour.

They are leaving the ship at the end of the cruise in Southampton, so there will be more than scanning a card.  

 

Passports are now scanned electronically in most larger border points, so they've stopped stamping.  Sad, because I liked looking at the stamps and remembering the great trips we've taken.

[ducklite]

14 minutes ago, travellingnana said:

Would you advise me to add on an hour before we can leave?  More?

It will depend on the cruise line, their disembarkation procedures, and how many are in front of you.  If you are on a large ship, it could take longer than an hour.  On a smaller one, an hour should be adequate.  

[just_dont]

If Southampton is not the FIRST UK port on your cruise, you will go through an immigration passport inspection aboard your ship when you arrive at that first UK port, and then you won't have to do anything extra when you arrive in Southampton.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[CruiserBruce]

Its IMMIGRATION (Passport Check in Europe) you probably need to worry about, NOT Customs. 

[wowzz]

The only time customs can be an issue is when ships have docked in Gibraltar or the Canaries ,  and HMC&E then tend to pay close attention to disembarking passengers,  looking out for cigarette  smugglers.  

[Maddle]

I think this whole conversation should be on hold until we see how Brexit shakes out. There's no way of telling what kind of agreements the United Kingdom and European Union will (or will not) come to in the next few weeks and months.

[trosebery]

3 hours ago, Maddle said:

I think this whole conversation should be on hold until we see how Brexit shakes out. There's no way of telling what kind of agreements the United Kingdom and European Union will (or will not) come to in the next few weeks and months.

 

No kidding! I'm not even planning any travel that'll take me through the UK anytime soon until they figure out that mess.

 

To answer the OP's question, I think it's itinerary and cruise line dependent: when I was last on a cruise that started and ended in Southampton, we just walked off the ship, no immigration required. When I was last on a cruise that started in another port and ended in Southampton, we went through customs during a sea day on the ship, and then again, we just walked off the ship in Southampton.

[scottbee]

The one custom that won't change in Southampton is that you should cheer for the Saints, wearing red, and avoid wearing blue

[tartanexile81]

We cruise from Southamton all the time and have regularly passed through Customs without any officers on duty in Southampton, and without any passport officers there either.  That would only be if your cruise began and ended in Southampton and didn't include any 'dodgy'ports' which Norway doesn't have any way. 

[Coral]

We did a Norway cruise in 2018 out of Southampton. I am also from the US. We just walked off the ship.

 

Brexit may change things.

[travellingnana]

Thank you for all your replies.  The cruise does start and end in Southampton, so I'm hoping it will be a quick exit, and I can get off ASAP.  I booked the Eurostar and need to be in London by 11:30...but I'm thinking of changing my ticket to a later time now...trying to make it to London in 3 hrs. is making me nervous!

[John Bull]

47 minutes ago, Coral said:

We did a Norway cruise in 2018 out of Southampton. I am also from the US. We just walked off the ship.

 

Brexit may change things.

 

I doubt it. 

 

The UK has never been a Schengen (no inter-country borders) member, we and international visitors need to show our passports every time we leave or return to the UK. So formalities will remain broadly the same, other than that "EU passports only" immigration lines at airports will be "UK passports only" and Europeans will have to join you in the "other passports" lines. (hopefully they'll adjust the number of booths accordingly)

 

There may or may not be changes to what goods can be brought thro customs, depending on the terms of any deal with the EU but I doubt that'll affect the average visitor - just like our travelling to most non-EU countries means that customs is usually a walk-thru. In fact folk disembarking at Southampton cruise terminals usually don't even know they've been thro customs unless one of Her Majesty's finest feels their collar.

 

Nana - yes, 11.30 is far too risky, even with an unassisted disembarkation around 7am.

On a weekday I'd take the train to London Waterloo, cab across central London to St Pancras International, and a Eurostar ticket for 2.00pm. Or on a sunday (light traffic) a private transfer ship to St Pancras and a Eurostar ticket for 1.00pm.

Bear in mind that Eurostar check-in is at least 45 minutes before departure.

 

JB 

Edited January 10, 2020 by John Bull

[Coral]

14 minutes ago, John Bull said:

 

I doubt it. 

 

You know more about it than I do!

[John Bull]

7 minutes ago, Coral said:

You know more about it than I do!

 

We've endured three and a half years of arguments about it, so it's difficult not to know a bit. 

 

Leaving finally got the official vote in the last day or two due to BoJo's thumping majority in last month's Parliamentary election breaking the deadlock of the dead-heads at Westminster. 

So we "leave" at the end of this month.

 

But nothing will actually change until next December - at the earliest.

The fat lady won't be singing for quite a while yet.  

 

JB 

[Coral]

8 hours ago, John Bull said:

 

We've endured three and a half years of arguments about it, so it's difficult not to know a bit. 

 

Leaving finally got the official vote in the last day or two due to BoJo's thumping majority in last month's Parliamentary election breaking the deadlock of the dead-heads at Westminster. 

So we "leave" at the end of this month.

 

But nothing will actually change until next December - at the earliest.

The fat lady won't be singing for quite a while yet.  

 

JB 

There is so much "other news right now for us" - I didn't see this on our news.

[Coral]

8 hours ago, John Bull said:

 

We've endured three and a half years of arguments about it, so it's difficult not to know a bit. 

 

Leaving finally got the official vote in the last day or two due to BoJo's thumping majority in last month's Parliamentary election breaking the deadlock of the dead-heads at Westminster. 

So we "leave" at the end of this month.

 

But nothing will actually change until next December - at the earliest.

The fat lady won't be singing for quite a while yet.  

 

JB 

I take that back - it is now a headline for us. We must have had to get over Harry and Meghan.

[John Bull]

33 minutes ago, Coral said:

I take that back - it is now a headline for us. We must have had to get over Harry and Meghan.

 

Harry & Meghan - another saga  unfolding 

 

Most of us Brits reckon that they've got the right to live their own lives, just like everyone else has the right to jack in their jobs.

But hey - they should have consulted, or at least told, the Queen rather than her learn of it from the TV like the rest of us.

 

The "civil list" of royals who receive a fat wad of tax-payers' money for what is mainly ceremonial duties and patronages is too long anyway, and part-time royals haven't worked out in the past. 

So the consensus of Brits seems to be "you stay or you go".

 

And overtly using that royal status for their private enterprises (trademarking "Sussex Royal" for their branding of goods & activities) hasn't gone down well with Joe Public.

 

Harry is being lampooned in the press and on social media as a hen-pecked husband.

Shades of Andrew & Fergie.

 

It's all destined to fill our newspapers & TV screens and to bore us all silly for months to come.

Never mind, it makes a change from Brexit - and there's always Netflix  

 

Rant over.

 

JB 

your Parliament and palace correspondent 

Edited January 10, 2020 by John Bull

[Bob++]

On 1/10/2020 at 12:45 PM, John Bull said:

 

Harry & Meghan - another saga  unfolding 

 

Most of us Brits reckon that they've got the right to live their own lives, just like everyone else has the right to jack in their jobs.

But hey - they should have consulted, or at least told, the Queen rather than her learn of it from the TV like the rest of us. 

JB 

your Parliament and palace correspondent 

As another 'Brit' I agree with JB. Is anyone offering odds on how long the marriage will last?

 

On the question of customs at Southampton, AFAIK they seem to only turn out for ships that visited Gibraltar where fags and booze are duty-free.