Customs when?

[Toofarfromthesea]

I'm sure I'll find this out in a few days when we boardboard, but I am curious.

We will be boarding Victory II in Montreal for a 12 day cruise up the St. Lawrence seaway, through Quebec City, over the top of Maine, and ending in Boston.  Does anyone know how customs and re-entry work when you re-enter the US mid cruise?

Edited October 16, 2019 by Toofarfromthesea

[ducklite]

Do you mean customs or do you mean immigration?  

 

Chances are it will happen in Boston if you aren't stopping in a US port before then.

[LHT28]

It will happen in your first US port   you will clear Immigration & probably Customs

it may be seamless or you may need a F2F

[Toofarfromthesea]

1 hour ago, LHT28 said:

It will happen in your first US port   you will clear Immigration & probably Customs

it may be seamless or you may need a F2F

 

That makes sense, although I don't know what F2F means.

Edit:  never mind, Face to Face.

Edited October 16, 2019 by Toofarfromthesea

[njhorseman]

2 hours ago, LHT28 said:

It will happen in your first US port   you will clear Immigration & probably Customs

it may be seamless or you may need a F2F

 

1 hour ago, Toofarfromthesea said:

 

That makes sense, although I don't know what F2F means.

Edit:  never mind, Face to Face.

You clear immigration in the first US port but the general practice is that you don't clear customs until your disembarkation port. Clearing customs is easier than it used to be, as you generally don't have to complete a customs declaration form unless you've exceeded your customs allowance and therefore have something to declare. They still retain the right to do random customs checks of disembarking passengers.

[thinfool]

So if I have the correct itinerary, you will face immigration in Portland, Maine.

[Toofarfromthesea]

1 hour ago, thinfool said:

So if I have the correct itinerary, you will face immigration in Portland, Maine.

 

That is our first US port, so you are likely correct.

[ldubs]

On 10/16/2019 at 10:46 AM, Toofarfromthesea said:

I'm sure I'll find this out in a few days when we boardboard, but I am curious.

We will be boarding Victory II in Montreal for a 12 day cruise up the St. Lawrence seaway, through Quebec City, over the top of Maine, and ending in Boston.  Does anyone know how customs and re-entry work when you re-enter the US mid cruise?

 

We have been on a similar itinerary twice.  In response to your questions, I can't remember.  I asked Mrs Ldubs, who has excellent recall, and she can't remember either.  So, I am going to conclude that if it does happen at your first USA port, then it is going to be a pretty smooth & seamless event.  

 

Happy sailing!   

[LHT28]

You could always  call Victory & ask

[Toofarfromthesea]

35 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

You could always  call Victory & ask

 

I can also ask them when I board, on Saturday.

But that wasn't the point of my post.

[njhorseman]

35 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

You could always  call Victory & ask

And they might not know. Once when we were on the Oceania Insignia I realized that the day before disembarkation in Honolulu they had not distributed customs declaration forms to the passengers. I went down and spoke to the guest services manager ( or whatever her title was) who insisted they wouldn't be needed. Guess what...she was wrong and the next morning while the passengers were waiting in line to disembark the crew was handing out customs declaration forms that you had to fill out while standing in line.

[skrufy]

On 10/16/2019 at 12:46 PM, Toofarfromthesea said:

I'm sure I'll find this out in a few days when we boardboard, but I am curious.

We will be boarding Victory II in Montreal for a 12 day cruise up the St. Lawrence seaway, through Quebec City, over the top of Maine, and ending in Boston.  Does anyone know how customs and re-entry work when you re-enter the US mid cruise?

Here’s an example. We departed  Long Beach Ca. First port Vancouver. Cleared US Customs when returning to the ship. Cruised Alaska. Then upon returning to Long  Beach just off the ship, no customs required.

[LHT28]

2 hours ago, Toofarfromthesea said:

 

I can also ask them when I board, on Saturday.

But that wasn't the point of my post.

🤔

[Toofarfromthesea]

50 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

🤔

 

"I'm sure I'll find this out in a few days when we board, but I am curious."

So maybe suggesting calling, when I've already said I'd know for sure in just a few days was kind of besides the point.  Which was to solicit experiences and opinions.  Which it did.  In most responses.

Edited October 17, 2019 by Toofarfromthesea

[zqvol]

On 10/16/2019 at 1:46 PM, Toofarfromthesea said:

I'm sure I'll find this out in a few days when we boardboard, but I am curious.

We will be boarding Victory II in Montreal for a 12 day cruise up the St. Lawrence seaway, through Quebec City, over the top of Maine, and ending in Boston.  Does anyone know how customs and re-entry work when you re-enter the US mid cruise?

Just got off the Gem  today on the second leg of a B2B. The second leg was Quebec to Boston.

 

Non citizens were required to present themselves to CBP before disembarking. US citizens who had nothing to declare showed their ID to a CBP officer right after being dinged off the ship , and that was it. No forms, no real inspection. Easy Peasy. Took about 5 seconds per person

[zqvol]

On 10/16/2019 at 7:52 PM, Toofarfromthesea said:

 

That is our first US port, so you are likely correct.

 

In this case, (we skipped Portland because of the bomb cyclone) you will visit customs with your passport early that morning, Ours was scheduled for 6:30 a.m. You show them your passport or whatever documents you are traveling on and then go on about your business. The only bad part is that it is first thing in the morning.

[Toofarfromthesea]

4 hours ago, zqvol said:

Just got off the Gem  today on the second leg of a B2B. The second leg was Quebec to Boston.

 

Non citizens were required to present themselves to CBP before disembarking. US citizens who had nothing to declare showed their ID to a CBP officer right after being dinged off the ship , and that was it. No forms, no real inspection. Easy Peasy. Took about 5 seconds per person

 

Thanks.  I know I will find out very shortly when we board tomorrow, but this is exactly the kind of personal experience I was hoping someone would post.