Barbados Immigration and Customs form

[Jennizor]

We have cruised in the Caribbean several times and are due to go out on the 4th of December. On the list of must haves for the UK airport is a Barbados Immigration and Customs form. I can’t remember anything about this previously although I may just have forgotten about it. Where does this form come from? Do P& O provide one or do we have to obtain one ourselves? If so, where from? Any advice gratefully received.

[yorkshirephil]

22 minutes ago, Jennizor said:

We have cruised in the Caribbean several times and are due to go out on the 4th of December. On the list of must haves for the UK airport is a Barbados Immigration and Customs form. I can’t remember anything about this previously although I may just have forgotten about it. Where does this form come from? Do P& O provide one or do we have to obtain one ourselves? If so, where from? Any advice gratefully received.

We once filled one of these in many years ago, it was handed out on the plane you also had to pay £10 Barbados. Probably best to google it as we haven't filled one in for many years.

[Jennizor]

Thanks Phil, that sounds familiar. I did Google it but couldn’t find anything about arriving in Barbados for a cruise. Will have another look. 

[janieb1962]

If you look on my po cruise .. there is info contained in there

hers a snip

• Complete the Barbados Immigration and Customs form. This is available through the website or BIMsafe app. This form will be available to complete 72 hours prior to travel, and it is strongly advised that this is completed no later than 24 hours prior to travel. 

hope it helps

[Denarius]

I have sailed with P&O from Barbados many times. Also with Star Clippers.

With P&O, I have always travelled to Barbados on one of their charter flights. There have been no immigration formalities at the airport and we did not go through the terminal building or immigration; coaches picked us up from the plane on the tarmac and took us direct to the ship. Immigration formalities took place on the ship prior to our return flight.

With Star Clippers I took a scheduled flight. Immigration and customs documents were distributed on the plane and had to be completed prior to arrival; they had to be presented and were checked during the immigration process in the arrivals area of the terminal.

I suspect that you may be travelling to Barbados on a scheduled flight in which case the latter procedure will apply, although it appears from the previous post that you may need to complete the documentation online rather than complete a paper form on the plane. If however you are travelling on a charter flight it may well be that procedures have changed.

[Jennizor]

Thank you Janieb and Denarius for your advice. I will do some more research, obviously we are not the only ones with this issue. I just wish there was more information from P & O.

[Denarius]

21 hours ago, Jennizor said:

Thank you Janieb and Denarius for your advice. I will do some more research, obviously we are not the only ones with this issue. I just wish there was more information from P & O.

I have today received an email from P&O re new procedures, with links to a series of explanatory videos. One of these, the final one, is specifically about the Caribbean. It states that you must complete the Barbados immigration and customs declarations online before flying to Barbados, so it appears that procedures have in fact changed post covid.

https://www.pocruises.com/cruise-with-confidence/preparing-to-sail/getting-ready?utm_medium=email&utm_source=EPO21026&utm_term=PO-7737654&utm_content=img_ollysmithvideoguides_landingpage&utm_campaign=engagement

[Jennizor]

Thanks for this Denarius, it’s very helpful. I still worry though that some of our older cruisers will be overwhelmed by what is required. We are in our early seventies and have a grasp of what is required for us to do. The last time we went to the Caribbean was in Feb 2020. On the flight out the lady next to me was in her eighties. She was lovely and well travelled but admitted that she had no Interest in mobile phones, computers etc. She loved cruising and wanted to continue as long as she could. There will be a lot of people who will not be able to comprehend what is required of them these days and it makes me sad that it will impact on their choices in future years. 

[Denarius]

2 hours ago, Jennizor said:

Thanks for this Denarius, it’s very helpful. I still worry though that some of our older cruisers will be overwhelmed by what is required. We are in our early seventies and have a grasp of what is required for us to do. The last time we went to the Caribbean was in Feb 2020. On the flight out the lady next to me was in her eighties. She was lovely and well travelled but admitted that she had no Interest in mobile phones, computers etc. She loved cruising and wanted to continue as long as she could. There will be a lot of people who will not be able to comprehend what is required of them these days and it makes me sad that it will impact on their choices in future years. 

I agree entirely. I am 74 and am reasonably familiar with the internet and computer technology. I have a laptop computer, iPhone and printer/scanner. Many of our generation are not and do not, and it is becoming increasingly apparent that in the brave new world of post covid it is assumed that everyone will have access to the internet, a printer and a "smart" phone. The P&O videos are a good example. The position of those who do not is not even considered.

[Ardennais]

6 minutes ago, Denarius said:

I agree entirely. I am 74 and am reasonably familiar with the internet and computer technology. I have a laptop computer, iPhone and printer/scanner. Many of our generation are not and do not, and it is becoming increasingly apparent that in the brave new world of post covid it is assumed that everyone will have access to the internet, a printer and a "smart" phone. The P&O videos are a good example. The position of those who do not is not even considered.

I’ve been saying this for a while, and not just cruise related. Things change and we all accept that, but the pace of change is quite frightening. 

[Bertie Doe]

12 hours ago, Denarius said:

I agree entirely. I am 74 and am reasonably familiar with the internet and computer technology. I have a laptop computer, iPhone and printer/scanner.

My wife cut her teeth on mainframe computers when she started work, she's kept pace with all the modern 'stuff' so she's always down as lead passenger and can handle the paperwork.

 

However, she works from home and sometimes struggles to cope with all forms and hoops needed to jump through these days. Fortunately there's a high street travel agent, part of a chain of 10 in Devon and Cornwall and established 60 years.

 

We used them once for our first ever cruise on (former) Thomson Majesty. They matched Thomson prices and they were very good. Our 2022 bookings were done online direct but for 2023 we'll let the TA deal with all the headaches 🙄

[Jennizor]

That sounds like a good plan for 2023 Bertie.

[silkworms]

Hi Jennizor,  have you sussed out yet where to have your pcr test

within the 72 hours of flying out from Manchester?

 

Terri

 

[Jennizor]

Yes, we are going to Boots in Bolton. I spent most of this morning filling in the (Recova) registration form. It wasn’t very user friendly but now complete except for confirming the order. There are two PCR tests on their list and I just want to check I am ordering the correct one. 

[Denarius]

1 hour ago, Jennizor said:

Yes, we are going to Boots in Bolton. I spent most of this morning filling in the (Recova) registration form. It wasn’t very user friendly but now complete except for confirming the order. There are two PCR tests on their list and I just want to check I am ordering the correct one. 

Interesting. I live in Bolton too and was also thinking about using Boots for my Jan 2022 cruise on Azura. Do you book direct with Boots or via a middleman - you mention Recova? How long does it take them to send you results? Flying to Barbados on a Saturday morning, the need to have a test within 72 hours of arriving in Barbados on (probably) Saturday evening UK time implies a test on Thursday morning, with results available Friday. Not much margin for delay.

[silkworms]

The example given in advice from gov.website is that if arriving on a

Saturday in Barbados (we do) the test should be done Wednesday.

We are looking to go to site near Manchester airport which is about half

hour away from us. Results sent by email within 24 hours.

 

Terri

[Shipsareus]

Hi

yes we are also arriving Saturday and have booked a test at Boots on Wednesday. The Uk government give the example that you quoted which was helpful, and the Barbados government just says three days. So it’s all looking good! 
We had imagined the P & O antigen test to be done at the terminal, but no! It will be done at the rail station in the airport. 
Won’t we all heave a sigh of relief when we ( hopefully) get on the plane!
 

[bbtablet]

Bertie Doe:

"Fortunately there's a high street travel agent, part of a chain of 10 in Devon and Cornwall and established 60 years.We used them once for our first ever cruise on (former) Thomson Majesty. They matched Thomson prices and they were very good."

 

Matching? - I have always insisted that T.A.s beat the direct price - that is how they expect to get their business!

[Jennizor]

Shipsareus, what date are you flying. I tried to book our tests at Boots for Wednesday 1 December but only had dates to the end of November.

 

Denarius, I think Recova is the company who will process the tests for Boots. Apparently you can have the test any time after 9am on Wednesday if flying on Saturday. The turn round time is shown as 24-48 hours.

[Shipsareus]

19 minutes ago, Jennizor said:

Shipsareus, what date are you flying. I tried to book our tests at Boots for Wednesday 1 December but only had dates to the end of November.

 

Denarius, I think Recova is the company who will process the tests for Boots. Apparently you can have the test any time after 9am on Wednesday if flying on Saturday. The turn round time is shown as 24-48 hours.

 

19 minutes ago, Jennizor said:

Shipsareus, what date are you flying. I tried to book our tests at Boots for Wednesday 1 December but only had dates to the end of November.

 

Denarius, I think Recova is the company who will process the tests for Boots. Apparently you can have the test any time after 9am on Wednesday if flying on Saturday. The turn round time is shown as 24-48 hours.

 

19 minutes ago, Jennizor said:

Shipsareus, what date are you flying. I tried to book our tests at Boots for Wednesday 1 December but only had dates to the end of November.

 

Denarius, I think Recova is the company who will process the tests for Boots. Apparently you can have the test any time after 9am on Wednesday if flying on Saturday. The turn round time is shown as 24-48 hours.

We are flying on Saturday 6 November.

Maybe they only book a few weeks in advance.

We needed to contact their customer service due to a hitch when booking, and they were really helpful, so maybe give them a call

[Jennizor]

Thanks for your advice Shipsareus. Have a great cruise, I presume you are on Britannia. We have sailed on her several times, last time Sept/October just gone.

[Denarius]

19 hours ago, Jennizor said:

Shipsareus, what date are you flying. I tried to book our tests at Boots for Wednesday 1 December but only had dates to the end of November.

 

Denarius, I think Recova is the company who will process the tests for Boots. Apparently you can have the test any time after 9am on Wednesday if flying on Saturday. The turn round time is shown as 24-48 hours.

Thanks for that. I had visions of arriving at the airport still waiting for my test results!

[Bazrat]

Onboard now Barbados have cancelled the need for us to fill out the form, we just need to show our passports and boarding cards now to enter 

[Bertie Doe]

11 hours ago, Bazrat said:

Onboard now Barbados have cancelled the need for us to fill out the form, we just need to show our passports and boarding cards now to enter 

Wow that is fast and a huge improvement on Barbados protocols of just 3 weeks ago.

 

On arrival at Barbados, who took your Rapid PCR test and how long did it take for results. TIA and have a great trip.

[Jennizor]

The PCR test needs to be taken in the 72 hours before you fly out to Barbados. The LFT test is taken in the UK airport. When you land in Barbados you go straight to a coach and onto the ship. Unless anything has changed since our last Caribbean cruise in Feb/March 2020.