Passport/customs on eastbound TA

[jasoneats]

Forgive me if this has been covered already.  My search turned up nothing.

 

How might customs and passport control be handled on our eastbound TA on NCL in April?  We leave from NYC and our first stop is the Azores (if we are, in fact, able to dock) and then Lisbon.  We finish in Rome. Will we all have to go through the process at our initial port or might there be officials onboard during the crossing to make it happen?  

 

I only ask because during our westbound crossing in 2019, we did the process in Miami, our first US port.  It was a nightmare!  We were all required to disembark and we were held in an overcrowded terminal with no food or water for many hours.  There were not enough seats for everyone and we were not warned that this would be the scenario.  There were many unhappy cruisers that day! I am hoping to go into this cruise with more information.

 

Thanks in advance for any and all insights you might offer.  We can't wait to get back to cruising after more than two years of being stuck on the land!

[TheOldBear]

This will vary be cruise line and itinerary.

 

Eastbound QM2 crossings to Southampton usually have UK Border folks onboard to do passport screening. Passengers disembarking in Southampton still need to go through Customs at the terminal.

 

On westbound crossings to the US  this is done [as you have observed] at the terminal. With Cunard this is some sort of staggered disembarkation. We typically will need to wait for some time until we are scheduled to disembark - there is a mixture of priorities & top to bottom deck ordering preventing the 'all passengers in the terminal at once' situation.

 

For your eastbound crossing, it is likely that only passengers disembarking will get the full passport + customs treatment. There may be complications if stops are a mixture of within and without the 'Schengen' area.

[LHT28]

Usually the port stops the ship sends a list ahead  to clear the pax 

some ports you may have to have a face to face with the Officials

Check the entry requirements for Italy that should give you an idea

 

What was your experience on the other transatlantic ?

 

 

 

PS  a good idea to put your Country in your profile 

[jasoneats]

We are US citizens.  

 

We stop in Portugal, Spain, France and Italy...so all Schengen.

 

On our westbound trip, our passports were initially collected and held.  British officials came on board ahead of our UK stop and met with us face to face, returning our documents to us at that time.  

 

We booked our air through NCL (I know, I know) and we must return the same day we dock (again, I know, I know. Unfortunately, time constraints mean we must do it this way.)  I am hoping that it will be smooth sailing out of the terminal and off to Fiumicino when we disembark.  

 

Thanks for the info!

[Von & John]

12 hours ago, jasoneats said:

Forgive me if this has been covered already.  My search turned up nothing.

 

How might customs and passport control be handled on our eastbound TA on NCL in April?  We leave from NYC and our first stop is the Azores (if we are, in fact, able to dock) and then Lisbon.  We finish in Rome. Will we all have to go through the process at our initial port or might there be officials onboard during the crossing to make it happen?  

 

I only ask because during our westbound crossing in 2019, we did the process in Miami, our first US port.  It was a nightmare!  We were all required to disembark and we were held in an overcrowded terminal with no food or water for many hours.  There were not enough seats for everyone and we were not warned that this would be the scenario.  There were many unhappy cruisers that day! I am hoping to go into this cruise with more information.

 

Thanks in advance for any and all insights you might offer.  We can't wait to get back to cruising after more than two years of being stuck on the land!

 

Your description of Miami Customs sounds suspiciously familiar...
Were you perhaps on the Getaway - Copenhagen to New Orleans cruise?

[jasoneats]

11 hours ago, Von & John said:

 

Your description of Miami Customs sounds suspiciously familiar...
Were you perhaps on the Getaway - Copenhagen to New Orleans cruise?

Yes...that was the one!  I'm sure you can understand why I want more information up front this time around.  

[Clay Clayton]

FWIW, on our two eastbound TAs (on Viking), we didn’t go through immigration and customs (basically non existent) until disembarkation in Barcelona.  We had port stops in Sint Maarten, Madeira (Portugal), Cadiz Spain, and Valencia Spain.