New to cruising - Customs clearance

[ReeseyB]

If possible please can someone clarify  the following. We are booked on our first ever cruise and we are going with Celebrity and we arrive at our last port at 6:30am. On this day we do not disembark the ship and there are various options to leave the ship and go on excursions. We sleep on the ship this day for our last night and then disembark the ship the following day. Is the ship cleared by customs on its first day in port or the 2nd day when the passengers disembark. I’m asking because I want to book flights to return home and an indication of when customs clearance happens would be helpful.

[TheOldBear]

I think the Customs checks are when you disembark with your luggage (including any new purchases) and may be distinct from Immigration (or credential) checks.

 

For example on an eastbound QM2 crossing, the UK Border folks see all passengers and their passports before the ship arrives in Southampton - so the ship arrives with everyone cleared. Passports no longer receive a stamp, it's just an electronic check.

 

Passengers disembarking in Southampton need to go through Customs with their luggage. As an 'in transit' passenger I simply show my ship's card and walk right past the Customs area.

 

Westbound, US Homeland Security combines the Customs and Immigration functions - and everyone needs to wait on a line, even the in transit passengers.

[ReeseyB]

Hi TheOldBear, thank you, what you say about clearing everyone with the luggage makes sense. 

[CruiserBruce]

Without knowing the itinerary,  it's really hard to give a complete, fact based answer. But I can say Customs is rarely an issue. It's Immigration/Passport Check that is going to be the more complicated issue.

[LHT28]

4 hours ago, ReeseyB said:

If possible please can someone clarify  the following. We are booked on our first ever cruise and we are going with Celebrity and we arrive at our last port at 6:30am. On this day we do not disembark the ship and there are various options to leave the ship and go on excursions. We sleep on the ship this day for our last night and then disembark the ship the following day. Is the ship cleared by customs on its first day in port or the 2nd day when the passengers disembark. I’m asking because I want to book flights to return home and an indication of when customs clearance happens would be helpful.

What is your disembarkation port?

Usually Customs is for your home Country 

When we docked in Southampton we had to do  a F2F  with the officials   but we are not UK citizens  so it may be different for you

[*Miss G*]

6 hours ago, ReeseyB said:

If possible please can someone clarify  the following. We are booked on our first ever cruise and we are going with Celebrity and we arrive at our last port at 6:30am. On this day we do not disembark the ship and there are various options to leave the ship and go on excursions. We sleep on the ship this day for our last night and then disembark the ship the following day. Is the ship cleared by customs on its first day in port or the 2nd day when the passengers disembark. I’m asking because I want to book flights to return home and an indication of when customs clearance happens would be helpful.

 

Without knowing your port of disembarkation it’s difficult to give a proper answer.  I can give you an example though.  We had an overnight in Trieste in October.  There was no face-to-face chat with officials (for us) but the ship had to be cleared by officials before we could disembark.  The next day we walked off the ship as normal and headed to the airport without ever going through immigration.  In other words, on an overnight, Customs & Immigration will be done on the day of arrival; not the day of departure.

[ReeseyB]

Thank you for all of your comments.

We dock at 6:30am in Mumbai on day 11 of our cruise, stay overnight and we disembark on day 12.  If clearance was to take place on day 12 what is the typical time that this process starts and has anyone experienced clearance in Mumbai and typically when does it start and how long before it is completed?

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, ReeseyB said:

Thank you for all of your comments.

We dock at 6:30am in Mumbai on day 11 of our cruise, stay overnight and we disembark on day 12.  If clearance was to take place on day 12 what is the typical time that this process starts and has anyone experienced clearance in Mumbai and typically when does it start and how long before it is completed?

Most ports with an overnight stay you are cleared on the 1st day there

 if you want to take your luggage off that day then check with the purser  you may have to carry it off yourself

 

[Capt_BJ]

IME the 'ship' will be cleared on arrival ......

[ReeseyB]

Thank you

[Hezu]

On 1/24/2023 at 4:03 AM, *Miss G* said:

Without knowing your port of disembarkation it’s difficult to give a proper answer.  I can give you an example though.  We had an overnight in Trieste in October.  There was no face-to-face chat with officials (for us) but the ship had to be cleared by officials before we could disembark.  The next day we walked off the ship as normal and headed to the airport without ever going through immigration.  In other words, on an overnight, Customs & Immigration will be done on the day of arrival; not the day of departure.

Worth a note that Trieste and whole Italy is part of Schengen area and within that area there is generally no border controls between countries, only on outer borders of the Schengen area, thus if your cruise itinerary had previous port also elsewhere in Schengen area (eg. Croatia or Greece) then it is normal that there is no border controls. Also since most Schengen area countries are also EU member states and EU countries form a customs union, the customs formalities when traveling between EU countries are quite relaxed. And of course there can be additional international agreements that make border formalities simple also in other cases.

[*Miss G*]

11 minutes ago, Hezu said:

Worth a note that Trieste and whole Italy is part of Schengen area and within that area there is generally no border controls between countries, only on outer borders of the Schengen area, thus if your cruise itinerary had previous port also elsewhere in Schengen area (eg. Croatia or Greece) then it is normal that there is no border controls. Also since most Schengen area countries are also EU member states and EU countries form a customs union, the customs formalities when traveling between EU countries are quite relaxed. And of course there can be additional international agreements that make border formalities simple also in other cases.

 

Ah yes.  Quite right.  We had just come from Turkiye and Montenegro so no Schengen countries previous to Trieste.

[gerryuk]

I did Barcelona to Dubai with Costa in November. We were forever having to hand our passports in to be checked at each port then hand them back into the reception, some ports wanted to check the passports even if you were staying on the ship. It did not help that one of the port calls was in Israel.

On disembarking at Dubai no one checked or stamped our passports and we all had problems at Dubai airport. Eventually the authorities at the airport took pictures of everyone's passports before allowing us through to catch our flights.

When it comes to customs and passports, always expect the unexpected.