How are you getting on with ESTA for November Caribbean

[Windsurfboy]

Got email yesterday a bit of a surprise being told we needed ESTA, however  thought I'd do mine straight away before I forgot. A bit of a repetitive process, took about 20 minutes for me , 15 minutes second time for my wife . I used tablet, might be a bit longer if uploading passport on PC. Got it back in 3 hours , printed out.

 

I thought Saga's excuse  for asking us to do it ourselves "an ESTA last's 2 years and you may well be going to USA again in this period " was a bit feeble. When the real reason was it will save us $21 a head and also save a lot of work if you do it.

[nosapphire]

Suppose they have to say something to stop accusations of cost-cutting (heaven forbid).

 

Our last cruise 2019-20 they arranged the ESTA - indeed, they highlighted the fact that they include so much in the fare that this was done for you at no extra costs.

I will admit, it took quite a long time for them to get it done, so with the fact that now pretty much all their staff are working from home (offices have been/are being sold) plus they did get rid of a lot of their staff, they probably can no longer physically do this.

 

I now see that they have made it clear that when the European ETIAS comes into force (2024) you will have to arrange that yourself.

More likely to be the pure logistics of getting it done than anything else.

Still a shame - one less bragging point ("well, we use Saga and they arrange it all for us...")

 

 

[david05]

When Saga did this for us pre-covid, I was nervous as they left it quite late and I worried if they had received the forms in the post (with hindsight I should have sent them by the signature service). So I'm happy to do it myself.

[nosapphire]

Now you say that, it has made me remember that at the time I thought that it might have been easier to do it myself.

When I phoned (sometime after sending the forms the ESTA site still had no record of any application for me) the lady at Saga was so stressed out that she almost-but-not-quite snapped at me. And this was before the working from home started.

They had all the crew to do, as well as the passengers (with people phoning to find out how it was going), so no wonder they were feeling the strain.

 

Hey ho - if the ETIAS does come in as forecast, we'll all get used to the forms (according to the ETIAS official website, over 70s won't have to pay) (Although 'tis only 7 Euros anyway)..

[Windsurfboy]

From what David05 and Nosapphire have said glad I did it myself.

 

However I  hope everyone is either computer literate or has someone to help them.  Perhaps Saga should have said if you need help and have no-one to help you please let us know. Rather than do it or you can't come on cruise which is how I read the below.

 

Each guest will need a copy of their ESTA ready to show our staff at check-in as this is a mandatory condition of travel for this cruise and you will not be able to board without one.   

Should you have any questions about the ESTA or completing it, please refer to the FAQ section of the application website which can be found at https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/faq.