Current St. Thomas immigration procedure on HAL?

[MaxTheHorse]

Sailing next month on Nieuw Amsterdam with St. Thomas as one of our ports. Stop is after Grand Turk and Samana so I know we’ll have to go though immigration. Question is: what’s the current HAL procedure and does it take a long time to clear? 
 

We have an 8:30 am private tour booked (leaves from Havensight where we are docking) and I’m second guessing if we’ll have enough time to make it if its a lengthy immigration process. Arrival time is either 7 am (time on my booking receipt) or 8 am (time showing on HAL site).

[0106]

We were on the Rotterdam in February.  Arrived in St Thomas after visiting St Kitts the day before.  There was no immigration prior to getting off the ship.

[REOVA]

No immigration unless you are disembarking the ship, which I will assume you are continuing on the cruise after visiting St Thomas. 

[MaxTheHorse]

7 minutes ago, REOVA said:

No immigration unless you are disembarking the ship, which I will assume you are continuing on the cruise after visiting St Thomas. 

Correct. After USVI it’s Half Moon Cay then return to Fort Lauderdale. 

[kirkc]

Never had to clear immigration in St. Thomas.

[hrhdhd]

Years ago there was an immigration process and one had to shuffle past officers, but that hasn't been in place for a while. Just disembark and find your tour.

[MaxTheHorse]

13 minutes ago, hrhdhd said:

Years ago there was an immigration process and one had to shuffle past officers, but that hasn't been in place for a while. Just disembark and find your tour.

Thanks! Indeed I was looking at old posts from the 2000s so the information was outdated.  Thank you for clarifying! 

[3rdGenCunarder]

What about San Juan and Key West?

 

My itinerary is Miami, HMC, Amber Cove, San Juan, St Thomas, Curacao, Bonaire, Aruba, Grand Cayman, Key West, Miami.

 

We move out of the US and in again several times. I've had to do immigration in San Juan, but it was a long time ago. 

 

So how many times will we need to do immigration? I'd love to do it in Key West because that would speed up arrival/processing in Miami.

Edited January 28 by 3rdGenCunarder

[MaxTheHorse]

9 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

What about San Juan and Key West?

 

My itinerary is Miami, HMC, Amber Cove, San Juan, St Thomas, Curacao, Bonaire, Aruba, Grand Cayman, Key West, Miami.

 

We move out of the US and in again several times. I've had to do immigration in San Juan, but it was a long time ago. 

 

So how many times will we need to do immigration? I'd love to do it in Key West because that would speed up arrival/processing in Miami.

Our cruise itinerary was changed/shortened for this question I originally asked and St. Thomas was dropped. We instead did HMC, Key West, then back to port in FLL. Even though we'd only gone to the cruise line's private island, we still had to clear immigration at our first US port of call (Key West).

On arrival in Key West, ALL passengers had to clear immigration. Those with excursions were called first I think starting at 8 am. Then starting at I think 8:30 you were assigned a time slot deck by deck. They announced it and there was a letter in your cabin the day before with times and instructions. I don't think the scheduled clearing times lasted more than 90-120 minutes in total.

They had us queue on deck 3 through the atrium and shops, and there were USCIS officers checking passports in one of the meeting rooms. After the check, a crew member punched your key card and you could exit the ship or go back to whatever you were doing. 

We had an excursion so were in the first group allowed through the line. Took about 10 minutes and moved very quickly. It was quite efficient.

[3rdGenCunarder]

16 minutes ago, MaxTheHorse said:

Our cruise itinerary was changed/shortened for this question I originally asked and St. Thomas was dropped. We instead did HMC, Key West, then back to port in FLL. Even though we'd only gone to the cruise line's private island, we still had to clear immigration at our first US port of call (Key West).

On arrival in Key West, ALL passengers had to clear immigration. Those with excursions were called first I think starting at 8 am. Then starting at I think 8:30 you were assigned a time slot deck by deck. They announced it and there was a letter in your cabin the day before with times and instructions. I don't think the scheduled clearing times lasted more than 90-120 minutes in total.

They had us queue on deck 3 through the atrium and shops, and there were USCIS officers checking passports in one of the meeting rooms. After the check, a crew member punched your key card and you could exit the ship or go back to whatever you were doing. 

We had an excursion so were in the first group allowed through the line. Took about 10 minutes and moved very quickly. It was quite efficient.

 

Thanks. HAL seems to manage immigration inspection well in small ports. I remember breezing through in Bar Harbor. Of course, it was Veendam, so not too many people. This will be on Zaandam, so again, not too many people. I don't have an early tour, but I'd like to get off early to walk around before things get too crowded. 

 

And I guess we'll have to do immigration in San Juan after HMC and Amber Cove. I remember VERY grumpy inspectors in San Juan. They stood around grousing, not checking passengers, until their coffee arrived. 

[POA1]

In December, we were scheduled to do an Eastern Caribbean itinerary of Grand Turk, San Juan, St. Thomas and Half Moon Cay.

 

Due to weather, we missed HMC. Our only immigration was the return to Fort Lauderdale. And the Customs & immigration is crazy fast in Fort Lauderdale now.

 

From what I hear, Miami is fast as well.

Edited January 28 by POA1

[3rdGenCunarder]

33 minutes ago, POA1 said:

In December, we were scheduled to do an Eastern Caribbean itinerary of Grand Turk, San Juan, St. Thomas and Half Moon Cay.

 

Due to weather, we missed HMC. Our only immigration was the return to Fort Lauderdale. And the Customs & immigration is crazy fast in Fort Lauderdale now.

 

From what I hear, Miami is fast as well.

 

Since FLL got the kiosks, it's great. They don't bother with the passport app anymore. Last year I asked where the line for the passport app was and when they said they didn't use it, I thought I'd be in line forever. Then I got to the kiosks and I saw why they don't need to use the app.