Customs in Boston Cruise Terminal?

[Mr. Click]

Looking at a cruise from Iceland to Boston this August and trying to sort out our return flight.  I understand the challenges of getting from the port to Logan but I can't find anything about how long it can take to clear customs.  Recent trips out of Bayonne and FLL were closed loops and we did nothing more than walk off, get our face scanned to verify we had been on the ship and we were off and running.  This trip is not a closed loop so I am left wondering what to expect.  We do have Global Entry and we normally just walk off with out luggage.  TIA.

[njhorseman]

2 hours ago, Mr. Click said:

Looking at a cruise from Iceland to Boston this August and trying to sort out our return flight.  I understand the challenges of getting from the port to Logan but I can't find anything about how long it can take to clear customs.  Recent trips out of Bayonne and FLL were closed loops and we did nothing more than walk off, get our face scanned to verify we had been on the ship and we were off and running.  This trip is not a closed loop so I am left wondering what to expect.  We do have Global Entry and we normally just walk off with out luggage.  TIA.

It's immigration,  not customs, that is time consuming . 

Does your cruise make any US port calls prior to Boston? If so, the immigration clearance will take place in your first US port and in Boston you'll disembark as quickly as you would on a closed loop cruise.  

Almost no one disembarking a cruise has to go through a customs clearance any longer...unless you have something that must be declared or if you're unlucky and get pulled aside by a CBP officer. 

[Mr. Click]

Thanks.    In my mind customs and immigration is just one big thing....No US ports before Boston. The trip goes around Iceland, to Greenland, one stop in Canada and then Boston.  

 

BUT, does anyone know if they have Global Entry at the  port?  

[lx200gps]

50 minutes ago, Mr. Click said:

Thanks.    In my mind customs and immigration is just one big thing....No US ports before Boston. The trip goes around Iceland, to Greenland, one stop in Canada and then Boston.  

 

BUT, does anyone know if they have Global Entry at the  port?  

Following, as we are sailing out of Boston in July for the first time. Along with Global Entry, do they have facial recognition?  We sail through the formality in Port Everglades and San Pedro in seconds using FR, it's a great technology.

[Mr. Click]

2 hours ago, lx200gps said:

Following, as we are sailing out of Boston in July for the first time. Along with Global Entry, do they have facial recognition?  We sail through the formality in Port Everglades and San Pedro in seconds using FR, it's a great technology.

It is great technology but I think they only use it on a closed loop cruise. One that starts and ends in the US.   

[princeton123211]

3 hours ago, Mr. Click said:

Thanks.    In my mind customs and immigration is just one big thing....No US ports before Boston. The trip goes around Iceland, to Greenland, one stop in Canada and then Boston.  

 

BUT, does anyone know if they have Global Entry at the  port?  

Whatever you want to hear but they are very different things that serve completely different purposes. Immigration is the only formality you'll go through. 

 

And no, they don't have Global Entry in Boston. The only cruise port I know they have Global Entry in is Port Everglades. 

[lx200gps]

10 hours ago, Mr. Click said:

It is great technology but I think they only use it on a closed loop cruise. One that starts and ends in the US.   

Fortunately, our trip in July out of Boston is a closed loop Canada/New England trip that does start and end in Boston

[lx200gps]

9 hours ago, princeton123211 said:

Whatever you want to hear but they are very different things that serve completely different purposes. Immigration is the only formality you'll go through. 

 

And no, they don't have Global Entry in Boston. The only cruise port I know they have Global Entry in is Port Everglades. 

Don't know how Global Entry and facial recognition interact, but San Pedro also has it. We flew through the facial recognition cameras in seconds just a few days ago, identical procedure as in Port Everglades.  So in Boston, does that mean EVERY passenger has to stand in long lines to speak with an agent?  In any case, we do very early self-walkoff and are usually among the first into the arrivals hall, so our lineup wouldn't be too long.

[1025cruise]

One thing to remember, Boston is only a seasonal port. There is no reason for USCBP to install facial rec, etc due to this. Also, the bulk of the sailings are Canada/New England or Bermuda. Also, the port itself doesn't have much space. I believe the one time I had to pass immigration in Boston (it's been quite a few years) they actually came on the ship for inspection as you got off. The last couple of times, I was on a cruise that stopped at Bar Harbor so we had to inspection there (they come on the ship, you can't get off until you are cleared).

[lx200gps]

30 minutes ago, 1025cruise said:

One thing to remember, Boston is only a seasonal port. There is no reason for USCBP to install facial rec, etc due to this. Also, the bulk of the sailings are Canada/New England or Bermuda. Also, the port itself doesn't have much space. I believe the one time I had to pass immigration in Boston (it's been quite a few years) they actually came on the ship for inspection as you got off. The last couple of times, I was on a cruise that stopped at Bar Harbor so we had to inspection there (they come on the ship, you can't get off until you are cleared).

Very valid point. I would think that it would be in their interest to set it up there as it would probably reduce their manpower requirements and workloads to have a camera-based FR system rather than large teams of agents having to interview each arriving passenger. The winter off-season would have been a great downtime to set it up. In any case, once the season starts up in a month or two, we'll get some feedback as to exactly how it is being run this.

[CruiserBruce]

On 2/12/2024 at 10:42 AM, lx200gps said:

Very valid point. I would think that it would be in their interest to set it up there as it would probably reduce their manpower requirements and workloads to have a camera-based FR system rather than large teams of agents having to interview each arriving passenger. The winter off-season would have been a great downtime to set it up. In any case, once the season starts up in a month or two, we'll get some feedback as to exactly how it is being run this.

Except the expense is probably not worth it for a seasonal port. You might be aware that NO port has ever installed the Global Entry kiosks, because they are only used 2 or at max 3 hours a day, even at the busiest ports.

 

I will say the facial recognition comes in a number of forms, including simply a hand held cell phone like device that we used in San Diego.

[lx200gps]

9 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

Except the expense is probably not worth it for a seasonal port. You might be aware that NO port has ever installed the Global Entry kiosks, because they are only used 2 or at max 3 hours a day, even at the busiest ports.

 

I will say the facial recognition comes in a number of forms, including simply a hand held cell phone like device that we used in San Diego.

The point I was trying to make was that the cost of implementing such a system, even in a seasonal port like Boston, would probably be offset by a possibly larger savings in manpower by not needing as many agents on hand to physically interview each and every passenger. And I assume that the reason why they are moving to FR in the first place, anywhere, is that it's better, more accurate, etc, than physically interviewing people, so why wouldn't they want to implement it in as many places as possible?

[CruiserBruce]

1 hour ago, lx200gps said:

The point I was trying to make was that the cost of implementing such a system, even in a seasonal port like Boston, would probably be offset by a possibly larger savings in manpower by not needing as many agents on hand to physically interview each and every passenger. And I assume that the reason why they are moving to FR in the first place, anywhere, is that it's better, more accurate, etc, than physically interviewing people, so why wouldn't they want to implement it in as many places as possible?

When we boarded at Boston last September, we saw the Immigration folks leaving. There were 4 of them, for a ship the size of Zaandam. I doubt they can cut the staffing any lower than that. I don't know what system they were using to clear people, but the clearing was definitely occurring on the ship, which implies either the hand held FR method, or no FR, just standard face to face interviews. They came off the ship at about 11am. We were allowed to start boarding at 11:15.

[Rubyfisch]

When I came to Boston, it was basically a ten seconds of a human looking at my passport and waiving me - it took about the same amount of time as the person scanning me off the ship. It's the same way in Baltimore - no scanning of passports, just a quick check and you keep moving.