Halifax to Portland ME, does ship usually arrive early?

[NoWhiners]

Hi all

 

We will be on an X Canada/NE cruise in October. We have a tour booked in Portland that starts at 11 and I just noticed that the posted time of arrival is 11. We are coming from Halifax. Is there any chance we could arrive earlier and maybe get off before 11? I have seen this happen on other cruises but I don't know about this.

 

thanks for any help.

 

 

[njhorseman]

25 minutes ago, NoWhiners said:

Hi all

 

We will be on an X Canada/NE cruise in October. We have a tour booked in Portland that starts at 11 and I just noticed that the posted time of arrival is 11. We are coming from Halifax. Is there any chance we could arrive earlier and maybe get off before 11? I have seen this happen on other cruises but I don't know about this.

 

thanks for any help.

 

 

Since Portland is your first US port after you've been in Canada everyone on the ship will have to undergo immigration screening by USCBP, so even if your ship does arrive a bit early it's very unlikely that you'll be able to make an 11 am excursion.

[NoWhiners]

That's an excellent point that I didn't even think of. Hmm, may be time to make a change!

 

Thanks

[1025cruise]

Is this a cruise excursion or DIY?

[NoWhiners]

DIY--why does it matter? Still have to be off in time to do the tour.

[njhorseman]

43 minutes ago, NoWhiners said:

DIY--why does it matter? Still have to be off in time to do the tour.

For a cruise  excursion the cruise line can expedite your passing through CBP inspection and disembarkation by allowing you to be at the front of the line in order to make sure the excursion leaves as close as possible to the scheduled time. For a private excursion the cruise line could care less whether you're on time.

[NoWhiners]

Ahh, I see. That makes sense. Do you know if they ever take the Canadian officials on the ship with them and clear everyone while they are onboard? I've seen this done sometimes, maybe when resources (like Customs agents) are more limited.