Immigration at Lerwick, Shetland

[elmac40]

Hi. Currently on the Rotterdam with a stop at Lerwick on 1st May. I’m a UK passport holder. 
 

I’m curious-does anyone have any experience of what it’s like to enter the UK at Lerwick? My understanding is that UK Border Force will come onto the ship. Are the queues long? Thanks

[CruiserBruce]

Its been a number of years, but we weren't allowed to go ashore until all pax on board showed their passports to one of only 2 Immigration officials who came aboard. Took almost 2 hours to clear the ship. Everything ran behind. The Captain was very unhappy. Hopefully they have fixed this system.

[Gibbie42]

56 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

Its been a number of years, but we weren't allowed to go ashore until all pax on board showed their passports to one of only 2 Immigration officials who came aboard. Took almost 2 hours to clear the ship. Everything ran behind. The Captain was very unhappy. Hopefully they have fixed this system.

I was similar last year. When we docked at Invergordon *everyone* onboard had to clear immigration whether you were going ashore or not. They called groups, and you went and got inline. And yes there were only two officers. They also arrived late. Once you cleared you got a sticker on your cruise card and then you were allowed off. So you didn't have to wait for everyone to clear but you couldn't get off until you did. But the next day in Edinburgh we were fine and didn't have to clear again. 

[ChinaShrek]

Sigh. I miss the UK being part of the EU. Oh well.

[VMax1700]

You may get lucky and miss Lerwick like we did.  Only joking.  They will come on to the ship and inspection can be slow.  You will be given approx times to be "interviewed" and they work by deck. Each person reports to the BF officers in World Stage.  You present your passport and on exit staff put a sticker on your key card, to confirm that you have cleared immigration.

[Iamthesea]

5 hours ago, Gibbie42 said:

15 minutes ago, VMax1700 said:

You will be given approx times to be "interviewed" and they work by deck. 

 They called groups, and you went and got inline.  They also arrived late. 

 

By late, what time was that?   We are suppose to port in Edinburgh (South Queensferry) at 8:00am.  Hoping that officers will be onboard shortly after.  We are planning a DIY in Edinburgh, but because we tender and have to take a bus in, our time is limited.  It will be a Monday, so hoping that helps.

 

Immigration works by Deck?  Which order?  

[VMax1700]

55 minutes ago, Iamthesea said:

 

By late, what time was that?   We are suppose to port in Edinburgh (South Queensferry) at 8:00am.  Hoping that officers will be onboard shortly after.  We are planning a DIY in Edinburgh, but because we tender and have to take a bus in, our time is limited.  It will be a Monday, so hoping that helps.

 

Immigration works by Deck?  Which order?  

I posted details last year when on Nieuw Statendam.  I will see if I can find a link to the live from thread.

[Gibbie42]

I honestly don't remember how late they were, feels like an hour or so? There was just a lot of waiting for them to come aboard. We still managed to get on our shore excursion at the expected time. 

[VMax1700]

Here is the link to the thread

 

 

Go to page 2  post #44

[Torquer]

FYI...we experienced this on a cruise in 2023.  I will mention that those in a suite (NS & PS) were given priority and could come to the World Stage whenever they wanted to.  I don't remember if this applied to Club Orange also, like it does for tendering.

[syesmar]

16 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

Its been a number of years, but we weren't allowed to go ashore until all pax on board showed their passports to one of only 2 Immigration officials who came aboard. Took almost 2 hours to clear the ship. Everything ran behind. The Captain was very unhappy. Hopefully they have fixed this system.

This was also our experience, down to the Captain being unhappy. We ended up having a wonderful day there, but if possible I would not book excursions close to the expected arrival time.

[elmac40]

Thanks to everyone for the info-looks like a bit of a wait in Lerwick! 😩

[Petronillus]

On 4/28/2024 at 8:38 AM, elmac40 said:

Hi. Currently on the Rotterdam with a stop at Lerwick on 1st May. I’m a UK passport holder. 
 

I’m curious-does anyone have any experience of what it’s like to enter the UK at Lerwick? My understanding is that UK Border Force will come onto the ship. Are the queues long? Thanks

Our excellent Rotterdam cruise to Norway last summer included a stop at Lerwick. I don't remember the precise arrangement, just that we queued up in two lines in the World Stage, at each line a delightfully affable UK border control agent checked our passports and sent us on our way, and at the end a colored sticker was affixed to the outside of the passport. Not a big deal. Not much of an inconvenience. As I think back on it, the personalities of the border agents may have made a difference.

By the way, based on our how the character Jimmie Perez on "Shetland" on BritBox talked, I expected that Lerwick would be pronounced "LAIR-ick." Our guide definitely said "LER-wick." When asked she said that the actor portraying Jimmie Perez is from the west of Scotland and has an accent to match.

It was also pointed out to us that the cultural affinity of the Shetlands is closer to Scandinavia than to Scotland. The Shetlands have their own flag, which uses the blue and white of the Scottish saltire (St. Andrew's cross) but reverses the colors (blue on white instead of white on blue) and sets the arms of the cross at right angles -- just like the flags of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland.