Customs in Bar Harbor

[hylasgirl]

Can someone tell me how long it will take to clear customs in Bar Harbor? Our hours say that we will be there from 7am to 6pm and I wanted to book us a car for the day, I am just unsure how long it will take us to get off the ship. Is there an expert here that has done this and might know?

 

Thanks so much!

[hylasgirl]

Is there no one that has cruised New England and knows about clearing customs in Bar Harbor because the last port was Canada? This New England board is sad:(

[Redsoxfan11]

Is there no one that has cruised New England and knows about clearing customs in Bar Harbor because the last port was Canada? This New England board is sad:(

 

 

Sorry can't help you I've never cruised New England since I am a resident.. I drive between here and Canada and have the usual border crossing scenario. I happen to be on my vacation in Chicago and am checking in. I didn't want to leave your post unanswered but when I cruise from different islands/countries in the Caribbean from the US, we never have to clear customs in each location. Same for one I've been to in Europe. I would imagine it would be no different for a Canadian/US cruise. I could be wrong but every other place I've gone it hasn't happened. I don't know your itinerary. What is your last port where you disembark? Is it NY or Boston? If so, I think that is where you have to clear. I really don't know though. I bet that a customer service rep at your cruise line could give you a good answer. I'd be curious myself. Have fun! :)

[hylasgirl]

See... that's the issue... I guess we are going to have to clear customs in Bar Harbor because it will be our first port after Canada... instead of back at Cape Liberty. The only reason that I wonder is that it is a tender stop... so, I wonder what a PITA it will be, you know?? :)

[Terpnut]

Hylasgirl,

 

You're very smart to ask this question because I never realized this was going to happen! I can't speak for Bar Harbor, but if our RCI Grandeur experience in Boston (our first stop after Canada) is illustrative, then the following will happen:

 

1. CIS (i.e. Customs and Immigration Service) officers will board the ship very early in the morning.

 

2. They will call EVERYONE on board, one deck at a time, to line up and appear in the theater in the front of the ship. Everyone MUST do this regardless of whether they plan to disembark at that port of call or not. Non-U.S. Citizens are asked to present themselves at another location, e.g. Colony Club, etc.

 

3. Everyone files by quickly as the agents check passports and occasionally ask questions. Most people are not asked anything--just keep on walking!

 

4. A ship employee will initial your sea pass card to show that you appeared as required. This was pretty lame as anyone with a permanent market can make a smiley face on the front of my Sea Pass card!

 

The entire ship was "processed" and cleared in probably a couple hours. All in all, it was pretty painless (and pretty useless, IMO). Hope this helps! Enjoy your cruise! :)

[EGG]

We did this on Celebrity in Oct 06. Celebrity gave everyone a time to line up. We got 11:30. No way were we going to wait until 11:30. (We are earlybirds and usually the first off the ship while everyone else is at breakfast). So we lined up with half the ship at 9:00. Immigration did not start processing people until 9:30. Once they started processing and the line started to move it did not seem so bad. They moved us in 2 lines through the theatre. There was one preson checking the passports on each line. They gave us a slip so we could get on the tender. By the way there was a line for walk offs and a line for excursions but no one realized this and we were all on whatever line and it turned out it didn't make a difference. Then we walked down to the tender. I am guessing the people on excursions were told to go to a different place to tender because the line for the tender was not too bad. I think we were in Bar Harbor, buying our ticket to Ollie's Trolly by 10:30.

 

I agree, it seemed to be a waste of time (both ours and immigration). I would suggest the have non US citizens go to a separate line, since they only gave my passport a quick glance.

[hylasgirl]

Thank you EGG!!! That is exactly what I wanted to know... When we did this in St. Thomas it did not matter if we were planning on going ashore or not... everyone had to be processed and everyone had to exit the ship... once the entire ship was cleared, then you could get back on the ship if you weren't planning on going into town... this is the reason that I wondered about how they did it in Bar Harbor, because it isn't an easy walk off the ship and turn around and walk back on...

 

Thanks Turpnut for telling me you two had some answers for me! I appreciate it.