Immigration Officials on QM2

[mikelan6]

I've been on quite a few cruises on other cruise lines where immigration has always been done upon arrival to the port, even if it's done on-board the ship. I found it interesting (as I understand it) that UK Immigration officials sail on board the Queen Mary 2 to process all the passengers as they sail Eastbound towards Southampton.

 

I think this is a great convenience to the passengers so they are pre-cleared before they enter the UK and also saves time during debarkation.

 

As I understand it, UK immigration is done on one day (with a leftover day if there are any stragglers). What do these people do the rest of the sailing? Do they sail from the UK to the USA on the QM2 or are they flown in from the UK beforehand?

[sailsalot]

On my most recent eastbound crossing of 7/18, we had the pleasure of dining with the hotel manager, and with us at the table was the immigration officer, as well as her sister who was traveling with her. My impression was that she was able to enjoy the crossing outside of her immigration duties. She then disembarked once we got to Southamption. What a great job assignment!!

[scouse mouse]

:eek: Glad my taxes are paying for her holiday.

[standby 06.30]

:eek: Glad my taxes are paying for her holiday.

Scousers paying taxes:eek: oh sorry your in exile what crime did you commit to get nantwich? regards pierre head, nantwich you only have a cannal we have the mersy

[supered]

When we travelled on QM2 last May the Cruise Director (the inimtable Ray Rouse!) said that Cunard fly the UK Immigration Official (at Cunard's expense) over to NY and they sail back. It sounds like a bit of a cushy number to me! (Jealous moi?) I wonder if they have a lottery in the Immigration Office to see who gets to go this time. It was great on arrival in Southmapton not to have to stand in line. Unlike on arrival at JFK airport just over 2 weeks previously where we stood in line for about an hour at Immigration (it might not have been but it sure seemed like it!). And to top it off our luggage hadn't travelled with us.

 

Eddie

[flag fan]

Okay, let's figure this out. The QM2 holds 2,592 passengers (2 persons/cabin). Let's assume 3/4ths are non-British on an eastern crossing; that means 1,944 people will go through immigration. The immigration officer will be on board for 6 days, but 2 of those are a weekend, so it is a four-day work week. That means an average of 486 people to process per day. I do not know whether that is more or less than the average for an immigration official who is land-based, but it seems a pretty large workload (60 people per hour). I thinks its a great work assignment for the officer, but if there are no costs to the UK government other than the worker's salary, it does not seem like a waste of tax dollars.

[mufi]

The officer processes all the passengers aboard, UK and others The one on our return from N Y last month did not seem particularly stressed and was certainly getting through many more than 60 an hour. Quick look at the passport, quick look at the passenger, stamp, stamp, next please. The passengers were the winners as the embarkation was so much quicker than at the American end, when the computers kept crashing and the lines were long.

 

David.

[lexxity]

I would say that the immigration chaps/chapesses work less onboard than on land. For instance at my place of work between 0600 and 0900 hours we have five longhauls arrive into the same terminal, the average carry 270 ish passengers and at this time of year, especially are full. So per hour that's 450 passengers/hour split between, usually, two agents. So yep, cushy number.:D :D

 

If I remember rightly the pleasure of a paid holiday is rotated country wide through the immigration agency. If I remember I will ask my collegues partner who is head of immigration at Manchester.

[cruiseluv]

I don't think this was well handled at all. They only had one immigration official and we were told the hours (very limited) that we could be seen. We stood in line, wasting time of our vacation for approx an hour. Then the officer, a very nice lady, was interested in chit-chatting with everybody she saw, so it made for a very lengthy process. My question was: and what does this officer does the rest of the cruise? Lounge in the promenade?

 

If they really want to be efficient, they should bring more immigration officers. If not, I would rather do immigration during the time I had to wait anyway in the Queens Room for disembarkation. It would give me something to do.

[lexxity]

I don't think they could process everyone in the Queens Room that before disembarkation on the last morning. You are given specific times so that you don't have to queue for hours and hours of your holiday. It is better than the chaos, I believe, in New York upon disembarking.

[3rdGenCunarder]

I would say that the immigration chaps/chapesses work less onboard than on land. For instance at my place of work between 0600 and 0900 hours we have five longhauls arrive into the same terminal, the average carry 270 ish passengers and at this time of year, especially are full. So per hour that's 450 passengers/hour split between, usually, two agents. So yep, cushy number.:D :D

 

If I remember rightly the pleasure of a paid holiday is rotated country wide through the immigration agency. If I remember I will ask my collegues partner who is head of immigration at Manchester.

 

As someone who has been on one of those AM longhauls a few times, I have to say that the immigration staff at your place of work are VERY efficient. US staff at airports are good, but the ones who work cruises arriving in the US are not as good.

 

The last time I entered the US on QE2 was in San Juan on New Year's Eve. The immigration staff were late, and all they did at first was bark at QE2 staff, "Where's my coffee?" After we waited and waited, they barely even glanced at the passports. I could have swapped with anyone and I doubt they'd have noticed. Made me feel VERY secure.:(

 

Another time, at the end of a Panama canal cruise in LA, immigration took place on the ship on the AM we arrived. The line into Queens room extended out past the library, past the D stairs, all the way down the other side into the Lido. Our travel companions needed to get off quickly for a flight, so they stood on that hellish line, checking their watches all the while. We were being picked up by a friend we were visiting, so we had the time to wait until the line was short and went then.

 

Kathy

[Piton1]

Do you get any kind of reward for turning in a fellow passenger?:cool:

 

Paul

[Wadadli1]

Do you see what I'm up against? What I have to work with here? And someone the other day called him "quiet". Oh my.

 

It's his cuteness and clever charm that intrigues me. :p

[travel-to-go]

Do you get any kind of reward for turning in a fellow passenger?:cool:

 

Paul

 

Paul,

You wouldn't turn in your wife, now would you?

 

Besides, I hear she has pictures of you with a goat....

Or something.

Not sure what you were doing with the goat...(This being a "G" rated forum)

 

Feeding him... or something!

 

Anon

[Kindlychap]

Do you get any kind of reward for turning in a fellow passenger?:cool:

 

Paul

 

No. Just that warm feeling inside.

 

Best done with Steerage passengers of course. Gives it a nice twist!

 

Matthew

[pnhmrk]

You wouldn't turn in your wife, now would you?

 

Why on earth not? :confused: If there's a reward my Paul had better watch out!:D

[VirginCruiser II]

We are doing a back to back crossing on the QM2 next year and, as we have "done" NYC so many times before, we are sailing back the same day and have no plans to leave the ship. Will we be required to disembark though to fulfill immigration requirements etc and, more importantly, will we still be assigned the same stateroom for the return voyage?

Thank you in advance for any information you have on these two questions.

[Kindlychap]

We are doing a back to back crossing on the QM2 next year and, as we have "done" NYC so many times before, we are sailing back the same day and have no plans to leave the ship. Will we be required to disembark though to fulfill immigration requirements etc and, more importantly, will we still be assigned the same stateroom for the return voyage?

Thank you in advance for any information you have on these two questions.

 

You will be required to disembark.

 

Before Brooklyn (at least on QE2) immigration was done in the Queen's Room on the morning of arrival. We've done that in New York and Boston.

 

Complete chaos, and all because the INS are too scared to fly since 2001.

 

Matthew

[msk68]

But you can also sit and wait for the crunch to pass before you disembark to clear customs.

 

I have to say that for customs clearing purposes, I prefer the Brooklyn way (upon disembarkation) vs the Manhattan way (getting up at 5AM and queing in the planetarium). I agree that they hardly even looked at my form or passport but c'est la vie!

[lexxity]

You may even have to do the customs nonsense. I would check this with Cunard.

[pb82]

We are doing a back to back crossing on the QM2 next year and, as we have "done" NYC so many times before, we are sailing back the same day and have no plans to leave the ship. Will we be required to disembark though to fulfill immigration requirements etc and, more importantly, will we still be assigned the same stateroom for the return voyage?

Thank you in advance for any information you have on these two questions.

We did a back-to-back the other way last year, NYC to Southampton to NYC. No one told us that we had to disembark at Southampton, but we did to do some sightseeing and, thanks to a magical document called an Intransit Pass, we left and returned to the ship with zero delay.

 

Why on Earth don't you just book the same cabin both ways? We did.

 

Bon voyage,

Paul

[lexxity]

Going into the US you are still going to have to clear immigration, transit or not. It's madness.

[Kindlychap]

You may even have to do the customs nonsense. I would check this with Cunard.

 

If you're not getting off, you don't get out of the INS parade.

 

Sad, but true.

 

Matthew

[lexxity]

Suspected as much. Here's one for you. You are flying from London to Los Angeles with a direct connection to Auckland. Guess what you still have to clear customs and immigration! Good eh?

[mufi]

We are doing a back to back crossing on the QM2 next year and, as we have "done" NYC so many times before, we are sailing back the same day and have no plans to leave the ship. Will we be required to disembark though to fulfill immigration requirements etc and, more importantly, will we still be assigned the same stateroom for the return voyage?

Thank you in advance for any information you have on these two questions.

 

Presumably as with us you will book this as a package. We were not able to have the same cabin on the return and had to pack at the NY end. We did book late. I don't see any reason why you couldn't not have the same cabin if you book early.

 

You will have to get off the ship in NY and go through immigration.

 

David.