New gov. rule - must be on board 1 hr before departure

[gizmo]

I thought this may be of interest when booking flights. I read this on the Hal board. It was posted by a TA.

 

CLIA sent this email to TAs.

 

There are several changes that the U.S. government will be implementing in the coming months that will impact your cruise clients. Please review the following information and communicate these messages with them.

 

1. Effective February 18, 2008 - Passengers MUST be on board at least one hour prior to departure

Cruise ships departing from U.S. ports will be required by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, to provide the full passenger and crew manifest to the U.S. government 60 minutes prior to departure starting Feb. 18, 2008. This means that all cruise guests will need to be on board at least one hour before the ship’s scheduled departure.

 

2. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced that effective January 31, 2008, all travelers, including U.S. citizens, entering the United States through all ports of entry (including land and sea ports) will no longer have the option of orally declaring their citizenship. This previously accepted, but rare, practice of proving citizenship through oral declaration will no longer be sufficient. Cruise passengers must present the appropriate

[Cruisin' Ron VA]

I actually got this in an email a few weeks ago, but mine stated 2 hours. :eek:

[NCTribeFan]

OK, since this was posted under Cruise Air, given the title, I thought you were going to tell us that we had to be on board THE PLANE 1 hour prior to departure!

 

Yikes! :eek: Don't scare me like that!

[fti]

OK, since this was posted under Cruise Air, given the title, I thought you were going to tell us that we had to be on board THE PLANE 1 hour prior to departure!

 

Yikes! :eek: Don't scare me like that!

 

That is exactly what I was thinking at first, which I am sure the government can't regulate - Southwest only allows about 45 minutes max on the ground for their planes.

 

John

[DanJ]

This was on the bottom of an itinerary page on ncl.com,

 

Due to security reasons, all guests must be on board 2 hours before sailing.

[betcat]

YA listing this the way he did I was thing the same thing. Boarding the plane 1 hour early! Got my attention. Understandable on the ship, but I am always on 4 or 5 hours early, won't matter to me

[Jeanie821]

I received an e-mail from my cruise group leader, forwarded from our TA, who told us that RCCL now mandates that all passengers be on board 90 minutes prior to sailing.

[wrp96]

I think the point of this post is that if you are planning on flying in day of you need to calculate in the fact that you have to be onboard at least 1 hour before departure (90 minutes to 2 hours on some lines), whereas before you could sometimes sneak on 30 minutes before departure if you are delayed.

 

So instead of suggesting a flight that lands no later than 4 hours before scheduled departure (e.g. noon for a 4pm departure), I would add in at least an extra hour (11am for a 4pm departure). For cruiselines like NCL and RCCL which say you have to be onboard 1.5 to 2 hours before departure, that would make it 10am for a 4pm departure (or 11am for a 5pm departure). From my area the earliest of flights to South Florida don't arrive until around 11:30am so it makes it almost impossible to fly in day of now.

 

What that means is it makes it even less advisable to fly in day of, because you have to be onboard the ship so much earlier. AND there are no guarantees that if you are delayed that the ship can wait for you or throw you onboard last minute if you make it there before the ship's scheduled departure time.

[sailaway5]

Does this mean when the ship is visiting a port, you will need to be back on the ship 90 minutes before sailing? This is important to know, especially if you are booking private tours.

[wrp96]

I believe this is for departure from US ports only, and presumably only from the embarkation port because the purpose is to have everybody onboard so they can submit the full passenger manifest for the cruise to DHS.