No more customs form?

We have been on 5 cruises out of 5 different ports (Miami, Port Canaveral, Seattle, Texas, & Long Beach, CA) this last year and none requires customs forms anymore. We asked the cruise line and they said they no longer require them.

It's not that the forms are eliminated, but rather they are electronic. You arrive at customs/immigration, scan your passport into a machine, then what used to be a paper form now appears on the screen, and you click off the responses. The completed form then prints out, and you give it to the agent to clear customs.

This was true for us coming into MIA airport from out of the country, but don't know if they do the same for arriving at the port.

That may be true at the Miami airport but it is not the case at the port of Miami. Sometimes your passport is scanned into an electronic device by an agent, sometimes the agent just looks at the passport and compares it to your face. There is no customs form in paper or electronic form. And, at least in my experience at the port of Miami, I have never even been asked if I have anything to declare since the forms were discontinued.

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No form needed in port of Tampa last weekend. Asked how much I spent (yes I keep a list) and they waved me thru.

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You make your customs declaration verbal to the officer.

It is great, we have not had to fill out customs forms for well over a year. So much nicer!

No paper form getting off Equinox in Miami November 6th.

A brief face to face with the customs agent and we were on our way.

No custom form in Seattle in August 2017.

Just at SEA two weeks ago connecting from an international flight...just electronic kiosks.

In Bayonne and San Juan we still fill out the form. That was in October.

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It's not that the forms are eliminated, but rather they are electronic. You arrive at customs/immigration, scan your passport into a machine, then what used to be a paper form now appears on the screen, and you click off the responses. The completed form then prints out, and you give it to the agent to clear customs.

What you have said is what we have done at the airport going through customs. We just got off Reflection in Fort Lauderdale on Nov 17, 2017. No machine or form to fill out. We do have global entry, all they did was scan passport.

I disembarked Reflection at Ft Lauderdale November 3. I was flagged leaving the ship and held for an escort to Immigration and Customs. Had to fill out the form at the gangway. Security said it was random, but it's not. Celebrity now turns over a list of passengers who made large onboard purchases. The waiting lounge at Customs had several couples who also made large onboard purchases. Don't know what the threshold is. The couple they processed before me apparently decided not to declare, even after being given several chances to revise the form. Customs tore their luggage apart. Found lots of stuff. I declared the Omega watch I purchased on the form. They didn't even open my luggage. Paid 3.4% and was on my way.

We also disembarked on Nov. 3 from Reflection...no customs forms to fill out, walked straight through without any issues as this was a transATL from Rome!

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I disembarked Reflection at Ft Lauderdale November 3. I was flagged leaving the ship and held for an escort to Immigration and Customs. Had to fill out the form at the gangway. Security said it was random, but it's not. Celebrity now turns over a list of passengers who made large onboard purchases. The waiting lounge at Customs had several couples who also made large onboard purchases. .

Celebrity has always turned over names of people who go over the US Customs limits. We've purchased jewelry from their C jewelry store a few times and we always had to report to a certain room on board before we were allowed to disembark. At that time, we saw that most who were there were turned in because they went over the limit on booze purchases on board.

I've forgotten what the custom limits are.

Anyone know?

Celebrity has always turned over names of people who go over the US Customs limits. We've purchased jewelry from their C jewelry store a few times and we always had to report to a certain room on board before we were allowed to disembark. At that time, we saw that most who were there were turned in because they went over the limit on booze purchases on board.

I always go over the booze limit, especially when I am driving away from the port. I always report it, but have never been stopped or asked to pay the extra duty.

Celebrity has always turned over names of people who go over the US Customs limits. We've purchased jewelry from their C jewelry store a few times and we always had to report to a certain room on board before we were allowed to disembark. At that time, we saw that most who were there were turned in because they went over the limit on booze purchases on board.

Maybe Celebrity has changed the process. Or, maybe it depends on the itinerary and port. On previous cruises, I've also bought jewelry onboard for my wife that was well above the customs limit and was never asked to report to some room. I was not asked to report on this cruise either. Just stopped at the gangway, ship officer called, given the customs form, escorted off ship and turned over to immigration and then customs. So, my advice is to fill out the form accurately and declare what needs to be declared. Otherwise, you're looking at the duty, fines, and a significant delay in leaving the port. Like I said, another couple had all their luggage and hand carry torn apart and spread out. They were even searching the luggage liners. I watched it all from the waiting room. And, they would bring in the occasional person that may have been selected at random, or verbally declared some purchases not made onboard.

I know of a person who failed to claim a piece of jewelry on their customs form and was caught several years ago. As a result they were denied Global Entry when they applied for it.

I've forgotten what the custom limits are.

 

Anyone know?

The limit is $800 per person, but if you stop at St Thomas, that exemption is increased to $1600, but a majority of the $1600 must have been purchased in St Thomas.

Disembarked from Fort Lauderdale today.

On the Silhouette they gave us custom forms that we filled out. While on the line our Porter said that they were not needed if you didn’t exceed the duty limit.

So We didn’t hand one over to the agent and he didn’t ask for one. Only one question was asked, were we bringing in any fruits or vegetables.?

So, my advice is to fill out the form accurately and declare what needs to be declared. Otherwise, you're looking at the duty, fines, and a significant delay in leaving the port.

My understanding is that in addition to a fine, the officers will confiscate the items that weren't declared. Not worth it to me; more often than not, when my customs form shows I am above my limit, I am waved through. Occasionally (and only at airports), I have paid the duty I owe. Not a problem--I want my stuff! ;)

What about Fort Lauderdale over this past Thanksgiving weekend?

Arrived at FL on Thanksgiving. Infinity was slow to clear for disembarkation. Our tour should have started at 8.00 am and left after 9.00 am. We are UK citizens and were en route to Miami airport. The non-US immigration line moved slowly, up to 5 minutes a couple. We were not asked any questions relating to customs and had not received any forms. We were not high spenders on board.

I was on the Summit earlier this month. We were given Customs forms, I filled mine out with my piddling purchases, the agent took it, looked at it, briefly surveyed me, and waved me through. It seems to still be expected for cruises out of San Juan.

Just disembarked from the Equinox in Miami on Nov 16th ...no customs form. It was really strange to just walk off the ship, grab our luggage and be on our way.

We went through immigration when we returned from the ABC islands into Key West. Even immigration was set up to get us through quickly and efficiently. This was definitely a nice surprise.

Just disembarked the Reflection this morning in Ft. Lauderdale.

Carried my own luggage off the ship, walked up to the customs officer, placed 4 US passports on the counter in front of him, he picked them up, handed them back (without even opening them) and said welcome home. I think total disembarkation time from exiting the ship to getting in a cab was 6 minutes.