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Vancouver to San Francisco customs question


idealsol
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We're booked on the Pacific Coastal cruise Oct 13 to Oct 18

First US stop is in San Francisco, so I am assuming we will need to clear customs there?

Just wondering if anyone has experienced clearing customs in SF and if it takes much time. We would like to book a non-Princess excursion and we need to be off the ship fairly early

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Does your ship stop in Victoria? If no, you will clear US Immigration and Customs at Vancouver. If yes, you will clear at SF.

It does stop in Victoria. That's good news, tho not sure I understand the rationale. Thanks

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It does stop in Victoria. That's good news, tho not sure I understand the rationale. Thanks

Vancouver port has USA pre-clearance - especially handy for Alaskan cruised, where the next port is USA. The USA formalities are handled at check-in, so you can just hop off the ship in next port, no queues or line-ups or anything to hassle with

 

As you're stopping in a Canadian port before arriving in St, pre-clearance isn't an option, as you hit a "foreign" port first. So, USA entrance formalities done in San Francisco. As it's a one way cruise, everyone will get checked upon disembarkation..

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Does your ship stop in Victoria? If no, you will clear US Immigration and Customs at Vancouver. If yes, you will clear at SF.

Duh, I misread your reply, as confirmed by an additional poster

Thanks for the info

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A little bit off topic but still relative. We will be disembarking in Vancouver from an Alsaka cruise. I believe we will clear USA customs at Vancouver Airport. Can we use Global ENtry there to expedite the process?

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A little bit off topic but still relative. We will be disembarking in Vancouver from an Alsaka cruise. I believe we will clear USA customs at Vancouver Airport. Can we use Global ENtry there to expedite the process?

I don’t know about Vancouver but I know you can in Calgary. I would assume that would be the case for Vancouver.

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A little bit off topic but still relative. We will be disembarking in Vancouver from an Alsaka cruise. I believe we will clear USA customs at Vancouver Airport. Can we use Global ENtry there to expedite the process?

 

Yes. Discussed very frequently on the West Coast Departures board. There about 5 or 6 airports in Canada where you can "pre-clear" US Immigration and Customs, including using Global Entry.

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A little bit off topic but still relative. We will be disembarking in Vancouver from an Alsaka cruise. I believe we will clear USA customs at Vancouver Airport. Can we use Global ENtry there to expedite the process?

 

We just got off the Golden in Vancouver. Flew out via Alaskaair same day. Went thru

Global Entry very fast.

 

 

Greg

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So based on the replies we will be going thru customs in San Francisco, as our previous port will have been Victoria

SF is not our final, destination, that would be Los Angeles. SF is a port of call.

Given that, has anyone got a time estimate to go thru customs?

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So based on the replies we will be going thru customs in San Francisco, as our previous port will have been Victoria

SF is not our final, destination, that would be Los Angeles. SF is a port of call.

Given that, has anyone got a time estimate to go thru customs?

SF is your first port of entry into USA. As such, that's where you'll clear USA immigration and customs.

How long it takes will depend on how many agents they assign to your ship, whether they do it onboard by groups/number or whether it's in the terminal as you exit and so forth. There's really no real way to to guesstimate.. I'd count on it taking a while though.

Don't plan any trips for right soon after arrival...

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