Canadians disembarking Freedom at Port Everglades?

[ruby2sday13]

I have heard that, on some ships (or at some ports), non-U.S. residents have to go through a special customs/immigration check.

 

Are there any Canadians out there who have cruised on the Carnival Freedom, embarking/disembarking at Port Everglades (Fort Lauderdale)?

 

We would like to know if there are any special customs/immigration checks we will need to go through before disembarking our cruise. Also, would like to know if there are any special customs/immigration checks for non-U.S. residents (specifically, Canadians) at our ports (Key West, Grand Cayman, Ocho Rios).

 

Thanks!

[Nunu]

All passengers must go through customs on arrival. There is a separate line for non-U.S. citizens.

[gargoyle999]

My DW is a US resident (alien) (ha ha I like saying that she doesn't like it) and Canadian citizen. When we got off the Miracle there was no special procedure. We just got off the ship when our number was called, found our luggage, got a porter and he just took us to a line.

 

We did not have to go through a separate line for non US citizens in Ft Lauderdale in February.

[stay_or_go]

Passengers without US passports have to meet customs on-board before getting off the ship in order to be precleared. This has happened to us on all our cruises (I think).

 

Last year on the legend, we slept in and the crew called our room, came to wake us up and paged us over the loud speakers until we made it there to be pre-cleared.

 

I think we had to be in the lounge at 7:00am as well and that was just too early to get out of bed after being in the casino until 3:00am.

 

I am not sure if it is all sailings or not, but be prepared to be up early on the last day just in case.

[TabithaK]

I would also like to know what happens in Fort Lauderdale and Miami. I know that in Tampa Canadians have to pre-clear customs on the ship early in the morning. In Port Canaveral we didn't have to do this - just went through the same line as everyone else.

[Will&Hel]

We ( 6 brits) sailed on Freedom earlier this year from Fort Lauderdale. No special lines coming off through immigration for non US citizens just went ashore when our number was called, picked up our cases and off.

 

There was also no distinction between US and non-US Citizens at the ports we visited- just need a photo id and your Sail & Sign

[RizzoLee]

Yeah, we'll never cruise from Tampa again - not only did we have to pre-clear early in the morning, they called US citizens before letting any non-citizens off! Our ride was able to get off at 7:30am, and we had to wait until 9:00am. Lovely since we had to pre-clear at 6am.

 

I believe we had to pre-clear at one other port in Florida as well, but I can't remember which one. It was one of either: Port Canaveral, FLL or MIA.

 

Some will also retain your passport, some won't - not sure if they still do that as we've been able to keep ours for the past few years now.

[big_duck]

Yeah, we'll never cruise from Tampa again - not only did we have to pre-clear early in the morning, they called US citizens before letting any non-citizens off! Our ride was able to get off at 7:30am, and we had to wait until 9:00am. Lovely since we had to pre-clear at 6am.

 

I believe we had to pre-clear at one other port in Florida as well, but I can't remember which one. It was one of either: Port Canaveral, FLL or MIA.

 

Some will also retain your passport, some won't - not sure if they still do that as we've been able to keep ours for the past few years now.

 

Procedures have changed a lot in the last few years. It was a bit of a surprise to us that we had to pre-clear on the Legend.

[stay_or_go]

I really don't know what the big deal is.

 

We have to enter the country at the border, we have to fill out all the post cruise destination information, and we have to stand in line with everyone else when leaving the ship.

 

On the Legend pre-clearance, it took about 30 seconds and they did not ask any qestions.

 

I just don't get it and I have the 6:00 am stuff on the last day. We were paged for about 30 min because we slept in.

[rickb]

Did this exact cruise in June and we got off the ship with everyone else and I think we even went through the same customs line as well.

[ruby2sday13]

Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences. It's nice to know that the disembarkation process for non U.S. citizens is different at Port Everglades than it is in Tampa.

[arpie05]

On the Sensation in August they made all non US citizens check in with Custom officials before 7 am, I believe, in the Library. This was the first time I recall this on a cruise. (in recent years)

 

It may have been earlier than 7 am - I know it just was really early.

[sandygal]

Over the years I've noticed that sometimes they do this and sometimes they don't. Could it have something to do with the ports of call? I have to say that it is a few years since I've had to get up early and go to a special location on any day of the recent cruises I've taken. I'm a U.S resident,too, with a green card.