no breakfast before getting off ship!

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

...

The intention is more on closing security leaks so terrorists do not try to get them through.

...

 

Perhaps they should better screen the HUGE amounts of international shipments, by both sea and air... If someone really wants a dirty bomb, or whatever, that is the way it's coming in. Not on a cruise ship which departed a US port, visits a few islands, and returns.

 

You are right though... to debate it on a message board is a futile endeavor, though not without its ups and downs!

 

Tom

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

Perhaps someone read your posts and you divulged something.

 

Methinks sometimes I set myself up as well... :o

 

Tom

[fan1080]

I have no problem with being searched or detained or delayed in order to keep me safe. What the OP described to me however is NOT acceptable.

There is no reason CCL should have not informed them what was going on....just barking orders to get off the ship 'NOW' is not OK.

 

Also what Tom described going through with customs is not acceptable. It had nothing to do with his safety or anyone else's.

 

I never said his experience was ok. It would seem he had an agent with a bit of an attitude, it happens.

 

My response here was directed at the other poster who posted about one-way flights and vehicle picks-ups. Completely different circumstances.

[fan1080]

Perhaps they should better screen the HUGE amounts of international shipments, by both sea and air... If someone really wants a dirty bomb, or whatever, that is the way it's coming in. Not on a cruise ship which departed a US port, visits a few islands, and returns.

 

You are right though... to debate it on a message board is a futile endeavor, though not without its ups and downs!

 

Tom

 

Agreed, and see my earlier post about my response not being related to customs so much as the other experience I originally quoted.

[lady_cruiser]

The customs guy said we were randomly picked :eek: but it was a little unnerving they way they handled it.

 

Bill

 

Randomly picked??? Now that is scary.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

Randomly picked??? Now that is scary.

 

The fear of being randomly picked out is what's supposed to keep you from breaking the law.

 

FEAR (of being caught, prosecuted, sentenced, etc...) is a GREAT deterrent - at least for sensible, rational individuals! ;)

 

Tom

[goose30]

Wow..crazy! I was told that even if I buy a ring or piece of any jewelry, not to claim it because they have no idea if you walked onto the ship day 1 with that ring or whatever on, kinda makes sense too,,,saves all the trouble. Good luck to all future cruisers!

 

Nice advice for an illegal activity.

[F22Smitty]

If you ever fly into Lima, Peru you will see the random system at it's finest.

 

When you get off the plane you go through customs (passport check and stamp). Then you go pick up your luggage. When you exit the luggage area everyone has to press a random search button. If the light turns green your good to go, if the light turns red, it's not your day.

 

You are escorted to the search area and you must remove everything from your carryon and luggage. Then you are patted down, repack everything, then they send you luggage through the x-ray machine and you walk through the scanner. At this time if everything is clean, you are good to go.

 

By the way, when a ship reaches port it comes under the control of US Customs and Boarder Patrol (Carnival has nothing to do with anything).

[caribsun]

I'm not going to answer the phone and make sure I am at breakfast before 8.

[Mary Ellen1]

Thanks S.S.Oceanlover for the info. Knowing what I know now, of your experience, I'd like to think that I'd just say to Guest Services that, "unless you can tell me what this is about, I'm going to get breakfast now, then I'll get off the ship."

 

Sound good? Not sure I'd be able to go through with it, though. :confused:

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

I'm not going to answer the phone and make sure I am at breakfast before 8.

 

LOL... they may come looking for you... guns drawn! ;)

 

Tom

[Salty The Sea Dog]

I'm not buying the random search excuse. I think your name must be similar to someone that is on the watch list and it must have set off some bells and whistle with Customs. If they were going to do a garden variety random search they would have done it in the terminal and not on the ship. The fact that your Sail and Sign card set off the alarm makes me think you were specifically targeted for whatever reason.

 

It sounds to me like Carnival didn't handle it very well and I would be writing a "strongly worded" letter to Carnival and seeking some restitution in the form of an OBC for their poor handling of the inconvenient and embarassing situation.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

If you ever fly into Lima, Peru you will see the random system at it's finest.

 

When you get off the plane you go through customs (passport check and stamp). Then you go pick up your luggage. When you exit the luggage area everyone has to press a random search button. If the light turns green your good to go, if the light turns red, it's not your day.

 

...

 

... just pay no attention to that man behind the curtain! ;)

 

Tom

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

I'm not buying the random search excuse. I think your name must be similar to someone that is on the watch list and it must have set off some bells and whistle with Customs. If they were going to do a garden variety random search they would have done it in the terminal and not on the ship. The fact that your Sail and Sign card set off the alarm makes me think you were specifically targeted for whatever reason.

 

It sounds to me like Carnival didn't handle it very well and I would be writing a "strongly worded" letter to Carnival and seeking some restitution in the form of an OBC for their poor handling of the inconvenient and embarassing situation.

 

Or at least a free breakfast! :D

 

Tom

[Salty The Sea Dog]

Which, btw, makes absolutely no sense. Small price to pay for safety/security.

 

The unfortunately thing is, the same people complaining about having to experience it, would likely be the first ones to complain that these organizations aren't doing enough to protect everyone when something goes wrong.

 

Well good for you Mr Super Citizen. I hope you are "honored" with a body cavity search on you next cruise. We all need to make small sacrifices to keep us all safe, you know.

[quickrate]

It's easy to forget those procedures and policies are in place to protect you and the rest of the public.

 

It's also easy to let it bother you if you are singled out. But, anyone that is innocent should accept it and appreciate the job these people do. I would be honored to experience it.

do you really think all the precautions that are being done are REALLY protecting us??? Of course, this is a totally different topic and I'm sorry the OP needed to go thru this. Not Fun!

Pat

[big_duck]

If you ever fly into Lima, Peru you will see the random system at it's finest.

 

When you get off the plane you go through customs (passport check and stamp). Then you go pick up your luggage. When you exit the luggage area everyone has to press a random search button. If the light turns green your good to go, if the light turns red, it's not your day.

 

You are escorted to the search area and you must remove everything from your carryon and luggage. Then you are patted down, repack everything, then they send you luggage through the x-ray machine and you walk through the scanner. At this time if everything is clean, you are good to go.

 

By the way, when a ship reaches port it comes under the control of US Customs and Boarder Patrol (Carnival has nothing to do with anything).

 

Cancun has the Easy Button system as well.

[quickrate]

That may be the intent, however none, not a single one, of the procedures instituted by TSA does anything to improve our security from terrorism. These procedures are all window dressing as the political hacks who have run this cabinet level agency since its inception either have no clue as to what really needs to be done or have not the will to start performing real security checks.

 

TSA would also be much less offensive to me if they did not make up the rules as they go along. I know I will be challenged on this, but strong evidence appears every day at any airport that this is true.

 

Doc

Well said!

Pat

[lla887]

It's easy to forget those procedures and policies are in place to protect you and the rest of the public.

 

It's also easy to let it bother you if you are singled out. But, anyone that is innocent should accept it and appreciate the job these people do. I would be honored to experience it.

 

Really?

[Cruzinbabe06]

Personally, I think Carnival was right for not saying why you have to get off the ship.

Why give someone a heads up, if they are doing something illegal?

For example, I am a Gate Agent for an airline. At times, TSA will set up their equipment and do random inspections on pax before they enter the aircraft. TSA will tell us to tell the pax to have their ID's out ready for inspection.

So when I make my boarding announcements I tell the pax "TSA is in the boarding area and will randomly select pax for screening, they will need to see some form of identification".

I always say to myself, what type of security is this? Giving the bad guy a "heads up" and a chance to dispose of anything dangerous they may have.

I spoke on it to one of TSA supervisors, while we were waiting in line to get lunch. I basically got a dumb look and no explanation. So what do I know, I'm just a gate agent.

I do feel for the OP, believe me. That would freak my family out. But we all know now, that if we get that call, what's about to happen.

For posting your experience, I say thank you.

[gtalum]

Yes, the "gate rape" is another useless tactic in security theater.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

Personally, I think Carnival was right for not saying why you have to get off the ship.

 

Why give someone a heads up, if they are doing something illegal?

 

For example, I am a Gate Agent for an airline. At times, TSA will set up their equipment and do random inspections on pax before they enter the aircraft. TSA will tell us to tell the pax to have their ID's out ready for inspection.

 

So when I make my boarding announcements I tell the pax "TSA is in the boarding area and will randomly select pax for screening, they will need to see some form of identification".

 

I always say to myself, what type of security is this? Giving the bad guy a "heads up" and a chance to dispose of anything dangerous they may have.

 

I spoke on it to one of TSA supervisors, while we were waiting in line to get lunch. I basically got a dumb look and no explanation. So what do I know, I'm just a gate agent.

 

I do feel for the OP, believe me. That would freak my family out. But we all know now, that if we get that call, what's about to happen.

 

For posting your experience, I say thank you.

 

 

 

I understand your issue with the TSA.

 

W/regard to Carnival ... I do think that if someone knew that they were taking part in some illegal activity that a call for them to GET OFF THE SHIP IMMEDIATELY would raise some suspicions on its own (can you say paranoia!).

 

If they really want to catch someone, let it come out of (seemingly) nowhere... let them be unprepared.

 

Tom

[Cruzinbabe06]

That's true also. In fact that's a good idea. When they swipe, it will go off.

Customs can come and do what they have to do.

Out of all the years I've cruised. Never heard anything like this before.

[kicia]

We usually don't have any problems going through Customs but there was one incident when we were leaving St. Thomas after a stay on the island. The only good thing is we got to the airport early.

 

I had all of our receipts in an envelope in my purse and we were under the limit so I thought we were good to go. We got to the customs agent and she asked for our receipts. I started to get the envelope from my purse and she said "I'll take that" and took my purse. The problem started because we had bought some jewelry and besides the receipts I had an appraisal form in my purse. The appraisal amount was higher than the receipt which is normal when buying jewelry in St. Thomas. The customs agent said that could not be right because of the difference. She called the jeweler on the island and she didn't believe him either and she ended up hanging up on him. I told the agent that it was getting late and we would miss our plane. She assured me that the airline had been notified and that the plane would wait for us. She was not wearing a name tag and would not tell us her name and she would not let us talk to anyone else in Customs. We went round and round about buying jewelry on St. Thomas because the prices were better but she wasn't going with that. She added the amount on the receipt AND the amount of the appraisal and said that we would have to pay duty on that amount.

 

We were getting very concerned about missing our plane so I told my husband we should just pay it and we'll fight it when we get home since I knew we were correct and she was wrong. We wrote a check and got out to the plane just as they were pulling the stairs away. No one on the plane knew anything about us being detained. So a few more minutes and we would have missed our flight.

 

When we got home I made copies of all of the receipts and the appraisal and explained the circumstances in a letter to Customs on St. Thomas. Shortly after that we received a check in the amount that we paid.

 

Since then we have seen the same customs agent and made sure we did not get in her line. The problem is that you have no rights to anything and the agent is totally in charge. It was easier to pay the duty and fight it later. At least the people in the Customs office in St. Thomas knew the rules.

 

The bottom line is that now we send our receipts and appraisals home. We're not going through that again.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

We usually don't have any problems going through Customs but there was one incident when we were leaving St. Thomas after a stay on the island. The only good thing is we got to the airport early.

 

I had all of our receipts in an envelope in my purse and we were under the limit so I thought we were good to go. We got to the customs agent and she asked for our receipts. I started to get the envelope from my purse and she said "I'll take that" and took my purse. The problem started because we had bought some jewelry and besides the receipts I had an appraisal form in my purse. The appraisal amount was higher than the receipt which is normal when buying jewelry in St. Thomas. The customs agent said that could not be right because of the difference. She called the jeweler on the island and she didn't believe him either and she ended up hanging up on him. I told the agent that it was getting late and we would miss our plane. She assured me that the airline had been notified and that the plane would wait for us. She was not wearing a name tag and would not tell us her name and she would not let us talk to anyone else in Customs. We went round and round about buying jewelry on St. Thomas because the prices were better but she wasn't going with that. She added the amount on the receipt AND the amount of the appraisal and said that we would have to pay duty on that amount.

 

We were getting very concerned about missing our plane so I told my husband we should just pay it and we'll fight it when we get home since I knew we were correct and she was wrong. We wrote a check and got out to the plane just as they were pulling the stairs away. No one on the plane knew anything about us being detained. So a few more minutes and we would have missed our flight.

 

When we got home I made copies of all of the receipts and the appraisal and explained the circumstances in a letter to Customs on St. Thomas. Shortly after that we received a check in the amount that we paid.

 

Since then we have seen the same customs agent and made sure we did not get in her line. The problem is that you have no rights to anything and the agent is totally in charge. It was easier to pay the duty and fight it later. At least the people in the Customs office in St. Thomas knew the rules.

 

The bottom line is that now we send our receipts and appraisals home. We're not going through that again.

 

It's almost like she was working on commission or something... WOW.

 

Don't you love it when people out-and-out LIE (holding the plane, or ship.. fill in the blank here) -- as it won't impact them at all, only YOU! :mad:

 

Tom