Nieuw Amsterdam Coast Guard Inspection Before Sailing??

[grammie2maddie]

I read on another board that boarding might be delayed due to a Coast Guard inspeciton.

I have just called Ship Services AND the main Holland America line. I was told twice that there would be no delay in boarding due to an inspection. I know you CCers know a lot about HAL and cruising in general, so could someone please clarify this?

 

I spoke to Pam at the main HAL office, and she said the ship was inaugaurated in NY - so this would not be a 'first time cruise for her'.

 

I'm slightly confused - I had looked forward to eating in the MDR upon boarding - we've cruised HAL one other time. Any info would be great!

[Krazy Kruizers]

I think Pam has her ships confused.

The Nieuw Amsterdam has not been to New York.

And when she does get to the US -- yes she will be inspected -- due expect a delay on boarding if you are on her first cruise out of the US.

[Krazy Kruizers]

In fact -- when she leaves Europe -- she will go firectly to Ft Lauderdale -- she won't even be visiting New York.

[jhannah]

I spoke to Pam at the main HAL office, and she said the ship was inaugaurated in NY - so this would not be a 'first time cruise for her'.

 

I think Pam has her ships confused.

Seems par for the course with the folks in Seattle. It's amazing how uninformed many of them seem to be, based on posts made here.

[Mary Ellen]

I wouldn't be surprised for there to be a delay in boarding. Last year we were on a HAL ship that had been out of the U.S. for a number of months. We were told there could be a delay in our disembarkation as ICE could have the entire officers/crew go though a complete processing (officers and crew were essentially all foreign nationals who had either been out of the U.S. for an extended time or were new and had not previously entered the U.S.).

 

In our case there wasn't a delay as the ship was immediately heading to the Bahamas for drydock and ICE decided to hold off the inspection until after the ship returned to Ft. Lauderdale post-drydock. So, between USCG and ICE inspections, there very well could be delays in embarkation.

 

Good luck.

[eroller]

I'm on this first sailing out of FLL, and from experience I can tell you that passengers can be boarding the ship and enjoying the ship during this inspection. HAL has anticipated that the process may take longer than the usual turn-around time, which is why the ship is not scheduled to depart FLL until 8pm. Boarding is still listed as 1pm.

 

This is not to say there won't be delays, there could be. I don't think there is any way of knowing this for sure in advance, as these inspections are dynamic. As far as HAL is concerned for passengers, it's business as usual.

 

What may delay boarding more than the Coast Guard Inspection is the disembarkation of the previous passengers. Being that it is the first time the ship has visited the US, there may be some additional Customs & Immigration scrutiny with disembarking passengers. Something to consider.

 

Ernie

[bishop84]

I wouldn't be surprised for there to be a delay in boarding. Last year we were on a HAL ship that had been out of the U.S. for a number of months. We were told there could be a delay in our disembarkation as ICE could have the entire officers/crew go though a complete processing (officers and crew were essentially all foreign nationals who had either been out of the U.S. for an extended time or were new and had not previously entered the U.S.).

 

In our case there wasn't a delay as the ship was immediately heading to the Bahamas for drydock and ICE decided to hold off the inspection until after the ship returned to Ft. Lauderdale post-drydock. So, between USCG and ICE inspections, there very well could be delays in embarkation.

 

Good luck.

 

Just a little correction in that it is Customs & Border Protection (CBP) who do the Immigration and Customs checks on guests and crew and not Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

[sail7seas]

USPH could also appear to inspect the ship when she arrives at her first U.S. Port. She has not yet had a U.S. Public Health Inspection.

 

PAM in Seattle should get Lots more training. :rolleyes:

 

[Mary Ellen]

Just a little correction in that it is Customs & Border Protection (CBP) who do the Immigration and Customs checks on guests and crew and not Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

OK, I'll admit I didn't pay that close attention to how was doing the inspections. It was some government entity that deals with immigration. ;)

[Krazy Kruizers]

A couple of times when we did back-to-back cruises, the ships were due for inspection and we were not allowed back on the ship on that Intransit day until they were completely done.

Long wait in the Ft Lauderdale cruise terminal.

[bishop84]

OK, I'll admit I didn't pay that close attention to how was doing the inspections. It was some government entity that deals with immigration. ;)

 

Quite true, you can never be too sure who is doing what and for which entity they actually belong to, especially when they all appear to be wearing the same type of uniform.

 

However they are very protective of their own identities. I was on one ship where the Cruise Director had to apologise over the announcement system for announcing CBP as the Customs & Border Patrol.

[Boytjie]

I spoke to Pam at the main HAL office, and she said the ship was inaugaurated in NY - so this would not be a 'first time cruise for her'.

 

The disinformation that comes from there is amazing! The first port of call in the USA for NA is Ft. Lauderdale. She was inaugurated Europe.

[E-500]

What may delay boarding more than the Coast Guard Inspection is the disembarkation of the previous passengers. Being that it is the first time the ship has visited the US, there may be some additional Customs & Immigration scrutiny with disembarking passengers. Something to consider.

 

Ernie

 

We're on the leg from Europe ending in FLL on the 7th and will have been out of the country for over 3 weeks. (U.S. Citizens) Can you please elaborate on your comments above. Thanks

[sail7seas]

U.S. citizen guests should not have any further Immigration Inspection than is held for every cruise. Barring some unusual circumstance, you should expect to disembark as usual in FLL, clear Immigration and Customs and be on our way.

 

[eroller]

We're on the leg from Europe ending in FLL on the 7th and will have been out of the country for over 3 weeks. (U.S. Citizens) Can you please elaborate on your comments above. Thanks

 

 

Well there may be no delays, it's hard to say. I guess it depends on how organized the ship is, and what Customs & Immigration has up their sleeve. They may subject the ship and passengers to slightly more scrutiny being that it's coming from Europe and it will be the first US call. This is what happened when I sailed on the transatlantic on GOLDEN PRINCESS and we arrived in Ft. Lauderdale. It was the first US call for that ship too. It seemed to take forever for the ship to be cleared, and I'm sure some people missed early flights and it delayed embarkation for new passengers. I'm not saying this is what will happen with NIEUW AMSTERDAM, but it's a possibility as there are some unknowns since it's the ship's first US call.

 

Ernie

[CruiserBruce]

Additional scrutiny can be a few additional questions as you show your passport, and our suitcases were xrayed. That was as we re-entered from Europe this month. We attracted attention because we had visited 10 countires, and as we had declared we had alcohol in our suitcase. Takes maybe 10 mins, and is random.

[BruceMuzz]

When a cruise ship visits a US Port for the first time ever - or the first time in the season - there is an extremely good chance that clearance will take longer than planned - or is usual.

 

CBP insists on having absolute control on the clearance process.

They decide which room(s) will be utilized for crew inspection clearance.

They decide which room(s) will be utilized for each nationality inspection clearance.

They decide which groups will be inspected in which order.

They decide where they will eat.

They decide what they will eat and drink.

They decide which entrances and exits will be used for each room.

They decide which lighting levels will be used.

They decide if background music will be playing and at which volume in each room.

 

If the CBP Officers have never been aboard the ship, these decisions cannot be made in advance and are subject to time-consuming discussions and changes once they board.

 

After a few visits, the ship's officers and the CBP Officers develop a close working relationship that allows them to get things organized well in advance of arrival, allowing the process to start on time and proceed very quickly and smoothly.

 

It is also very likely that if the ship has never visited the USA, or has been outside the USA for several months, the surprise bi-annual USPH inspection is due or overdue. The ship's crew will have been working many extra hours in the previous days to prepare for this inspection.

 

There are many F&B procedures that ships perform on a daily basis (outside the USA) that are not allowed by USPH inside the USA. Typically, breakfast service on the last morning in the first US Port call will be much slower than usual due to the extra hoops the crew must jump through in anticipation of a surprise inspection. This can also delay crew clearance, passenger clearance, and domino into a delay for new passengers boarding later in the day.

[jcrandle]

Keep in mind that a consideration in any security force is that their actions should NOT be predictable. When the bad guys are able to predict what they will examine and when, their job becomes MUCH more difficult. While to the layman (me) their actions may seem arbitrary, it may well be that some randomness puts the evildoers at greater risk. They have a tough job, as 99.9 per cent of the folks they process have no evil intent, but they still have to catch the 0.001 per cent that intend to break the law.

[deserttraveler]

Trying to second-guess all this stuff is fruitless. My worst embarkation out of eight, including Rome, Barcelona twice, Seattle, Vancouver, and Los Angeles was at FLL when the ship was inspected by three different agencies and we had to stand in line outdoors (moderate temps, light drizzle) for almost two hours, finally boarding around 1:15. This is not related to which cruise line, and may be impossible to predict which ship . I don't hear a lot of complaints about FLL, so I've assumed my experience was unusual.

 

Easiest embark and disembark has been Barcelona, worst disembark, Civitavecchia. But who knows if this is the day, the port, the ship, the weather, or what?

[dmwnc1959]

Thought I'd link these two threads since they appear to be talking along the same lines

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1288650