US Customs in St. Thomas

[chelle74]

We just returned from a cruise on the Norwegian Sun, which had a port day in St. Thomas. When we arrived in St. Thomas, US Customs officials boarded the ship and each passenger, whether disembarking or not, had to show a passport to the Customs officials (and fill out some form if not a US citizen) before being allowed to disembark.

 

My MIL cruised the week prior and said she did not have to go through Customs in St. Thomas, and she didn't recall having to do so on any of the other cruises she's taken. Is this normal procedure? DH and I suspected that it might be due to the bombing in Boston, which occurred a couple of days prior to our arrival in St. Thomas.

[Gopherpharm]

What other ports did this ship visit and in what order?

 

I've had to do customs when returning to a US port after visiting an international port, and St. Thomas is US territory so that would make sense. Example: cruise to cozumel and key west requires customs upon reaching key west.

[chelle74]

Our itinerary (in order):

 

Miami

Colombia

Aruba

Curacao

St. Maarten

St. Thomas

Miami

 

The previous week, my MIL was on Freedom of the Seas and she did not have to go through Customs in St. Thomas. Her itinerary was:

 

Port Canaveral

Cococay, Bahamas

St. Thomas

St. Maarten

Port Canaveral

[mrsfuzzmo]

We had to do that, but only once (Just so happens it was an NCL ship). It was in 2002 so I thought they just did it back then and not any more. Our last three times (last one in May 12) we did not. We will be there in two weeks. I'll let you know.

[chelle74]

We had to do that, but only once (Just so happens it was an NCL ship). It was in 2002 so I thought they just did it back then and not any more. Our last three times (last one in May 12) we did not. We will be there in two weeks. I'll let you know.

 

Did you stop in a foreign port prior to St. Thomas?

[agc291]

Our itinerary (in order):

 

Miami

Colombia

Aruba

Curacao

St. Maarten

St. Thomas

Miami

 

The previous week, my MIL was on Freedom of the Seas and she did not have to go through Customs in St. Thomas. Her itinerary was:

 

Port Canaveral

Cococay, Bahamas

St. Thomas

St. Maarten

Port Canaveral[/quote

 

Your MIL probably didnt have to do this because her only other stop was a private island. Are you sure everyone had to show a passport and not their BC etc. You do not need a passport to cruise so not everyone would show their passport.

[sail7seas]

It used to be that every time a ship stopped in St. Thomas if the previous port had been outside U.S., they did a full Immigration check but it has been years since we've seen that happen. They have full right to do it but they don't seem to do it consistently as in the past.

 

They used to give a little slip of paper that permitted people to leave the ship after clearing Immigration.

 

[chelle74]

Are you sure everyone had to show a passport and not their BC etc. You do not need a passport to cruise so not everyone would show their passport.

 

Sorry, I will clarify. If you boarded with a passport, you had to show your passport. Otherwise you showed your ID and birth certificate.

[chelle74]

It used to be that every time a ship stopped in St. Thomas if the previous port had been outside U.S., they did a full Immigration check but it has been years since we've seen that happen. They have full right to do it but they don't seem to do it consistently as in the past.

 

They used to give a little slip of paper that permitted people to leave the ship after clearing Immigration.

 

 

I did some web searches and couldn't find much, but from what I did find, you are correct... it used to be fairly common but is now nearly unheard of. Which is why I think Boston had something to do with it, especially since we didn't learn of the procedure until the night before. And US Customs took their time boarding and clearing everyone. We arrived in port at 8am, Customs boarded around 8:30 and we were able to disembark at around 10:00am (we were on Deck 4, so the last group to be called).

 

Once we cleared, a sticker was placed on our cabin card which allowed us to disembark. But EVERY passenger had to be cleared, even if they were not leaving the ship.

[blue_water]

Yes sail7seas is definitely right.

And the private island vs SXM as a previous port may be part of the reason you're seeing a difference here. No biggie - these do take place occasionally anyway.

 

Our ship was once commadered for several hours by US customs when we returned to Miami because a lovely passenger had purchased weed in Jamaica and the dogs found it in their bag. The cruiser in question hid from the authorities long enough to prevent anyone from getting off the ship for quite some time and of course we missed our late afternoon flight. Can't tell you how many ppl wanted a piece of that idiot.

But my point is although having to wait in line to get off at a port seems like a major hassle, be thankful you didn't have to deal with something worse.

[WhiteSoxFan]

I believe it has to do with the fact that the next port after St. Thomas is a US port with no foreign port in between. We had this when we did a Southern itinerary that finished St. Thomas then San Juan. Every other time I've been to St. Thomas we have stopped at a foreign port prior to our return.

[shof515]

my cruise starts in ny, we have a port call in san juan, pr and then head to st thomas the next day. any issues with customs?

[mn_isla_girl]

my cruise starts in ny, we have a port call in san juan, pr and then head to st thomas the next day. any issues with customs?

 

Shouldn't be any issues, Puerto Rico and St. Thomas are both US territories.

[sail7seas]

Shouldn't be any issues, Puerto Rico and St. Thomas are both US territories.

 

 

Even when going from one U.S. port to another U.S. Port CBP certainly can require a new Immigration check. It is rare they do it but it is possible and obviously one must comply.

 

If you visit Key West and the ship is cleared, the authorities can do a full inspection next day in FLL/Miami if they choose.

 

[OCruisers]

There was a time when we ALWAYS had to do this ... but have not, fortunately, in the past several years.

 

We had two cruises with port stops in St. Thomas (coming back from Southern Caribbean) both as recently as January 13 and did not have to.

 

Hope they will not start having us do this again!

 

LuLu

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