back to back at Port Everglades

[Ba' Datz]

I haven't done a B2B before and was wondering about the immigration & customs, and boarding procedure at PE.

 

The first cruise is a round trip in the Caribbean with no US ports. Do the people doing B2B disembark like regular cruisers and have to go through Immigration and Customs individually or is there a "group leader" who takes them through the process and then brings them back onboard? In either case are they required to do the whole biometric data thing like they would do at an airport entry?

Where and when do they get the second Sea Card? Do they have to be photographed again or do you get both at the first embarkation?

I am talking about an RCL cruise if it makes any difference

 

Any help from recent B2B cruisers would be appreciated

[CruiserBruce]

This will depend some on the cruise line and ship involved, and is very commonly discussed on various cruise line boards. The new Sea card issue is very cruise line specific. On HAL, you use the same card for both cruises, if you booked the cruise on one booking number.

 

The situation is that all ships have to "zero down", meaning all pax, and a number of special types of employees, have to clear Immigration and Customs. Some ships are required to bring all pax and those employees ashore, and thus "empty" the ship of those required to do Immigration and Customs. Some ships do some of the procedure on board, and complete it ashore, and some do it entirely on board. There aren't many ships in the last category.

 

Usually the process involved "scanning" off the ship, showing your passport to Immigration, and getting back on. Your comment about biometrics indicates you are probably not a US citizen. I am not aware non US citizens have to do anything different.

 

You may go off on an excursion instead, but you accounted for in the system when you leave the ship, and come back.

[capriccio]

CruiserBruce has given you a good description of the general process. If you post your questions on the Royal Caribbean Board (https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=83) you will get detailed, RCL specific responses.

[Ba' Datz]

This will depend some on the cruise line and ship involved, and is very commonly discussed on various cruise line boards. The new Sea card issue is very cruise line specific. On HAL, you use the same card for both cruises, if you booked the cruise on one booking number.

 

The situation is that all ships have to "zero down", meaning all pax, and a number of special types of employees, have to clear Immigration and Customs. Some ships are required to bring all pax and those employees ashore, and thus "empty" the ship of those required to do Immigration and Customs. Some ships do some of the procedure on board, and complete it ashore, and some do it entirely on board. There aren't many ships in the last category.

 

Usually the process involved "scanning" off the ship, showing your passport to Immigration, and getting back on. Your comment about biometrics indicates you are probably not a US citizen. I am not aware non US citizens have to do anything different.

 

You may go off on an excursion instead, but you accounted for in the system when you leave the ship, and come back.[/quote

Thanks for your reply. I did post that it is a Royal Caribbean cruise in order to try and get a more focused answer. And I am an born and bred American. If you have a passport with a chip, at the airports they require you to give an electronic fingerprint scan if you go to an immigration Officer and if you use a kiosk they definitely scan your face. That is why I used the term biometrics

[capriccio]

 

Thanks for your reply. I did post that it is a Royal Caribbean cruise in order to try and get a more focused answer.

 

You will get more focused replies on the Royal Caribbean board because those are the cruisers with B2B experience on Royal Caribbean. I could explain how Princess handles B2Bs (and it varies given the number of B2B passengers) but that means nothing when you are cruising on another line.