sxphil Posted November 26, 2019 #1 Share Posted November 26, 2019 A good friend of mine is flying to Barbados from the UK to do his first cruise on the Azura on dec27th He is getting conflicting stories regarding whether he needs an Esta As Barbados isn't a US Island he thinks no but his Partner thinks they do He isn't getting an answer from either P&O or US Websites so he asked me Whats the thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeanlyon Posted November 26, 2019 #2 Share Posted November 26, 2019 (edited) If he is flying direct from Barbados to the UK, the answer is no. Where is Azura going. If to the States, then yes. But I don't think she goes there. UPDATE, just checked itinerary. No US ports. And anyway, he can check requirements on Cruise Personaliser. Edited November 26, 2019 by jeanlyon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerryincork Posted November 26, 2019 #3 Share Posted November 26, 2019 If you have connecting flights through USA then you do need it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sxphil Posted November 26, 2019 Author #4 Share Posted November 26, 2019 He doesn't stop on Mainland USA but does visit Tortola which is a US Virgin Island Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianI Posted November 26, 2019 #5 Share Posted November 26, 2019 Tortola is on the British Virgin Islands, not US. Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sxphil Posted November 26, 2019 Author #6 Share Posted November 26, 2019 Just now, BrianI said: Tortola is on the British Virgin Islands, not US. Brian Well you learn something everyday Thanks Brian guess BVI makes sense now lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wowzz Posted November 26, 2019 #7 Share Posted November 26, 2019 From memory, none of the standard 7 and 14 day cruises in the Caribbean, or the repositioning cruises go anywhere near a US port. The complexities and times delays in clearing US immigration for a ship load of Brits is bad enough on the 35 day cruises, let alone the 14 day cruises. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteukmcr Posted November 26, 2019 #8 Share Posted November 26, 2019 The only issue is (and it’s very poor of P&O not to provide advice on this) is that if a flight to or returning from Barbados needed to touch down in the USA (or if the cruise ship needed to call into a US ‘island’) for any emergency, or the traveller themselves had to be diverted to the US for medical attention, then an ESTA would be required. So strictly speaking, no, an ESTA is not required, but if travels plans had to change and ‘entry’ into the US was required, then an ESTA would be required and without it the traveller would be refused entry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wowzz Posted November 26, 2019 #9 Share Posted November 26, 2019 13 minutes ago, peteukmcr said: The only issue is (and it’s very poor of P&O not to provide advice on this) is that if a flight to or returning from Barbados needed to touch down in the USA (or if the cruise ship needed to call into a US ‘island’) for any emergency, or the traveller themselves had to be diverted to the US for medical attention, then an ESTA would be required. So strictly speaking, no, an ESTA is not required, but if travels plans had to change and ‘entry’ into the US was required, then an ESTA would be required and without it the traveller would be refused entry. But, to be fair, the same criticism can be applied to any airline flying to the Caribbean from Europe. No aircraft is going to be denied landing permission in the US because the passengers on board do not have ESTAs. A totally spurious argument. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grapau27 Posted November 27, 2019 #10 Share Posted November 27, 2019 13 hours ago, sxphil said: A good friend of mine is flying to Barbados from the UK to do his first cruise on the Azura on dec27th He is getting conflicting stories regarding whether he needs an Esta As Barbados isn't a US Island he thinks no but his Partner thinks they do He isn't getting an answer from either P&O or US Websites so he asked me Whats the thoughts? An Esta costs around $11 on the US Homeland Security site and lasts 2 years. It takes around 10 minutes online to get it so to have total peace of mind it is worth having. We keep renewing ours every 2 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sxphil Posted November 27, 2019 Author #11 Share Posted November 27, 2019 Esta is $14 and as he may travel to USA later next year he has applied for one TO COVER ALL BASES for his up and coming Dec Cruise Thanks for all the helpful comments Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrierjohn Posted November 27, 2019 #12 Share Posted November 27, 2019 10 hours ago, wowzz said: But, to be fair, the same criticism can be applied to any airline flying to the Caribbean from Europe. No aircraft is going to be denied landing permission in the US because the passengers on board do not have ESTAs. A totally spurious argument. And I imagine in such emergency situations that arrangements to issue ESTAs would be made for passengers without them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CCFC Posted November 27, 2019 #13 Share Posted November 27, 2019 If it goes to St Thomas you need an ESTA, last time we went there, there were 400 people on the ship without an ESTA and they had to open up the internet café for free so they could apply. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sxphil Posted November 27, 2019 Author #14 Share Posted November 27, 2019 4 hours ago, CCFC said: If it goes to St Thomas you need an ESTA, last time we went there, there were 400 people on the ship without an ESTA and they had to open up the internet café for free so they could apply. That sounds ridiculous that they weren't pre warned but as I said my friend has been given conflicting advice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanCruise Posted November 27, 2019 #15 Share Posted November 27, 2019 The only P&O cruise that seems to go to St Thomas (US Virgin Islands) is N101on 3 Jan 2021 - and that goes to lots of other US ports as well. That one will require an ESTA. The other caribean cruises only go to Tortola which as stated before is British Virgin Islands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wowzz Posted November 27, 2019 #16 Share Posted November 27, 2019 18 minutes ago, AlanCruise said: The only P&O cruise that seems to go to St Thomas (US Virgin Islands) is N101on 3 Jan 2021 - and that goes to lots of other US ports as well. That one will require an ESTA. The other caribean cruises only go to Tortola which as stated before is British Virgin Islands. That's the one we are on! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wowzz Posted November 27, 2019 #17 Share Posted November 27, 2019 5 hours ago, CCFC said: If it goes to St Thomas you need an ESTA, last time we went there, there were 400 people on the ship without an ESTA and they had to open up the internet café for free so they could apply. In the "old" days, ESTAs were approved immediately. Nowadays it can take up to 3 days for approval, so that solution would now no longer work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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