What if the government (USA) shuts down while you're cruising?

[eyern1]

We're scheduled to be cruising from Port Canaveral Nov 12-19, and as such, the government funding deadline falls on the 15th I think. Has anyone ever returned from a cruise during a government shutdown? If so, what were the effects? If they do, I'm anticipating very slow disembarcation times due to few if any TSA and customs employees working. I'm certainly glad we are not flying as we would be worried about catching our plane on time and also the hassle involved with TSA at the airport. How about it?

[CruiserBruce]

First of all, you won't be dealing with any TSA employees at the port. At an airport, yes, but not at the port. As you are not flying, you won't be interacting with TSA.

 

Secondly, CBP and TSA are "mandated" employees. They work during shutdowns. 

[Aquahound]

Not having their admin assistants in the office will not prevent exempted personnel such as CBP and TSA from doing their jobs.  😉  In other words, CruiserBruce is correct.  CBP will still be on the job.  Go and enjoy your cruise.  

[janetz]

Don’t worry about it 😊

[dolittle]

Was on a cruise when this was going on before ,had no effect and I was ignoring it anyway .You should do the same.

[eyern1]

Thanks all.  There were no worries. I was just wondering.

[ontheweb]

How a government shutdown could affect Thanksgiving travel (msn.com)

[CoW mAn]

On 11/5/2023 at 10:31 AM, CruiserBruce said:

First of all, you won't be dealing with any TSA employees at the port. At an airport, yes, but not at the port. As you are not flying, you won't be interacting with TSA.

 

Secondly, CBP and TSA are "mandated" employees. They work during shutdowns. 

They're mandated however historically during a shutdown they call in sick in substantially greater numbers so while they won't be shut down they are likely to be understaffed so a longer line at customs and delayed embarking/debarking are possible

[CruiserBruce]

6 minutes ago, CoW mAn said:

They're mandated however historically during a shutdown they call in sick in substantially greater numbers so while they won't be shut down they are likely to be understaffed so a longer line at customs and delayed embarking/debarking are possible

Hard to say "historically" as a shut downs aren't that common...only 10 total, and 3 since the TSA was created. Lots of near misses, but only those few actual shut downs.  Do you have stats on sick call rates during shutdowns?

[CoW mAn]

On 11/16/2023 at 10:55 AM, CruiserBruce said:

Hard to say "historically" as a shut downs aren't that common...only 10 total, and 3 since the TSA was created. Lots of near misses, but only those few actual shut downs.  Do you have stats on sick call rates during shutdowns?

I read about it in news articles