Conference abbott::cruise_travel

345.0. "Some info on cruising as non-US citizens." by DSSDEV::SCHAN () Mon Jan 27 1992 17:52

    
    Hi everyone,
    
    I have been a reader of this notesfile for about six months now but I
    haven't read too much about cruising as a non-US citizen. Since I just
    finished my 7-day cruise on Carnival's Celebration as a non-US citizen,
    I thought I would share some information here. 
    
    I am a Permanent Resident of US but a citizen of Great Britain. When I 
    travel abroad, I usually use a US Re-entry Permit. But for this cruise, 
    I only had my Green Card with me. 
    
    The ship, Celebration, left out of Miami. Before I could get on board, 
    I had to go through a "check-in" line for non-US citizens. The line was
    very slow. The immigration officer looked at my cruise receipt, took my 
    Green Card away and gave me a boarding pass before I went onto the ship. 
    A passport was not required for US permanent Residents. For US citizens, 
    birth certificate could be used as the proof of citizenship. For those 
    foreigners who were not US permanent residents, they used passports and 
    the immigration officers kept their passports as well. All these 
    requirements may vary if you are travelling to other islands.
    
    Celebration stops at three places: San Juan, St. Thomas, St. Marteen.
    If you get off at these ports and want to get back onto the ship, you need
    to show your boarding pass regardless of citizenship status. The cruise
    line suggested us to bring a picture ID in addition to the boarding
    pass but no one asked us to show any picture ID. 
                                                           
    On the last day, everyone had to get ready to end the cruise vacation.
    The night before we arrived in Miami, the cruise crew asked us to leave
    our suitcases outside our cabin and they took care of moving them off
    the ship for us the next day. The morning in Miami, some immigration
    officers and custom officers came on board. All non-US citizens had to
    wait on the immigration line and get their green card or passport back.
    And then along with all the US citizens, we went through custom. It was
    quite easy even though the line was quite long and slow. If you don't
    rush yourself, it's not too bad.
                                                          
    - Sukie
                                                          

    
    Do you know about note #212? That note contains lots of discussions 
    on CARNIVAL's CELEBRATION. I will enter a reply there about my cruise
    experience and let this note concentrate on the travel document
    requirement.
    
    - Sukie
    

    I have just encountered an immigration problem that I find very
    discouraging.
    
    My son's fiancee is from Mexico.  They will be getting married and living 
    in the United States.  My husband and I had planned to give them a 
    Caribbean cruise for their honeymoon as a wedding gift.  I just found out 
    this morning that my son's fiancee cannot leave this country for six to 
    nine months after they are married, including a cruise -- even if she 
    were never to step one foot off the cruise ship.
    
    Has anyone else had a similar experience?