Timing of Magic "arrival" in St. Thomas

[mikeymars]

Question for the 7 date veterans: the official DCL itinerary for the eastern Magic cruise says it arrives in St. Thomas on Thursdays at 7am. I'm assuming (from experience on other crusie lines) that this published "arrival time" is approximate, and refers to the time when the ship docks, not the time passengers are able to actually get off the ship (which is later). How early can one actually get off the Magic in St. Thomas? Specifically, can one get off early enough to possibly make the 8am ferry to St. John in Red Hook?

 

[peter pans family]

I think you might be cutting it close for an 8a.m ferry. We were on the Magic last week and we had to be down for customs at 7:10a.m and I think they cleared the boat around 7:45 a.m.

 

[Señor Ferrari]

All of the people I spoke to who went early to St. John took the 9:00am ferry from Red Hook. I think you'd have a problem making it by 8:00am, especially if they're back to doing the immigration thing on Wednesday morning.

 

[mikeymars]

Thanks - I assumed that the usual immigration bureaucracy would mean a half hour to forty-five minute difference between the published "arrival" time and when one actually gets off the ship (it does on every cruise). Our plans aren't critically based on getting that 8am ferry, I was just curious if that was possible would give us an extra hour on the beach).

 

[DisneyKids]

Check the immigration times and go when they begin if you want to try and make the early ferry. We went to the earliest (6:45 or so) and I bet we would have been able to make that ferry. Also, it seems the earlier groups get through more quickly because many people get there late and things back up. It was awful getting up that early (especially with 2 young kids) but it was great to be ready to roll before 7:30.

 

[mikeymars]

Ah - so after all there may be a possibility of getting off the ship in time to make that 8am ferry!! Thanks for the heads up. As for having to get up early to do that (with kids), our crew spent 9 days at WDW last August and trust me we are used to and quite capable of getting up very early, as long as we know it is going to give us some sort of advantage. Also, sorry, my orginal post got the St. Thomas day wrong - it's Wednesday, not Thursday.

 

[DisneyKids]

I hope I don't lead you in the wrong direction. Your crew will be cursing me for the hour of sleep lost! I would say that you have a chance but I can't be sure since we didn't try (I don't know how far off the ship the ferry is, etc.). Good luck and, if you do try and miss it, you'll have a little extra time at Topsiders to enjoy the morning! Not a bad thing. What I wouldn't give for a little time at Topsiders right now!!!!!

Have a great trip.

 

[Señor Ferrari]

My understanding is that they don't let anyone off the ship until it has cleared immigration, i.e. everyone has gone down (or up) to the theatre and had their proof of citizenship checked. I don't know this, because I didn't try to get off the ship until later in the morning, but I do know that they were calling certain staterooms at around 8:00am and asking that they report to Immigration.

The cab ride from the Havensight pier to Red Hook is probably about 20-30 minutes, so you'd have to be off the ship at 7:30 at the very latest to be able to make the 8:00am ferry. I'm told that you have to be among the first off the ship to make the 9:00am.

I have an old Navigator from our first trip (pre-Sept 11 and mass immigration check), and it listed the arrival time at 7:30 am and appoximate all-ashore at 8:15am for St. Thomas.

 

[spotssister]

I was there last October. I'm pretty sure Senor Ferrari is right. No one can get off the ship until everyone has gone through immigration.

I went through immigration and then went back to bed. Sick the whole day. Didn't see St. Thomas / St. John except briefly from my verandah. Have to go again!! It's the western Caribbean this October.

 

[mikeymars]

Thanks for all the responses - this story gets more and more interesting. As I mentioned on another thread, we already have a reservation on the St. John 5 star snorkel/swim excursion (which we are holding until we figure out our plans for Wednesday), which per the documents we got from DCL is supposed to leave at 7:30. Wonder how that is done if people are still waiting to get off the ship at 8:30!!!!

 

[mikeymars]

One other question - is this whole "immigration/citizenship check for every passenger before being allowed off" thing in St. Thomas something new (ergo, another well intentioned but unfortunately kneejerk response to the post 9/11 environment?) Asking because we've been to St. Thomas twice before on other cruise lines, and neither time did we have to go through this sort of bureaucratic process there. On both those prior cruises -- one of which was as recently as January 2000 -- the ship docked, some local immigration staff boarded, spoke to the ship officers/reviewed whatever ship documents for five minutes at most, and then it was doors open and everyone off. No showing individual documents, no lines, no delays. What gives?)

 

[Señor Ferrari]

Mikeymars-

I like your description of the immigration check, and yes, it is a response to the 9/11 attacks. We went on the 7-day in Sept.-Oct. 2000 and did not have to get up early for Immigration then. The cruise line was adamant in saying that this is required by the INS. It's only required of ships arriving in a US port from a foreign port (in this case Philipsburg, St. Maarten). If a cruise's itinerary goes from, say, Florida to San Juan to St. Thomas, I don't think they would have to do this.

On the excursion topic, I did hear second-hand that people that have early-morning excursions are allowed to go through Immigration early, instead of at the time specified for their deck, but I don't know for sure if they let anyone off the ship until the mass check is finished.

On a related note, there were uniformed security officers (I don't know if it was police officers or not) at the base of the pier in St. Maarten, checking for IDs and room keys from passengers from all 4 ships in port that day (December 2001). They wouldn't even let you on the pier if you weren't a passenger. This was in addition to the cruise line crews checking IDs at the ships. There was no such similar security at Havensight in St. Thomas, at least none that I could see.

 

[mikeymars]

Thanks Senor - I guess we all have to live with the new reality. I don't mind producing and showing identity documents, but given what we pay to go on these cruises, losing an hour or so of shore time to stand in line on board to do that is unfortunate. All we are used to in the past is showing a ship officer at the door our I.D.s when reboarding after a day on shore, and in fact in the past I noticed the officers not checking I.D.s on everyone (people like us -- we look like textbook WASPs -- often just got waved by).

 

[Towncrier]

When we cruised in August 2000 (long before 9/11), we still had to wait for all non-US citizens to clear customs before we could leave the ship. The events of 9/11 only caused a brief change in the rules where everyone had to clear customs at St. Thomas, not just the non-US folks. I believe that it has been reported here that US citizens no longer have to go through this added customs ritual on St. Thomas.

 

[Señor Ferrari]

Towncrier,

Are you sure about that? I'd be really happy if you are correct! The last I heard was that they did suspend this requirement, but it was recently reinstated. I believe that only two or three trips at the beginning of February got to go without it.

Can anyone who has sailed recently (2/23/02 or 3/2/02) give us the scoop?

 

[mikeymars]

The mystery continues: below are quotes from two relatively recent trip reports. The latest implies the immigration nonsense has been put on hold, the prior lays out what a pain things are if it hasn't. As to whether it is back on again, who knows? Guess we need to ask anyone returning this Sunday who shows up on the boards.

First, the bad news, from a report regarding the St. Thomas stop of Wednesday, January 30th (emphasis added IN CAPS):

"Now, since we went to a foreign port and then technically returning to the States (US Virgin Islands) everyone had to clear customs before ANYONE could get off the ship. This was a major pain in the butt because WE HAD TO BE THERE AT 6:30 am! Being non-US citizens, we had to go thru customs in Rockin Bar D. First there was a line to pick up our passports, as we had to surrender them when we got on the ship, then a line to go thru customs and then a line to return our passports. What a joke. It was relatively painless but still it was A HUGE INCONVENIENCE FOR EVERYONE. We felt so sorry for the people who had kids because waking up your child at 6 am to go stand in lines can't be fun!"

Secondly, the good (and hopefully current) news, from a report regarding the St. Thoms stop of Wednesday, February 6th (emphasis added in CAPS):

"A great thing happened on our cruise...NO MORE HAVING TO GO THROUGH IMMIGRATION IN ST. THOMAS!! We found out the night before when we came back from dinner. What a relief!"

 

[peter pans family]

We arrived back 3/9th and we definitely had to clear customs in St . Thomas.

 

[mikeymars]

"We arrived back 3/9th and we definitely had to clear customs in St . Thomas."

Yuck - wonder why you had to deal with this but a cruiser in February didn't (sounds like things are business as usual at the INS; given the news yesterday that they JUST -- repeat, JUST delivered visas to two of the 9/11 hijackers, one can't presume anything that department does make sense). Also - did "clearing customs" involve the INS allowing no one to leave the ship until every single passenger has gone through immigration? If so, that must slow things down beyond Heaven knows what.

 

[Señor Ferrari]

Just to clarify, you don't actually have to meet with US Customs. In other words, you don't have to declare anything you've purchased that far into the trip or have a Customs form completed. You only have to show proof of citizenship to an Immigration officer.

The process goes fairly smoothly in the Walt Disney Theatre, but it does take some time. I'm guessing that this is one of the reasons that the ship leaves St. Maarten at 7:30pm instead of 11:00pm as it used to. I think the goal is to still have the ship cleared by 8:15am or so, but it just takes longer to do that, thus people have to get up early to meet with immigration.

 

[mikeymars]

"I think the goal is to still have the ship cleared by 8:15am or so, but it just takes longer to do that, thus people have to get up early to meet with immigration"

Good points, and adds up given the earlier sailing from St. Marteen. I guess we will have to presume a "worst case" scenario for our St. John plan as getting up very early, but not being able to leave the ship until well after that "7am arrival" and possibly not even making that 9am ferry.