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*A friend of mine went on a Royal Caribbean cruise in December 2005 and one of the stops was St. Thomas. She told me when the cruise ship came to port for the day, everyone on board needed to go through a Customs inspection of their paperwork before they could get off the ship, which was a time-consuming experience considering the size of the ship and number of passengers. Once she showed her passport and documentation she was given a sticker to put on her sailing ID card. She was told this is now standard procedure.
I've been on one cruise already to St. Thomas two years ago, and we are going on one again this summer. Can we expect to have this lengthy process on arrival in St. Thomas? We're only there for the day, and would like to spend the time shopping and seeing more of the island, not waiting in line for Customs inspection all morning.
I'm hoping my friend had a one-time experience and not a new policy. Have you heard anything about this?
I just got back from a Royal Caribbean cruise that stopped in St Thomas. We had to go through customs because it was our last stop before docking in San Juan. Since St. Thomas is a U.S. territory, we had to go through customs. It did not take all morning. We were through in a manner of minutes.
Unfortunatley anytime you arrive in STT from a "foreign" port you have to clear immigration first (along with the crew - even they are not exempt). The exception is if you you arrive from the US with STT being your first stop, or, if arriving from San Juan (as that is also a territory) It is not too bad but you have to go through this process - sorry.
Thanks. I thought there was some new, more involved procedure. Sounds like it's just the routine customs.
