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tittlemouse
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09-06-2008 08:20 PM
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Joined: 09 Jun 2008
Posts: 50
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| We are doing a cruise later on in the year that finishes in New York, does anyone know how long on average it is taking to clear immigration at the cruise terminal, I believe we will be docking at Brooklyn?
We have just returned from Florida and the immigration process there was very quick, but I have heard rumours that it takes forever at the cruise terminal in New York.
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tenpin
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09-06-2008 09:26 PM
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Joined: 19 Nov 2004
Posts: 1568
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hi tittlemouse,
This will depend who you are cruising with, some cruise lines get Immigration Officers on board the day/night before arriving at your final destination (New York) they then check passport etc before landing. Also if you have lots of say English on the ship this takes longer whether dockside or at sea.
Last time in New York shortly after 9/11 up to two hours but they call you by flight times so not much different from normal dis-embarkcation.
Florida is considered the worst place, particularly Miami.
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My Latest Review: Jun 2008 Grand Princess Cruise Ship (9/10)
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tittlemouse
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09-06-2008 10:40 PM
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Joined: 09 Jun 2008
Posts: 50
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| Thanks for your reply, we are sailing with Princess cruises on the Sea Princess, which I believe caters mainly for the UK market, so I imagine that the passengers will be predominantly British. I want to book a tour of New York so that is why I need a rough idea of how long the disembarkation process will take.
Must confess my recent experience at Orlando International of the immigration process was favourable and much better than the last time I was in the States which was two years ago.
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tenpin
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09-06-2008 11:20 PM
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Joined: 19 Nov 2004
Posts: 1568
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| Hello tittlemouse,
Can't say for sure but Princess often do have Officers come aboard.
(certainly did when we went into LA with them two years ago.)
She is a lovely ship, been on her twice.
If you are doing a tour with Princess before flying home then you will be one of the first off and through customs.
Do put all your passport details on the Princess site before you sail,
these then are passed to US immigration before you hit port making for quicker pass-throu. you can also book all tours and add card details which makes life so much easier before you go.
All spending on board is charged in dollars, but you can pay off any ammount in cash any time during the cruise. good odea if we continue with the current rate of exchange.
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My Latest Review: Jun 2008 Grand Princess Cruise Ship (9/10)
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tittlemouse
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10-06-2008 04:04 AM
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Joined: 09 Jun 2008
Posts: 50
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| Hi Tenpin yeh we have cruised with Princess before so have used the online Cruise Personaliser, and booked all our shore trips with them and done our immigration forms, just not been on this particular ship. I am glad to hear from someone that has been on this ship and enjoyed it. A woman that I work with cruised on the Sea Princess in February and was very disparaging about the ship, I gather that she did not enjoy the experience, she felt that the cabins were small, and in general the public areas could have done with a face lift. I hope she is wrong!! We have booked a balcony room, which do seem a little bit smaller than on their larger ships, but hopefully they are not to cramp, and her other complaint was that the ship was full of Brits?? I thought that was an odd comment coming from Brit. :lol
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tenpin
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10-06-2008 09:30 AM
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Joined: 19 Nov 2004
Posts: 1568
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Hi tittlemouse,
Yes she is slightly smaller than say the Grand, Star and the like, our best one so far has been the Panama Canal on the Coral (awesome) We had a mini-suite both times on the Sea Princess which was better laid out than the Coral or Grand. In my personal opinion the only difference between the balconies cabins, and we have seen both, is the actual balcony on the SP is smaller, cabins are roughly the same.
The casino is quite small, but really the whole thing is not much different in any of Princess ships just a different cruise experience.
We were on April 07 for the Transatlantic, and never saw any need of a re-furb, matter of fact we hope to join her again with friends we met on her, next year.
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My Latest Review: Jun 2008 Grand Princess Cruise Ship (9/10)
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tittlemouse
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10-06-2008 10:24 AM
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Joined: 09 Jun 2008
Posts: 50
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| Well we are going at the end of August so will report back on my experience of this particular ship.
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