Thread: St. Thomas and Customs

Is it true that every passenger on a ship has to report to Customs at some ungodly hour (like 7 a.m.) in St. Thomas? Why is this?

We have never had to report to Customs in St. Thomas. Only certain passengers of citizenship of other countries need to report - because St. Thomas is a US territory. These people only had to report for clearance before they can depart the ship on excursions, etc. - just as they would have to gain clearance to enter any other US port.

We have never faced a problem departing our ship (or sleeping in) in St. Thomas

The only time we went thru customs on St Thomas was when we were flying out of there after staying on St John Ship passengers do the customs thing when you get back to the states

Thanks for the replies. Very interesting -- I'm pretty sure I had read that every passenger had to be up and in line by like 7 a.m. when docking in St. Thomas (maybe on CC?). I think my neighbor (who was on the Adventure of the Seas last June) also said that. Maybe it depends on the cruise line?


Doesn't make any sense to me because, as was said, it's US territory...

Yes, it is the last US port before coming home!! You get a letter in your cabin with a time to go, You do not need to be there precisely on time. Ours was on the Golden Princess, and it was held in the Vista lounge!! you needed to bring birth certificates, ID's, Passports, and THE PAPER FROM YOUR CABIN WITH THE TIME, FOR EVERY PASSENGER IN YOUR CABIN, If you don't bring it, they will pull you out of line, and it will take awhile to be able to get off the ship!!It isn't customs, it is immigration. You will find the line to be long, but it moves very quickly!! As soon as we got through, we were able to leave the ship!!!

We had to report for customs/immigration on Disney. Our first stop was St. Martin then St. Thomas - Uncle Sam wanted to see our documents as we were entering the US from a foreign port. Then customs and immigration again in Port Canaveral as we stopped in the Bahamas after St. Thomas.

I'll be interested to see what happens on the Dawn in January.

I afraid this is something we all have to get used too.. And in the next few years, it will only get worse...
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Originally Posted by Bombero

I afraid this is something we all have to get used too.. And in the next few years, it will only get worse...
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Wow....Welll I guess I can understand....As long as the line moves fast

Originally Posted by TerilynnS

Wow....Well, I guess I can understand....As long as the line moves fast

The lines do move fast, at least the several I was in...
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Our itinerary is Miami, San Juan, St. Thomas, St. Maarten, Nassau.

I'm not really concerned about it -- just about having to get up really early!