Cruise Ship Early Tour Departure

Nonny wrote On 11/24/2009 2:51 PM:

"Jeff Gersten" wrote in message
...
(Rosalie B.) wrote:

In Russia they tried to say that no one without
a visa or a ship's tour could get off, and it
wasn't true. At the last minute they said
everyone that had a visa and wasn't on a ship
tour should get off right away, and we did
even though we had a private tour and didn't
have a visa.

I'm sure you did, or else the Russian immigration authorities would not
have let you off the ship.


Ermalee got ashore and into the souvenir store all by herself in St.
Petersburg.


Ermalee used to be a US Government employee in one of the
defense/security departments. She has connections. (I can't say any
more it's classified.)

--
________
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Brian M. Kochera
"The poor dog is the firmest of friends, the first to welcome the foremost to defend" - Lord Byron

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Sue Mullen wrote On 11/24/2009 11:49 AM:


Jacquey Moss wrote:
How do you get off your cruise ship early to catch your private
tours? The ships that we have been on permit the passengers signed
up for ship sponsored excursions to get off the ship first. Do any
of you have suggestions to get off in a timely manner when booking
your own land tours.

Sorry I misunderstood/read before.LOL

If your ship docks, you will have no problems getting off when you
need to get off for your tour. Most of the private tour companys are
used to dealing with cruise passengers, so you shouldn't have any
problems.

sue
If they give you any flack, just say "Ebola Virus, coming through..."
It worked for the "Mary Ann" character on Cybil Shepherd's show "Cybil"
a few years ago. :-D

--
________
To email me, Edit "blog" from my email address.
Brian M. Kochera
"The poor dog is the firmest of friends, the first to welcome the foremost to defend" - Lord Byron

View My Web Pages: http://home.earthlink.net/~brian1951
My Shutterfly Page http://photosbybrianmk.shutterfly.com/

Brian K wrote:
Nonny wrote On 11/24/2009 2:51 PM:

"Jeff Gersten" wrote in message
...
(Rosalie B.) wrote:

In Russia they tried to say that no one without
a visa or a ship's tour could get off, and it
wasn't true. At the last minute they said
everyone that had a visa and wasn't on a ship
tour should get off right away, and we did
even though we had a private tour and didn't
have a visa.

I'm sure you did, or else the Russian immigration authorities would not
have let you off the ship.


Ermalee got ashore and into the souvenir store all by herself in St.
Petersburg.


Ermalee used to be a US Government employee in one of the
defense/security departments. She has connections. (I can't say any
more it's classified.)


You just "outed" Ermalee, a la Valerie Plame (not). There will now be
an investigation where you will be railroaded and made a scapegoat for
doing something that was already done.

Marsha

Brian K wrote:
Nonny wrote On 11/24/2009 2:51 PM:

"Jeff Gersten" wrote in message
...
(Rosalie B.) wrote:

In Russia they tried to say that no one without
a visa or a ship's tour could get off, and it
wasn't true. At the last minute they said
everyone that had a visa and wasn't on a ship
tour should get off right away, and we did
even though we had a private tour and didn't
have a visa.

I'm sure you did, or else the Russian immigration authorities would not
have let you off the ship.


Ermalee got ashore and into the souvenir store all by herself in St.
Petersburg.


Ermalee used to be a US Government employee in one of the
defense/security departments. She has connections. (I can't say any
more it's classified.)

You wouldn't have to kill anyone, would you Brian? LOL

Ermalee ---had no Visa in Russia

On Nov 24 2009 3:51 PM, Nonny wrote:

"Jeff Gersten" wrote in message
...
(Rosalie B.) wrote:

In Russia they tried to say that no one without
a visa or a ship's tour could get off, and it
wasn't true. At the last minute they said
everyone that had a visa and wasn't on a ship
tour should get off right away, and we did
even though we had a private tour and didn't
have a visa.

I'm sure you did, or else the Russian immigration authorities
would not
have let you off the ship.


Ermalee got ashore and into the souvenir store all by herself in
St. Petersburg.


--
Nonny

What does it mean when drool runs
out of both sides of a drunken
Congressman's mouth?

The floor is level.

Question for nonny. When a cruise ship returns to the U.S. how do they run
all of those passengers through U.S. customs without making it a 3 hour
adventure?
At airports, I know how they check incoming flights, but cruise ship have
a lot more passengers than a few aircraft.
OL

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Observant Lurker wrote:
When a cruise ship returns to the U.S. how do they run
all of those passengers through U.S. customs without making it a 3 hour
adventure?

Immigration requires more time per passenger than customs. In Bayonne
last month there were about 15 open immigration booths. You didn't have
to wait for more than five minutes in line. Getting transportation was
more difficult if you didn't make limo arrangements ahead of time.


At airports, I know how they check incoming flights, but cruise ship have
a lot more passengers than a few aircraft.
OL

__________________________________________________ _____________________
RecGroups : the community-oriented newsreader : www.recgroups.com

"Observant Lurker" wrote in message
...
On Nov 24 2009 3:51 PM, Nonny wrote:

"Jeff Gersten" wrote in message
...
(Rosalie B.) wrote:

In Russia they tried to say that no one without
a visa or a ship's tour could get off, and it
wasn't true. At the last minute they said
everyone that had a visa and wasn't on a ship
tour should get off right away, and we did
even though we had a private tour and didn't
have a visa.

I'm sure you did, or else the Russian immigration authorities
would not
have let you off the ship.


Ermalee got ashore and into the souvenir store all by herself
in
St. Petersburg.


--
Nonny

What does it mean when drool runs
out of both sides of a drunken
Congressman's mouth?

The floor is level.

Question for nonny. When a cruise ship returns to the U.S. how
do they run
all of those passengers through U.S. customs without making it a
3 hour
adventure?
At airports, I know how they check incoming flights, but cruise
ship have
a lot more passengers than a few aircraft.
OL

It's a PITA, but at least the lines move pretty quickly. You fill
out your declaration card the night before and hold onto it when
disembarking. The Immigration lines are the long ones: a person
scans your passport and compares the information against some kind
of database. I've never had more than a cursory review of the
passport, but wonder what'd happen to someone who got "caught"
previously trying to pull something off.

Once clear of the Immigration folk, the next step is to locate and
claim your luggage. It's sorted into the tag colors assigned to
you aboard the ship. For instance, you might be Yellow, and all
the luggage with Yellow tags would be in one bunch to make
locating them easier. The customs folk have already had the dogs
sniffing the luggage, so I'm sure that anything that got sniffed
out would be pulled aside and they'd have questions to ask of the
folk who claimed it.

Once you have your suitcases, the next line is for the customs
folk, where you hand somebody your declaration and keep moving.
Since we typically spend well, well under a hundred dollars or so
on souvenirs, there's nothing to pay. Again, though, I suspect
that the customs and immigration folk know each other well and if
you get caught trying to bring in a Rolex you bought in St. Thomas
for $85,000 without paying Uncle Sam tax. . . well, refer to the
first paragraph about the database for future returns.

The next line is the accursed one for taxis. . . that is if you
aren't taking the cruise line's transfer bus. I've posted enough
about taxis, especially when anyone has a mobility problem, so I
won't go into that again.

When you arrive at the airport, there is the line for TSA, of
course, and be sure to wear slip on shoes.

--
Nonny

What does it mean when drool runs
out of both sides of a drunken
Congressman's mouth?

The floor is level.

"Nonny" wrote in message
...

Once you have your suitcases, the next line is for the customs folk, where
you hand somebody your declaration and keep moving. Since we typically
spend well, well under a hundred dollars or so on souvenirs, there's
nothing to pay. Again, though, I suspect that the customs and immigration
folk know each other well and if you get caught trying to bring in a Rolex
you bought in St. Thomas for $85,000 without paying Uncle Sam tax. . .
well, refer to the first paragraph about the database for future returns.


If someone actually DID want to buy an $85,000 Rolex, I believe that they
can do it in Switzerland, and from there upon returning to the US, fill out
a certain US Customs form so that no duty needs to be paid on it. I was
aware of a code number a few years ago (given to me by a US Customs person
in Newark) that tied into some reciprocal agreement waiving duties on
watches over a certain level between the US and CH. Since it was a few
years ago, I would confirm this is still the case, prior to trying to do it.

--Tom

"Observant Lurker" wrote in message
...

Question for nonny. When a cruise ship returns to the U.S. how do they run
all of those passengers through U.S. customs without making it a 3 hour
adventure?

Actually it is a 3 hour process... but the exit from the ship is staggered.
They may start at 6:00 am and finish by 9:30 am. So you don't stand in the
customs line for 3 hours. You're taken off the ship in groups at certain
times. With that, the wait at the customs line is typically less than 6-8
people. And they usually have multiple lines open.

And on some itineraries, they actually bring customs people on board the
ship the morning of the last port (if it's a US port like St. Thomas, USVI)
where you clear customs a day (or 2) before final disembarkation. But
that's only if it's a US port.

--Tom

On 11/25/09 7:43 PM, in article , "Tom K"
wrote:


And on some itineraries, they actually bring customs people on board the
ship the morning of the last port (if it's a US port like St. Thomas, USVI)
where you clear customs a day (or 2) before final disembarkation. But
that's only if it's a US port.

--Tom


On a recent HAL voyage Dutch immigration and customs people boarded the ship
in the U.K. the day before it arrived in Amsterdam to clear ship and
passengers for the Schengen area.