kcaluwae

We just recently did an Alaska cruise ending in Vancouver. To my surprise we got off the ship without any passport control.

It has been a while since I cruised in the Caribbean. I remember how I often had to go through customs each time we entered/exited the US Virgin Islands. Has this madness ended as well?

I'm just curious to know how this works. I cannot imagine you can walk into Canada without them knowing...

DanJ

The Canadian authorities will know who is on the ship in advance of it arriving back into Vancouver. I've never seen any type of passport control on cruises other than when entering US ports, (however I haven't cruised in Europe or Asia either). I've only cruised into Canada on one cruise, 2 ports, and that was back in 2001. There were no formalities that we went through back then either.

YVR Cockroach

Was it a OW Alaska => Vancouver cruise or a RT out of YVR? If the latter, I'd imagine they know everyone who got off had previously cleared entry into Canada.

kcaluwae

One way into Canada.
I suppose the ship indeed passes the info. You never however get a stamp in the passport.

piper28

I've been through a number of ports that required a passport check even for just a stop, and it's not unusual for them to be required at the end. Europe and South America have both had these.

I'll admit, I was a bit surprised myself on a recent Alaska cruise where all they did was collect the customs form.

Amsterdam required the passport when we got back on the ship on a day stop, which caught me by surprise.

Calliopeflyer

I suspect it was all done in advance, allowing you to just walk off the ship -- the passenger manifest and passport info was probably all given to Canadian authorities before the ship arrived, or while docking but before passengers were allowed off.

That is how it was done when my ship arrived in Portugal; in New Zealand, we all had to get stamped approval from customs regarding items entering the country - they're pretty strict about that and have some rules that aren't typical in many other countries.

pitz

I was at Woody Point, Newfoundland (in Gros Morne National Park) the other day when Seabourn Quest pulled up in the harbour and sent its mini-boats to the dock after arriving from Greenland. There was a token CBSA officer there, but nothing else, no formalities, etc.

I guess they figure that people who spend $500/night on a transatlantic crossing and show up in the middle of nowhere are a fairly low risk to Canadian society.

DanJ

And they aren't showing up unannounced either.

HelloKittysMum

We did a TA back home from holiday in US and there was on board passport control by someone from UK border agency. Each deck was allocated a day to go through passport control but if the queue was short you could do any day. All was linked to onboard security via key card so they knew who was allowed off in Southampton. All very efficient.

YVR Cockroach

I just got off a Long Beach to Vancouver cruise yesterday (did another of the near-identical itinerary 4 years go with the same cruiseco) and experienced the same: No formal entry process of any sort entering Canada which was different from the previous cruise.

All one did was fill out the declaration form and hand it to staff before the ship docked in Victoria.

I imagine that as mentioned in an earlier post, CBSA has gone through the passenger (and crew) list and see who they wanted to see, and are not too bothered about collecting duty. I did notice that at least (some) non-Canada/non-U.S. passport holders had to leave their passports at the reception/purser until the ship cleared in Victoria (first stop in Canada). Clearance did take some time (hour+ - we didn't off the ship so weren't bothered) so there may have been some that CBSA wanted to see. Just walked off the ship in Vancouver (where the cruiseco made everyone who didn't buy a cruiseco tour/transfer to self-haul their bags).

Jay71

Granted that I don't know what's happening behind the scenes but on the surface, it's really surprising to me that there's no formal entry process.

YVR Cockroach

So was I (and a bit puzzled when I read this thread when it first posted). If one didn't get off the ship at Victoria, one would not have seen any CBSA agents - and those who did on a shore visit were not interviewed. Absolutely no uniform CBSA presence at Canada Place on disembarkation.

eajusa

Good to know since my NCL Alaska cruise this June offers a Vancouver tour upon return from Alaska and they only gives passengers an hour to get off the ship, in order to meet the tour guides.

Fiordland

The cruise line transits all of the passenger information to Canadian authorities long before the ship arrives. If anything of concern comes up when it is run through the computer the authorities tell the cruise line they want to see those specific passengers before they are allowed to get off. No reason to hold up everyone else.

flyme2

Passport control is often handled behind the scenes and not blatantly obvious to the passenger. I have stamps in my passport from countries I never actually visited due to my being quarantined aboard ship. I also visited many countries by ship where there is absolutely no passport stamp.