Holiday queue situation - what should be done

[whenlifegivesyoulemonssuckonthem]

Currently on a cruise….. this is not a comment about pros and cons as I know what a lot of MN think of cruises.

today we arrived at a US port.

everyone had to clear security even if they did not intend to get off.. instructions were clearly issued.

1. morning excursions to queue at relevant point at 0730
2. independents and after noon excursions to go from 0700 onwards to collect a numbered ticket. Tickets would then be called in blocks once the morning excursions are processed.

i was awake anyway so at 0640 I wandered to the collection point for our numbers. When it started I got 53 and 54.

Around 0745 they called numbers 1-150 so we leave our breakfast and go queue at immigration.

There were people joking the queue with numbers over 150. Then there were morning excursion people who. Clearly hadn’t listened to the instructions and now wanted to push ahead of those who actually followed the system.

AIBU for thinking both sets should be told to wait for either their correct numbers or in the case of the excursion idiots go to the back of the queue as they’d missed their slot entirely.

i also think people who get to airport security and don’t have their electronics and liquids ready should be made to go to the back of the queue.

Anyway. Been to this island before so off
to relax on a virtually empty ship.

So you had to queue up at 7 and again at 7.45 a.m. just to stay on the ship? I f that was a Customs requirement, surely the cruise operators could have arranged it all the day before, at least for the people not leaving the ship?

Seriously, why would you accept that on a holiday you are paying for?

Literally the point of a cruise is the travel. You are at sea or you turn up at a new port every day.
Customs check the passengers to make sure everyone gets back on at the end. So there is no way of checking that until everyone arrives IYSWIM.

The Americans are the worst.

most places will take the ship manifest, passport details and check them and on it.

The US insist on seeing everyone face to face even if not getting off the ship!

Cruises may or may not be for you but this shouldn't put you off:

It is only US territories you have to do this for. So any cruise not going to US islands, this doesn't arise.

If you don't want to leave the boat for the day, you don't have to get up early, you could wait til mid morning and do the customs with no queue at all. I'm not sure why OP just didn't do this.

Ditto if you wanted to leave to go ashore but weren't bothered about going early,

When we went, we did want to go ashore - was Puerto Rico so there was a lot to see so we did try to get ashore earlyish (8 I think) but as I said, it only took about half an hour. A bit of a pain but no big deal. Though all things being equal, I'd probably avoid US islands again. Just on principle that they're the only ones who have this ridiculous rule. And you need an ESTA.

Well this thread has confirmed my decision to never do a cruise. It sounds dreadful.

I don't think people in the US try to tip customs agents

It is only US territories you have to do this for. So any cruise not going to US islands, this doesn't arise

It doesn't always happen at US territories either. We've been several times on cruises to the US Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico, and have never had to do this. Perhaps it depends on the port of origin - all our cruises to these places have been out of US cities.

*So you had to queue up at 7 and again at 7.45 a.m. just to stay on the ship? I f that was a Customs requirement, surely the cruise operators could have arranged it all the day before, at least for the people not leaving the ship?

Seriously, why would you accept that on a holiday you are paying for?*

Well, you can't just ignore the immigration rules and requirements on any holiday you've paid for. You pay to go on holiday by plane, but you still have to queue up with the rest of them to do security and immigration, it's not something you can avoid by just not 'accepting' it. It the choice you make if the want to go on that kind of holiday.

That said, I don't know why the OP got up to queue so early, surely they could have gone down later once the queue had died down, if they were staying on the ship?

What happens if you just don't go to the queue/queues/collect a number?

This sounds batshit.
What would they do if you just stayed in your cabin?

So agree with the example of airport security. I was behind a women who had 6 clear plastic bags. She didnt have even one out of her bag when she started and thought clearly if she just took one out she might be able to 'get away with it'. She didnt and the queue built behind her. She couldnt have given a toss and started arguing with security and said she thought as long as its in clear bags she was told it would be fine (security asked her who told her and she said a friend!). Queue was massive at the end of this because all of her time wasting.

Some people are really in their own little worlds where there are rules and then their rules.

Oh god I hate oeople who do things like this

Have never been on a cruise but find youtube videos and things like this about them fascinating!

I am currently absolutely addicted to the channel Emma Cruises. I'd rather bit myself over the head with a brick than actually go on one but watching other people do it is weirdly compellling.

"I don't know why everyone is derisive about queueing on a ship anyway but accepting of the queue to go through departures, security, passport control and boarding on planes."

Maybe because that's part of travelling to get on holiday, not during it. And at 7am no less 🤣

Maybe because that's part of travelling to get on holiday, not during it. And at 7am no less

But it doesn't have to be at 7am. OP has chosen to get one of the earlier ticket numbers. They could have chosen a later time to join the queue, when there possibly may not have been a queue at all.

I wasn't suggesting OP ignore the Customs rules. What I was suggesting should at least be questioned was the cruise operator's decision to comply with those rules by making everyone queue up at 7/7.30 a.m, rather than dealing with the admin the day before at a more civilised hour.

But it's not the cruise operators decision. They HAVE to comply with the rules, they can't just decide not to. It's US immigration that insist on seeing everyone face to face. Most ports that you arrive at, you wouldn't even know that you've gone through immigration, paperwork is done in advance. It's often this way at US ports too, but for some reason, sometimes they insist on doing it this way (I don't know why - possibly its the port of origin for the cruise?)

Cruise operators aren't doing it to be awkward, they are bound by the rules too. And the only people who need to queue up early are those going on excursions or who want to get off the ship early. Others can wait for the queues to reduce.

Definite first world problem...

Could well be that - we started from Barbados.

Definitely not their job.

Christ, it all sounds waaay too complicated. Why would you travel to the other side of the ocean just to stay on the ship? You could sit on the Isle of Wight ferry for the day and it'd be cheaper. Plus no immigration bollocks. And no problems about shorts.

You join a queue to complain about people who join a queue lol

I’ve been on 22 cruises and haven’t experienced this.

And I have never been on one - and now have one more reason never to want to. Thanks.

This all confirms that cruises are my idea of hell. I had to read those instructions several times before they made sense, and if I’d had a holiday cocktail or two it would make things that little bit harder to understand! I can’t actually see the point in a holiday that requires you to get up at 7am to stand in a queue for no reason at all (if you are not getting off!) It just seems like pointless torture.