The Last Night
If you wish to extend gratuities to those who have served you,
this is the customary night for doing so. Gratuity envelopes
are available at the Purser's Desk, as passengers usually wish
to hand tips directly to their serving staff. For dining room
staff, tipping normally occurs at the end of dinner on the final
evening. Stateroom staff are usually working near your stateroom
during the late afternoon and early evening should you wish
to say farewell and thank them personally.
Your stateroom steward will give you colored tags for each
piece of luggage. Please put your name, home address and other
information requested on each tag. Also, remove any old airline
flight tags or embarkation tags. It is advised to carry fragile,
valuable items and medication with you. Before you retire
for the night, your locked bags should be packed and placed
outside your stateroom door to facilitate customs clearance
and disembarkation. Make a final check of your cabin and stateroom
safe for any personal items.
Customs Clearance
Due to U.S. and local customs restrictions, passengers may
not leave the ship until all luggage is off-loaded. With this
in mind, we suggest that you relax in one of the many public
lounges to wait for customs clearance and disembarkation by
pre-designated groups.
Customs and immigration inspectors will review with you
the customs declarations form upon which you have listed all
the dutiable articles bought in foreign ports or in the ship's
boutique. U.S. residents returning to the U.S. are allowed
a duty-free exemption of $400 per person, which includes the
cost of one liter of alcoholic beverages (if purchased onboard
or ashore) for each passenger 21 years of age or older. Canadian
citizens, when out of the country for more than eight days,
may bring back up to $300 (Canadian) duty-free. It is recommended
that passengers keep their sales receipts handy for declaring
their purchases. Food items should not be landed in U.S. ports.
On cruises calling at ports of the U.S. Virgin Islands,
Puerto Rico, or American Samoa, U.S. residents are allowed
an additional exemption of $400 when returning to the U.S.,
including four liters of alcoholic beverages provided you
have the proof of purchase from the designated ports. For
further customs information, we recommend that you attend
the Cruise Director's disembarkation talk given during the
last days of the cruise.
Disembarkation And Transfer Information
On the majority of our cruises, you will be asked upon leaving
the ship to identify and clear your luggage through customs.
Your luggage will be arranged dockside by color-coded tags
which are distributed on board.
If your friends or relatives are meeting you at the pier,
please be advised that disembarkation usually takes approximately
2 hours after the scheduled arrival of the ship in order to
clear immigration and customs.
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