GoodAtStuffAndThings

20 minutes ago, tiny260 said:

Only problem I'm going to have, because it took so long is my Wife's TSA pre check will expire in October, we have a cruise in October and the Global Entry interview is September 27th, so it's going to be tight.

You'll be okay. It's nearly instant approval after your interview. As in, my husband's status changed on the website within 15 minutes of him telling me his interview was finished. Still, you might want to look for earlier appointments on the unlikely chance that some will open up. (It's more likely that future interviews will be cancelled. There was a sign saying that all Sunday appointments at the Port Clinton, Ohio location were cancelled for the next few months and that people should have been notified by email.)

The customs guy told my husband that his approval was delayed simply because he's male. Apparently you guys are considered a higher security risk than women and children. Seems pretty ridiculous to split up families like that, but it seems like they're doing whatever possible to triage applications.

Have a great trip! We sail on Freedom in a week! (And have been anxiously watching coverage of the protests in OSJ over the past few weeks.)

On 9/26/2018 at 10:28 AM, BobNoxious said:

St. Kitts - Carambola beach club.   Quick taxi ride.  You can make a reservation for chair/umbrella on their website.  Good food and snorkeling there too.

@BobNoxious - Do you know whether they rent snorkeling gear at Carambola? Wondering if I should bring my own. Thanks!

On 12/21/2018 at 9:53 AM, Susie said:

St Kitts: I went to the beach that has a volcanic sand mix with white sands really unusual beach. The water is really calm on the Caribbean side and it was the best beach break we have done. The name of the beach is South Friars Bay and the place we rent umbrellas and lounge chairs is it called Carambola Beach club. The place has beers in the bucket, mix drink, Sushi and the Whole Pizza. It also has a little area that you can snorkel. 

@Susie - We're going to spend a day at Carambola in a few weeks. Do you recall whether you can rent snorkel gear there, or should we bring our own? Any idea what the round trip taxi fare is per person? Thanks!

1 minute ago, GoodAtStuffAndThings said:

@lauraodonnell86 - We're planning to spend a day at Carambola Beach Club in a few weeks. Is it possible to rent snorkel gear there, or should we bring our own? Do you recall about how much you paid for a round trip taxi? Any other recommendations regarding Carambola? I'm planning to book chairs and umbrellas on their website. Thanks!

Oops. Just reread your comment and saw that you actually mentioned the taxi price.

@lauraodonnell86 - We're planning to spend a day at Carambola Beach Club in a few weeks. Is it possible to rent snorkel gear there, or should we bring our own? Do you recall about how much you paid for a round trip taxi? Any other recommendations regarding Carambola? I'm planning to book chairs and umbrellas on their website. Thanks!

On 6/26/2019 at 2:47 PM, tiny260 said:

I'll just wait until I get approved and drive or fly to Dallas, make a weekend trip of it.

So, @tiny260, it's been another month. Did you get approved yet? My husband managed to snag an appointment at the beginning of July just 2.5 hours from home, because I was constantly checking for cancellations and happened to luck out. He has his GE card now!

4 minutes ago, tiny260 said:

Thats what my original plan was, we are flying from Oklahoma to Newark for the Anthem cruise on July 4th, so my thought was, I'll apply and then book an appointment for when we arrive in Newark, but now I only 7 days until we fly in to Newark, I filled out the application at the end of March. My wife doesn't want to do it without me, we already have Pre check so that's not a high priority.

So I'll just wait until I get approved and drive or fly to Dallas, make a weekend trip of it.

I had also heard the Mobile passport was faster, I also have it on my phone so I can also do that if needed.

Thanks for the reply.

We had a long layover in Newark, so we went to the Global Entry office there because my husband thought he might be able to talk with them and find out why he wasn’t yet approved. (Even though the FAQ and all of the agents I’d called to ask said it’s not possible to find out. Did I mention that he REALLY wanted Global Entry?) There were about 10 people waiting and in the half hour we were there, no one came out of the office. Some of the people had been scheduled for interviews two hours earlier. I wouldn’t count on Newark working.

That said, other random people on the internet have said that the Newark office is awesome. The interview takes about five minutes, so if they’re running on schedule it might be very easy for your wife to get hers out of the way. It’s not scary at all. Look at the camera, put your fingers on a digital scanner, say thank you.

7 hours ago, HeWhoWaits said:

If you use a porter, you'll breeze right through even as one of the last off the ship. Just a few days ago the agent asked one of our group of six if we were carrying any food off the ship - that was the extent of our "customs" experience.

Another option is to select the self carry option and be one of the first off the ship.

Probably a silly question, but how do we get a porter? How much do you tip them?

3 hours ago, tiny260 said:

You shouldn't have any issues and shouldn't be delayed, if anything being last off may make it easier, less crowds, as @HeWhoWaits says, grab a porter and if there is a line, they usually have little secrets and you breeze right through.

@GoodAtStuffAndThings ,Different topic, on your Global Entry card, how long was the wait for you husband before his went conditionally approved? I applied for my wife and I at the same time, hers came through around 30 days, I've now been waiting for the "official" review for 90 days. We are trying to make it to where we both go for our interviews at the same time, we don't have an office local so we are going to have to go to a minimum Dallas.

I like to remind people of this when it is pertinent, San Juan has an Agriculture baggage scan that you have to go through at the airport, if you don't have the little sticker on your luggage you cannot check them with the airline, so go do the Agriculture scan first, then to the ticket counter.

Thanks! My kids and I were conditionally approved within a week of applying, but my husband’s conditional approval took 12 weeks. (Ironically, he’s the one who wanted it most and the only one of us who didn’t have it before our trip to Ireland earlier this month. We waved to him as we went to the TSA Precheck line without him.)

I had read in the Global Entry FAQ that you shouldn’t wait for everyone to be approved before you make interview appointments, so I booked appointments for myself and my kids a month out, figuring he’d have conditional approval by then. He didn’t. So I drove myself and my kids 2.5 hours each way for our 15 minute appointments and we kept waiting for his approval.

He got the approval the day AFTER we returned from Ireland. If it had happened the day before, he could have interviewed in Newark while we were stuck there due to a cancelled flight. Now we’re trying to get him scheduled before this trip, but available interview times are hard to find and the closest that he can get to before we leave is three hours away. I’m trying to convince him to give up on that for now and just deal with the regular security lines on this trip too. There are actually a ton of open interview times at then San Juan airport, so in my opinion it makes more sense for him to just schedule one for while we’re there waiting for our return flight. But my dear, impatient husband may choose a seven hour weekend trip so he can avoid taking off his shoes twice next month.   

FYI - During my interview, the CBP agent told me that the Global Entry lines actually tend to be slower than simply using the free Mobile passport app. From what I’ve seen since, I think he’s right. I wish we hadn’t bothered without Global Entry, but having precheck is nice. Based on our ridiculous and inconvenient experience, my advice is to not bother making a long trip just to complete the interview and instead try to tack it onto another trip you’re already taking. 

This is only tangentially related to the original poster’s question, but I’m hoping to get advice from people who’ve been through disembarkation in San Juan - and there are a lot of you on this thread!

How long does the disembarkation process typically take in San Juan? Is a Global Entry line available? (I know it’s not an option at all ports.)

We’ll be sailing on Freedom this August 4th and staying at an Airbnb in OSJ for a few days after, so I’m assuming we’ll be in one of the last groups to disembark. Are we likely to be facing a long line in those disembarkation circumstances, and would having Global Entry make any bit of difference? (My kids and I have Global Entry cards, but my husband hasn’t had his interview yet and we’re trying to decide whether it’s worth it for him to try to cram it in before this particular trip.)

I apologize if this is too off-topic.