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Disembark at Caribbean port of call with enhanced drivers license or Nexus card?


RBL

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Hi all. First time cruiser and first time poster. 🙂

We are Canadians booked on Harmony of the Seas May 15th, out of Florida; with stops at CocoCay, St. Thomas and St. Kitts/Nevis. One member of our party has a Canadian passport that expires in 4 months. He also has an enhanced drivers license, and a Nexus card.

RCI says they will allow him to board the ship with either the enhanced drivers license, or the Nexus card, since his passport expires in only four months. Note that we have uploaded the passport in the app and it looks like they accepted it with the 4 month expiry.

Questions:

1. Can I be 100% certain they will allow him to board the ship?

2. Will he be allowed to disembark at CocoCay/Bahamas, St. Thomas and St. Kitts/Nevis? Most web sites agree (although I'm finding some mixed information) that these destinations require a six-month passport. Do they waive this rule for closed-loop cruises? Or will he have to stay on the ship?

Since we've never been on a cruise before, I'm not sure how ports of call work - is there a big lineup at the dock while local officials check your documents, or is it done in advance, and are people sometimes denied to leave the ship?

Any advice appreciated, thanks!

RBL

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Ships are cleared without individuals having a face-to-face with local immigration officials.  

The exception is a ship entering a US port of call after visiting a foreign port of call.  Key West or Bar Harbor for example.  If a ship leaves a US home port and visits there first, no face-to-face.  If a ship visits some other country then visits Key West or Bar Harbor then there is a face-to-face with US CBP.  That is a specific nuance to US ports of call.  

Other Caribbean nations don't do face-to-face immigration processing unless your name hits on some list they have.  The ship tramsits the manifest before arriving so immigration officials already know if there are any special circumstances or a hit on a special list.  

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  • 11 months later...

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