Customs Nightmares: Modern Day Blackbeards?

[hellosailor]

Any island nation that has not already been overrun with tourists, will be very different from the ones that have been overrun. In his early days, Dave Lettermen put up on a sign on the George Washington Bridge that said "CLOSED TO TOURISTS, PLEASE TURN BACK".


Hey, after Labor Day? Damn tourists just don't understand, they should go home. Nothing racist about it--they're all tourists, all the same.

[Svanen]

Originally Posted by SirBismuth

However, in all my dealings with security and government officials of any sort, is to keep my cool and treat them courteously. That way you get through any checks as smoothly (although not always as quickly) as possible.

Yes indeed. Smile and don't be in a rush, and they usually lose interest and move on to the next person.

I would add: answer only the questions asked and don't volunteer unsolicited information. It goes almost without saying that - like everything else in life - you need to exercise some common sense with this; if carried to extremes, badge-wearers will resent a teeth-pulling exercise.

[Udacha]

I have had a few interesting trips to Russia and FSU (Former Soviet Union) and one hard to swallow dealing with Customs in Volgograd (formally Stalingrad) I was waiting to board plane to Moscow and a Customs Agent noticed I was American and informed me he had a "Special" room for me. Once in the room he made me empty my suite case and everything in my pockets, I had about 2k in hundred dollar bills and he took 5 of them aside and smiled and told me to repack and go on my way. Russia is an extremely different place to travel

Mike

[Jim Cate]

Re Australian customs officials and practices:

We have entered and left Oz at least twenty times over the years (by boat) and have never had a bad experience with the customs chaps. They have been polite, efficient and friendly. We've even developed a personal friendship with two of them... nice guys!

This past year we cleared out of Southport and back in at Coffs Harbour. In both cases, the two agents who attended us, now members of Border Protection rather than the Customs service, obviously had had some sort of training re being "nice" to foreign cruisers. They were extremely solicitous in insuring that the process was well understood, that all questions were answered, and that if we experienced any problems that we could deviate from protocol IF we simply notified their office of the deviations. A most interesting development IMO. Interestingly, in our conversations, all four of these relatively young men said that they were not happy with the change to the more military-like Border Protection service, and found the culture to be unpleasant to operate in.

Oh... relative to the 96 hour notification requirement: this should not be a big hassle, for one can make the notification at any time before the 96 hour limit... like days before, so that a simple e-mail or fax message before departure fills the bill. And now quite a few other nations are falling into this practice... somewhat of a nuisance but not a killer for us. YMMV.

Jim

[salticrak]

Does the migrant issue in Europe not make a mockery of "Border Protection''?

[Svanen]

I've been in Antigua for the past two weeks, doing the RORC Caribbean 600.

During this period, I've had good interactions with Antiguans and found them to be more friendly and helpful than in the past.

Perhaps they have changed, or perhaps my memories were faulty. In any case, in fairness I wanted to add this to my earlier post in which I said that I had found many Antiguans to be indifferent or openly hostile towards foreigners.

[Bulawayo]

Originally Posted by Svanen

I've been in Antigua for the past two weeks, doing the RORC Caribbean 600.

During this period, I've had good interactions with Antiguans and found them to be more friendly and helpful than in the past.

Perhaps they have changed, or perhaps my memories were faulty. In any case, in fairness I wanted to add this to my earlier post in which I said that I had found many Antiguans to be indifferent or openly hostile towards foreigners.

Theres a good person....