A Ship’s Issue with Immigration Officials

We had a very full schedule for our visit to Cannes yesterday. We got back to the port as the next to the last tender boat was loading. It had just brought back to the dock the ship’s Customer Services Manager with about 10 locals to leave the ship before we set sail. The officer held their passports and was giving them back. All of the locals had plastic bags with cartons of cigarettes and other things.

One passenger said that the bags were probably “gifts” to the visitors from the ship. It appears that the ships might give a “sign of appreciation” to local immigration officials for clearing the ship for entry as we dock in each port. Immigration could easily require a slow, delayed process that would at a minimum cut into the time for the shore excursions. Having a cooperative and helpful immigration process is quite valuable to the cruise line.

We heard that at one port (I won’t name the nationality), the Cruise Director was upset because the “officials” turned out to involve a group of 34 individuals. The ship provided them with a nice meal with drinks, and several of the guests overindulged and threw up! Then they wanted bottle of alcohol as parting gifts. A passenger said these people looked like looters when they left the ship.

I find this an interesting (and disturbing) dilemma for the cruise lines. It is certainly fine to show a “sign of appreciation” for an expeditious immigration process. However there is a line where it can (and here perhaps does ?) cross a line and become bribery and extortion.