Thousands of passengers aboard a Norwegian Cruise Line vessel were trapped on their ship for up to nine hours Tuesday after a customs screening process at the Port of San Francisco ground to a near-standstill — the result of broken facial recognition technology, a late docking and the need to process a passenger’s death onboard.
Norwegian Cruise Line’s Encore arrived from Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, but it took nearly nine hours for some passengers to process through customs before they could disembark.
The Breakaway Plus-class ship had departed Miami on April 11 and visited Colombia, Panama and Mexico before docking in San Francisco — its first U.S. port of call — requiring all passengers and crew to undergo mandatory immigration screening by Customs and Border Protection.
The ordeal was compounded by a cascade of problems. The facial recognition technology normally used to expedite screening of U.S. citizens was broken, forcing all passengers through the more time-consuming biometric process typically reserved for international travelers — including photographing, fingerprinting and in-person interviews. CBP also noted that the Norwegian Encore docked three hours late, giving agents a late start. Cruise Hive also reported that a deceased passenger had to be retrieved and processed by a local coroner before the customs process could begin, though that detail has not been confirmed by CBP or Norwegian Cruise Line.
“What was supposed to be a wonderful vacation in San Francisco has turned into a nightmare,” passenger Ginger Rolf told NBC Bay Area. All 3,100 passengers and 1,700 crew members were required to disembark and be screened, a process that consumed the entire day.
Those who were able to get off the ship and explore San Francisco could not reboard until the nine-hour screening was complete. Some passengers never made it ashore at all.
“I’ve been on five cruises, and I’ve never had a problem, ever,” passenger Arthur Morrisette told the network. “I’ve never gone through this anywhere.”
One passenger, David Jones, described the unusually thorough process: “They asked you questions … I showed him my driver’s license, my veteran’s card, showed them everything.”
Some passengers took to Reddit to vent frustration, with one writing that the screening “felt malicious and completely over the top,” noting the ship carried roughly 70% U.S. citizens among its passengers.
In a statement, Norwegian Cruise Line said federal regulations require all passengers to undergo immigration screening at the first U.S. port after returning from an international voyage, and that CBP conducts the process independently of the cruise line.
The Encore has since departed San Francisco and is headed to Astoria, Oregon, its next scheduled port, where additional CBP screening will not be required. The ship is due to arrive in Seattle, Washington, on Sunday, where it will begin its Alaska season.
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