Cruise passengers stranded on San Francisco ship for nearly 9 hours in customs 'nightmare'
Passengers on Norwegian Cruise Line's Encore were stranded aboard the ship in San Francisco for nearly nine hours due to a combination of delayed docking, malfunctioning facial recognition technology, and mandatory customs screening procedures. The delay was exacerbated by the need to process a passenger's death, though this has not been officially confirmed by authorities. All passengers and crew had to undergo time-consuming biometric screening, leading to widespread frustration despite compliance with federal regulations.
- ▪Norwegian Cruise Line's Encore arrived in San Francisco from Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, docking three hours late at 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday.
- ▪A malfunction in facial recognition technology forced U.S. citizens to undergo a more intensive biometric screening process typically used for international travelers.
- ▪Customs and Border Protection required all 3,100 passengers and 1,700 crew members to be screened at the first U.S. port of call after an international voyage.
- ▪Reports indicate a deceased passenger may have delayed the start of customs processing, though this has not been confirmed by CBP or Norwegian Cruise Line.
- ▪The Encore has since left San Francisco and is en route to Astoria, Oregon, with its next major stop in Seattle, Washington, for the start of its Alaska season.
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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.
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