Passport stamps on river cruises

[Divmember]

I'm headed on my first river cruise on Uniworld on July 1 and am trying to figure out how passport stamps are handled as we enter each new country. I land in AMS and will be stamped there but then how does it work when we enter Germany on the river, and then Austria? I fly out of Vienna. Thanks!

[paul929207]

Netherlands, Germany and Austria are all in the EU. I don't believe there is passport control at the borders between them

[alexandra cruiser]

back when you leave..we never handled any passport control,,,and did similar cruise last week. No hassle at all...but we always carry a copy of our passport,,and all important info,,,in case you EVER missed the boat(literally) in any port...It DID happen to people on cruises I ve been on,,,many times..have to get to next city on OWN...so be prepared..YOU NEVER KNOW>>ps,,also take cellphone(ship will provide you with contact numbers,,,);)

[steamboats]

Sorry to disappoint you, but all countries along the way from Amsterdam to Budapest are members of the Schengen community. Therefore you only receive a stamp at Shipol Airport which is a Schengen visa and valid for all Schengen countries. There aren´t any passport controls anymore within the Schengen community. Check here to find out more about the Schengen area.

 

steamboats

[franski]

I think it depends on the cruise line.

 

I have never had my passport held for the entire cruise - and we have been on 5.

 

Fran

[webfoot]

This year as we went from Vienna to the Black Sea our passports were held by the front desk as the ship, crew and passengers were checked at our border crossings once we left Hungary. But these were not EU countries!

[jhagen]

We just went from USA to Barcelona Spain, then France, and Italy, plus Croatia and Montenegro and back to Barcelona on Celebrity Solstice and only passport control was in and out of Barcelona; and the USA of course!

jhagen

[CleoV]

We went from Bucharest Romania to Vienna Austria (Romania, Serbia, Croatia, Hungary, Slovakia, Austria) and passport control came onto the ship in each country, stamping our passports. They were held at the desk, and there were only two occasions when we were told we may need to do a "face check" (show up when passport control was checking passports). Only once did we actaully have to do it, though.

 

Having a US passport, I got a stamp from each country. My husband has a UK passport, so he didn't get one in EU countries (he did pout a little bit, so the lady who did our face check went ahead and gave him a stamp; she was very sweet!).

[jcrandle]

As Steamboats posted, the Schengen agreement, named because it was negotiated in the city of Schengen, governs travel between member countries. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_Area for more information. With a few exceptions, it allows residents of one of the member countries to travel to or through another without passport control. It is somewhat confusing to us in the US, as we tend to try to equate Schengen membership with EU membership with Euro currency.

 

However, they do not overlap completely. For Example, the UK is a member of the EU, but is not a Schengern member and does not use the Euro. Norway, on the other hand is a Schengen member, but is not an EU member, and does not use the Euro.

 

What began as attempt to simplify border issues, tariffs, and currency exchange somehow wound up being even more complicated. Well, with 30 or more independent political entities, could you expect different?

[steamboats]

@CleoV,

 

A river cruise from Budapest to the Black Sea is touching non Schengen countries. Therefore there is a passport control!!

 

As jcrandle said EU countries are not identical with Schengen countries. Switzerland is not part of the EU but they are part of Schengen. UK is part of EU but not part of Schengen.

 

steamboats

[CleoV]

Yeah, I get it. I'm just stating what happened on our ship, both with a UK passport and a US passport, and with EU countries and non-EU countries. I got stamps from all of them, my UK husband got stamps from most of them.

[Divmember]

Thanks for all the quick responses. Sounds like there'll be no Germany passport stamp for me! I guess I will just settle for one upon arrival in Amsterdam and one upon departure in Vienna. Can't wait for my first river cruise!

[jcrandle]

There is a downside to lots of passport stamps. The stamps are Visas, and go on the Visa pages of your passport. There are a fixed number of Visa pages on passports, determined by the rules of the issuing country. When your Visa pages are filled, you cannot enter any additional countries that require Visas (even the automatic ones where they just stamp your passport as you enter). If that happens, at least here in the USA you must return your passport to a Passport Office to have additional Visa pages inserted. We have had the good fortune to travel frequently enough to require additional Visa pages.

 

So, depending on where you live, you could be without your passport for several days until it is returned to you.. Additionally, the Visas for some countries are stickers that are applied for in advance of the visit, and may take up an entire page.

[Keystonetraveler]

If that happens, at least here in the USA you must return your passport to a Passport Office to have additional Visa pages inserted.

 

A little know fact that I read about just before getting my passport renewed. Just attach a letter to the application asking for extra pages, and they will be added without cost. It worked and now I think I can get through my passport period without needing to send the passport in and pay a fee to have new pages added.

[kbrown]

There are also countries that give you a visa and you have to give it back when you leave. They never stamp your passport!! Cuba is the one country where we found this. They said that they didn't stamp passports because some other countries might not allow entrance if they saw a Cuba stamp on the passport.

[webfoot]

KBrown you bring up an interesting point. In 2003 I was sent on a business trip to Israel, where I got entrance and exit stamps. The following week we were headed to Germany to begin a 2 week tour to 5 different countries. When we got to Frankfurt they looked over my passport really hard. I was told as long as I wasn't going into any country that may see the stamp as a threat, I was OK ... but I could not wait to get a new passport.

[jcrandle]

A little know fact that I read about just before getting my passport renewed. Just attach a letter to the application asking for extra pages, and they will be added without cost. It worked and now I think I can get through my passport period without needing to send the passport in and pay a fee to have new pages added.

 

You might want to check that with the Passport office. My understanding is that they stopped doing this over a year ago. And there is NO fee to have additional visa pages added, just the cost of mailing it in, and the inconvenience of being without it for a few days.

[Keystonetraveler]

You might want to check that with the Passport office. My understanding is that they stopped doing this over a year ago. And there is NO fee to have additional visa pages added, just the cost of mailing it in, and the inconvenience of being without it for a few days.

 

Are you talking about a U.S. Passport? On the website of the Department of State, there is a copy of the renewal application (DS-82) good through the end of 2013. It now has a box to check if you want a 52-page passport rather than the standard 28-page one. There is a note which says the 52-page one is for those who travel frequently abroad during the passport validity period and is recommended for applicants who have previously required the addition of visa pages. So, it now appears to be even easier to do than when I needed to write a letter. No additional charge for the extra pages at the time of renewal.

 

Also, on their fee schedule, it shows a fee of $82 to add extra pages to an existing passport.