Question - Is the ship in Schengen area while cruising?

[DarrenM]

I have no idea what you are all talking about.

 

What is schengen?

[wowzz]

53 minutes ago, DarrenM said:

I have no idea what you are all talking about.

 

What is schengen?

Blimey Darren, don't you understand about travelling in Europe, and the difference between Schengen countries where you can cross borders without showing your passport (like going from Spain into France) and non-Schengen countries like the UK, where passports are required ?

[hallasm]

1 hour ago, DarrenM said:

What is schengen?

Here is more information on Schengen Area

[DarrenM]

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

Blimey Darren, don't you understand about travelling in Europe, and the difference between Schengen countries where you can cross borders without showing your passport (like going from Spain into France) and non-Schengen countries like the UK, where passports are required ?

Nope. Never heard of it.

[wowzz]

30 minutes ago, DarrenM said:

Nope. Never heard of it.

Have you never wondered why you have to show your passport when you enter Spain, and the Germans don't?

[DarrenM]

Honestly Wowzz I had no idea. I just concentrate on what I am doing. I didnt know germans didnt have to show a passport.

 

Every day is a school day

[SRF]

19 hours ago, sunnyinchagrin said:

Thank you for the clarification.  This helps so much..  Right now I am at 96 days so I need to work to get it down to 89.

So if my ship stops at Phillipsburg (Dutch), sails for 5 days, stops at Tenerife (Spanish), sails for two days...... do I also lose the sailing days as if I am in Shengen? Does the clock start at Phillipsburg and then continue because I have not checked out?  I'm thinking it does.

So appreciated.

 

Yes, it continues from when you enter to when you leave to a non-Schengen country.

 

 

[SRF]

8 hours ago, LakeSideKen said:

Amazing amount of energy being devoted to how to stay 89/90 days in Europe when, if you want to stay longer the simple answer is get a visa, which for a USA citizen with deep roots in the USA, i.e., no danger of an overstay in Europe, should be easy. (The 90-day rule is about how long you can stay without a visa.) 

 

Yes, you can do that also.

 

$70 fee for the visa.

[hallasm]

19 hours ago, sunnyinchagrin said:

So if my ship stops at Phillipsburg (Dutch)

Visa requirements does not apply to passengers of cruise ships visiting the island for less than 48 hours. Your passport will not be scanned and technically your are not entering Schengen before Europe - in your example Tenerife.

9 hours ago, LakeSideKen said:

Amazing amount of energy being devoted to how to stay 89/90 days in Europe

Totally agree - getting a visa is not a big problem if you want to stay more than 90 days within Schengen.

[Sabrinaa]

I have a question. I am not a usa citizen I live in Uk with Uk residence permit but I am a Bangladeshi citizen so I require a visa to enter schengen area. My itinerary is Transatlantic carribean by pno cruise, first port of entry will be tenerife,spain then philipsburg saint maarten, then to the carribeans.  My question is when I am embarking the ship in southampton, on my way I am crossing bay of Biscay and french water/maritime territory before reaching Spain territory. So shall I apply for visa in Spain consulate or French consulate? In my itinerary the first entey is tenerife Spain. 

I am not stopping at france  but our cruise might cross the french maritime border to reach tenerife port.

 

Not sure whether they count where the ship is sailing around to be the first entry or not

[hallasm]

5 hours ago, Sabrinaa said:

Not sure whether they count where the ship is sailing around to be the first entry or not

Which waters you pass through is secondary - you only need visas for the ports you actually call at.  In your case Tenerife and therefore you must apply at the Spanish consulate.

[Hlitner]

I will share an amusing recent tale about Schengen rules.  Back in March-April we took a TA cruise from Miami to Monte Carlo.  There were a few stops along the way (in and out of Schengen countries) but our Passports were never stamped.  Upon arrival at Monte Carlo, we simply walked off the ship onto the pier where we were met by our car/driver.  The Monoco authorities never met us, looked at our Passports, or entered any kind of entry stamp.  We spent a few weeks in Europe (including two domestic flights within the Schengen zone) without any issues.  As we were flying back to the USA we went from Prague to Munich and than on to the USA.  When we arrived at Munich (on a domestic commuter flight from Prague) we had to go through a German authority Passport check.  The German official got angry because we did not have any Schengen country entry stamp in our Passports.  There ensued somewhat of a "discussion" between two German officials as they decided what to do.  They ask us for documentation of our previous travel and we did have our cruise info, boarding passes, etc.  After about 10 minutes of heated discussion (the two officers did not agree on anything) we were finally waved through the check-point (without an entry stamp) and later boarded our flight to the USA with no more problems.

 

It will be very interesting to see how and if the 90 day rule is going to be enforced.  Will folks be fined on the spot?  Will they be tossed in the clink (unlikely)?  Will they sit around while officials decide what to do?  Will they be denied future entry to any Schengen country?  Will they only be denied entry to the country where they were caught (ie. Germany)?  Who knows.

 

In the past we have done many TA cruises, and, in most cases, our Passports never received an entry stamp.  Ironically, the big exception was the UK (not a Schengen country) where their officials were insistent on face-to-face interviews, and they always did stamp our Passports.  There are 26 Schengen countries, and they are still 26 separate countries trying to use common regulations.  But the reality is that certain countries are much more efficient than others.  And so the comedy will likely continue.

 

Hank

[hallasm]

1 hour ago, Hlitner said:

It will be very interesting to see how and if the 90 day rule is going to be enforced.  Will folks be fined on the spot? 

Thanks for sharing your interesting story.  I don't think that the problem is only that 26 Schengen countries have different implementations - rather an “unintentional error” in the system when it comes to cruise ships.  As a starting point, all passports are stamped upon entry/exit in a Schengen country, but not on cruise ships.

 At present, there is also no full control over the 90-day rule.  ETIAS, which is expected to be operational in November 2023, should solve the problem, but I am curious to see how the system is initially handled when traveling in/out og Schengen by cruise ship.

[ldubs]

On 10/8/2019 at 10:22 PM, LakeSideKen said:

Amazing amount of energy being devoted to how to stay 89/90 days in Europe when, if you want to stay longer the simple answer is get a visa, which for a USA citizen with deep roots in the USA, i.e., no danger of an overstay in Europe, should be easy. (The 90-day rule is about how long you can stay without a visa.) 

 

Amazing to you because you knew this. I just learned something new.  Thanks!  

[Hlitner]

On 10/9/2019 at 10:24 AM, hallasm said:

 

Totally agree - getting a visa is not a big problem if you want to stay more than 90 days within Schengen.

Not sure that is always true.  My understanding is that one cannot get a "Schengen" Visa but would actually need to obtain a Visa from a specific country (where you would need to be) which are subject to the Visa rules of that particular country,  So, for example, while it might be relatively easy for me to get a Visa in France to stay more than 90 days, getting a Visa in Germany might prove somewhat more difficult.   Depending on the country the process may involve appointments, obtaining various documents, etc.   While not necessarily a "big problem" it sure can involve a lot of hassles.

 

Hank

[hallasm]

50 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

My understanding is that one cannot get a "Schengen" Visa but would actually need to obtain a Visa from a specific country (where you would need to be) which are subject to the Visa rules of that particular country,

Correct - if you want to travel longer than 90 days, you must apply for a visa (residency permit) at the embassy or consulate in the US for the main country you want to visit.  Once you have a visa, you can travel freely within the Schengen area.

 

Citizens of the United States with a valid US passport can travel to 26 European member countries of the Schengen Area for a maximum of 90 days without having to apply or obtain a Schengen visa for short-term tourism or a business trip.

 

You can stay in the Schengen Area for a maximum of 90 days within a 180-day period.

If you need to remain longer than 90 days in Europe, then you must apply for a residency permit as described above.