When do you clear customs?

[npphotog]

Leaving Tampa on June 2nd to Atlanta then international flight to Charles De Gaulle with connection to Marseille France via Delta. Questions are passport control at De Gaulle but will luggage go right thru to Marseille? Coming back we leave from Lyon to De Gaulle to of all places Detroit then to Tampa. That could change by June. Not worried about return. Hoping we will have our luggage thru from Tampa to Marseille. Appreciate all your comments on Cruise Critic. Willard

[Shmoo here]

Although Romania is in the EU, it is NOT in the Schengen area (nor does Romania use the euro). When you get to Munich do NOT get stamped into Schengen (Germany and lots more), but rather look for "In-Transit". You will be processed by Romanian immigration upon arrival in Bucharest. Are you doing a Danube cruise to Budapest (or further)? If so, you will be stamped into Schengen when you get to Hungary. I'd GUESS that the boat would hold your passport, perhaps have to show the passports to the Bulgarians, the Serbs and the Croatians (and these guys would probably consider you in-transit and not even stamp your passport), and finally get you stamped into Schengen in Hungary. If you then fly home through Germany to the US, your Schengen exit stamp will be obtained in Germany, not Hungary. I think every river boat I've done in Europe held our passports (they "loaned" it back to me one day so that I could rent a car).

 

Your bags should be checked through to your final destination of Bucharest, and checked through to your first US stop on your return (if you have a connecting flight in the US, your bag can be checked through to your final destination, BUT you must claim your bag at the first US airport, walk it through US Customs, and can then deposit it at a bag drop on the other side of Customs).

 

Thom

 

Thank you, this is most helpful!

 

We are on a Vantage Bucharest/Budapest cruise followed by Budapest/Koln cruise. We fly from LA to Munich, change planes and fly to Bucharest. Port stops are in (in order) Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, Hungary, Austria, and Germany. Then we fly (direct flight) from Frankfort to LA.

 

While I love the direct flights, I'm concerned :( about being able to sleep well on that long a flight and having a melt down once I arrive in Romania. Yes, that happened when I flew from San Francisco direct to Munich once. First day there I was a basket case: crying, disoriented, and sick. Hoping to not repeat that. :eek:

[Mark_T]

Leaving Tampa on June 2nd to Atlanta then international flight to Charles De Gaulle with connection to Marseille France via Delta. Questions are passport control at De Gaulle but will luggage go right thru to Marseille?

 

Yes, just make sure when you check-in and hand over your bags that they check them through to your final destination. You will be able to see this on you bag check receipts.

 

To be honest, it is harder to short-check your bags these days as the airlines go to great lengths to make sure you and your bags remain close together at all times :)

[Canal archive]

Get on your flight and immediately set your watch to european time, it works, just take security as you would anywhere else in the world forget about schengun et al it's a european thing which at least helps the cruise companies they will let you know if you need your passport. We are used to it in the UK as we did not sign up to it.

Have a great Cruise CA

[Hydrokitty]

Leaving Tampa on June 2nd to Atlanta then international flight to Charles De Gaulle with connection to Marseille France via Delta. Questions are passport control at De Gaulle but will luggage go right thru to Marseille? Coming back we leave from Lyon to De Gaulle to of all places Detroit then to Tampa. That could change by June. Not worried about return. Hoping we will have our luggage thru from Tampa to Marseille. Appreciate all your comments on Cruise Critic. Willard

 

Hi Willard, if you're on Delta all the way your luggage will be transferred in Atlanta to Marseilles. When you get to Marseilles, you'll be going from International terminal to domestic and will have to go through passport control. After you've arrived at the domestic departures terminal you'll go through security again, but it's not as formal as when you first arrive at the airport, but they will take a filled water bottle so empty your water before you go through security cause they'll take the bottle. When you arrive in Marseilles you'll claim your luggage, go through passport control again and then through French customs which is usually pretty quick, it's been my experience that what they're primarily looking for is drugs and fresh food! DH had an apple from the plane in his carry-on and when it went through the x-ray they pulled him aside and had him remove the apple and throw it away while they watched!!!

[TravelinTexasGal]

This is a great thread with lots of info! Thanks everybody! I had been wondering about our flights as well as we have never flown into Frankfurt or used Lufthansa. Viking booked our flights for us with their flight promotion.

 

We fly DFW to Frankfurt then on to Prague. On return we fly Budapest to Frankfurt and onto DFW. All on Lufthansa.

 

Are there any passport checks along the cruise? We have taken some ocean crises where we were checked and received a stamp in every port. I'm one of those women who like to collect the passport stamps as a rememberance of where we have traveled. Four countries this trip.

 

Thanks!

[Hydrokitty]

This is a great thread with lots of info! Thanks everybody! I had been wondering about our flights as well as we have never flown into Frankfurt or used Lufthansa. Viking booked our flights for us with their flight promotion.

 

We fly DFW to Frankfurt then on to Prague. On return we fly Budapest to Frankfurt and onto DFW. All on Lufthansa.

 

Are there any passport checks along the cruise? We have taken some ocean crises where we were checked and received a stamp in every port. I'm one of those women who like to collect the passport stamps as a rememberance of where we have traveled. Four countries this trip.

 

Thanks!

 

If you're going from Bonn to Budapest there will be no passport checks on the way, sorry....You'll get one for Czech Republic when you arrive in Prague and if you're flying from Prague to Bonn you'll get one when you arrive in Germany. You might get Hungary if passport control boards the ship, but I know we didn't go through passport control until we were leaving Hungary and entering Serbia. If you haven't flown Lufthansa you're in for a treat....it's our favorite airline for International travel. FYI: Frankfort is a HUGE airport and you will be going from International Arrival terminal to Domestic departure terminal. Figure on 30 minutes of quick pace walking. If you're carrying a water bottle empty it before you go through security at domestic terminal otherwise they don't dump the water, they take the bottle! You'll take a shuttle to the plane and it's very well organized. Don't know what time you're arriving....we usually arrive around 5:30 a.m. (we fly into Frankfort all the time, in fact I know my flight # by heart!

Edited February 27, 2015 by Hydrokitty

[franski]

I'd GUESS that the boat would hold your passport, perhaps have to show the passports to the Bulgarians, the Serbs and the Croatians (and these guys would probably consider you in-transit and not even stamp your passport), and finally get you stamped into Schengen in Hungary.

 

Thom

 

When we did Bucharest to Budapest, we were told that we would have a couple of passport checks along the way (Serbia, Croatia, Hungary). We actually only had the check when we entered into Hungary - but it was at 6:30 in the morning. They did tell us the day before that it would be early, and they called us up to the front desk area by floor. Many arrived up in their pjs and robes....

 

Fran

[Hydrokitty]

When we did Bucharest to Budapest, we were told that we would have a couple of passport checks along the way (Serbia, Croatia, Hungary). We actually only had the check when we entered into Hungary - but it was at 6:30 in the morning. They did tell us the day before that it would be early, and they called us up to the front desk area by floor. Many arrived up in their pjs and robes....

 

Fran

 

Vantage did the same thing last year when we did that trip. They held the passports to make it easier but we only had one too and it was a "face" check but we were really lucky, it was during lunch so we just had to leave the dining room. It was as we were leaving Hungary. We had been advised that some trips had early morning passport checks and some had middle of the night checks. We were lucky.

[TravelerThom]

...We fly DFW to Frankfurt then on to Prague. On return we fly Budapest to Frankfurt and onto DFW. All on Lufthansa.

Are there any passport checks along the cruise? We have taken some ocean crises where we were checked and received a stamp in every port. I'm one of those women who like to collect the passport stamps as a rememberance of where we have traveled. Four countries this trip...

If you're going from Bonn to Budapest there will be no passport checks on the way, sorry....You'll get one for Czech Republic when you arrive in Prague and if you're flying from Prague to Bonn you'll get one when you arrive in Germany. You might get Hungary if passport control boards the ship, but I know we didn't go through passport control until we were leaving Hungary and entering Serbia...

Are you sure about this? I think that TravelinTexasGal would get a Schengen entry stamp upon landing at FRA, and having entered Schengen would not get a stamp in the Czech Republic, Hungary or any other Schengen country unless she had departed Schengen and is reentering (which would not be the case on a trip that involved Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia and/or Hungary [all Schengen members]). To be sure some immigration guys don't do it correctly, but there is supposed to be a one-to-one match between Schengen entry and exit stamps. I have entered Schengen in the Netherlands with an entry stamp, proceeded to Denmark, Norway and Iceland without exit or entry stamps, but entering the "leaving Schengen" (for the US) concourse in Rejkavik they searched through 40 pages of my passport to make sure I had a proper entry stamp.

 

Thom

[Hydrokitty]

Are you sure about this? I think that TravelinTexasGal would get a Schengen entry stamp upon landing at FRA, and having entered Schengen would not get a stamp in the Czech Republic, Hungary or any other Schengen country unless she had departed Schengen and is reentering (which would not be the case on a trip that involved Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia and/or Hungary [all Schengen members]). To be sure some immigration guys don't do it correctly, but there is supposed to be a one-to-one match between Schengen entry and exit stamps. I have entered Schengen in the Netherlands with an entry stamp, proceeded to Denmark, Norway and Iceland without exit or entry stamps, but entering the "leaving Schengen" (for the US) concourse in Rejkavik they searched through 40 pages of my passport to make sure I had a proper entry stamp.

 

Thom

 

 

I just checked my passport and you are right, Thom. I do NOT have a stamp for Czech Republic, only for Frankfort! However, the good news is I DO have stamps for Croatia, Romania, Serbia and Constanta, which were done without my being present!! The purser apparently did all the passport checking and Hungary was the only one that insisted we all show up and match faces to passport!. I actually had to print a list of all the EU countries, then the EU countries who are also EZ countries and finally the Schengen countries, some of whom are neither EU or EZ! No wonder it's so confusing...and I didn't even include the countries that are up for membership in 2015.

[Hydrokitty]

This is a great thread with lots of info! Thanks everybody! I had been wondering about our flights as well as we have never flown into Frankfurt or used Lufthansa. Viking booked our flights for us with their flight promotion.

 

We fly DFW to Frankfurt then on to Prague. On return we fly Budapest to Frankfurt and onto DFW. All on Lufthansa.

 

Are there any passport checks along the cruise? We have taken some ocean crises where we were checked and received a stamp in every port. I'm one of those women who like to collect the passport stamps as a rememberance of where we have traveled. Four countries this trip.

 

Thanks!

 

TTG: Correcting my response to this post. I checked my passport and I was stamped upon arrival in Frankfort but NOT on arrival in Prague. As for the other cities you'll be visiting on your river cruise to Budapest, sadly you will not be collecting any stamps since all of these countries are in the European Union and allow free passage amongst them. What is interesting though is that the ship will change flags each time it changes country! Sorry for the confusion, but it is very confusing.

[TravelerThom]

I just checked my passport and you are right, Thom. I do NOT have a stamp for Czech Republic, only for Frankfort! However, the good news is I DO have stamps for Croatia, Romania, Serbia and Constanta, which were done without my being present!! The purser apparently did all the passport checking and Hungary was the only one that insisted we all show up and match faces to passport!. I actually had to print a list of all the EU countries, then the EU countries who are also EZ countries and finally the Schengen countries, some of whom are neither EU or EZ! No wonder it's so confusing...and I didn't even include the countries that are up for membership in 2015.

Yep, Norway and Iceland are Schengen, but neither is EU or EZ (Switzerland and Liechtenstein are in the same "boat"). Croatia, Romania and Bulgaria are EU but not EZ or Schengen. Serbia is none of the above. It gets very confusing, and there seem to be changes every year.

 

I just got a new passport, so my previous collection of country stamps has gone in the drawer with all my previous passports. Among stamps of interest in the recently expired passport were Czech Republic, Port Lockroy Antarctica and the country of Kiribati. There is a stamp in that passport for entering Chile at the port of Arica - BUT the ship (Celebrity Infinity) never made the port stop there due to mechanical issues. I've always wondered how I got that stamp:confused: (I had several years previously spent some time in Arica, having arrived by train from Bolivia before proceeding south across the Atacama desert - so it is not like I was never there, but not that year). The passport before that one had Czechoslovakia SSR (I was in Prague the week the Russian Red Army pulled out - talk about a lot of very happy Czechs), the Republic of the Congo and a few other places I was probably lucky to survive. I don't try to collect stamps as I'm usually trying to nurse the passport along for 9+ years without exceeding 48 pages of stamps.

 

always new places to go and new things to see

Thom

[TravelinTexasGal]

TTG: Correcting my response to this post. I checked my passport and I was stamped upon arrival in Frankfort but NOT on arrival in Prague. As for the other cities you'll be visiting on your river cruise to Budapest, sadly you will not be collecting any stamps since all of these countries are in the European Union and allow free passage amongst them. What is interesting though is that the ship will change flags each time it changes country! Sorry for the confusion, but it is very confusing.

 

Disappointing :(

 

Thank you for the info! This is just so confusing! We have had so many different experiences over the years on trains and planes. We have had a passport check on a train from France going through Switzerland on our way to Italy before that I thought was odd at the time. We've never actually stepped foot in Switzerland but I have a lovely stamp in my old passport!

[TravelinTexasGal]

TTG: Correcting my response to this post. I checked my passport and I was stamped upon arrival in Frankfort but NOT on arrival in Prague. As for the other cities you'll be visiting on your river cruise to Budapest, sadly you will not be collecting any stamps since all of these countries are in the European Union and allow free passage amongst them. What is interesting though is that the ship will change flags each time it changes country! Sorry for the confusion, but it is very confusing.

 

Disappointing :(

 

Thank you for the info! This is just so confusing! We have had so many different experiences over the years on trains and planes. We have had a passport check on a train from France going through Switzerland on our way to Italy before that I thought was odd at the time. We've never actually stepped foot in Switzerland but I have a lovely stamp in my old passport!

[TravelerThom]

Disappointing :(

Thank you for the info! This is just so confusing! We have had so many different experiences over the years on trains and planes. We have had a passport check on a train from France going through Switzerland on our way to Italy before that I thought was odd at the time. We've never actually stepped foot in Switzerland but I have a lovely stamp in my old passport!

Sorry about the passport stamps -but at least you still get to enjoy the countries. I guess I'll settle for ease of travel, despite the loss of those passport souvenirs. Prague and Budapest are two of my favorite cities, I hope that you get some addition time to explore them. I have not yet been on the (relatively new) Viking Longboats, but they look quite handsome. I'm sure that you will have a wonderful time.

 

The Swiss have always marched (quite successfully) to their own drummer. Geneva was the "capital" of the League of Nations, and when the League failed with WWII Switzerland opted out of the UN. However the UN inherited the League of Nations office complex, and for many years Switzerland, not a member of the UN, was the HQ for a number of UN agencies. Switzerland finally joined the UN in 2002 and joined Schengen the end of 2008 / beginning of 2009. The Swiss still steer well clear of the EU, the Euro Zone and any outside military alliances. My last Swiss passport stamp dates from 2008.

 

Thom

[Hydrokitty]

Prague and Budapest are two of my favorite cities, I hope that you get some addition time to explore them.

Thom

 

Budapest is my favorite world city....it has an excitement to it that the only other place I feel is NYC! We really enjoyed Prague as well and are planning to revisit it when we do the Elbe next year. Like you, we've been to so many cities and I love them all....we lived in London for a while in 1993 and I still consider London my second home. You've been to some very exotic places, my friend! Where you traveling on your own or with the government/military?

[TravelerThom]

...You've been to some very exotic places, my friend! Where you traveling on your own or with the government/military?

Almost 40 years ago I realized that I had run through all my excuses for not traveling, and resolved to take at least one "trip of a lifetime" every year. Other than my last year before retiring I did take one (sometimes two) "trip of a lifetime". I would get close to burnt out at work, and say I'm out of here for three weeks and would buy an open-jaw ticket to somewhere (Dehli-Bombay, Santiago Chile-Buenos Aires, Santa Cruz Bolivia-Lima, etc), throw some stuff in a backpack and throw myself on the local economy. Lyn got a lot less vacation than I did, and she was not exactly enthusiastic about arriving in New Dehli at 3am with no reservations, so those trips were on my own. My very first RCI cruise our waitress was from St. Petersburg Russia and the assistant from Luanda Angola - I think they were a little taken aback to find out that I'd been to both of those cities. Lyn did manage to get two separate months off for trips with me through the South Pacific, as well as trips to Europe. Add in nephews who have lived in the Philippines, the Congo, Burundi, Egypt, Germany etc and travel opportunities abound. Lyn "agreed" to trips to France (barge trips) before I'd continue on to Africa. Since retirement Lyn & I have been doing more ocean and river cruises, and exotics like the Galapagos and Antarctica. We went to the Ecuador highlands (I'd been there before, Lyn hadn't) for ten days before the Galapagos - somehow I forgot to mention that the reason the Devil's Nose train required full passport info, was because the fare included life insurance - some things are better left unsaid. I've been to well over 100 countries, and still have more years of travel left.

 

Thom

[Hydrokitty]

Almost 40 years ago I realized that I had run through all my excuses for not traveling, and resolved to take at least one "trip of a lifetime" every year. Other than my last year before retiring I did take one (sometimes two) "trip of a lifetime". I would get close to burnt out at work, and say I'm out of here for three weeks and would buy an open-jaw ticket to somewhere (Dehli-Bombay, Santiago Chile-Buenos Aires, Santa Cruz Bolivia-Lima, etc), throw some stuff in a backpack and throw myself on the local economy. Lyn got a lot less vacation than I did, and she was not exactly enthusiastic about arriving in New Dehli at 3am with no reservations, so those trips were on my own. My very first RCI cruise our waitress was from St. Petersburg Russia and the assistant from Luanda Angola - I think they were a little taken aback to find out that I'd been to both of those cities. Lyn did manage to get two separate months off for trips with me through the South Pacific, as well as trips to Europe. Add in nephews who have lived in the Philippines, the Congo, Burundi, Egypt, Germany etc and travel opportunities abound. Lyn "agreed" to trips to France (barge trips) before I'd continue on to Africa. Since retirement Lyn & I have been doing more ocean and river cruises, and exotics like the Galapagos and Antarctica. We went to the Ecuador highlands (I'd been there before, Lyn hadn't) for ten days before the Galapagos - somehow I forgot to mention that th,e reason the Devil's Nose train required full passport info, was because the fare included life insurance - some things are better left unsaid. I've been to well over 100 countries, and still have more years of travel left.

 

Thom

 

FANTASTIC!!!! We've been traveling since 2005 when we retired. So far we've been on 6 river cruises, 2 ocean cruises, 1 sailing cruise, and several land tours. Our favorites have been Egypt, Jordan, Ukraine, Russia, Greece and Turkey. In fact we just finished watching Nova, Hagia Sofia tonight. We're also NP junkies and have been to all of the major parks and many of the smaller ones. Basically we're spending the children's (5) inheritance as fast as we can....no cash, no bills.....that's our motto!!

[SrTrPro]

HK - I see you believe in the "if I have $2000 left when I die, I died a week to soon" retirement theory.

 

Bruce

[Hydrokitty]

hk - i see you believe in the "if i have $2000 left when i die, i died a week to soon" retirement theory.

 

Bruce

 

yes i do!!! :D

Edited February 28, 2015 by Hydrokitty

[gentlemancruiser]

That's news to me!! I've never experienced different airlines transferring my luggage unless they were co-sharing....like Star Alliance. But it's a good thing and there's no reason why they shouldn't do it.

 

One example is Condor and Lufthansa. They will check you luggage to the final destination, but they are not directly connected. So for example if you are transiting via Frankfurt you will have to go thru passport control, but depending upon your final destination you may or may not have another check point.

 

As others have mentioned it all depends up on Schengen or Non Schengen countries, there's a map on the wikipedia page which explains this. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_Area

[marchmom]

I never thought about having to claim baggage for customs. I will be taking my first trip to Europe the end of May, flying DL/AF, PHX to JFK to CDG. So I will go through customs at CDG after I get my luggage, right? Flying home will be Nuremburg to Amsterdam to Minneapolis/St Paul, to PHX, all on DL (KLM Cityhopper from NUE to AMS). If I have this correct, I will claim luggage in MSP for customs. Is that right?

 

I will be travelling with my mom and two aunts, and I know they will expect me to be on top of everything! We are going on Viking Cities of Light, but ending our tour in Nuremburg rather than Prague.

[Hydrokitty]

I never thought about having to claim baggage for customs. I will be taking my first trip to Europe the end of May, flying DL/AF, PHX to JFK to CDG. So I will go through customs at CDG after I get my luggage, right? Flying home will be Nuremburg to Amsterdam to Minneapolis/St Paul, to PHX, all on DL (KLM Cityhopper from NUE to AMS). If I have this correct, I will claim luggage in MSP for customs. Is that right?

 

I will be travelling with my mom and two aunts, and I know they will expect me to be on top of everything! We are going on Viking Cities of Light, but ending our tour in Nuremburg rather than Prague.

 

On your outbound flight, yes you will pick up your luggage and go through customs at CDG. On the return I'm going to turn you over to someone else on CC because since I live in NY I only go as far as JFK and always go through customs there. I think you will go through customs in Minn/St Paul, but I won't swear to it since I've never done it.

[TravelerThom]

On your outbound flight, yes you will pick up your luggage and go through customs at CDG. On the return I'm going to turn you over to someone else on CC because since I live in NY I only go as far as JFK and always go through customs there. I think you will go through customs in Minn/St Paul, but I won't swear to it since I've never done it.

The United States requires you to clear customs at your first point of landing in the US. In MSP you go to US immigration, then to baggage claim, then to customs inspection, then assuming your bags are checked through to PHX drop your bags at the bag drop that should be right outside customs, and then assuming you already have your MSP-PHX boarding passes proceed to your PHX concourse for domestic security screening. That part I'm pretty sure of.

 

I think that if you only pick up your luggage in CDG because you are terminating there. Otherwise your luggage would be automatically routed to your final destination. [if I have that wrong someone will correct me.]

 

Thom