Customs on B2B cruises in Europe- Italy, Greece and England

[chamima]

 We booked  2 cruises as B2B but when I looked up what's offered there are actually 5 different ways to book them .

I know that when we've had B2Bs in the past we have to go through customs every time a new cruise starts.

Will we have to go through customs (and thus waste a lot of the day) at every embarkation port, even though we are supposedly sailing through?

 

(This is a European cruise so don't want to waste our days in customs)

[Essiesmom]

The short answer is no.  Are you boarding in a Schengen country?  Are your other ports a,so Schengen?  You will have gone through immigration when you flew in, chances are you won’t do it again until you fly home.  EM

[thinfool]

Except for England which is not a Schengen country anymore.  Brexit took care of that.

[chamima]

3 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

The short answer is no.  Are you boarding in a Schengen country?  Are your other ports a,so Schengen?  You will have gone through immigration when you flew in, chances are you won’t do it again until you fly home.  EM

 

We're boarding in Rome and then new people will board in Athens, Barcelona and Southhampton. We start the 2nd leg of our B2B in Barcelona and have to change cabins that day.

Are you saying the ship won't have to "zero out" as they do in US ports? (Where all the "old" cruisers have to be off and the B2B people do a turnaround.)

[reedprincess]

17 minutes ago, chamima said:

 

We're boarding in Rome and then new people will board in Athens, Barcelona and Southhampton. We start the 2nd leg of our B2B in Barcelona and have to change cabins that day.

Are you saying the ship won't have to "zero out" as they do in US ports? (Where all the "old" cruisers have to be off and the B2B people do a turnaround.)

As long as the ship is sailing Schengen/EU routes, there's no zeroing out as in US ports for turnaround..   different border and immigration policies and all that 

Turnaround day will be basically a port day for you, go out and explore as you like, etc. 

 

If your turnaround is in Southampton after being in EU, there will be immigration procedures - it may not be exiting the ship and waiting around, it may just be a quick scan, or it could be more in depth..  

 

US ports are pretty unique in their requirements for a zero count, full immigration check every time a ship enters a US port (except Whittier). 

 Elsewhere, procedures vary based on the specific country/regional requirements... 

 

[skynight]

My experience in Europe is that turn around day is just like any other port day. It's not like the U.S. regulations.

[phabric]

I had B2B - Athens-Barcelona-Barcelona-Rome.  We received a card in our cabin to use for Barcelona on our return to the ship.  We were told to treat Barcelona as a regular port day. We could leave and return at anytime to the ship.  On our return back to the ship, there was a security screening for return passengers.  

[beg3yrs]

14 hours ago, thinfool said:

Except for England which is not a Schengen country anymore.  Brexit took care of that.

The United Kingdom never was part of the Schengen agreement. They've always had their own border controls. Brexit had nothing to do with that.

 

Our experiences pre- and post-Brexit have been the same in the UK and the rest of Europe. Pretty much non-existent checking. If there has been any it's so unobtrusive you don't even notice it.

Edited January 16 by beg3yrs

[antsp]

14 hours ago, thinfool said:

Except for England which is not a Schengen country anymore.  Brexit took care of that.

Brexit didn't take care of it, The UK (England) was never a Schengen country 

[upwarduk]

On 1/16/2024 at 4:46 PM, beg3yrs said:

y much non-existent checking. If there has been any it's so unobtrusive you don't even notice it.

 Ever ever been checked when we return to Southampton.