What happens with my Schengen days when I board/alight a cruise in the UK without stamping my passport?
I am UK resident who spends as much time in Schengen area (Tenerife) as I'm allowed. When we are not in Tenerife we often take cruises. I understand fully why if a cruise begins and ends in a Schengen country the whole cruise would count - however can anybody explain or confirm what happens when a cruise commences and ends in the UK and there are just a couple of days spent ashore on Schengen countries during the cruise?
This related answer mentions that the 90 days start as soon as my passport is stamped at the port of entry. As far as I can determine from the cruise company there are no procedures in place to submit passports for stamping either on arrival or departure. I assume they may submit some a passenger manifest, but how would I know if any days have been reduced from our 90 day limit?
Best Answer
I think the best course of action would be to contact the cruise company and clarify how this works (or wait for someone knowledgeable to answer on here).
I want to stress that I am not an expert, have never dealt with Schengen visas and just pieced this together from information online:
The Schengen Border Code has a part on cruise ships in Annex VI (article 3.2.1-3.2.3).
Article 3.2.3(a) states:
where the cruise ship comes from a port situated in a third country and calls for the first time at a port situated in the territory of a Member State, crew and passengers shall be subject to entry checks on the basis of the nominal lists of crew and passengers, ...
Passengers going ashore shall be subject to entry checks ...
That seems to suggest that your passport will be checked when you go ashore in a Schengen country, starting the Schengen "counter".
Article 3.2.3(d) states:
where a cruise ship departs from a port situated in a Member State to a port in a third country, crew and passengers shall be subject to exit checks on the basis of the nominal lists of crew and passengers.
This seems to suggest that exiting the Schengen area will be registered as well.
To determine how many days you have left on the 90 day limit on any given date, you can use the Schengen calculator and fill in the entry/exit date(s).
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Can I go on a UK cruise without a passport?
Absolutely. It is a condition of carriage that all guests embarking on a cruise holiday, even those visiting the British Isles, must hold a full and valid passport that conforms to the entry requirements of each destination visited.Do Cruises count towards Schengen?
The EU has confirmed to the Cruising Association that days spent in an EU country where UK cruisers have a visa/residence permit do not count as days spent in the Schengen zone.Does the 90 day rule apply to cruises?
If checks are not deemed necessary by the authorities, article 11(3)(b) creates an exemption to the regular rules on stamp so the whole duration of the cruise would count. It does not matter that you are at sea, whether the ship is in territorial waters, etc. you can't expect to stretch the 90 days in that way.How does the 90 days in 180 work?
What is the Schengen 90/180 rule? Under the terms of Schengen, non-EEA nationals cannot spend more than a total of 90 days within a total period of 180 days without a visa. Furthermore, once you've used up your quota of 90 days, you cannot return to Schengen until 90 more days have passed.THE SCHENGEN ZONE TRAVEL EXPLAINED - DIGITAL NOMAD TV
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