New requirements to travel to Europe: Entry/Exit System (EES)

[Fouremco]

While there have been numerous threads discussing the pending implementation of the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS), this board has been silent on the subject of the Entry/Exit System (EES). Both systems aim to strengthen European security and security of those who travel. EES's start date has not been announced, but it is expected to launch ahead of ETIAS some time in 2024. 

 

Unlike ETIAS, for which you must apply ahead of time, data listed in your travel document (e.g. full name, date of birth, etc.), your date and place of entry into and exit from a European country, and both facial image and fingerprints biometrics, will be acquired from you as you first enter an EES country, and the automate system will subsequently track you as you exit or cross into another country. One of the major concerns with EES is the time it will take to process a traveller, particularly a new arrival to Europe.

 

At the current time, cruise passenger will not be exempt, but port officials (and others) have essentially said that the system would unworkable when you have multiple ships arriving on the same day with thousands of passengers each. With limited human resources and IT equipment to process each passenger, it will be a nightmare trying to get everyone off at a port stop within a reasonable period of time. It will be even worse in the case of transatlantic cruises, where each passenger will need to provide all of the required information and biometrics when disembarking. While some of this data may already be in the system, taken from the ETIAS database, there are ongoing discussions about separating the two systems' databases.

 

This EU link is a good place to start, but Google will generate an abundance of articles on EES, its relationship with ETIAS, and the concerns with respect to cruise passengers.  https://travel-europe.europa.eu/ees/general-information_en 

[Jimbo]

So is flying from the US to Amsterdam........then 12 days later cruise ends in Amsterdam, then flying from Amsterdam to Barcelona same day and then 2 days later jumping on a cruise ship in Barcelona that ends 10 days later in  Rome going to be an issue then trying to fly back to the US from Rome.

 

Is this all doable as it stands now for  June 2024 or are we going to have huge issues?

Edited July 31, 2023 by Jimbo

[HaveWeMetYet]

10 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

So is flying from the US to Amsterdam........then 12 days later cruise ends in Amsterdam, then flying from Amsterdam to Barcelona same day and then 2 days later jumping on a cruise ship in Barcelona that ends 10 days later in  Rome going to be an issue then trying to fly back to the US from Rome.

 

Is this all doable as it stands now for  June 2024 or are we going to have huge issues?

The flying part is not the issue. It is going to be getting on and off the ships. Plan on flying in a day earlier and probably flying home the day after the cruise ends. AMS to BCN might be a big issue unless in the evening. We will see.

[Despegue]

16 minutes ago, HaveWeMetYet said:

The flying part is not the issue. It is going to be getting on and off the ships. Plan on flying in a day earlier and probably flying home the day after the cruise ends. AMS to BCN might be a big issue unless in the evening. We will see.

This will not be an issue at all as you will probably not leave the Schengen area during your cruise, and therefore you do not pass immigration at the end of your cruise. Only NON-Schengen to Schengen destinations are affected, the rest is domestic. AMS-BCN is intra-schengen so “domestic”.

[HaveWeMetYet]

13 minutes ago, Despegue said:

This will not be an issue at all as you will probably not leave the Schengen area during your cruise, and therefore you do not pass immigration at the end of your cruise. Only NON-Schengen to Schengen destinations are affected, the rest is domestic. AMS-BCN is intra-schengen so “domestic”.

What I am looking would be a US to Europe TA. If I want to fly home the same day do you see any issues with flights before noon? It is in spring 2024 so Maybe this will will not be in effect then.

[Jimbo]

16 minutes ago, Despegue said:

This will not be an issue at all as you will probably not leave the Schengen area during your cruise, and therefore you do not pass immigration at the end of your cruise. Only NON-Schengen to Schengen destinations are affected, the rest is domestic. AMS-BCN is intra-schengen so “domestic”.

Our plans are once the second cruise ends in Rome  is to stay an extra day or 2 and then fly home from Rome to the US.   So you are saying that is not an issue?

[Despegue]

1 minute ago, HaveWeMetYet said:

What I am looking would be a US to Europe TA. If I want to fly home the same day do you see any issues with flights before noon? It is in spring 2024 so Maybe this will will not be in effect then.

Well in this case, I would personally be on the cautious side as I have no idea how the waiting times will be at the start of this new procedure...Is your disembarkation port your first port within Schengen?

 

[Despegue]

1 minute ago, Jimbo said:

Our plans are once the second cruise ends in Rome  is to stay an extra day or 2 and then fly home from Rome to the US.   So you are saying that is not an issue?

No issue that I can see .

[HaveWeMetYet]

59 minutes ago, Despegue said:

Well in this case, I would personally be on the cautious side as I have no idea how the waiting times will be at the start of this new procedure...Is your disembarkation port your first port within Schengen?

 

Yes.

[Sunshine3601]

2 hours ago, Jimbo said:

So is flying from the US to Amsterdam........then 12 days later cruise ends in Amsterdam, then flying from Amsterdam to Barcelona same day and then 2 days later jumping on a cruise ship in Barcelona that ends 10 days later in  Rome going to be an issue then trying to fly back to the US from Rome.

 

Is this all doable as it stands now for  June 2024 or are we going to have huge issues?

IMO, it is too early for anyone to have exact answers.  They will probably modify a couple of times before it is all worked out.

[mugtech]

Wondering if this will affect a TA from NJ, stopping in Portugal, Spain and France and then ending in Southampton.  (ANTHEM 4/28/24)

[ARandomTraveler]

4 hours ago, Jimbo said:

So is flying from the US to Amsterdam........then 12 days later cruise ends in Amsterdam, then flying from Amsterdam to Barcelona same day and then 2 days later jumping on a cruise ship in Barcelona that ends 10 days later in  Rome going to be an issue then trying to fly back to the US from Rome.

 

Is this all doable as it stands now for  June 2024 or are we going to have huge issues?

I'm not sure how it will work, but I'm on my Asian cruise right now and there was a lot of scanning and fingerprinting and picture taking and visa checking etc to do this cruise too. It was very well organized, but took an hour to do. Hopefully they'll have an organized system to process everyone by next summer for the Europe cruises. 

[gumshoe958]

I would file this under ‘nothing to worry about right now’. Until they actually confirm a launch date (which will probably be delayed again), there’s no point even thinking about it. 

[Jimbo]

7 hours ago, gumshoe958 said:

I would file this under ‘nothing to worry about right now’. Until they actually confirm a launch date (which will probably be delayed again), there’s no point even thinking about it. 

But to some degree you do have worry about  this when booking flights right now,not knowing or not how much additional time is needed to make our flight times.

[Fouremco]

12 hours ago, mugtech said:

Wondering if this will affect a TA from NJ, stopping in Portugal, Spain and France and then ending in Southampton.  (ANTHEM 4/28/24)

Under the current plans, you would need to apply for ETIAS and the UK ETA in advance of your TA. Upon arrival in Portugal, you would provide all of the EES information as part of the entry process when disembarking. For Spain and France, the EES system would automatically log your entry into and departure from each country.

 

Of course, as your TA is in April 2024, it's quite likely that none of these programs will be up and running. And even if they are, they might be modified from their current design.

[mystik]

when will we know went it will starts i have ta in april 2024

 

[BirdTravels]

10 hours ago, gumshoe958 said:

I would file this under ‘nothing to worry about right now’. Until they actually confirm a launch date (which will probably be delayed again), there’s no point even thinking about it. 

I would file this under, "who cares" until the system is deployed and the implementation for cruise ships is fully defined. We just got through COVID where every country had different rules on what was required. The cruise lines figured out what they needed to disembark in each country and made sure everyone had the right documentation to make port calls smooth. They have been doing that for cruises that call in Canada for years. 

[FLCruiser97]

From what I have read, it is a simple process online. Fill out the form. It cost 7 euros ($7.73) and if you are under 10 or over 70 years old, then it is free. 

www.schengenvisainfo.com/us-citizens/

[Fouremco]

2 hours ago, FLCruiser97 said:

From what I have read, it is a simple process online. Fill out the form. It cost 7 euros ($7.73) and if you are under 10 or over 70 years old, then it is free. 

www.schengenvisainfo.com/us-citizens/

That may be true of ETIAS once it is implemented, but this thread is intended to discuss EES, a very different program for which there is no online application.

[Fouremco]

4 hours ago, mystik said:

when will we know went it will starts i have ta in april 2024

 

No one knows at this point. Generally, it shouldn't have a significant impact of travellers, although those taking a TA to Europe, such as yourself, might not want to book an early flight home on disembarkation day, just in case EES has been implemented and large delays occur as a result. If you plan to stay on in Europe for a bit and not fly home on disembarkation day, I'd say there was nothing to worry about. 

 

[mystik]

3 hours ago, Fouremco said:

No one knows at this point. Generally, it shouldn't have a significant impact of travellers, although those taking a TA to Europe, such as yourself, might not want to book an early flight home on disembarkation day, just in case EES has been implemented and large delays occur as a result. If you plan to stay on in Europe for a bit and not fly home on disembarkation day, I'd say there was nothing to worry about. 

 

my flight are not booked yet thanks.

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

13 hours ago, mystik said:

when will we know went it will starts i have ta in april 2024

 

based on their past track record, we don't even know if it will start in 2024

[gumshoe958]

1 hour ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

based on their past track record, we don't even know if it will start in 2024

And I can’t see France agreeing to let it start until the Olympics & Paralympics are well out of the way - so late 2024 at the earliest. And yes, probably not even then.

[steamboats]

From what I´ve read EES is more an automated passport control which is already used in various EU/Schengen countries. You scan your passport and the machine is comparing your face with the biometric data of your passport photo. There´s always a "back up" with a real officer who can check your passport. Actually I had problems in Spain as both ways the machine didn´t work with my (pretty new EU) passport.

 

steamboats

[LittleJoefromKokomo]

I wonder how this will affects eastern Med cruises that makes starts in an EU country like Italy or Greece and makes port of calls in non EU countries such as Montenegro and Turkey and then returns to an EU Country?