Somehow my Civitavecchia to Orlando cruise didn't check me out of the EU

[Mississippian]

I took a transatlantic cruise on NCL from Civitavecchia to Orlando in early December, 2023 on the Epic. I enjoyed myself but didn't love the ship, but that's another kettle of fish. In March, 2024 I arrived in the Netherlands and had problems going through immigration because there was no record of my ever leaving the European Union in 2023. I spent 20-30 minutes on the Internet piecing together my flight logs, and immigration was finally satisfied. In hindsight, I know I should have gotten an exit stamp from someone, but shouldn't there have been someone there at the embarkation site to make a note that I was leaving? Has anyone else had this problem? How was I able to get on the ship without a stamp?

BTW, it's not the end of my world, but something I will look out for on future trips home, and would urge others to do so as well.

[Asawi]

Being European I wouldn't know anything about exit stamps from EU. But was Civitavecchia really your last EU stop? If not, then they should definitely not have "signed you out". 

[KeithJenner]

I can't specifically speak about the EU, but based on my experience of going into and out of the US, the unusual thing here would appear to be that immigration had an issue with this.

 

When I look at my US entry/exits there are multiple things missing. At one point I have three consecutive departures registered without any entry between them and in another place I have two arrivals (the record shows me arriving in the US and the next item is nearly a year later).

 

Based on my knowledge of immigration recording, the fact that you weren't registered as leaving the EU would not be unusual at all. I suspect you just got an eager immigration official.

[Panhandle Couple]

We finished a cruise from to Barcelona. Our only stamps were done at the airport. Both times the official was bored and talking to someone else in the booth, and barely glanced at us.

 

We have several times returned from land vacation in Caribbean and only done facial recognition on reentry. No one reviewed passport to see if we had cleared the visited country.

 

Are these databases all linked together?

Who knows?

[GLYNAGP]

I've had  a couple similar EU experiences . In 2022 I boarded Norwegian Dawn in Southampton, the itinerary was around the UK ,Southern Ireland (Eire), Belgium and ending in Amsterdam . When I went to the airport for the flight home to London the Dutch  immigration officer asked me how I'd got there ,I explained off a cruise ship that morning, he asked where I had entered the EU , I said,  initially  Cork but  they hadn't stamped me in or out  then we went to Edinburgh back in the UK then onto Zeebrugge in Belgium where they hadn't stamped me in either.  He  was perplexed , his  solution was to Stamp me both  in and out of the EU that day.
Another time I boarded Norwegian Star in Southamton disembarked in Rome,  again I went to the airport to fly home to London but this time the Italian Immigration officer didn't seem to pick that I'd hadnt been stamped in and just stamped me out. It all seems a bit hit and miss !!!!!
 

 

[CruiseMH]

I`m not an expert in leaving the EU as a non-EU citizen but if it is a transatlantic cruise shouldn`t that be done by the shipping line ?

I mean, as far as i know the Civitavecchia cruise terminal usually doesn`t have a specific "i am leaving the EU" passport control facility. (98 % of the cruise ships docking there don`t start for a transatlantic from there)

SO as the cruise line knows that you all are leaving the EU shouldn`t they handover a list to the authorities with the info that they are all leaving the EU.

I thought that this is one part of the administrative things that are done in each port before the passengers are allowed to go on land or before a ship is allowed to leave the port.

 

 

[yakcruiser]

18 hours ago, Mississippian said:

I took a transatlantic cruise on NCL from Civitavecchia to Orlando in early December, 2023 on the Epic. I enjoyed myself but didn't love the ship, but that's another kettle of fish. In March, 2024 I arrived in the Netherlands and had problems going through immigration because there was no record of my ever leaving the European Union in 2023. I spent 20-30 minutes on the Internet piecing together my flight logs, and immigration was finally satisfied. In hindsight, I know I should have gotten an exit stamp from someone, but shouldn't there have been someone there at the embarkation site to make a note that I was leaving? Has anyone else had this problem? How was I able to get on the ship without a stamp?

BTW, it's not the end of my world, but something I will look out for on future trips home, and would urge others to do so as well.

The same thing happened to my friend when she took a repo cruise a couple years ago from Barcelona. When we entered the EU last year in Vienna the young lady at immigration really made a big deal of the fact she didn't have an exit stamp showing she had left the EU. After a long time and a lot of explaining she reluctantly let her in.

[Mississippian]

16 hours ago, Asawi said:

Being European I wouldn't know anything about exit stamps from EU. But was Civitavecchia really your last EU stop? If not, then they should definitely not have "signed you out". 

The ship did make some EU port calls after leaving Civitavecchia. I'm not sure how we get an exit stamp while on a cruise ship. 

[Mississippian]

15 hours ago, KeithJenner said:

I can't specifically speak about the EU, but based on my experience of going into and out of the US, the unusual thing here would appear to be that immigration had an issue with this.

 

I don't know that it matters, but I was re-entering the EU by taking the ferry from Harwich to the Hook of Holland. If may very well be that they are being more picky about those coming from the UK, just because they can.

 

The whole Schengen thing is based on their being able to actually measure the number of days someone has been in the zone. So I can see how they would be perplexed about someone entering in November, never leaving, and then trying to re-enter four months later.

[TrumpyNor]

I have no idea how this was (or was not) enforced until now, but it seems like there will be some changes to this matter this fall:

https://skift.com/2024/03/05/cruise-lines-not-ready-for-europes-upcoming-border-controls/

[Asawi]

5 hours ago, Mississippian said:

The ship did make some EU port calls after leaving Civitavecchia. I'm not sure how we get an exit stamp while on a cruise ship. 

It can be done if necessary. Immigration officers can come onboard or ther can be a compulsary emigration check befora embarking in the last EU port. I have experiences both types, but not in/out of EU.

[NordicExpat]

I have sailed 15 transatlantics and have only received three stamps: an entry into Barcelona in May 2019 and an exit from Barcelona in November 2019, both on the Epic. Each TA had Schengen stops along the way to/from the point of entry/exit. Oddly enough, I received an entry stamp into the US also in 2019 on the Encore. As a US citizen, that is the only US stamp I have ever received.

 

In October 2017, I flew into Norway for a westbound TA from Copenhagen. I received a stamp in Norway, the first one in a new passport. The next February, I flew back to Oslo and my book was stamped. The next day we flew up to Spitzbergen with a passport control stop in Tromsø. This is where I had a little trouble due to the lack of a previous exit stamp. The politi asked me about it and I was able to show them the email for the TA cruise from Copenhagen, which they accepted without any issue.

 

[PelicanBill]

This is all relatively new. I have traveled all over Europe four times in the last 20 years and there were no exit stamps anywhere.  That article explains the controls are getting even tighter.

 

In the US we have had electronic manifest clearing for years. I believe it's the reason we had a requirement to board 2 hours before sailing - so they could transmit the manifest and get clearance back in 2 hours.  It's interesting that the FAQ has changed saying you can board up to 1 hour before sailing now.

[cruiseny4life]

On 6/16/2024 at 2:59 AM, TrumpyNor said:

I have no idea how this was (or was not) enforced until now, but it seems like there will be some changes to this matter this fall:

https://skift.com/2024/03/05/cruise-lines-not-ready-for-europes-upcoming-border-controls/

What stupidity...but it's bureaucracy so I'm not surprised. 

[Plato123]

Several years ago we went on a cruise out of Valencia on a line that no longer exists. We flew from Canada to Paris CDG then connected on to Valencia.

When we went to board, the Purser looked at our passports and was not going to let us board as there was no stamp showing we had entered the EU as the lazy immigration people at CDG had not stamped our passports. Luckily we were in a suite and our concierge stepped in and overruled the purser and we were allowed on board.

[EngrJones]

1 hour ago, Plato123 said:

Luckily we were in a suite and our concierge stepped in and overruled the purser and we were allowed on board.

Would you have missed the cruise if you weren't in a suite?

[geleisen]

First off, some people confuse Schengen with EU, but this is Schengen thing, not EU. 
Secondly, up until now, some countries care far more than others. Netherlands, Denmark, Hungary and Switzerland often have a reputation of being very specific, looking for the stamps and counting the days. Whereas Greece, Italy and Spain are far more relaxed. 
When the new electronic system comes into force, it will be a lot easier for the visitors as no stamps will be required. You just use the same types of e-gates that locals can use and your entries and exits will be recorded digitally with no stamps required.
This will be especially nice for cruise pax as there is a long history of many cruise pax suffering from this problem.