Cruising From Civitavecchia to Athens, with a stop in Turkey - May 2025 - ETIAS Question

[IndyKid]

I just booked a surprise Christmas gift for the wife - a bucket list cruise from Rome to Athens with stop in Naples, Istanbul and 2 stops in Greece along the way. This is our first time travelling to Europe, so not sure of everything that has to happen. The cruise is aboard the Sun Princess May 3 - 10, and I understand that we will need to get a ETIAS for Italy & Greece, but nothing for Turkey, is that correct? Does a single ETIAS authorization cover us for visits to both Italy & Greece? And how does it work? Do they issue you a control number or QR code that you give to the immigration agent? Or do you print out a document?

[euro cruiser]

Since none of us has done this yet, the best we can do is gather the information from official websites:  ETIAS - European Union (europa.eu)

[9265359]

3 hours ago, IndyKid said:

The cruise is aboard the Sun Princess May 3 - 10, and I understand that we will need to get a ETIAS for Italy & Greece, but nothing for Turkey

 

ETIAS will apply to the Schengen area which is all the EU member states* other than Ireland and (currently) Cyprus, plus Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein, and a single approval applies to all of them and lasts for three years or the expiry of your passport.

 

Turkey isn't in the EU so ETIAS is not relevant to them.

 

And importantly the ETIAS (and the separate EES which is starting in November) is checked at the entry to the Schengen area so it will be checked when you fly into Rome and not again after that.

 

For completeness, EES is the Entry Exit System where you will have to provide fingerprints and have a photo taken, and your movement in and out of the Schengen area is recorded on a single computer system and does away with the need to 'wet stamp' passports.

 

The dates for ETIAS have not been finalised yet, with the start date having been constantly pushed back for many years, but the current position appears to be - 

 

From May 2025 you can apply for an ETIAS, but importantly it won't be needed.

 

Then six months later from November 2025 they will be checked, but importantly if you don't have one then provided everything else is fine then you will be allowed in once, and only once.

 

Then six months later from May 2026 thats when the hard 'not coming in without one' kicks in.

 

But currently nothing is absolutely certain.

 

*for those who can't name the 27 EU states, they are Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland and Sweden.

[Hlitner]

There are more questions, about ETIAS, then answers :(.  Europe has been slow to implement the new system, the rules do not seem to be finalized, and one will need to wait and see.  But it does appear that the ETIAS will be good for a number of years with no restrictions on re-entry.  The usual Schengen rule about spending no more than 90 days (out of 180) in the Schengen zone will still apply.

 

As to when ETIAS really takes effect, I am starting to think it will not be in my lifetime.  As frequent travelers to Europe, we simply keep an eye on the various web sites and continue on our merry way.

 

Hank

[9265359]

2 hours ago, Hlitner said:

There are more questions, about ETIAS, then answers :(.

 

You are not wrong there!

 

2 hours ago, Hlitner said:

The usual Schengen rule about spending no more than 90 days (out of 180) in the Schengen zone will still apply.

 

Yes, and that will be enforced from November by EES, not ETIAS which is about who is coming in, whereas EES is about how long they are staying.

 

And there have been a lot of people playing fast and loose with the 90/180 rule, knowing that it is difficult and time consuming for the border guards to check all the stamps in the passport, but from November it will be put the passport in the machine and if the machine goes red because you have overstayed and that isn't going to be waived away by the border guard.

 

2 hours ago, Hlitner said:

As to when ETIAS really takes effect, I am starting to think it will not be in my lifetime.

 

Unless you are planning on shuffling off before November 2025... (and I certainly hope not!).

 

But they do now seem to be on the home run to actually get it up and running.

[IndyKid]

I've looked up both the EES & ETIAS systems, it looks like EES is just a quick fingerprint scan and photo when you go through customs & immigration, nothing required in advance. For ETIAS, my only concern is that they'll finally go live with it just before we are to fly to Rome and we won't get it approved in time before we arrive there.

[VMax1700]

22 hours ago, IndyKid said:

For ETIAS, my only concern is that they'll finally go live with it just before we are to fly to Rome and we won't get it approved in time before we arrive there.

With a cruise in May 2025 there will be no problem.  Even if the ETIAS site is live, there will be at least 6 months when it will not be obligatory to have applied.

[IndyKid]

26 minutes ago, VMax1700 said:

With a cruise in May 2025 there will be no problem.  Even if the ETIAS site is live, there will be at least 6 months when it will not be obligatory to have applied.

Ah, that's good to know. Thanks!

[edinburgher]

On 8/24/2024 at 4:13 PM, VMax1700 said:

and we won't get it approved in time before we arrive there.

Electronic applications for other countries, (USA, OZ etc) are usually approved within a few minutes or hours from completing and submitting  the application, but timing of approval for ETIAS is as yet unknown as the system is not yet "live"

 

official links can be referred to for updates in the months to come.

 

ETIAS

https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/policies/schengen-borders-and-visa/smart-borders/european-travel-information-authorisation-system_en

 

 

Additionally, if you're planning on travel to the UK, keep an eye on the UK ETA.  It applies to only a few countries at the moment but will likely be expanded in time:

 

ETA (For the UK)

htps://www.gov.uk/guidance/apply-for-an-electronic-travel-authorisation-eta#who-does-not-need-aneta

 

Edited August 27 by edinburgher