My daughter is moving to Spain, and we are invited to stay with her. We need to count our days in the Schengen Area and make sure we do not exceed 90 days.
We are planning on booking the Carnival Venezia for a transatlantic cruise. It leaves Barcelona on May 29, 2023. The ship leaves its last Schengen Area port of Ponta Delgada, Portugal on June 4 and arrives in New York on June 13. On what date will we be considered to have left the Schengen Area?
Why not continue in your previous post? But I think the answer is the same as the last time you posted the question, you need to ask the cruiseline.
Since the cruiseline didn't know, maybe try asking the State Department. From looking at their website https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/before-you-go/travelers-with-special-considerations/schengen.html it seems to me it would be the day they stamp your passport leaving Portugal.
I would assume June 4, plus a couple of days to cover any delays. Although unlikely in June, storms or other factors (like mechanical issues or diverting to an emergency of another vessel at sea) could prevent the ship docking at Ponta Delgada on the right day. I encountered that in January 2020 when my cruise ship was diverted to Madeira due to heavy weather a day late and then sailed from there in the middle of the night due to damage incurred in the storm then no available pilotage. So assume that you could have similar problems.
If the ship was running very late she may not call anywhere, which would leave your passport unstamped.
Years ago (when this day counting didn't matter) I encountered that when we were so late (on a cargo ship) that we totally omitted the Azores and sailed direct to the Caribbean. So my time would have just ended 'at sea' 36 hours later than scheduled.
You are better off having a few days in hand than running out of time.
What is likely to happen is that the ship retains your passport on embarking in Barcelona, then immigration board the ship during the day or even on arrival in Ponta Delgada and stamp all the passports without seeing the people concerned, only asking to see you if there is a problem with your passport.
Nothing gets stamped. It's electronic in the EU database. I haven’t had a stamp in years. Did the machine at the Barcelona cruiseport automatically register the day we left Madeira instead of Barcelona in the database? It’s just like checking in for a flight in the US: you hand your passport to an employee who verifies eligibility. The employee hands it back to you. There is no passport booth.
Ten days later we sailed away from Madeira. Nobody anywhere asked to see the passport until the cruiseport in New York.
We always have left between five to ten days wiggle room in our plans.
The question is not asking if or when the passport gets stamped. The question is when would I be considered no longer in the Schengen Area. I had a previous post where I did not explain this clearly enough. I called Carnival Cruise line that the agent did not even know what Schengen was. I sent an email to the Carnival customer care line a month ago and have gotten no response.
I don’t think any of the cruise consultants know. You physically leave the Schengen June 4.
For example, if you fly to the Caribbean to Martinique or Guadeloupe you are reentering the Schengen zone.
Bets- All of the French Overseas Departments are outside of Schengen.
You could also try the Cruise critic forum, there might be someone there with experience on the issue. https://boards.cruisecritic.com
