Visa Requirements for Italian Mediterranean Cruise
 

Hello everyone,

My family (7 members) and I are planning a Royal Caribbean 14 night Italian Mediterranean Cruise Trip in the coming week. The cruise sails from Southampton England and returns to Southampton England, for which I acquired a UK visa. However, I do not have a schengen visa. The vessel will be docking at the following ports in the schengen region: Nice, Rome, Florence, Malaga and Lisbon.

The last time I took a cruise trip with Royal Caribbean, our cruise sailed from SIngapore, docked at Penang and Langkawi, and returned to Singapore. At the time, I was granted Singaporean visa but not Malaysian. The vessel authorities took our passports on arrival and kept them till the end of the journey. I was able to visit Penang and Langkawi both, without my passport in hand and without the Malaysian visa.

Therefore, I was wondering if the same case applies to cruises in Europe? Can I get off at European ports, given I will not have my passport with me? I called royal caribbean's visa center but they weren't sure of the policy for non-US and non-Canadian citizens. My entire family holds US passports, including my husband and daughter, except me. It would be great if someone with similar experience could guide me.

(The bookings and tickets have been paid for) #RoyalCaribbean #Schengen #Europe #Italianmediterranean

Thanks,

ZA.

And what country's passport do you travel on?

>>I called royal caribbean's visa center but they weren't sure of the policy for non-US and non-Canadian citizens.<<

I'd call again and ask for a supervisor/manager. They must know how they handle passengers from visa countries.

I can't see how you could go ashore w/o a visa -- but I'm not an expert. In fact I don't see how they could even let you on the ship since there are port calls in Schengen countries and you would seemingly need a visa. Good luck.

Without knowing what is your status, it is hard to offer suggestions. What is your citizenship? Do you have a US green card? What country's passport will you be using? The answers will dictate what visa you may or may not need.

Keep pushing on the cruise line, they owe you an answer.

On my Med cruise on Celebrity, owned by RC, passports were not checked at ports of call. We were advised to take our ship-issued picture ID (a must) and another form of ID when visiting ports. Our ports were in Italy, Greece and Turkey.

Passports were required to be shown at our initial port (Rome) but not on return. I would expect passport checks leaving and entering UK.

Big however, this was 5 years ago and many things have changed. Also, your are starting in a non-schengan country but first port is in schengan. That's why you must get an answer from the cruise line.