[MartynSinclair]

I wonder how many passengers under the relaxed scheme would be no shows on departure…

[LuganoPirate]

Anthony, Switzerland is also part of Schengen. They are known in the EU as the “SIN” countries.

Simon, you do need to go through immigration in the US, I can confirm that having done it myself.

As to the EU Schengen area, the ship will clear immigration at it’s first port of call with ALL passengers being subject to a check. After that they can freely enter any port or country within the area.

I’m sure there are countries which allow cruise passengers to enter without checks but I’m pretty sure they’ve had a good look at the passenger manifest beforehand.

[SimonS1]

Indeed LP. That’s exactly my point. Ships entering the Schengen area clear immigration at the first port of call and all passengers are checked. Exactly the same as air passengers, cars etc.

Edski’s point seems to relate more to why the UK is not part of Schengen. That’s a matter for debate, however the thread is about passport checks stopping cruise liners entering the UK and as yet no-one has made a compelling case for why anyone entering the UK on a cruise liner should be subject to different standards or immigration checks.

Nor has anyone come up with any examples of countries where cruisers are treated differently to other modes of entry, so the UK is not handling this any differently to other places.

The short term answer is surely for UK Border to speed things up a bit and get people on their way quicker to spend their cash. Just like we were saying about LHR last summer.

[FormerlyDoS]

“I wonder how many passengers under the relaxed scheme would be no shows on departure…”

You wouldn’t know, in the UK, because there is no outbound passport control.

Kinda defeats all the ‘secure’ borders talk, doesn’t it?

In the Schengen zone, where I live, every one is checked in and out.

For example, I’ll leave the zone by showing my UK passport at Munich, tomorrow afternoon and then I’ll re-enter the zone at Eindhoven about 2 weeks later, once again showing my UK passport.

However, on my return journey, I will enter the UK at LHR and leave from STN the next morning, my entry will be logged (hopefully via Iris), but UKBA will not inspect my passport exiting STN.

For a country that goes on and on about the need for ‘tough border controls’, it’s simply nuts.

[AnthonyDunn]

@ FormerlyDoS – 10/03/2013 08:42 GMT

I remember asking the UKBA personnel at SOU back in Summer 2010 when this particular lacunae was going to be addressed and they thought “within a year or so…” Fat chance. Does anyone have any understanding or explanation for how UKBA reconciles who comes in with who leaves and who overstays?

As you say, it makes a complete nonsense of all the rhetoric about “safe and secure borders”…

[Cloud-9]

Some cruise companies have the UK border control officers on board for the final leg and passengers have to present their passports to them at a roughly allotted time. It works very well, no tedious queuing at Southampton!
Every Celebrity cruise I have taken does this.

[TerryMcManus24]

Since we started this conversation Mrs May ( Home Sec) has abolished the dastardly UKBA and I believe is now looking for some young Sea Scouts to take over which could be good work experience for our future Mariners….

Lets seA (sorry) what happens…

[SimonS1]

Indeed we also have the recent news that UK has more immigrants than any other EU country.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/immigration/9854255/UK-attracts-most-immigrants-in-whole-of-EU.html

Not to mention the strong showing by UKIP in the polls this week.

Perish the thought that people might actually agree that keeping robust border checks in place is the thing to do.

[Binman62]

I wonder how different the rabid and pernicious commentary on legal immigrants in the UK, many of who are also fellow citizens, is from the rabid and pernicious commentary around Jews and other citizens of 1930s Germany!

I personally find the parallels very disturbing – economic difficulty, right wing extremism and political leaders detached from reality and the needs of ordinary people.

Cruise ship passengers could be the least of worries!

[SimonS1]

Legal immigrants come in all shapes and sizes. No problems if they come here to contribute to the economy. If not they would surely be better off at home.

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/romanian-travellers-return-to-blight-marble-arch-8577664.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2155726/Somali-family-benefits-handed-keys–2million-luxury-council-home-Londons-affluent-streets.html

[RetiredLawyer]

@travelworld: Not so today. On a cruise to Israel we took, each passenger was interviewed personally and had a boarding card stamped prior to dis-embarcation in Ashdod. It was done during the two sea days before reaching Egypt. The Egyptians also checked and stamped each passport, although they did not require an interview.
And, on two cruises to South America last year, every passenger’s passport was checked and stamped for both entry and exit in Peru, Chile, Argentina and Brazil. In Chile and Brazil, where there were multiple ports in country, this was done at the first port of entry into the country and at the last port of entry into the country, respectively.

[nevereconomy]

On QMf from New York it was done on board during the voyage. Sorry,no way that cruise ships should not have the same rules as other means of travel into the U.K If there were no checks, anyone trying to get in could book the cheapest cabin on the cheapest route and they are in !

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