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how is customs handled when tour crosses countries? (doing Douro River cruise)

Sherrill

So, later this year, we will be doing the Douro river cruise with Lisbon and Madrid. All of our previous Tauck tours have been in a single country - Italy, France, Scotland.

For the Douro cruise, we fly into Lisbon, travel up the Douro river and at some point enter Spain, finish the tour in Spain and fly out from there.

How does this work?

I got thinking about this because of various reddit posts talking about problems going through customs in various cities.

Any insights on what I/we should prepare for?

Comments

MikeHenderson

I'm fairly sure that Portugal and Spain are both part of the EU so there won't be any "border crossing" involved.

BKMD

That is correct

kfnknfzk

Sherrill - You won’t even know you passed borders until the tour director(s) reminds you to change the time on your watch (the two countries are on different time zones.)

British

The ships take copies of your passports or even sometimes keep them for the entire voyage so they handle any borders if necessary. Occasionally you may be called for further checking in some countries

Ben

You may want to silence your phone. Sometimes you will receive an automated alert when crossing country borders. It can be rather obnoxious

inlanikai

Sherrill: I took this tour going the other way. No customs, no passport checks, nada when going between these countries. On the Portugal/Spain border where the riverboat ends its journey the river is, I believe, the border of the two countries. You entered the boat in Portugal and you step off it at the end in Spain, IIRC (someone might want to verify this). Traveling between EU countries is like traveling between states in the US, in this regard. Enjoy the cruise!

Kathy M

Many of the countries in Europe are part of what is called the Schengen agreement. Once you enter the Schengen area, you can pass through to other countries under this agreement without any border crossings.

Not all countries in Europe are part of this agreement. If you are in Croatia and want to go to Bosnia or Montenegro, you will need to go through normal border crossings.

I you look up the Schengen agreement, you will be able to see which countries are part of it where you will not need to go through any border checks.

Sherrill

Hey all, sorry I disappear for days at a time. But thank you all for your responses, it does sounds like it is much easier than my imagination.