Passport visa needed on a cruise?
 

One representative tells me we are "in transit" so will not need a visa to visit Vietnam and Hong Kong off our cruise ship. We are US citizens. Does anyone have any direct knowledge of this? The web site says visas are necessary. Azamara will not tell us. They said we need to do our own research.

Visa not requried if in transit of less than 24 hours. Needs to show proof onward travelling (your cruise ship would be proof enough)

Ditto to the above. I have also cruised to countries that require a visa but that does not apply when it's a quick stop on a cruise.

I also know some friends of mine that went to Hong Kong and they were required to have a visa.

Hong Kong doesn't require a visa at all (if you are talking about a China visa), so that's not really an issue.

antondavis, what is the citizenship of the people you know who were required to have visas?

The proper place to research this type of question is the embassy website of the country in question.

See: http://vietnamembassy-usa.org/servic...cation-process

There is no mention of a waiver for cruise ship passengers, or, indeed, of a transit visa for airplane passengers. I suggest that you email or call the embassy, but in default of a definite answer from the embassy I would apply for a visa.

@Eschew - what is your source?

This is an instance where a knowledgable travel agent could have helped you. I can't tell you definitively, but typically destinations that require visas often waive that requirement for cruise passengers who are in port for 24 hours or less, or else the cruise line arranges for a group visa. So I suspect that what Eschew and P_M have said is true. Even Russia, for instance, waives the visa requirement for cruise passengers who take organized excursions, either with the ship or with a local tour operator (when arranged in advance, of course ... not just booked on the dock).

Here is what the Azamara web site says specifically about Vietnam:

Vietnam

Ship will assist
guests required to
secure this visa.
The ship will charge a one time nominal fee to the
guests onboard account for guests securing a visa
onboard. This visa fee includes a small processing
charge by our local representative.

To me, this answers your question definitively. But if you are still unsure or don't believe the Azamara web site, then by all means arrange a visa in advance.

"<b>typically</b> destinations that require visas <b>often</b> waive"

Emphasis added. The Azamara quote is not very helpful, as it doesn't define which guests require a visa. Nor should it: it's unrealistic to expect the cruise line to be up-to-date on all the requirements, and they lay themselves open to complaints/law suits if they get it wrong.

As I said, the proper place to get an answer to this question is the embassy. Even if Eschew has personal experience of not needing a visa (which is not at all clear from her post), the rules may have changed. And if the OP really wants an answer from a public forum, cruisecritic.com would be a better source.

Guests who require visas: Americans, as the OPs are.

I'm not sure how much more clear it could be. This from the Royal Caribbean web site, the parent company of Azamara (well, technically the parent company of Celebrity, which is the parent company of Azamara):


Q: Are there any special visa requirements for cruises to Cambodia and Vietnam?

A: For Cambodia and Vietnam, ship personnel will assist each guest required to secure a visa for Cambodia and Vietnam and charge the guests onboard SeaPass account a one-time nominal fee. These visa fees include a small processing charge by our local representative.

All nationalities require visas for Vietnam with the following exceptions: Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Japan, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway.

All nationalities require visas for Cambodia with the following exceptions: Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines and Laos.

Please Note: The following nationalities will find it extremely difficult to secure a visa for Vietnam and Cambodia, whether through us or by themselves; Pakistan, North Korea, Afghanistan, Iraq and Nigeria.

Please Note: As we will be arranging all visas on board the ship on arrival, immigration will not issue visas for those nationalities that do not require one. These nationalities will be exempt from the nominal visa charge.

None of this is a substitute for the OP doing his/her own homework, which apparently hasn't happened yet. If you dig just a little bit on the Azamara site, you find the information I found. A simple Google search confirms the anecdotals of Eschew and P_M. But again, this is a matter of comfort.

But I do want to be clear on one point. If the OPs do not have a required visa, they will be denied boarding.

A quick check on cruisecritic.com turns up reports that Azamara does indeed arrange the visas (and if you get your own you may still be charged!) The OP should be able to find this info in something called edocs provided by the cruise line.

I think what I was most perplexed by here was the OPs' insistence that the cruise line "refused" to give them any information. My guess is they refused to give them a guarantee, which is not at all the same thing. Countries can (and sometimes do) change their policies at the drop of a hat, and no cruise line would want to be liable in the instance of such a change.

I'd love to hear back from the OPs to see what they found.

Thursdaysd, there are several sources you can check for documentation. Best source is obviously the embassy of the country you are visiting. There are several companies or agencies that will do that for you, for a fee, and the information, generally is on their web page.

I am not endorsing any of the companies I am listing but the information is readily available. "Travel Document System" specialize in getting travel documents for you. World Travel Guide's web site included general visa information if you click through to each country.

Even Delta Airline has a web site that can asnwwer visa information, if you travel by air, and it is quite slick. The cruise transit is probably more relaxed than air transit requirements.
http://www.delta.com/planning_reserv...tion/index.jsp

In general, I have found that crusing requires the least amount of "visa" and headaches if you are "in transit". There are exceptions, of course, such as Brazil, Russia etc.

I have always been a great advocate for supporting your local travel agent (and NOT the internet agency). Doug made reference earlier that's what a good travel agaent will do for you: get you the information.

My TA typically will get me the most recent travel alerts 3 weeks prior to my departure and would typically flag me for any visa requirements much earlier. They are so diligent to the point that I have taken them for granted, and sometimes, horror, ignoring them.

Eschew - I haven't used a TA in over a decade (and I have done a LOT of travel in that decade). I have no problem checking the travel advisories and visa requirements myself. I am sure my local TA is very practiced at booking cruises and flights and Disney hotels, but not so much at train tickets in Russia and drivers in India.

My point in using a local TA is to support your local business. If everyone conduct their business on the internet, then there will be no more local merchants left. Look at the demise of the local "ma and pa" book stores, or computer shops, even Radio Shacks! (and I dislike chains, only I dislike internet only business more)

My TA had book me train tickets in India, a driver in Nairobi and visas for Napal. She found me a hiking guide for Angel Falls. Yes, she will booked me Disney Hotels if I insisted but she knew me well enough that's not what I am looking for in travelling and she will book me on an artic polar bear sighting tour instead.

I am blessed with great TA's throughout the years. My first encounter with a TA was a great experience almost 40 years ago. Of course, she had retired long ago.

All the subsequent TAs that I have managed to connect are all special in their own way. I have 3 TA's that I am doing business with currently and they all worked for the same company. One found me bargains that there is no way I have access to, and yet another one found me exotic travels.

And yes, they will all book cruises and pacakges that I could have done on my own but giving them the business also give me the peace of mind. Besides, my cost through them is typically less, and I receive goodies ranging from a complimentary bottle of wine to an upgarde or two. Paying for economy and get bumped to first class on a semi-regular basis is not a bad deal. They have even helped me fought for trip interruption travel insurnace pay outs.

You might have read my earlier post elsehere in this forum about how we treat our TAs. They get flowers or a souvenir after a good trip. Chocolates for Christmas and flowers on special occassions. They are not just people we do business with. They are more than that. They are part of our community.

Congratulations on finding such a versatile TA. Your profile doesn't give your location, but I suspect she's the exception rather than the rule. And you also don't mention what she charges.

In any case, I enjoy doing the planning, it's an important part of the trip for me. I'm more concerned about my local bookstore than my local TA.

I live in a smaller metropolitan area of 1.2 million in the West. I like to think my luck with knowledgable TA's is the rule rather than the exceptions. I can't explain 35+ years of good luck.

I am concern about the demise of the local ma and pa businesses. Book stores, retail outlets, restaurnats etc. You name the business, and the chains are taking over, and with the internet only stores, people are buying totally based on price.

And don't get me started on this one: what get me upset most is people who will go to a retail store and spend time talking to the sales staff to get information on products and then buying from Walmart or the internet for a few dollars' saving, all the while "raping" (and I mean rape, not reap) the servics and product knowledge of the small retail stores. Take advanatge of the benefits and services of smaller retail stores without paying for it. They charges more because they offer service!

Okay. Calm down. I should climb off my soap box now. ;)

I am not really sure what my TA charges me as the fees are mostly hidden, or commission back from the carrier or tour company. All I know is when I book a cruise through them, the rate is usually cheaper than what I can get from the ship directly, plus category upgrades. We even got an upgrade to a suite paying only Balcony.

When the total pacakge is cheaper than what I can do on my own, what my TA charges me is really a non issue, and especially when there are occassional upgardes involved.

They have even given me carriers and flight routing suggestions when they knew I was not going to book the flights through them, since I use points (frequent flyer, credit card etc) to fly from time to time.

I have to qualify my previous comment about air upgrades. We get bumped up about 1 in 6, not all that often but often enough and usually on long haul flights (which is nice).

Last year, we booked a "group" tour through our TA and we were the only 2 moved, and we even received VIP Lounge passes at Lima (from the group of 16 travelling together).

We enjoy the planning portion of my travel as well as it is part of the fun and experience. We research where we go, what we do, what to see, mapped out the sequence of events and we ahte surprises. We told our TA what we wnated to do, where to go and they would offer suggestions (correcting our mistakes or misconceptions), and then did all the dirty work (making the bookings etc).

@Thursdaysd, it was a pleasure chatting with you! :)

@Eschew - same here.

I do agree with you about neighborhood shops, but you know the situation is getting worse, right? (And hurting the big chains as well.) Now people are taking photos of bar codes or products and then using the photo to search online for cheaper prices! See: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...ryId=105656435

Unfortaunetly, yes. I have seen it happening in stores.