Cruising choices with an active Pandemic

India is a very tricky one for Brits and Canadians. They have to be interviewed at their Indian consulate and then send off their passport. Takes 12 weeks assuming you can get an interview. Very hard to get. Numerous pax have pulled out of cruises with India as they can’t get their visa. This is payback for those two countries not easily facilitating visas for Indian citizens. They used to be evisa but India stopped it and many Brits and Canadians don’t realise that and apply too late. Viking does warn them though.

I applied for 12 month multi visa for India last night. I swear it took me over an hour. Haven’t heard back yet. Wanted to know if we’d been to India before. If so, visa number and where you had stayed. 🤪. For me this was back in 2009! Had my old passport and found the visa. Where the fruit did we stay? Found a hotel that looked like it in Trivandrum where we left and inserted that. List of countries you’ve been to in last 10 years. Fathers and mothers name. Sigh. Personal referree in Australia. And in India.
 
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RooFlyer said:
@Pushka ( or anyone) that prompts a very general question from me which probably won’t have a straightforward answer. When a cruise destination offers Visa on arrival, is that usually available to the passengers or do cruise lines usually insist on seeing a Visa before they allow you to board?

Or do countries not usually offer Visa on arrival to cruise arrivals?

Egypt offers a very easy Visa on arrival to airline passengers. It’s essentially a revenue raising measure, and they really couldn’t care less about the details of the arriving passenger.
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Depends on cruise destinations and countries. If for example the cruise only goes to EU countries, you are Aussie and departs from UK then no questions are asked, similar to AU to New Caledonia, Vanuatu and NZ. If you are an Aussie on a US ship departing the US (with an ETSA) and returning to US and basically North America and Caribbean destinations, there are no issues either

Other destinations have various different complications (China - as Pushka mentioned, Vietnam, Russia etc). I'd check smart traveller and cruise line guidance for others.
 
Silversea expeditions undertake passenger entry arrangements for ports..thats why they hold our passports.
Mostly we can be free agents OR go along with whatever the expedition crew have arranged.
Our experience is that the expedition crew usually get it right and when they don't the ship waits or even picks us up further down the coast as happened in Ireland.
Arrangements like this are ( or were pre covid) a very real perk of expedition cruising, Silversea style…..
 
Silversea still does the visas for you but if not able they will tell you. For instance we were informed that we would have to get an Indian visa for a cruise early this year. the cruise was cancelled before we needed the visa.

Even though Silversea has your passports there are some countries that insist on face to face before letting you off. In particular USA and Russia.
 
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drron said:
Silversea still does the visas for you but if not able they will tell you. For instance we were informed that we would have to get an Indian visa for a cruise early this year. the cruise was cancelled before we needed the visa.

Even though Silversea has your passports there are some countries that insist on face to face before letting you off. In Particular USA ans Russia.
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And China. For those countries requiring the passports before issuing the visa and prior to departure I don’t think the cruise lines can obtain them as a third party. They may contract GenViss or equivalent.
 
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RooFlyer said:
@Pushka ( or anyone) that prompts a very general question from me which probably won’t have a straightforward answer. When a cruise destination offers Visa on arrival, is that usually available to the passengers or do cruise lines usually insist on seeing a Visa before they allow you to board?

Or do countries not usually offer Visa on arrival to cruise arrivals?

Egypt offers a very easy Visa on arrival to airline passengers. It’s essentially a revenue raising measure, and they really couldn’t care less about the details of the arriving passenger.
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Back when the ship ai was on had stops in India, passengers had to arrange their own visas. “On arrival” was only at airports. The visa was required even if not getting off the ship. Authorities came aboard and did face-to-face checks. However, for Vietnam, ships obtain blanket visas for everyone. This is where Cruise Critic often has more and better information than the cruise companies!

It was so good when China allowed 72-hours visa-free, which I’m sure they did when they wanted cruise ships visiting as well as staying overnight.

Harking back to the Sapphire Princess fiasco, Australians fly into Santiago when doing a South American tour or Antarctic cruise and know they need to obtain a visa or find out if one is needed.
 
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Pushka said:
Some ports require the visa even if you don’t plan on getting off the ship. Saudi Arabia in our case. Which means the ship must sight it first The process to get through from cruisers who’ve been there sound toturous. And it’s hot. And need to be covered up. Both sexes.
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Not sure if that means you are hesitant to disembark in Saudi (I assume it'll be Jeddah), but if so, I'd encourage you to do the tour. Really fascinating place. Take along The Seven Pillars of Wisdom (but check if its still banned in Saudi!)

Pushka said:
They used to be evisa but India stopped it
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Didn't know that! What a pain. Or did you mean it was stopped just for Brits & Canadians.

tgh said:
Silversea expeditions undertake passenger entry arrangements for ports..thats why they hold our passports.
Mostly we can be free agents OR go along with whatever the expedition crew have arranged.
Click to expand...

Does that mean they arrange some sort of 'special' visa for their passengers in some cases, unique to the ship/visit?

drron said:
Silversea still does the visas for you but if not able they will tell you.
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About when do they do that relative to cruise start?
 
Does that mean they arrange some sort of 'special' visa for their passengers in some cases, unique to the ship/visit?

That is my understanding ; all sorts of stuff happens when entering some places…
The immigration officers and sundry officials are all fed and watered in exchange for letting us ashore….
 
RooFlyer said:
Didn't know that! What a pain. Or did you mean it was stopped just for Brits & Canadians.
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just for the Brits and Canadians.
This is the service that Viking uses for Australia. I've plugged in mine. Well, the first few as there are too many for one try. Their fees are eye watering. I'll DIY. It does state that we don't need a pre visa for Egypt though.

Travel Visas for Business Travel and Tourism | Fast, Easy, Secure

CIBTvisas is the global leader in travel visas. Millions of international travellers have trusted CIBTvisas to secure their business visas or tourist visas.
cibtvisas.com.au cibtvisas.com.au
 
RooFlyer said:
I remember that I once used Toll's visa service and the fees were about all I remember about them! I do recall the Indian eVisa was one of the tricker ones, up there with Russia.
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Funnily enough I found the Indian visa one of the easiest. Did the online part and then visited the “consulate” by appointment above a motel in the city. Left passport and paperwork there to go to Canberra and collected them a fortnight later.

using those visa services is a mug’s game. Eye watering fees!
 
It is a very long time ago but iirc we were off the (Choke splutter ) Celebrity Constellation is StPetersburg sans visa.
I certainly don't remember getting one.. but I don't remember what I had for breakfast most days nw….
 
tgh said:
It is a very long time ago but iirc we were off the (Choke splutter ) Celebrity Constellation is StPetersburg sans visa.
I certainly don't remember getting one.. but I don't remember what I had for breakfast most days nw….
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If you went with a recognised Russian Tour group then they organise one. Or a ship tour. Otherwise, no dice. We couldn't even depart from the tour group.

Indian E Visa just came through. I'm doing mine first. Oman one just applied for. Have Saudi, Egypt, Israel? to go.
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drron said:
The UK can now apply for an indian e-visa.

Indian Visa for UK Citizens | eVisa Requirements from UK

Is India visa for United Kingdom citizens needed? Find out the requirements of the India Visa (eVisa India) for United Kingdom citizens and the India visa application from United Kingdom.
www.indiavisa-online.org
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Really? a UK person just cancelled their cruise last month because they couldn't get an eVisa. They used to be able to but then India stopped it.

UK gov doesn't think so.
www.gov.uk

Entry requirements - India travel advice

FCDO travel advice for India. Includes safety and security, insurance, entry requirements and legal differences.
www.gov.uk www.gov.uk
 
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Pushka said:
If you went with a recognised Russian Tour group then they organise one. Or a ship tour. Otherwise, no dice. We couldn't even depart from the tour group.

Indian E Visa just came through. I'm doing mine first. Oman one just applied for. Have Saudi, Egypt, Israel? to go.
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Really? a UK person just cancelled their cruise last month because they couldn't get an eVisa. They used to be able to but then India stopped it.

UK gov doesn't think so.
www.gov.uk

Entry requirements - India travel advice

FCDO travel advice for India. Includes safety and security, insurance, entry requirements and legal differences.
www.gov.uk www.gov.uk
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It only happened in the last 1 or 2 days I believe.

As to Russia we have visited on a cruise ship to the ports of Petrovpalosk,Sochi.Yalta.St. Petersburg twice.Archangel and Murmansk. allowed ashore only if on a ship's tour or prearranged via private means which we did once to St. Petersburg.
If the second port on the same cruise - Yalta and Murmansk -no face to face required.

But the Russians played games. In Petrovpalosk the ship also had to pay the Immigration officials 3 cases of fine scotch whisky. In Murmansk they closed the port for "naval" operations. The Captain correctly predicted we would be given the all clear to sail at 1 am because that would require the ship to pay an extra days port fee.
 
ksthommo said:
We didn't require a pre approved visa for Oman & Jordan on a cruise back 2018?

All cruise ships are given a blanket visa which is organised between the cruise ship company and the Royal Oman Police.
https://oman.org.au/consulate/visas/#:~:text=Tourist%20Visas&text=All%20cruise%20ships%20are%20given,Royal%20Oman%20Police's%20eVisa%20Service.
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This is where people get confused. According to Vikings own recommended provider, we need to get one. It doesn't discriminate whether it's. cruise or not. And there is always the CYA line that you need to check with the airline as to whether their conditions have changed. We go into Oman twice. Jordan we are fine.
5B70EAC8-A66D-4895-8B08-242D3F93B7E6.png
 
Pushka said:
If you went with a recognised Russian Tour group then they organise one. Or a ship tour. Otherwise, no dice. We couldn't even depart from the tour group.

Indian E Visa just came through. I'm doing mine first. Oman one just applied for. Have Saudi, Egypt, Israel? to go.
Post automatically merged:


Really? a UK person just cancelled their cruise last month because they couldn't get an eVisa. They used to be able to but then India stopped it.

UK gov doesn't think so.
www.gov.uk

Entry requirements - India travel advice

FCDO travel advice for India. Includes safety and security, insurance, entry requirements and legal differences.
www.gov.uk www.gov.uk
Click to expand...
it only came through in the last few days i believe.
 
If you went with a recognised Russian Tour group then they organise one

Yes , you are right, I had forgotten that…we pre purchased a 2 day private tour.
 

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