Hopo84

On 5/16/2019 at 4:58 PM, Eastcoaster63 said:

Hi Hopo84

On the verge of booking the Icons cruise too

Seasoned cruiser but first river cruise

If the store's acceptable, see you in the bar for a drink!

Yes see you on board ! 

My partner and I have just booked the 15 day European Icons on the Maya (Oct 2020). It feels like a bit of a punt seeing that we have no idea on what the ship or the service will be like compared to other lines. We have cruised loads with Marella so we have our expectations in check somewhat. We will definitely be keeping an eye on reviews and photos of the ships from next April though. 

Hi there. We are are cruising on the Marella Discovery but will be on the Journey to Arabia 2 cruise from India. I didn't think that we would be picking up passengers in Dubai on the 11th April. To answer your question, we haven't booked any independent trips but https://www.whatsinport.com has some good advice on independent trips.  

On 1/8/2019 at 12:17 AM, hwbolingbroke said:

Many thanks for that.

Marella Cruises use and recommend CBIT to do the various visas, so I went onto their website and downloaded the pack for this particular cruise, on the actual date, with it’s four stops in India.

That pack includes e-Visa application and not Regular Muti Entry visas.

I rang CIBT and they said that the e-Visa was perfectly fine - it was actually Marella themselves that had uploaded the pack to their website - and everyone is going to be given e-Visas (£84.15 consular fee) CIBTcharge £79.20 per head to do the work. And thats just India. Add on Oman (Consular fee £10.74) CIBT £52.80 and Sri Lanka (Consular fee zero)  CIBT £26.40

 

I then looked at loads of reviews from people who have just come back from India cruises in the last few months. e-visas are fine and nobody’s had any problems going ashore with them at Mumbai, Goa, Mangalore or Kochin.

One ship had 200 people with e-visa and 1800 with regular. They were all treated the same and the queues at the ports are not a problem now, apparently. It seems that the four stops are treated as one entry because the ship doesn’t leave Indian waters. I think this is why the lady at the High Commission thought that we needed regular multiple entry visas. I now don’t believe we do.

I have also copied the declaration from the Indian Government, stating that e-Visas will no longer require biometric processing at the four ports that can now process them. This means they can be processed on the ship.

Now if there is a problem with using an e-Visa, Marella won’t let passengers board at the start of the cruise. So, since they instructed CIBT to process e-Visas and not regular Visas for this trip, I guess they are confident with that, and we’re going to go along with it.

I have now logged a help email with the agency we booked with, asking them just to confirm, but either way, we will go for e-Visa. It’s £40 a head cheaper and no visit to London (our nearest  Indian Consulate - £30 return train journey each) 

We will not be using an agency because it is not complicated - especially since I have their wonderful pack with all the guidance of the various questions.

Doing it ourselves will save £316.80p.

When I spoke to the lady at the Indian High Commission in London, she said she was shocked by what these agencies charge when there is so much help available from the people who they outsourced the Visa work to and the website is so easy to use. (Indiaavisaonline.go.in)

If I can do a power of attorney online, and my tax return, I should be able to handle a visa application. (he said, confidently 🙂)

 

Well now, I hope you have a great cruise, the next thing is currencies!

Kind regards

I have to agree with your recommendation. We are sailing in March from Cochin and we were informed that we only need an e-visa. TUIs written guidance recommends an evisa. We did our's ourselves and  I have to say there were several questions I struggled with on the online form..... 

I strongly suggest that you contact Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines direct and get the correct answer

Yes, I called them today and they were pleased to inform me that the £1500 flight supplement was indeed for an economy class ticket. I cancelled the supplement with the agent and went straight to condor.com and booked premium class tickets on what will probably be the same flight FO will use, for £300 less. After the 15% cancellation fee and air duty tax. I'll be about even. What a rip off by FO. I would understand if we were flying BA or Virgin Atlantic but charging £1500 plus £149 air duty for an economy class ticket on Thomas Cook airlines.. i think NOT. I don't want to sound condescending but I think they are trying to fleece a certain age group who are placing too much trust in FO. I did, before looking closely at the numbers. The FO agent did give me the option too upgrade to Premium economy at an extra cost of £500.

Moral of the story is included flights aren't always value for moneyed nor is the convenience, when you know the price of that convenience is a total rip off.

I have booked a caribbean cruise for 2017 with FO and have paid nearly £1500 for the flights. I have concluded from a bit of research that we will most probably be flying Thomas Cook. Does FO book premium class tickets on Thomas Cook for the flights to Barbados? I certainly hope so, as I can get the same flights for £800 today. If the £1500 I paid is just for an economy seat, I'll regret booking my holiday before the flights were available online! Any help will be appreciated. :confused: