Kortark

3 minutes ago, donaldsc said:

 

Tell that story to the people who took a South American cruise and did not know that they needed a Brazilian visa to board the ship in the US even if they planning to stay onboard on the single stop in Brazil.  India may be the same, regardless of what someone tells you on the phone.  

 

DON

To Don,

it is not someone told me. I had already done that cruise. 

Hi Zigma, I provided the entire situation as I move along and yes right. We DO NOT NEED an India visa if we do not want to disembark and spent not a single cent to get any evisa when we reached New Mangalore Port as we did not even disembark. For anyone who wants to disembark, kindly get your visa. Cheers! 

We haven't heard back from you. You said you would be in Mangalore on March 3. Did you stay on the ship hoping not to be charged for a visa? Possibly you did not have internet at the time, So we are still waiting to hear.

 

So........ Was there a charge to your onboard account for the Indian visa?

I checked but no one replied so I skipped the updating. We reached Rome an hour ago today. In Mangalore, we stayed on board so we did not need to pay a cent.

I hope you are aboard now and didn't get detained after check in while trying to board.

I sailed whole night and have reached Malaysia and now going to tour Kuala Lumpur before I embark again in 6 hours’ time. Detained? Not at all.

You're not there yet. Only time will tell. And will you?

I have already sailed n reach kuala lumpur, jus connected my data and in the bus from the port in Malaysia. When I get to Mangalore, I will update u guys again ;p

Countries requiring visas insist that you have a visa even if you plan to stay on the ship. After all you are in that country when you are docked in port. Cruise lines check that passengers have proper documentation upon embarkation. If you don't you'll be waving goodbye from the dock as the ship sails.

Hi Capriccio, I m nw gg to board the ship and waving goodbye to my country.

No indian visa needed

Waiting to hear what happened.

I have just checked in at the cruise centre and the time here is 1735, the ship will sail in 2h30min. I DO NOT have any Indian visa but I am going to board the ship.

The India embassy has given wrong info before. Did you read the link posted in one of the replies?

 

Cruise line staff are notorious for giving all kinds of incorrect information and they rarely know all the rules about passports, and definitely not about visas.

If even embassy cant be trusted, all others wont be. 19 more hours before check in.

I hope you are right. Otherwise you will not be going on the cruise.

I trust the India embassy, the visa centre staff, the cruise line staff n our immigration and I am sure their answers are correct. We will know in 42 hours’ time.

Interested in the outcome of this situation.

 

 

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Me too and I will update you on the spot after checking in this sat. My time here is 0000 now. So u can see the time difference of mine and urs to see roughly when I will update here.

You did not state you were getting an eVisa. You said you weren’t getting any visa.

Hi Helvetica,

I have not get any India visa at all. Be it evisa or paper....i have none.

We look forward for your update on Saturday, however I do believe that rules has changed for New Mangalore Port since introduction of eVisa - these eVisa rules will not apply to all other indian ports.

Yes definitely! I also read abt evisa for NMP is acceptable and I will try to find out onboard w other cruisers about that too. Will update that once I get wifi at Port klang or langkawi if I manage to get it.

No, you’ll be denied boarding, as already stated. If you’re denied boarding because you didn’t have this visa, you’ll lose all your cruise fare.

Be patient and wait for me to update you at the cruise centre to prove you wrong on sat, 24/2. I will definitely sail.

Since India requires a Visa, you will not be allowed to board the ship if you have no visa. Doesn't matter if you are planning to stay aboard or not.

I will update you this sat 24/2 at the cruise centre to prove your reply above is inaccurate.

The new eVisa might have 'changed the rules' - see this link

However, I do have the same understanding as les37b "Even if you stay on board ship, you must be in possession of a valid tourist visa to enter India". But might be changed with eVisa - check with your cruise line.

Staying onboard the ship dun even need an evisa. Jus board with no visa.

A friend of mine recently did a cruise from Dubai to Singapore with a single stop in India (not sure where that was but was with Princess) and he had no choice. If you didn’t have a visa, you couldn’t sail and it mattered not if you stayed on the ship.

Did u mean he was not allow to board at Dubai and lost the entire cruise simply due to the absence of an Indian Visa?

Countries requiring visas insist that you have a visa even if you plan to stay on the ship. After all you are in that country when you are docked in port. Cruise lines check that passengers have proper documentation upon embarkation. If you don't you'll be waving goodbye from the dock as the ship sails.

The answer that comes from the visa officer of the India embassy, visa application centre and the cruise ship personnel here is different from yours. “No visa required if you stay onboard” was the only reply they provide. You are right to say we dock at their port, mine will be New Mangalore Port (3/3/18), cruise line is going to check our documentation on 24/2/18 and we will sail after checking in but wont get off ship into India on 3/3/18 when our ship docks. We have no India visa and we are leaving in 2 days’ time.

As a UK citizen, am I right in thinking that the difficulties and the cost of a Tourist Visa when my potential cruise ship enters an Indian port is off putting?

Some very attractive deals which often involve only one Indian port are currently available but I am reluctant to go through the application process and pay rather a lot of money for just one day in India. Am I missing something here?

Simple! Jus dun get off the ship at India port. You dun have to give up the whole trip due to one port. 😊

I have just confirmed today, 12/2/18 a few times with the India Embassy in Singapore and the reply is “no visa needed” if you stay onboard ship. I hold a Singapore passport.

:)Hi hi anyone departing Singapore towards Savona and knows if a visa (paper or evisa) is needed if we stay onboard, please? Thank you so much in advance for sharing.