pistachio

4 hours ago, millybess said:

As of this morning, DH still hasn't received the email with the visa attachment.

Interesting! I received my 'quality control completed' email on Dec 9, and my DH got his on Dec 10. We both received our Visas on Dec 13. Hopefully, you'll see yours soon!

2 hours ago, slewis7 said:

My application is shown as “Active” and the status shows as “Pending document uploaded”.  Does anyone know what this means?  I am not sure if anything is currently required on my end.

It sounds like they haven't reviewed your latest changes yet. They'll either reply with additional info needed, or 'Quality control completed', which I infer to mean things are good, going to the next step.

What a mess! So much misinformation, causing excessive stress!

I had uploaded my last 2 bank statements, the last ending 11/04/23. 

So on 12/5, I get the message 'please provide bankstatement of latest month upadted till 30 nov.2023 atleast with minimum balance of 2000$.' So I waited 2 days until my 12/04 statement was available. They're obviously not too concerned about us responding within 12 hours, which is ridiculous.

Later that day, I got the Quality Control completed. hallelujah! 

But the next morning, my husband's was rejected again. For the bank statements, which I had uploaded the same as mine, and his passport image. They said 'Re-upload colored scan copy of your passport BIO page. Photo of passport copy are not accepted. Re-upload recent one month bank statement. minimum closing balance should be equivalent to USD 2000.'

I had done his passport same as mine - a photo! So today I scanned and, fought with reducing the size of the document, and resubmitted. Praying that it works!

7 hours ago, deec said:

We wanted to cross the border with a private tour company form one side of the falls to the other...I wonder if there will be a way to do that?  I think we will be staying on the Argentina side but those of you with cruises is another matter, you sure don't want to miss multiple ports.

we're doing the same, with GateOne. we start in Rio, fly to Iguassu Falls, Brazil. then we travel by bus to Iguassu Falls, Argentina and fly from there to Buenos Aires, and start our cruise there.

2 hours ago, PRH said:

This is horrible!  I’ve spent almost an hour just trying to get myself registered.  And then to discover that logging out gives you no way to re-enter?  When I click on the link they sent, it says “access denied.”  Same is true for “help.”  Why a bank statement and why no way to enter and exit via a cruise?  No way I can complete it.

Just go back to the original page. I would think you could send the cruise itinerary.

14 minutes ago, Iloveketo said:

So am I! I wish I could remember, but someone said that they sent in a copy of their itinerary from their travel documents. I have no idea if they were successful. 

I would think the cruise itinerary would be sufficient, assuming the dates are on there.

13 minutes ago, millybess said:

Maybe by October they will decide that we have all suffered enough and drop the visa requirement. 

I wouldn't count on that. Maybe they'll facilitate the process by then, though.

2 hours ago, LindaS272 said:

Bank statements? Why do they want bank statements? Are you moving there????

REALLY!

11 minutes ago, Iloveketo said:

Did you send a copy of a passport photo you had taken somewhere or did you take your own photos? I love that you added the size that a document has to be under. We are coming and leaving by a Viking ship, so this will be interesting… I guess we could send them our itinerary for that… BTW Thanks so much for sharing!

No problem sharing! I know I've been anxious about this Visa! We had just renewed our passports, so had extra copies of our photos, so used them. We will be cruising also, but after a land tour of Brazil. Our cruise doesn''t visit Brazil.

I'll report back when I hear back.

6 minutes ago, pistachio said:

I just applied for our Visas also. It took about 2 hours for 2, costing $161.80 for the 2. Most of the time was spent creating documents: copies of passports, photos, flight info, paychecks (pension direct deposits.) Each document  can't be greater than 1 mg.

Visas ARE required, as of January 10, 2024. I used this site

https://brazil.vfsevisa.com/

I actually applied yesterday. I already received a response, looking for more info. So they're responding quickly. It had asked for bank statements or paychecks, so I gave them direct deposit vouchers for our pension checks. That wasn't good enough. They want 2 months bank statements, with at least $2000 balance (didn't say that on the application.) So I sent that on.

I just applied for our Visas also. It took about 2 hours for 2, costing $161.80 for the 2. Most of the time was spent creating documents: copies of passports, photos, flight info, paychecks (pension direct deposits.) Each document  can't be greater than 1 mg.

Visas ARE required, as of January 10, 2024. I used this site

https://brazil.vfsevisa.com/

yes, I'm hoping they postpone it again, or remove the requirement.

3 hours ago, mnocket said:

"The Brazilian Government has postponed the coming into force of the visa requirement for citizens from Australia, Canada, and the United States of America."

 

It seems the visa requirement has been postponed until January 10th, 2024.

 

https://www.gov.br/mre/pt-br/embaixada-camberra/English/consular-section/visas/visit-visa

 

Doesn't help you since you are going at the end of January, but it seems to be an acknowledgement that they don't have the Evisa program ready yet. 

On 8/29/2023 at 2:45 PM, mnocket said:

Yes I saw that.  However, the other dates mentioned don't make much sense and the Brazilian government hasn't issued a press release on this change yet.  I do wonder if this was prematurely posted by the IT department?  At any rate, this delay serves me well as I'm traveling to Brazil in December. 

But it still seems that you can't apply yet. I'm flying there at the end of January. Does anyone have any additional info?

Thanks for your answers! I will purchase the excursion from my cabin, and take the chance.

If only 1 person in a cabin is going on an excursion, can they get the $50 credit? The credit seems to default to 1 individual. Can the other person get the credit instead?

Thanks for  your help!

20 hours ago, Bo1953 said:

Can you repost as it appears that this link is dead, at least on my system.

 

Thank you and bon voyage

I was able to get to the link. Thanks for posting it!

So has anyone talked to travel Insured about cancelled cruises due to the Corona virus? We purchased their Worldwide Trip Protector insurance for a TA planned to depart on April 19th. We then have 2 weeks worth of travel booked after the cruise. I think I've read through th epertinent info on the policy, and see no exceptions for pandemics, or the like. 

Wondering if anyone is in the same 'boat', and has verified what is covered.

On 12/27/2019 at 3:04 AM, julig22 said:

I was lucky enough to be booked on BOTH of the Star cruises, B2B.  Not sure what I'm doing at this point - currently on 2 concurrent cruises! Port changes on TA aren't good for me, regardless of the dates, ditto for the Dawn TA.  More than happy to move to a later sailing on the Star once it gets to Europe but I had the air promo, plus used points to upgrade my cabin.  So not happy if NCL won't make me some sort of a deal - it's their mess, not mine.

Funny that they won't allow you to book overlapping excursions but overlapping cruises, no problem!

yes, I spoke to NCL and tried to get any further reimbursement. The date change does not work for us, and I refuse to sail on the Star at this point. I asked if we could get any benefit by booking another NCL cruise - nope! Not even the $150 OBC. If we do sail on them again, it will only be to use our CruiseNext credits, then never again!

On 12/26/2019 at 11:21 PM, blueslily said:

So, for the Star TA with the date change to April 9, people can get a full refund if they cancel before Jan 7?  Is this accurate? 

I was also told that we had until 01/07 to cancel, with no penalty.

So, as reported elsewhere on Cruise Critic, the NCL Star has been having mechanical issues (again!!) These things happen, but NCL is waiting until after final payment to make their customers aware. That way, they can't cancel! Ports have been missed, and reportedly, the April 9th sailing has been moved to another ship. Now we, and many others, are anxiously awaiting to hear the fate of the April 19th Transatlantic. On 12/23 (4 days after final payment), I noticed online that my reservation now shows us leaving on April 9th, 10 days earlier than scheduled. The itinerary is almost the same, but people have flights scheduled, excursions planned, pre- and post-cruise travel plans. And what is the worst?? No one at NCL will, or can give us any explanation. My TA was told, 'call next week.' And some folks on our roll call have a totally different (and impossible) itinerary posted on their accounts. 

This isn't our first disaster with NCL, or the Star. We were on the February 2017 sailing on the Star, out of Australia. After weeks of problems with azipods and their propulsion system, we were told last minute that we would be skipping multiple ports in New Zealand. We were totally disappointed, but decided to continue with our plans. We embarked in Sydney, then visited Melbourne. We left Melbourne, and in the middle of the night, the ship's 2nd azipod died, and we were dead in the water. Tug boats came and tugged us back to Melbourne, where we stayed a couple more days while they made repairs. By then, we only had time to get to our final destination, Auckland. So instead of 8 port stops, we had 1!! Thankfully, we had planned 10 days in New Zealand after disembarking, so we at least got to see the North Island. 

NCL compensated us fairly well, so we decided to give them another try. What is the chance that the same ship would have mechanical difficulties again, 3 years later? What is the chance that NCL's Customer Service and communications could get worse???? 

If you're reading this, and considering booking an NCL cruise, I recommend against it. There are many good cruiselines out there!

3 hours ago, John Bull said:

 

Simon beat me to it.

And nothing to disagree with.

 

But to stress, on the question of whether to pre-book Nat Express

...... yes, that route & time-of-day often books-out - it's the same coach for both Heathrow airport and then central London.,.

..... and yes, the fares are flexible so booking a couple of months out would be a good idea

..... and no, tickets on that route are only good for the coach time that you book.

 

And on what time to book, assuming you're not flying out that day

..... the 08.40 should be easily manageable, but best to disembark unassisted (usually around 7am) to avoid possible lines at the terminal and a possible line for taxis if you choose not to walk (about £7 for a taxi)

.... the 09.50 would give you a more-leisurely assisted disembarkation after the hordes have disembarked.

But with the Nat Express advance fare being only around a fiver, you could give yourselves flexibility by booking both. 

(since the walk-up fare will be about £18, you might even be able to sell the unused ones at a profit .  And if that coach is sold out you could doubtless be mercenary & hold out for megabucks  

 

JB 

Thanks to both of you!! Maybe we will buy both!

3 minutes ago, sddsddean said:

Technically not necessary, but we would all advise you to do so. The coaches only hold 50 people, unlike a couple of hundred on the train, so if you want to ensure a seat, book it! I certainly would. The coach station is a 15 min walk from City Cruise terminal, or you can cab it for £7.

 

Simon

Thanks for that speedy response!! There are no changeable coach tickets, right? Any suggestions on what time would be safe, based on NCL disembarkations? It appears that there are buses leaving 8:50, 9:50, 11:05, 12:20...

On 7/19/2019 at 6:29 PM, John Bull said:

 

£44 is the walk-up train fare.

Even on sundays there are cheap advance tickets on some trains from London Waterloo to Southampton central. 

As low as £9.

Advance tickets available from about 10 weeks out - if your date is later than 29th September you can see the cheap advance fares by choosing a random sunday in September.

Advance tickets are only valid for the train time that you choose, but that's the same with Nat Express coaches.

No cheap advance train fares on trains from Victoria rail station on sundays..

http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/

 

Probably best to choose between train or coach depending on the location of your London hotel.

 

JB 

Is it necessary to advance reserve for Coach tickets? We are thinking of taking the coach from Southampton after disembarking, and won't know what time we'll be available to board. It appears that the price increases by quite a bit if you don't reserve.

Does anyone have a current referral for Scenic? If so, I'd appreciate you emailing me at turnercindy at yahoo dot com.

Thanks!