ktechmidas

So I'm in China and been keeping an eye on cruises when this one caught my eye:

June 8th 2021, Voyager Of The Seas, 4 nights

Beijing (Tianjin China) -> Fukuoka Japan -> Beijing (Tianjin China)

There's a 14 day enforced quarantine in China that I'm not aware can by bypassed, so I highly doubt anyone would go on a 4 day cruise just to be quarantined at great expense again. I'm tempted to book it for the 125% credit that would come if it's cancelled.... also Japan isn't accepting foreign cruises right now AFAIK?

So the official page from Royal Caribbean does not include British Citizens on the list of visa free entries to Vietnam (from this page, and calling them to confirm: https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/international-ports-travel-considerations)

However I have been to Vietnam several times visa free, and the gov.uk says the following: "Until 30 June 2021, ‘British Citizen’ passport holders travelling for tourism or business can enter Vietnam for up to a maximum of 15 days (inclusive of dates of entry and exit) without a visa." (https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/vietnam/entry-requirements)

They are adamant they must get me a visa and charge for it, I wonder how much they make charging Brits when they don't need one to start with...

Edit: We also get stateroom 7290, decent? 

13 minutes ago, suesnake2002 said:

Yes i did bob. Thank you so much. 

I would urge OP to go to link and read live review. 

Looking through now 🙂 thanks very much! Got a good idea of what we're going to do in Da Nang now, I see Bill & Marie did a tour - we're going to try to do it alone, but it's great to know what's there, just got to hope for good weather.

Sadly this is just one stop and back - we live in Shenzhen (just across the border from Hong Kong) so I'm quite familiar with HK, but hopefully here's to many more cruises after this one if the wife and I enjoy it 🍻

28 minutes ago, little britain said:

If the OP has booked via the UK office then you are unable to change your guarantee room once it has been allocated. 

 

I booked online and paid in USD, I live in China but used a UK card... so I'm unsure which office exactly I booked through. 

42 minutes ago, Bloodgem said:

The Compass will tell you what the suggested dress code is for the next evening.(i.e formal; smart casual or casual.)   

Is that for the MDR or for every restaurant on the ship? As it's only a 4 day cruise I'd rather not have to take my suit, but smart casual and casual I can do.

46 minutes ago, icsys said:

Visitors from the United Kingdom DO NOT require visa to enter Vietnam for a stay of no longer than 15 days and meet the entry requirements: UK British Passport must be valid for at least 6 months beyond arrival date. Passport has 2 blank pages for visa stamp. Stay for NO longer than 15 days with proof of onward travel.

 

But PLEASE CHECK to confirm.

Thanks! I figured as much and will check - my wife is a mainland Chinese citizen anyway so I think *will* need a visa, we'll be sorting that one before we go rather than trying to do on board (seems she can get it cheaper in Mainland)

I've booked our first cruise ever a few days ago on Voyager Of The Seas for August (Hong Kong) for our first anniversary - sadly I did it via RC so not sure we get any of that sweet credit.

1) When I booked there were a two balcony options... one was ocean view and one was guaranteed ocean view. I went for the guaranteed, does this mean there shouldn't be anything blocking us? (Lifeboats etc?) how I find our cabin number?

2) As far as I can gather breakfast and lunch are free... but dinner will cost? I chose 8pm as our dinner time... is it formal? Different places have different codes?

3) We stop at Da Nang from 7am-5pm and there are options for me to book tours... do we need to book one? Can we just explore on our own? When do we need to be back at the ship?

Anyone done Da Nang and know how to get from the port to the city? (I think I can just use Uber, that's normally what I do in Vietnam)

4) There's a page about visas on the RC website: "All nationalities require visas for Vietnam with the following exceptions: Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Japan, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway." - As far as I know British Citizens also do not need a visa if visiting for under 15 days, indeed the UK foreign office says that's the case until 2021 and I've visited before without a visa. Should I print this off to explain to them before boarding??