Visas for Thailand and Vietnam

Is it necessary to apply for visas (Thailand and Vietnam) before travel- or does the ship do this for passengers on board?

We are from Australia.

Thanks in advance for help.

I think the ship does it for everyone - it certainly does for Brits.

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Be careful - as I understand it from our previous journeys there Australians do need visas that they had to get in advance as an e visa. To the OP and anyone else wondering about visas for any country safest thing is to get advice from your own government websites and work on the assumption it will be cheaper for you to get your own.

Maybe Bonnie can find out the situation for Australians.

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Honestly, that is not Bonnie's job here and I think it’s unfair to expect Azamara to know all of the changing rules that apply to visa applications for various countries and numerous nationalities. The responsibility lies with the guest and their travel partner if they have one. I agree with uktog. The office dealing with jurisdiction for the particular country the guest lives would be my first port of call.

Phil

This is the official link for Australian passport holders

http://smartraveller.gov.au/Countries/asia/south-east/pages/vietnam.aspx

Be careful - as I understand it from our previous journeys there Australians do need visas that they had to get in advance as an e visa. To the OP and anyone else wondering about visas for any country safest thing is to get advice from your own government websites and work on the assumption it will be cheaper for you to get your own.

Totally agree! for Americans there are Visa sites. There are two or three main companies but if an e-visa very easy.

For those of you in AU I would start by reading your Visa sites. my agent does them for me now vs me.

However, the visa sites don’t tell you whether Azamara will and usually does organise a Visa for you. They certainly do for U.K. cruisers, and I assume other nationalities, where possible. The only visas for a cruise that we have applied for ourselves are for India and the USA.

Interestingly when we did our cruise to Thailand & Vietnam Guest Relations were all geared up to get visas for Vietnam for U.K. passengers. I had read an article that said Vietnam had recently said U.K. visitors no longer needed visas and I had checked it out on the Vietnam govt website. I mentioned it at the Cruise Critic meeting, showing them the link to the relevant webpage. They were very grateful as it meant a lot less admin.

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I’ve just been looking at the Booking Conditions on Azamara’s UK site, US site and Australian site. On the U.K. site there is a list of countries which sets out for each where visas must be obtained beforehand (including USA, India & China), for which countries Azamara will obtain visas onboard and which countries don’t require a visa. There is no such list either on the US or Australian site.

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However, the visa sites don’t tell you whether Azamara will organise a Visa for you. They certainly do for U.K. cruisers where possible. The only visas for a cruise that we have applied for ourselves are for India and the USA.

Interestingly when we did our cruise to Thailand & Vietnam Guest Relations were all geared up to get visas for Vietnam for U.K. passengers. I had read an article that said Vietnam had recently said U.K. visitors no longer needed visas and I had checked it out on the Vietnam govt website. I mentioned it at the Cruise Critic meeting, showing them the link to the relevant webpage. They were very grateful as it meant a lot less admin.

 

 

 

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They cannot get any e visas for guests - e visas have to be applied for by the individuals. I posted earlier on a question of what happened re Sri Lanka which is also e visas that Azamara do not get them. Only the passport holder can apply for e-visas it is part of the convention for their use worldwide to maintain security for the country.

Robin is right, use a visa expert or read your own government site yourself

Our Indian visa wasn’t an E-Visa.

Also a good idea to look at the websites of the countries you want to visit. That’s what Azamara advises.

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My point is that Bonnie's function here shouldn’t include individual booking and travel queries, especially something as vital as immigration information. That to me isn’t the job function of the CBO on this board.

Phil

Our Indian visa wasn’t an E-Visa.

 

Also a good idea to look at the websites of the countries you want to visit. That’s what Azamara advises.

 

 

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India is now e visa based since 2018

Totally agree! for Americans there are Visa sites. There are two or three main companies but if an e-visa very easy.

 

For those of you in AU I would start by reading your Visa sites. my agent does them for me now vs me.

Totally agree! I do the same.

Phil

My point is that Bonnie's function here shouldn’t include individual booking and travel queries, especially something as vital as immigration information. That to me isn’t the job function of the CBO on this board.

 

 

 

Phil

You’re probably right, but it’s hard to find out which countries Azamara will,and does, organise visas for and which they can’t or don’t. Those in the U.K. can email Richard Twynam’s Office - I have done this in the past & found him very helpful.

Maybe Bonnie can suggest who to contact at Azamara if you’re not in the UK.

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Is it necessary to apply for visas (Thailand and Vietnam) before travel- or does the ship do this for passengers on board?

We are from Australia.

Thanks in advance for help.

When I cruised on Azamara in December, the ship got visas on board for all passengers, including Australians. Cost $6US. This was only for passengers who stayed on board the ship. If passengers wanted to stay on land overnight, a different visa was required.

Later google - vietnamvisaembassy.org re cost reverting back to $US5 per passenger.

When I cruised on Azamara in December, the ship got visas on board for all passengers, including Australians. Cost $6US. This was only for passengers who stayed on board the ship. If passengers wanted to stay on land overnight, a different visa was required.

 

Later google - vietnamvisaembassy.org re cost reverting back to $US5 per passenger.

Thanks MM, that was what I hoped was the case. Did you have to request this prior to boarding?

I realised if you wanted to stay overnight on shore it would be a different story.

I also acknowledge finding out about visas is the guest's responsibility.

I have already checked smartraveller.gov etc and the countries Embassies, I just wanted to know if the ship had the facility to do this for passengers.

As a newbie to Azamara, and taking our first cruise soon :) I have read this board over the past few months and found a great deal of useful information - thanks to all who have replied to my question!

Thanks MM, that was what I hoped was the case. Did you have to request this prior to boarding?

 

I realised if you wanted to stay overnight on shore it would be a different story.

I also acknowledge finding out about visas is the guest's responsibility.

I have already checked smartraveller.gov etc and the countries Embassies, I just wanted to know if the ship had the facility to do this for passengers.

 

As a newbie to Azamara, and taking our first cruise soon :) I have read this board over the past few months and found a great deal of useful information - thanks to all who have replied to my question!

No. The ship just charges your cruise account.

I think the cruise lines could assist their passengers re whether normal visas are required, or whether the ship gets group "visa" approval for passengers on their ships.

It is not good enough advising passengers that visas are passengers' responsibility. I phoned our Vietnamese Embassy here and was advised, incorrectly, that a visa was required ($130 including all extras at that time). Fortunately, I read on CC of a passenger on another RC cruise line who paid only US$6 and decided that was good enough for me. Another example of useful information gleaned from CC, which saved me a lot of money.

No. The ship just charges your cruise account.

 

I think the cruise lines could assist their passengers re whether normal visas are required, or whether the ship gets group "visa" approval for passengers on their ships.

 

It is not good enough advising passengers that visas are passengers' responsibility. I phoned our Vietnamese Embassy here and was advised, incorrectly, that a visa was required ($130 including all extras at that time). Fortunately, I read on CC of a passenger on another RC cruise line who paid only US$6 and decided that was good enough for me. Another example of useful information gleaned from CC, which saved me a lot of money.

Thank you Marion!!

Ann and Phil..Thank you.

I have done many Visa's that I had to do by hand that now are E-Visa. I now have an agent that does them for me, in 2015 on AZ the ship did all of them but China and India.

Since it has been awhile that I needed one with AZ it is hard to keep up with the rules.

This winter on another line I was given a list of countries that I get my own Visas for.it would be helpful if AZ did this for Brits and Americans. AU would be nice too. But we all need to learn our countries rules. I might need one and you do not being from the U.K., Cuba comes to mind.

No one here should advice another not being from that country.

Ann, thanks for the update on India. I might go back one day,

Ann and Phil..Thank you.

 

I have done many Visa's that I had to do by hand that now are E-Visa. I now have an agent that does them for me, in 2015 on AZ the ship did all of them but China and India.

 

Since it has been awhile that I needed one with AZ it is hard to keep up with the rules.

 

This winter on another line I was given a list of countries that I get my own Visas for.it would be helpful if AZ did this for Brits and Americans. AU would be nice too. But we all need to learn our countries rules. I might need one and you do not being from the U.K., Cuba comes to mind.

No one here should advice another not being from that country.

Ann, thanks for the update on India. I might go back one day,

Visa rules are set by the country being visited, not by the passenger's country.

It is easy to find out a country's rules for travellers visiting from different countries. However, it is not so easy to find the correct information for passengers on cruise ships, where the rules may be different for cruise ship passengers.

Yes indeed. For UK guests we are fortunate our government website fco.gov.uk has a section with 255 countries listed, standard format for every country, kept up to date daily with Visa and health information together with any country specific rules. Where you do need a visa it gives you a direct link to the overseas government site which is a godsend given how many sites exist which appear to be the correct one but is not.

I think there is a similar, but sometimes less comprehensive one in most major countries and it’s usually much easier to follow.

Of course the biggest challenge is you can search today and the rules change tomorrow as happened for India this January. That was the problems the ship had and will always have especially if they have some lighter touch waver in place, it can go at a whim in some countries. If I want to plan ahead I default to the country wide rules as ship rules will not be more than that.

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Been there recently. Took a Celebrity cruise in March that went to Vietnam. When I got the info from the cruise line, I was very confused. It said that we would be denied boarding unless we had the visa before the ship sailed. I don't live near an embassy. It sounded like an real inconvenience and expense to get the visa. Wish I had known how simple it was to get the visa on the ship. You need a visa. You can get it ahead and pay $$$$ or wait until you board the ship. Wait until you get to the ship.If you don't show a visa on embarkation, a guest visa will be issued to you on the ship. Paid $6 for a visa. It came off my onboard account. You must bring a color copy of your info passport page on an 8.5 by 11" white paper. It will be used for the visa. Used it in the 3 different ports. If you were taking an overnight excursion that had a stay at a hotel in Hanoi, the visa was more expensive..$24. Nobody really checked them!