No visa required for India if staying on board :)

[Cruiser_from_Oz]

:) Hi everyone, My TA told us back in february we wouldnt need visas if staying on board in India. We are travelling Dubai to singapore on May 15th. On another thread we were told we would need visas regardless or we will be deined boarding :eek: So I called RC in Australia and spoke with Amy and she said: "If you are travelling to India and remaining on board the ship you do not need a visa and will not be denied boarding at Dubai Amy said they had just received an email stating that.:)

That reduces our stress level by 100 lol and saves us $300!

And does that mean my TA is psychic :eek: lol

[NorbertsNiece]

Hi,

 

Hope they give this to you in writing......just to be on the safe side.... I am always aware of changes in rules etc....

[Elizanessie]

If the you don't have an Indian visa, you will be able to board the ship, but will not be allowed to go ashore in any of the Indian ports and you will have to sign a waiver to that effect.

 

However, RCCL still strongly suggest for all their guests to get the Indian visas incase there is any medical or other emergency and it becomes necessary for the guests to get off in an Indian port, you will not be able to do so due to the lack of a visa.

[Cruiser_from_Oz]

Yeah we have no intention on leaving the ship and going onshore to India. My mum is elderly and cant walk the distances and no tours offer anything that doesnt require walking distances or uneven ground. Also her Dr highly recommended not to visit India.

 

True I will write to RC and get it in writing and print it out and take it with us.

 

just thought i'd let eveyone know that this is a new rule change that has come into effect

[read52]

Yeah we have no intention on leaving the ship and going onshore to India. My mum is elderly and cant walk the distances and no tours offer anything that doesnt require walking distances or uneven ground. Also her Dr highly recommended not to visit India.

 

True I will write to RC and get it in writing and print it out and take it with us.

 

just thought i'd let eveyone know that this is a new rule change that has come into effect

 

 

My son-in-law is from India. His parents wanted to take their son, my daughter and our granddaughter (she is 8 months) to India to visit relatives. Their family doctor advised against it until she has all her shots since they still have polio and other diseases still active there.

[celle]

Yeah we have no intention on leaving the ship and going onshore to India. My mum is elderly and cant walk the distances and no tours offer anything that doesnt require walking distances or uneven ground. Also her Dr highly recommended not to visit India.

 

True I will write to RC and get it in writing and print it out and take it with us.

 

just thought i'd let eveyone know that this is a new rule change that has come into effect

 

If this is true, that's a plus for you.

 

However, do be very sure to get this in writing, and from someone with authority, not just a local RCCL rep.

 

When we cruised from Singapore to Dubai 2 years ago, we saw several people denied boarding because they did not have a visa for India.

 

For most countries that require a visa, the rule is that you need the visa because, whether or not you get off the ship, you are in that country's waters.

[Bakincakes]

I think pax should get more verification than what they are told by RCI reps.

 

They can't even get dining times correct, sometimes, I would not trust them with something as important as a VISA.

 

We saw pax denied boarding on a Holland World Cruise for lack of Visas..those pax argued they would just stay on the ship. Still they were denied boarding. I wish I could recall which VISA they were missing.

[Mark_K]

If it were me, unless it's particularly burdensome or expensive, I would get the visa, regardless. Things can, and do, change, and a piece of paper you printed will be worthless if they change their mind.

 

Everything they tell you, give you, is trumped by the disclaimer:

 

It is the sole responsibility of the guest to identify and obtain all required travel documents for the entire cruise vacation and have them available when necessary.

[Ocean Boy]

I would not intentionally think of getting on a ship without all of the possibly needed travel documents for the itinerary being sailed. And unless the rep that provided the information will also be doing the check-in at the pier I wouldn't find much comfort in the info that was provided over the phone.

[Pushka]

I would be getting the Visa.

[Pushka]

I saw a thread about the Azmara Quest which is travelling through India later this month. The Visa office advised a couple that if they were in Indian waters they needed to have a visa.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[waterbug123]

True I will write to RC and get it in writing and print it out and take it with us.

 

just thought i'd let eveyone know that this is a new rule change that has come into effect

 

There is no way I would follow the verbal advice of a RC rep on the phone for a matter as important as this. :D

It is common knowledge that the phone reps can't even provide a consistent, correct answer to questions about rather mundane issues like onboard credit, tuition drops, and the like.

Further, I would be highly cautious of a simple email they might send you, reiterating what you were told on the phone. I can easily see a check in agent looking at an email and saying, "That rep had no idea what they were talking about. You need a visa or you can't board."

 

So let me ask you: What would happen if you got to Dubai and were denied boarding? To me, it would be well worth the $300 to get the visas, just to know that there would be no chance of being denied boarding. The peace of mind would be worth it.

[wolfcathorse]

this website has the current info for documentation for all countries

 

http://www.traveldocs.com/

[vickiw0318]

Have you called the Indian consulate to ask them?

[Cruiser_from_Oz]

Have you called the Indian consulate to ask them?

 

Have emailed them and called them. Still waiting on reply email (been 2 days now) when i called it was a recorded message that redirected me to a visa website!...Thinking we should just get the bloomin Visas just to be safe??

Been 2 days since asking for written confrimation from RC. Surely their staff would't tell a furfy?? She put me on hold to ask someone higher up and came back with news on the email.

 

I see the sense in being in their waters and still needing one. I just wish our TA had the knowledge to tell us from the get go to just get one regardless. She told us we could save money by not getting our visas if we didnt want to get off in India :(

 

Wont use them again!

 

Learning heaps on this forum...thank you everyone...off to apply for visas, just hope we can get them in time :)

[Zach1213]

Have emailed them and called them. Still waiting on reply email (been 2 days now) when i called it was a recorded message that redirected me to a visa website!...Thinking we should just get the bloomin Visas just to be safe??

Been 2 days since asking for written confrimation from RC. Surely their staff would't tell a furfy?? She put me on hold to ask someone higher up and came back with news on the email.

 

I see the sense in being in their waters and still needing one. I just wish our TA had the knowledge to tell us from the get go to just get one regardless. She told us we could save money by not getting our visas if we didnt want to get off in India :(

 

Wont use them again!

 

Learning heaps on this forum...thank you everyone...off to apply for visas, just hope we can get them in time :)

 

Don't even bother with the Indian consulates or embassy. They're absolutely incompetent and a waste of time. They were so bad at visas that they outsourced their work to Travisa. Seriously...the Indian embassy and consulates in the US do not to visas AT ALL...they realized how incompetent and awful they were that they outsourced all of it to an outside company.

 

That company is, however, very easy to work with. I've had good experiences with Travisa and the last time I got an Indian business visa (late January/early February of this year), it took 6 days from door-to-door, including a weekend (and no "rush" on it either).

[truffles2]

I remember when Mariner went around the Horn that quite a few passengers were denied boarding because they did not have the Brazilian Visa. I would wonder why India would be different??? And I would not believe a rep on the phone but would check it out from the proper channels.

[celle]

Don't even bother with the Indian consulates or embassy. They're absolutely incompetent and a waste of time. They were so bad at visas that they outsourced their work to Travisa. Seriously...the Indian embassy and consulates in the US do not to visas AT ALL...they realized how incompetent and awful they were that they outsourced all of it to an outside company.

 

That company is, however, very easy to work with. I've had good experiences with Travisa and the last time I got an Indian business visa (late January/early February of this year), it took 6 days from door-to-door, including a weekend (and no "rush" on it either).

 

The OP is from Australia. Don't know what the Indian embassy in Australia is like, but I had no problem with getting a visa from the Indian embassy in NZ.

[Zach1213]

The OP is from Australia. Don't know what the Indian embassy in Australia is like, but I had no problem with getting a visa from the Indian embassy in NZ.

Yeah my apologies, just noticed they were not American. However, sounds like the same kind of situation that happened in the US - Indian offices just couldn't handle it, and let an independent company take care of it on their behalf. If so...much, much smoother!

[momzcruzing]

I just returned from the March 26- April 7th sailing of Brilliance of the Seas that called on 4 ports in India.

 

Indian immigration was VERY strict, requiring face-to-face passport stamping and checks onboard the ship by Indian authorities for all passengers. Not sure I'd like to be facing one of those officers without a visa in hand.:eek:

[Pushka]

The Australian situation requires contact with either the Indian embassy of if not located in your state, an Indian Visa processing office. All passports are sent to the Melbourne or Sydney office and if all correct, takes five working days if interstate. The main issue is the size of the photo - they need to be 2 inch square and not the normal passport size. Even the passport processing office is incredibly strict but once they take it, it will be approved.

[Cruiser_from_Oz]

The Australian situation requires contact with either the Indian embassy of if not located in your state, an Indian Visa processing office. All passports are sent to the Melbourne or Sydney office and if all correct, takes five working days if interstate. The main issue is the size of the photo - they need to be 2 inch square and not the normal passport size. Even the passport processing office is incredibly strict but once they take it, it will be approved.

 

Application was picked up yesterday by Toll....yep had phone call today at midday saying our photos were wrong LOL Needed to by 2inch by 2 inch, shoulder to shoulder...:eek: Arrrrgh haha went to our local post office who took our passport photos said nope use your passport photos...told them the visa pics are different size and they basically said bad luck!:confused: so spent this afternoon traipsing around and found a chemist to take them....then the printer wouldn't work! :( Waited an hour to get the pics which were printed out individually.

Drove to airport, took them to Toll who said they were the right size :) but weird how they were split... LOL

OMG haha what a day. Anyway, looks like all is good for our Visas.

Funnily enough we ran into a TA from another company who also told us that its ok to stay on board if not getting off without a Visa.....definately next cruise will be with a cruise agent or specialist! :)

[Pushka]

I think you have been wise getting them. And maybe you might decide to get off anyway. India is incredibly bureaucratic so you just don't know when they will start enforcing rules differently.

[travaustralia]

When we sailed from Singapore to Mauritius, with a stop in India, all passports were being checked to ensure all had Indian visas. We were told by the cruise company, that a visa was required to be in Indian waters - not to do with getting off or not. Again, think you are wise to get them.

[Moeve]

The story with visas is a very difficult call since some countries change their requirements every now and then or like the US TSA agents have ones that make up the rules as they go. That is why often the lines will decide to deny you boarding just in case they hit one of those and who could cancel their stop entirely because one or a handful of passengers don't have the required visa.

 

What I don't understand why would you spend thousands of Dollars on a cruise to interesting places only to not go there because of the few hundred dollars for the visa? Why risk the entire cruise since the lines have in their fine print that they may deny you embarkation or disembark you early if you don't have the required visa?