HELP! Visas for China Cruise!

[downunder.des]

I am an Australian, and will be shortly doing a cruise out of Sydney to Beijing, China. On the way, the ship stops at Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, S Korea, and then Shanghai, Dalian and Beijing in China. After a few days in Beijing I will be flying home. I am not sure what type of Visa I will need - single entry or multiple enty. Has anyone else found out 'officially' what is required these days? Any help most appreciated! :confused:

[NeptuneSeas]

I am an Australian, and will be shortly doing a cruise out of Sydney to Beijing, China. On the way, the ship stops at Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, S Korea, and then Shanghai, Dalian and Beijing in China. After a few days in Beijing I will be flying home. I am not sure what type of Visa I will need - single entry or multiple enty. Has anyone else found out 'officially' what is required these days? Any help most appreciated! :confused:

G'day mate!

As you're visiting more than 1 Chinese port, you will require MULTIPLE entry visa.

I sailed your itinerary on Diamond Princess in 2011 & that was the case then. As a point of interest, there was a pax who only obtained a single entry visa on similiar itinerary as yours; Chinese authorities would not allow pax to disembark. Immigration travel onboard the ship & are very particular with the type of visa you obtain.

Of course, things change, but the Chinese Embassy in the state you reside will advise you.

 

Bon Voyage! Your itinerary sounds like a Princess - is it? If so, what ship & have you received precruise email re who the current Cruise Director & Maitre D'Hotel are please? It's nice to know where they all get to.

NeptuneSeas wishes you smooth seas :)

[sewgood]

G'day mate!

As you're visiting more than 1 Chinese port, you will require MULTIPLE entry visa.

I sailed your itinerary on Diamond Princess in 2011 & that was the case then. As a point of interest, there was a pax who only obtained a single entry visa on similiar itinerary as yours; Chinese authorities would not allow pax to disembark. Immigration travel onboard the ship & are very particular with the type of visa you obtain.

Of course, things change, but the Chinese Embassy in the state you reside will advise you.

 

Bon Voyage! Your itinerary sounds like a Princess - is it? If so, what ship & have you received precruise email re who the current Cruise Director & Maitre D'Hotel are please? It's nice to know where they all get to.

NeptuneSeas wishes you smooth seas :)

 

I'm sailing soon on the Diamond and the Maitre D' is Bruno Bogazzi, the Captain is Roger Bilton and the Hotel General Manager is Nigel Stewart. I haven't received the CD e-mail yet.

 

I sailed on the Dawn in December and the senior staff were as follows:

 

Captain- Phillip Pickford

Hotel General Manager- John Ibbotson

Maitre d'- Silvio Zampieri

CD- Tim Donovan ( very funny guy)

 

I hope this helps you keep track of them :)

[NeptuneSeas]

G'day! You're from a beautiful part of Oz!

 

Yes, THANK YOU for posting info - much appreciated. I know most of those names & you're sure to be well looked after. Cpt Pickford is often on the Dawn & as with all of Princess' Officers, we always feel in safe hands. As regular pax it's good to catch up. We're thankful to be able to travel often & find it hard to understand why a pax complains re things we consider petty - ship needs paint, old furnishings, food choice is only ok, etc. One pax reported the lifeboats needed painting!!! Guess the world would be dull if we all thought the same, but........many people are living in dire poverty & would love a cruise. I say "Count your blessings."

Bon Voyage & smooth seas from NeptuneSeas. :)

[celle]

G'day mate!

As you're visiting more than 1 Chinese port, you will require MULTIPLE entry visa.

I sailed your itinerary on Diamond Princess in 2011 & that was the case then. As a point of interest, there was a pax who only obtained a single entry visa on similiar itinerary as yours; Chinese authorities would not allow pax to disembark. Immigration travel onboard the ship & are very particular with the type of visa you obtain.

Of course, things change, but the Chinese Embassy in the state you reside will advise you.

 

Bon Voyage! Your itinerary sounds like a Princess - is it? If so, what ship & have you received precruise email re who the current Cruise Director & Maitre D'Hotel are please? It's nice to know where they all get to.

NeptuneSeas wishes you smooth seas :)

 

I live in NZ and I am applying for a visa for a similar itinerary. Our ship goes to Dalian, Beijing and Shanghai, with 2 sea days between Beijing and Shanghai.

 

I have twice been advised by the Chinese embassy in Wellington, NZ, that only a single-entry visa is required. (Yes, I checked a second time, just in case I had been wrongly advised the first time.) The Chinese Embassy told me that the important factor is that we do not visit any other country between our Chinese ports. Although the ship will most probably go outside the 12-mile limit of Chinese waters, the days at sea do not constitute a visit to another country, therefore only a single-entry visa is needed.

 

My travel agent has also checked with the cruise line and they advised that they are telling their passengers that only a single-entry visa is required for the cruise.

 

So, that's 3 times I have been told, by someone who (hopefully) knows what they are talking about, that a single-entry visa will suffice.

 

Maybe the person denied land access on the cruise you mentioned did a similar, but not the same itinerary?

 

The advice people are given, both by the embassies and by people on Cruise Critic, is very confusing!

[MicCanberra]

I live in NZ and I am applying for a visa for a similar itinerary. Our ship goes to Dalian, Beijing and Shanghai, with 2 sea days between Beijing and Shanghai.

 

I have twice been advised by the Chinese embassy in Wellington, NZ, that only a single-entry visa is required. (Yes, I checked a second time, just in case I had been wrongly advised the first time.) The Chinese Embassy told me that the important factor is that we do not visit any other country between our Chinese ports. Although the ship will most probably go outside the 12-mile limit of Chinese waters, the days at sea do not constitute a visit to another country, therefore only a single-entry visa is needed.

 

My travel agent has also checked with the cruise line and they advised that they are telling their passengers that only a single-entry visa is required for the cruise.

 

So, that's 3 times I have been told, by someone who (hopefully) knows what they are talking about, that a single-entry visa will suffice.

 

Maybe the person denied land access on the cruise you mentioned did a similar, but not the same itinerary?

 

The advice people are given, both by the embassies and by people on Cruise Critic, is very confusing!

The advice I have been given is a single entry visa is all that is required when visiting chinese ports (e.g Shanghai, Dalian, Beijing or Hongkong then Beijing). Where it becomes confusing is you need a multiple entry if there is a foriegn port inbetween those stops, such as Hong kong, Nagasaki (Japan), Beijing.

I suggest you call the embassy and explain the itinerary and they will advise which you need.:D

[celle]

I live in NZ and I am applying for a visa for a similar itinerary. Our ship goes to Dalian, Beijing and Shanghai, with 2 sea days between Beijing and Shanghai.

 

I have twice been advised by the Chinese embassy in Wellington, NZ, that only a single-entry visa is required. (Yes, I checked a second time, just in case I had been wrongly advised the first time.) The Chinese Embassy told me that the important factor is that we do not visit any other country between our Chinese ports. Although the ship will most probably go outside the 12-mile limit of Chinese waters, the days at sea do not constitute a visit to another country, therefore only a single-entry visa is needed.

 

My travel agent has also checked with the cruise line and they advised that they are telling their passengers that only a single-entry visa is required for the cruise.

 

So, that's 3 times I have been told, by someone who (hopefully) knows what they are talking about, that a single-entry visa will suffice.

 

Maybe the person denied land access on the cruise you mentioned did a similar, but not the same itinerary?

 

The advice people are given, both by the embassies and by people on Cruise Critic, is very confusing!

 

The advice I have been given is a single entry visa is all that is required when visiting chinese ports (e.g Shanghai, Dalian, Beijing or Hongkong then Beijing). Where it becomes confusing is you need a multiple entry if there is a foriegn port inbetween those stops, such as Hong kong, Nagasaki (Japan), Beijing.

I suggest you call the embassy and explain the itinerary and they will advise which you need.:D

 

I am not confused, but other people on CC give confusing advice ("3 ports = 3 entries, therefore a multiple-entry is required"). I have checked 3 times now and been told on each occasion that a single-entry is sufficient, as we do not visit another country between our Chinese ports, even though we have 2 sea days between Beijing (actually Tianjing port) and Shanghai.

 

If you visit Hong Kong in between the Chinese ports, that is different, and you do need a double-entry or mullti-entry visa. I know that Hong Kong is now officially under Chinese jurisdiction, but different rules apply - most people do not need a visa for Hong Kong and it counts as a foreign port visit, for Chinese visa purposes.

 

If you really read my post (quoted again, above), you would see that I have called the Embassy twice already. I have also enclosed the ship's itinerary with my visa application - that is part of the documentation required with the application.

[celle]

I phoned Holland America in Vancouver yesterday and spoke to a customer relations agent. He put me on hold while he made inquiries for me and then advised that:

 

• For my cruise (visiting Dalian, Beijing and Shanghai, with 2 sea days between Beijing and Shanghai, but no foreign ports between Chinese ports) a single entry visa is all that is currently required.
  
• However, requirements could change on a daily basis, so HAL will not give any guarantee that the situation will not change.
  
• It is the immigration agents in Kobe at check-in, not HAL, who will deny boarding if the visa is incorrect.
  
• It is the customer's responsibility to get the correct visa. (Very helpful!)
  

[Billy and Charlie's Mum]

We are on the Diamond doing the same ports as you.... we have been issued with a single entry visa. Unless you plan on going into the Chinese mainland from Hong Kong whilst you are in Hong Kong, that is all you will need.