visa advice PLEASE

[Tac123]

We are booked on the Spice Route cruise in April 2014 and have been researching about the visa's required.Do we need a visa for Indonesia and Thailand and can it be obtained through Azamara onboard the ship?

Also what is the best way to obtain the visa for India ? Am I right in thinking it is going to cost approx £200 for the 2 of us. We live in the UK.

Any advice would be very welcome.Thank you.:confused::confused:

[tomtal]

We are also on the Spice Routes cruise in April. As far as I am aware, UK citizens do not need visas for Thailand, Indonesia or Sri Lanka - I believe they are done at port of call at no cost. A visa is required for India and, unfortunately, you are correct in that the cost is very expensive (about £200, not sure of the exact figure). I believe it used to be a lot cheaper but was raised considerably this year. I gleaned quite a lot of information from the roll call for Spices, Tea & Rubber Trees of 9 November this year, and it may be worth your while having a quick look through that.

[uktog]

TAC we have just gone through the process as we are on 9 Nov cruise. It would appear as the UK govt charges high prices to Indian citizens coming to the UK we are reciprocally hit with higher visa fees

It is relatively easy to do yourself, you do not need to use Visa Central whom the cruise line recommends

You cannot get the visa for a few months yet so ask questions and we will try and help now or when we get back

[Grandma Gilly]

We used CIBT to get our visas for India and Cambodia. They were very efficient. You can find their details online (UK only)

We sailed Mumbai to chennai. Is this the same itinerary? If so, it was a fantastic cruise.

[Tac123]

:)Thank you for the helpful advice from you all. I have read the roll call you suggested and it has been helpful.It is our first time with Azamara having only been on a couple of cruises.We are sailing from Singapore to Mumbai and have booked all our trips through Azamara as we feel happier with that however we are keeping a very close watch on things as so far we have had trips cancelled unknown to us until we saw our bank statement and saw refunded money, I then got an e-mail which showed my husband was taken off another trip and they left me on it !!!! It was all sorted thankfully.

Have a brilliant time on your cruise this month, I would love to know how it goes and any advice on your return.

Thanks again

[uktog]

Thanks Tac, all our excursions are booked through Azamara, so we will certainly be able to give you info on them and indeed whether any were cancelled or not

 

CIBIT was taken over by Visa Central (or the other way round) a while back. We used them for our business travel but are not, unless its a tricky one, going to use them again, their add on costs (ie for using a credit card or for posting the passport back) is way too high.

Certainly the India Visa I did for us without an agency and it was back by post four days after I sent it down to Hayes

[tomtal]

Hi Tac. Which excursions did you have cancelled? I am wondering if they were the ones in Phuket which really don't add up with the time the ship docks. Did they give any reason for the cancellation - tours full for example, or lack of time in port? - Pam

[Grandma Gilly]

UKtog, I didn't realise they were one and the same, sorry. Yes, they were quite expensive but also good. I would love to use them again but don't have any 'visa needing' trips coming up. Guess I'd better start looking!!!

[Tac123]

Hi Pam

The cancelled trip was "A day spent in Galle "when docked in Colombo. No reason was given and it was through our bank statement ,then an e-mail later confirming the refund that we found out it had been cancelled.

I then got an e-mail cancelling "sunset harbour cruise".At least this time we were notified but no reason was given however now that the Azamazing evening is on that night it all makes sense.

On the same e mail it said that they had cancelled my husband off the "Mumbai on the move" trip but I was left on !!!!! I phoned them up and they apologised and put him back on the trip. We have however cancelled that trip because they brought out a new trip "shades of Mumbai" which we have booked instead. Phew it,ll be allright on the night as they say haha :D

[tomtal]

Thanks Tac. That makes sense about the change of the sunset cruise if it was in Cochin when the Azamazing night takes place. We have also booked Mumbai on the Move but may well change it to Shades of Mumbai - at least Keith wants to but I am not too sure. We shall see. However, the excursions do seem a little "in a pigs ear....", and I still have doubts about the Phuket tours. Bill, if you're out there somewhere, please could you clarify. Tac, like you, I'm sure it will all right on the night (!). Azamara gives a wonderful experience on the cruise itself - and what an itinerary! - Pam

[uktog]

We are doing Mumbai on the move and have the same evening in Cochin, I promise to tell you all about these Azamar trips and the others we are doing

[tomtal]

Thank you uktog. Have a truly wonderful cruise. I was looking at the weather forecasts - you won't need your winter woollies! (Or may be you will when you return). Pam

[Tac123]

Hi uktog thats brilliant thanks.It would be great to know any feedback on the shades of Mumbai trip aswell if you are chatting to anyone who has booked for it.

Have a great trip and look forward to hearing about it on your return.Will your feedback be on this thread or do I look elsewhere ?:confused:

[uktog]

Hi uktog thats brilliant thanks.It would be great to know any feedback on the shades of Mumbai trip aswell if you are chatting to anyone who has booked for it.

Have a great trip and look forward to hearing about it on your return.Will your feedback be on this thread or do I look elsewhere ?:confused:

 

Safely in Dubai. Will see what we can discover about the Shades trip. We are also doing Mumbai Masala.

I will post a separate thread that will be a whole trip report which will include the excursions as well as life onboard. I am going to wait til I come home to post if people can give us that time, we will need to use our free Internet minutes for work :( but hey we are still getting a cruise!