River Cruise Vietnam and Cambodia

[daddynews]

Hi,

 

Doing a river cruise in August to Vietnam and Cambodia. Can anyone advise about visas please? General information from travel company says you can obtain a visa onboard ship for Vietnam, but when I rang them today they said I should check with http://www.thevisatravel company. Do we need two visas one for each country? We travelled with Viking River cruises last year and they sent us all the relevant documentation which takes the worry out of it. Don't want to arrive and not be let in the country.

 

Any advise would be gratefully received.

 

 

daddynews.:)

[pacmom]

We just did Vietnam-Cambodia with Avalon. We are US citizens and filled out the forms on line, sent the application to each embassy in Wash,DC. They were very prompt in returning the visas. It was cheaper than using the cruise line company. You will need to check for your country. We sailed Vietnam to Cambodia. There were a few people on our trip who got their vasa at the airport on arrival. Also the CD got those same people theirs at the Cambodian border. DH wanted them in hand before we left. Enjoy, it is a wonderful trip.

Pat

[H2Otstr]

Pat, great info. Did you have to send photos with the application for each country? Also, do you mind sharing what the cost was?

[daddynews]

Hi Pat,

 

Thanks for the information, I will certainly check with the Visa Company. I would be happier getting them before we go rather than at the airport.

 

Really looking forward it. Thanks again.

 

daddynews.:)

[pacmom]

Sharon,

 

Unfortunately the amounts we paid did not remain in either of our memories. We sent money orders not personal checks. Yes you do need photos for them.

 

Pat

[soccerref]

My advice, having obtained visas for various countries, is to go to each country's official embassy/consulate site and read the information on visas there. It is very easy to be caught out by agency sites which charge you extra for obtaining your visa for you so make sure it is the proper official site.

 

We have recently returned from a fabulous tour of Indochina which included a 7night Mekong River cruise and I have posted a review on this forum. There may be some useful information on there for you.

 

Our tour included a land trip as well so we had to get a multiple entry visa for Vietnam. This cost £85pp + the special delivery postage so about £180 for the 2 of us + 2passport photographs. We had to obtain the visa before we travelled as we started the tour in Vietnam. We got our Laos and Cambodian visas at the immigration point to those countries for US$30 approx + 2 passport photos.

 

I hope you enjoy your trip as much as we did.

[laverendrye]

Hi,

 

Doing a river cruise in August to Vietnam and Cambodia. Can anyone advise about visas please? General information from travel company says you can obtain a visa onboard ship for Vietnam, but when I rang them today they said I should check with http://www.thevisatravel company. Do we need two visas one for each country? We travelled with Viking River cruises last year and they sent us all the relevant documentation which takes the worry out of it. Don't want to arrive and not be let in the country.

 

Any advise would be gratefully received.

 

 

daddynews.:)

 

As others have advised, I think you should start with the official websites for the Governments of Vietnam and Cambodia. If you search for on the internet for visas for either country you will find a host of non-official websites from agencies offering visa services. The Vietnamese government warns that the information on many of these websites may not be correct, and advises travellers that they should not use on-line or landing visas which might be offered. Here are the official sites with the relevant information:

 

Vietnames Embassy in London: http://vietnamembassy.org.uk/index.php?action=p&ct=Consular%20Services%20for%20UK%20residents#VISA

 

Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs: http://evisa.mfaic.gov.kh/

 

In my case, I obtained a visa from the Vietnamese Embassy in Ottawa as I live close by. It only took a couple of days from dropping off my passport to picking up the completed visa. One of our group did use an e-visa and it worked, but it took about an hour at the airport in Saigon on arrival. If at all possible, I would go with a regular visa. Note what the VN Embassy in London has to say:

 

"We do not recommend visa-on-arrival and online visa. These types of visa are issued by un-recognised websites with no connections with the embassy. We cannot verify the validity of such visa and cannot provide assistances to travelers in case they are refused entry while using these types of visa. Please read the updated Travel Advice by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/asia-oceania/vietnam)"

 

As far as I know, the e-visa for Cambodia works well, but there is a caveat. You are fine if arriving at an airport such as Phnom Penh or Siem Reap or a couple of land entry points. So this would work with a cruise/tour starting in Hanoi, flying to Siem Reap and then continuing to HCMC/Saigon. However, in the other direction, if you are entering Cambodia on the Mekong River, you will need to have a paper visa. as I did. Instead of spending $25 (now $27) on an e-visa, I had to use a local agent who sent my passport to the Embassy in Washington (which also serves Canada) and with agent's fee and courier charges it cost me over $250. If you do need a paper visa and can deal directly with the Cambodian Embassy in London you can save some money.

 

I hope that this is helpful. Enjoy your trip!

[EKML]

The replies have provided very good advice. There is also a good article on Tripadvisor about the visas. We were reluctant to have to send our passports away since we have had a passport lost in the mail. Decided to try the VOA, and used a site recommended on Tripadvisor. Had no problem at the airport, and it was very fast. Processing the VOA at the major airports is easy, with a separate counter provided. Think the important thing to do is use a reputable firm to do the VOA.

 

The Cambodia visa was easier-our TD did it in Viet Nam-just had to pay $20 and provide 2 photos.

[darnoc111]

. Also the CD got those same people theirs at the Cambodian border. DH wanted them in hand before we left. Enjoy, it is a wonderful trip.

Pat

 

We are going on Viking River cruise in March 2015. Vietnam to Cambodia. We are getting mixed messages on Cambodian visas. Some say get it at great expense and trouble before you go. Others indicate its easy and cheap on the ship as it enters Cambodia. Anyone been there recently? Is the above scenario accurate?

Hope you can help.

[ewizabeff]

I'm booked for this trip on Uniworld in December 2015. Our instructions say to get the Vietnam visa before we leave, and bring cash to get the Cambodia visa while on the boat.

[darnoc111]

Thanks so much. We are hearing this repeatedly however Viking tells us to arrange visas before we leave. I suspect they are abdicating. Any other advice from those who have used Viking for Vietnam and Cambodia.

[daddynews]

We did this wonderful trip in August with Travelmarvel.

 

We obtained our visa for Vietnam before we travelled from the Travel Visa Co, the same company Viking recommended when we went to China with them last year. If Viking use the same system as Travelmarvel for Cambodia, everyone on the ship got their visas as we crossed over the border. There was nothing for us to do, although we weighed anchor at the border and the formalities took several hours. The cost was just added to our onboard account. It was very straightforward.

 

This is an absolutely brilliant trip, and if you need any further advice please get in touch.

 

Regards.

 

 

daddynews.

[ikesyd]

We did the upstream trip at the end of September on The Jahan(Heritage Line). I arranged our Vietnam visa before we left by visiting the consulate office in Sydney, very easy procedure. For our Cambodian visa this was arranged on board the boat, just need to supply a passport photo each and the cost was added to our account.

If you are doing the downstream cruise you would need to do your Cambodian visa either on arrival or via evisa. Our cruise line advised to have your Vietnam visa before joining the cruise, the option to have it completed on board was not available for the downstream trip.

Can highly recommend a cruise on the Mekong - was a wonderful way to travel, beautiful scenery and people!