Visa question - Is it necessary to process a visa if not getting off in a port

[flskiergirl]

My mother in law is looking to join us for our upcoming cruise. She holds a Colombian passport and has a current US visa. It seems like she will not need any additional visas for our stops, except for Tortola. We are having a hard time getting a straight answer from Royal on the visa requirements. We are wondering if it is possible for her to skip getting off at this one port rather than trying to process this visa on short notice.

 

Does anyone have experience with this? Is it possible to not have visas for all the ports? I'm assuming the answer is that we need to try to get the visa, but wondering if there are other options.

 

Thanks for any help!

[NMLady]

I don't know about this particular situation but 90-some % of the time, if a country requires a visa, then a person will not be allowed to embark on the cruise without the visa even if not planning to get off the ship at that country's port.

 

So, if she wants to be able to get on the ship for the cruise, if a visa is usually required, she'd better get one.

 

It is not up to Royal to know all the ins and outs of visa requirements for various countries. It is up to the passenger to check with the appropriate consulate.

 

Also, will her US visa allow for re-entry into the US after the cruise?

Edited October 5, 2015 by NMLady

[Scrapnana]

In most cases I have heard of, since you are in that country's waters it doesn't matter if you are getting off in the port or not, you need the visa. Some cruise lines will not even allow you to board if you do not have the proper visas. Get it and then there will be no worry.

[Ashland]

Just a perhaps similar situation..when we were on our Asia cruise (RCI Mariner) the ship automatically processed everyone's Vietnam visa onboard and the charge ($6.00pp) was added to your SeaPass account...regardless if you were geting off or not.

[Keith1010]

There are actually a few places where you will not be charged and don't have to get a visa if you remain in the ship but these are exceptions.

 

In the vast majority of cases you do have to have a visa even if you do not get off the ship.

 

You could try contacting the cruise line directly to see if they know who this one will be handled.

 

Keith

[Floridiana]

You need to contact the British Virgin Islands Government for visa information.

http://www.bvi.gov.vg/

[spookwife]

We are wondering if it is possible for her to skip getting off at this one port rather than trying to process this visa on short notice.

 

she will not be allowed to board at all if she does not have the correct visa for ALL ports scheduled to be visited. they do not care, nor do they take your word for it, that you have no intention of getting off at X port.

[John Bull]

As per Keith's reply, there are occasions when folk have boarded without visas.

I recall one CC member doing that for India.

And Russian visas are not required to board ships which call at St Petersburg, even if the passenger hasn't booked a visa-free tour.

Naturally those folk cannot disembark in those ports, but they were not prevented from taking the cruise.

 

NM Lady says passengers must have appropriate visas to board in 90% of cases. I'd put the figure higher, but never say "never". ;)

 

The OP needs to press RCI. Even if Tortola is happy for MIL to stay on the ship without a visa, the cruise line can refuse boarding. Their ship, their rules.

 

Yes, I know it's difficult to get visa info out of cruise lines.

And often that info is inaccurate.

But it needs their answer, and in writing.

If it's a negative answer, it's worth enquiring further up the management chain cos you might get a positive answer. But it does need to be in writing.

 

I very much doubt that cruise staff will deny boarding if you can present them with written permission from RCI, because I think then RCI would be liable to refund & also pay other costs.

Which is one reason why it's difficult to get a straight answer, especially a positive one. :rolleyes:

 

Good luck

 

JB :)

Edited October 5, 2015 by John Bull

[kitty9]

The islands that require visas from any country will not accept the excuse of not leaving the ship. Once you're in the territorial waters of a country, you're IN the country whether you touch dry land or not. We were in line behind a couple from a South American country where a visa was required for one of the island ports and they didn't have the visa, and Royal Caribbean denied them boarding, even though they said they'd stay on the ship. If a visa is required, it's required and saying you'll stay on board doesn't mean a thing.

[sail7seas]

Do not reply upon information you get from a cruise line rep. They often are poorly trained and inexperienced. We've read all too often of people being told the most ridiculous information from cruise line reps and the mistake proved to be very costly.

[GUT2407]

1. Inquire with the Embassy direct

 

2. In my experiences, not that port, almost certainly yes.