Immigration Question

[Jamietravelstheworld]

I've done a lot of cruises, mainly in the Caribbean, a little South America, and the Mediterranean. In January will be traveling on Regent Seven Seas cruise that includes New Zealand, Australia, and many Asian countries. Regent Seven Seas is arranging for the necessary visas although there aren't many. I was just reading in some forums that in many Asian countries you have to go through immigration when you arrive, with long lines and long delays for getting on shore. I've never had to go through immigration in a cruise port before (even in Cuba), so this surprises me. Is this the norm? Is it only for Asia? If the ship has arranged for the visas, will that reduce issues? Any feedback or experiences greatly appreciated. 

 

Jamie

[mom says]

Well, Asia covers a lot of territory, not to mention a lot of different countries.  On our Celebrity cruise this past winter we had port visits in Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Shanghai  (where we disembarked). Each port was handled differently.  But basically all we had to do was show our landing card and/or passport to the immigration officials as we disembarked. Landing cards were supplied to us in our cabin on the evening before arriving in port. And they had to be turned in when returning to the ship. The only time there was any long line waiting to get through was in Shanghai, where we waited  IN LINE for almost 3 hours. But this was for final  disembarkation. 

 

PS- We also had to go thru immigration in all of our India ports  on our previous cruise, but the time required for this was just a few minutes.

[ldubs]

Only place I remember having to wait in line for immigration was Nagasaki Japan. They took our photo (or fingerprint, I can't remember which).   We were not part of an excursion.  There were several agents and wait was not that long, as I recall.  

 

We were on ship's excursions for the other SE Asian ports we visited.  Maybe that makes a difference.  Really not sure.   

Edited May 27, 2019 by ldubs

[paul929207]

We have not been on an Asian cruise in several years, but back then, Princess collected our passports when we boarded. Officials of the different countries came on board for a couple of days before we reached their country. We were cleared without doing anything.