Voyager of the seas - Vietnam Entry for British Citizen

[ktechmidas]

So the official page from Royal Caribbean does not include British Citizens on the list of visa free entries to Vietnam (from this page, and calling them to confirm: https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/international-ports-travel-considerations)

 

However I have been to Vietnam several times visa free, and the gov.uk says the following: "Until 30 June 2021, ‘British Citizen’ passport holders travelling for tourism or business can enter Vietnam for up to a maximum of 15 days (inclusive of dates of entry and exit) without a visa." (https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/vietnam/entry-requirements)

 

They are adamant they must get me a visa and charge for it, I wonder how much they make charging Brits when they don't need one to start with...

 

Edit: We also get stateroom 7290, decent? 

Edited July 10, 2019 by ktechmidas

[kernow]

We are on Quantum next Feb with stops in Vietnam. As British citizens I thought we didn't need a visa (I hadn't seen the RCL page you posted just the gov.uk one). 

I notice this bit though

'Please Note: As we will be arranging all visas on board the ship on arrival, immigration will not issue visas for those nationalities that do not require one. These nationalities will be exempt from the nominal visa charge.'

 

Surely immigration will not issue visas if we don't need them?

 

I'd be interested in hearing from those who have already been as to what happens.

[Sancho_proudfoot]

I do not recall whether we were charged or not. As with all the stops in the Far East, we handed in our passports ahead of arrival in each country.

 

For Cambodia, we got a full-page florid visa gummed into our passports, plus entry and exit stamps. For Vietnam, all we have is small blurry entry and exit stamps.

 

I think (but don't quote me) we were only charged a fee for Cambodia.

Edited July 10, 2019 by Sancho_proudfoot

[Moogibear]

We are on Voyager in September and are thoroughly confused about visas for Vietnam.  As British Citizens we can see from the UK Gov website that we don't need a visa for less than 15 days. However, I emailed the Vietnam Embassy for confirmation and they advised me that this rule only applies for SINGLE entry and that visiting more than one port is MULTIPLE entry and therefore requires a Tourist Visa.  The cost of this is £89 plus postage.  This is contradicted by RCI who have pointed us to their VisaCentral agent, who also advise that a visa is required for multiple entries but say:-

"Please note that ocean cruise passengers who hold a British Citizen passport may not require a visa for this country (or the visa may be arranged on arrival by the cruise line) as they enter by sea and may be considered to be in transit"

 

"May not" or "may be"" are not very helpful - do we turn up and hope they will or risk not being able to cruise as RCI have also noted in the cruise ticket that they will deny boarding to those guests without the proper travel documents.  They also show on the ticket that the 15 day visa for Vietnam does not apply after 30 June 2018 but the UK Gov website says it is valid until 2021.

 

Hence the confusion - no-one seems to know what is required and no-one will commit to giving us definitive information.  It may be wise to buy the visas prior to travel just in case?  Considering the current issues in Hong Kong, we are beginning to regret booking this cruise!

[kernow]

That makes it sound even more complicated. Please come back and update any info after your trip.

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, Moogibear said:

  Considering the current issues in Hong Kong, we are beginning to regret booking this cruise!

Welcome to CC.

 

The issues in HK do not seem to affect any sailings from there.

[UlsterYoungGuy]

On 7/10/2019 at 2:24 PM, ktechmidas said:

So the official page from Royal Caribbean does not include British Citizens on the list of visa free entries to Vietnam (from this page, and calling them to confirm: https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/international-ports-travel-considerations)

 

However I have been to Vietnam several times visa free, and the gov.uk says the following: "Until 30 June 2021, ‘British Citizen’ passport holders travelling for tourism or business can enter Vietnam for up to a maximum of 15 days (inclusive of dates of entry and exit) without a visa." (https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/vietnam/entry-requirements)

 

They are adamant they must get me a visa and charge for it, I wonder how much they make charging Brits when they don't need one to start with...

 

Edit: We also get stateroom 7290, decent? 

 Hi- we’ve just booked the Voyager of the areas for next August stopping in Chan May and Nha Trang. I also emailed the Vietnamese Embassy who informed me about the multiple entry visa but the email is cutely worded as it talks about passport control etc. which we won’t go through. Royal still don’t have the UK and France lister on the 15 day visa waiver scheme on their website but if you search some of the forums the UK and France as not requiring a visa for Vietnam on other cruiselines like Celebrity. Celebrity also only charge their passengers 6$ for the visa on board as it’s a “Group Visa”. Either way we’ve decided not to do anything until we are on board as it’s £109 for a multiple entry visa so it it makes sense to just hold fire and wait.