Vietnam then Thailand

[woodards]

Hi,

Have been trawling through lots of posts and have got a mixed bag in terms of what happens with regards to passports, visas and immigration at these ports. 

 

Do we have leave our passports with Azamara before we enter Vietnam and retrieve after we leave? And read some stories about the amount of time it takes to get off the ship in the first port within Vietnam. 

 

Do we need to anything specific for Thailand? British Consulate recommends carrying a photo copy of passport whilst ashore.  Anything else?

 

Thanks in advance for any guidance. 

 

[AJCM]

We've done this cruise several times - great itinerary; particularly as Azamara is able to dock close in at Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh and provide shuttle buses to convenient central location. Azamara takes your passport when you board.

 

Azamara has arranged Vietnam visas on board for everyone (from memory a USD charge is added top your account but I can't remember the amount either $20 or $40 pp). Australians don't need a visa for Thailand and I've never bothered carrying around a copy of the passport.

 

p.s. if visiting a major interest site in Bangkok such as the Grand Palace, it's worth negotiating a taxi ride to get there early. You'll still get large crowds but not as big as a bit later on. Last time we did this, rather than shuttle into the city, catching the monorail to the river, then a river boat to the Grand Palace. We find it to be much quicker and easier. From memory we negotiated USD20 to get two of us there.

 

Never been conscious of any delays getting off the ship at Halong Bay, Da Nang or Ho Chi Minh.

 

Tony

[hubofhockey]

Azamara is $6 for Vietnam and I believe an additional $20 if you do an overnight off the ship (like a junk boat cruise).

[woodards]

6 hours ago, AJCM said:

We've done this cruise several times - great itinerary; particularly as Azamara is able to dock close in at Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh and provide shuttle buses to convenient central location. Azamara takes your passport when you board.

 

Azamara has arranged Vietnam visas on board for everyone (from memory a USD charge is added top your account but I can't remember the amount either $20 or $40 pp). Australians don't need a visa for Thailand and I've never bothered carrying around a copy of the passport.

 

p.s. if visiting a major interest site in Bangkok such as the Grand Palace, it's worth negotiating a taxi ride to get there early. You'll still get large crowds but not as big as a bit later on. Last time we did this, rather than shuttle into the city, catching the monorail to the river, then a river boat to the Grand Palace. We find it to be much quicker and easier. From memory we negotiated USD20 to get two of us there.

 

Never been conscious of any delays getting off the ship at Halong Bay, Da Nang or Ho Chi Minh.

 

Tony

Thanks for the info.

 

So as we are in Vietnam first, would we get passports back for Thailand (next country) or have to wait until before we disembark in Singapore?

[AJCM]

Usually, when Aza takes your passport you don't get it back until near the end of the cruise, unless you're explicitly required to carry it on shore. I don't know the visa rules with UK but we've never needed them off the ship in Thailand.

[woodards]

22 hours ago, AJCM said:

Usually, when Aza takes your passport you don't get it back until near the end of the cruise, unless you're explicitly required to carry it on shore. I don't know the visa rules with UK but we've never needed them off the ship in Thailand.

Thanks, got to admit it does worry me not having control of my own passport......

[manc]

We have had our passports returned when visiting some countries and then handed them back for next visa to be put into it.