Vietnam (landing card) / visa -- still issued on ship? Any updates?

[dani negreanu]

Our visa was provided on the ship (Millie), 6$ pp for the 3 stops in Vietnam. Now I'm reading conflicting info -- still issued on ship v. only through the Vietnamese embassy. The staff at the Vietnamese embassy in Tel Aviv are absolutely clueless. There's also the language and accent barrier. Anyone had a (landing card) / visa issued on ship recently? Thanks,

[hubofhockey]

It should be consistent with what Azamara does, which is to provide visas for its passengers at cost.  However, if your citizenship is Israeli, it might be different.  If you have dual US citizenship (and a US passport), you should be fine.  You should check with Celebrity. 

[CruzR887]

All visas are issued by the host country. Vietnam works with cruise ships to issue their visas on board. I’m sailing to Vietnam in Dec and just received a Celebrity email about getting the required visa on the Millie. X will collect passports and return them with visa stamp applied.

[dani negreanu]

42 minutes ago, hubofhockey said:

You should check with Celebrity. 

 

Thanks, I've only Israeli citizenship, and last December was issued a landing card on Millie, together with US passport holders from our roll call. It's just that it's been reported that this is not longer the procedure. Appreciate the reply.

 

40 minutes ago, CruzR887 said:

All visas are issued by the host country. Vietnam works with cruise ships to issue their visas on board. I’m sailing to Vietnam in Dec and just received a Celebrity email about getting the required visa on the Millie. X will collect passports and return them with visa stamp applied.

 

Many thanks, that's what I was hoping to read. Appreciate the reply.

 

[evestrauss]

Here's the content of the letter I received for my December Millennium cruise:

ABOUT YOUR UPCOMING TRAVELS

Dear Guest,   We look forward to welcoming you aboard the Celebrity Millennium® for your 14-Night Southeast Asia Holiday sailing departing from Hong Kong on December 07th, 2019.  Before you embark on this exciting journey, we would like to share some important information.   Each country on your sailing will have unique immigration requirements. Please be sure to contact the embassy or consular visa services of your choice for specific visa requirements, information, forms, and fees as these differ by nationality.  It is the responsibility of each guest to identify and obtain all required travel documents for the entire cruise vacation.  Please note that guests who do not provide the proper documentation at check-in may be denied boarding.       For your convenience, we will collect all guest passports after departure immigration clearance in Hong Kong, in order to complete the immigration formalities on your behalf in each port of call. Your passport will be held in a safe location at Guest Relations on board and will be returned to you when all procedures are complete.   Again, we look forward to welcoming you aboard Celebrity Millennium® for a truly incredible vacation. See you soon.   Sincerely, Celebrity Cruises   It looks to me like you have to apply for your visa before you board the ship. Hopefully, it is an easy process 🙂

[dani negreanu]

58 minutes ago, evestrauss said:

It looks to me like you have to apply for your visa before you board the ship.

 

Wow, I really appreciate this information, thank you so much. It is indeed totally different to what we were led to believe, since in December 2018 we had our visa issued on board, along with 180 other Israelis.

Bummer....

[G.M.T.]

I am always wary about asking visa information, there are so many viabables that the helpful CC posters don't know anout,

 

Nationalities involves

Type of journey, cruise, land, air

Visa costs

Visa stamps in passport from other countries

Agreement til 30.06.2021a visa is not required for upto 15 days travel for German, French, Italian, British & Spanish passport holders (plus a few more)

 

Vietnam recently reduced the Visa (actually Landing Card) back to US $5 - Celebrity rounds it up to $6. The $28 visa charge is for overnight excursions, i.e. Hanoi from Halong Bay.

 

Don't worry be cruising.🙊🙉🍻

[evestrauss]

3 minutes ago, G.M.T. said:

I am always wary about asking visa information, there are so many viabables that the helpful CC posters don't know anout,

 

Nationalities involves

Type of journey, cruise, land, air

Visa costs

Visa stamps in passport from other countries

Agreement til 30.06.2021a visa is not required for upto 15 days travel for German, French, Italian, British & Spanish passport holders (plus a few more)

 

Vietnam recently reduced the Visa (actually Landing Card) back to US $5 - Celebrity rounds it up to $6. The $28 visa charge is for overnight excursions, i.e. Hanoi from Halong Bay.

 

Don't worry be cruising.🙊🙉🍻

I agree. That's why I thought sharing the actual email sent to me for the cruise in question would be helpful. Did you think that was overstepping? The tone of your response sort of indicates that, but maybe I'm just being sensitive 🙂

[dani negreanu]

12 minutes ago, G.M.T. said:

I am always wary about asking visa information, there are so many viabables that the helpful CC posters don't know anout,

 

Well, I, for example, am not at all wary about asking visa and any other information on this forum.

As I've mentioned above, the staff at the Vietnamese embassy [when they bother to answer the phone...] in Tel Aviv are absolutely clueless. I think that they don't even know the "concept of a cruise ship". They told me that "if you're not sleeping on Vietnamese 'soil' [in a hotel], you don't need a visa...".

I've found on this forum a wealth of information, and many many people who take the time to help others. Fact -- the letter displayed above put an end to my quest for information...

[cookiersmom]

Also, make sure your visa is for multiple entries if your cruise has multiple stops in Vietnam.   There is a kind that is for multiple days, like 15 or something, but one entry, and another for multiple entries.

[G.M.T.]

20 minutes ago, evestrauss said:

I agree. That's why I thought sharing the actual email sent to me for the cruise in question would be helpful. Did you think that was overstepping? The tone of your response sort of indicates that, but maybe I'm just being sensitive 🙂

If I was going to have a go at you, I would have "quoted" your message.

 

No to tone, cruising is fun, didn't you see the two glass beer emoji - one each.🍻

[Redtravel]

I understand your dilemma.  I visited Vietnam on Millenium. Shortly after final payment, Celebrity sent us a stern letter stating that if we did not have a Vietnamese visa, we would be denied boarding in Hong Kong. Panic!   Went crazy trying to get more info. It turned out that we did not need the visa at embarkation. We were issued the necessary visa, as detailed in an above posting, on the ship. Cost was minimal.  We loved Vietnam.  We took ship tours and had a fabulous time. 

[hubofhockey]

Israel now has good relations with Vietnam and most of Asia, so hopefully, this shouldn't be too much of a hassle. As an Israeli passport holder, you need to be extra careful when it comes to cruises.  It's too bad the embassy in Tel Aviv couldn't help much.  That's why I suggested contacting Celebrity.  I know you could not even go on a cruise that goes to Malaysia.  You need to be extra careful.  

[dani negreanu]

2 hours ago, hubofhockey said:

I know you could not even go on a cruise that goes to Malaysia.  You need to be extra careful.  

 

Careful is my middle name😁... Malaysia, Indonesia, Turkey, most of the Arab countries... the list is long....

[thephillykid]

11 hours ago, dani negreanu said:

 

Careful is my middle name😁... Malaysia, Indonesia, Turkey, most of the Arab countries... the list is long....

 

Dani,

Happy New Year.

I have gotten so much different information about this upcoming cruise. I don't know who to believe any more.

It's crazy, the TA tells me one thing, the cruise line something else and the embassy a third thing.

Have an easy fast.

Howard

 

[dani negreanu]

15 hours ago, thephillykid said:

 

Dani,

Happy New Year.

Have an easy fast.

Howard

 

 

Toda Raba, Howard.

A very happy New Year to you and your family too, and Gmar Hatima Tova.