SAUDI ARABIA CRUISES

[NWT Cruiser]

 

Fouremco; I'm hoping you can help with the following question.

 

Has anyone cruised to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia?  My daughter, her hubby and their two boys aged 8 and 11 will be docking in Jeddah and going directly to the airport to fly to Dubai.  When we look up any information on e-visas, transit visas or maritime visas, it looks like a visa is required.  We called MSC Cruiselines to see if a visa is necessary and they said it was up to us to apply for one (didn't quite answer the question we had).  The cost for any of the above visas is approx. $195 Cdn. each which, of course, for their family of four would be $800.  Don't want to apply for these if they are really not required. 

Any help on whether a visa is mandatory would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Frances (NWT Cruiser)

[Fouremco]

55 minutes ago, NWT Cruiser said:

 

Fouremco; I'm hoping you can help with the following question.

 

Has anyone cruised to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia?  My daughter, her hubby and their two boys aged 8 and 11 will be docking in Jeddah and going directly to the airport to fly to Dubai.  When we look up any information on e-visas, transit visas or maritime visas, it looks like a visa is required.  We called MSC Cruiselines to see if a visa is necessary and they said it was up to us to apply for one (didn't quite answer the question we had).  The cost for any of the above visas is approx. $195 Cdn. each which, of course, for their family of four would be $800.  Don't want to apply for these if they are really not required. 

Any help on whether a visa is mandatory would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Frances (NWT Cruiser)

Hi Frances. Unfortunately, I've no direct, personal experience, but having checked the Canadian and Saudi government websites, as well as MSC's, it certainly would appear that a tourist evisa is required.

 

There is one possible alternative that you might want to pursue with the Saudi embassy in Ottawa. There is a Saudi Transit Visa ($13 USD) that is available for people flying into Saudi Arabia who will be on a departing flight to another country within 12 hours, but they must remain in the airport. I'm not optimistic that the Saudi authorities would allow you to use this type of visa to transit directly from the cruise port to the airport, but it doesn't hurt to ask.

 

Here's some contact information for the embassy: https://embassies.info/EmbassyofSaudiArabiainOttawaCanada

 

Good luck!

[NWT Cruiser]

1 hour ago, Fouremco said:

Here's some contact information for the embassy: https://embassies.info/EmbassyofSaudiArabiainOttawaCanada

 

 

Thanks for this link.  I'll pass it on to my daughter.  It's just so crazy ... a family of 4 having to pay $800 just to go from the cruise port to the airport.  As they say, "it is what it is".

Hope that it changes before they get there.

Thanks, again.

Frances (NWT Cruiser)

[LHT28]

5 minutes ago, NWT Cruiser said:

 

Thanks for this link.  I'll pass it on to my daughter.  It's just so crazy ... a family of 4 having to pay $800 just to go from the cruise port to the airport.  As they say, "it is what it is".

Hope that it changes before they get there.

Thanks, again.

Frances (NWT Cruiser)

Sounds like  a lot for  the e visa

Hope they can find away to just transfer to the airport

[ShopperfiendTO]

Not sure if these links will help.

 

The price is not mentioned and these go by different names such as "e-Maritime Visa" for cruise tourists or "Nautical Transit eVisa" application.

 

The uncertain part is whether the new e-Maritime Visa for cruise tourists can also be used to leave/disembark the ship and go to the airport.  This is the excerpt from one of the websites below (and whether the part I underlined can include a visit to the airport to leave the country):

 

"Foreigners will not be able to stay in Saudi Arabia for an extended period with the cruise e-Visa. It is a transit visa allowing passengers to fly into the country and travel to the port, or for short visits when their cruise calls at a port in Saudi Arabia."

 

The official link to apply for a visa is here (Saudi Arabia Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA)): https://visa.mofa.gov.sa/Account/Loginindividuals

 

 

https://www.saudiarabiaonlinevisas.com/e-maritime-visa-cruise-tourists/

 

https://www.onlinevisa.com/news/saudi-arabia-launches-e-visa-service-for-cruise-tourists/

 

https://evisa.express/en/news/saudi-arabia-to-introduce-cruise-e-visa-service#Nautical-Transit-Visa-application