Chinese Passport required VISA to cruise?

[Andy P.]

I have a family member as US resident and holds a Chinese passport and we are planning to go to cruise with Royal Caribbean to Roatan, Honduras and Puerto Costa Maya/Cozumel, Mexico.  Does anyone have Chinese passport know he needs a VISA to cruise?  

If he needs it and without one, can he still board the cruise ship and stay there without leaving the port?

 

I searched online for more than an hour, I can seem to find information for sure.  I got some answer tell me NO, some tell me he needs it, and some tell me cruise passages does not required for VISA with Chinese passport!!  If anyone even can guild me to some official site, I will greatly happy to take that too.

Edited January 6, 2023 by Andy P.

[1025cruise]

The only part I can answer is that if he needs a VISA and doesn't have one, he's not getting on the ship.

 

I assume the family member has a valid green card? 

[Ine]

You will need to check with the embassies of the countries you will visit or check with your cruiseline. In case a visa is needed the person will not be allowed to board the ship. 

[Ferry_Watcher]

Is your family member a Permanent US Resident (Green Card holder)?  If so, I would lead with that as their travel ID, as a Green Card will trump a foreign passport (generally speaking) for closed loop cruises.  It is great that you are doing your due diligence now.

 

My 'wheelhouse' is Alaska cruises. If your family member was cruising to Alaska on just a Chinese passport, he/she would need a Canadian visa (because of the port-of-call in Victoria, BC).  If your family member is a US Permanent US Resident (Green Card holder), no Canadian visa would be needed, and the check-in agent would be using the Green Card as the travel ID.

 

[Andy P.]

I’ll definitely check the embassy on Monday after when they open.  My family member does have a green card and after I gathered some information from ya, it seem like he can use the greens card and his Chinese passport to get to Honduras and Mexico.  When I do some research in the internet, it looks like Mexico isn’t an issue for Chinese passport holder for cruise passengers.  Honduras is the one I get mixed message.

 

Last question, does the cruise line allow you on board when you don’t have the proper visa and decide not to leave the ship?

[Andy P.]

18 hours ago, 1025cruise said:

The only part I can answer is that if he needs a VISA and doesn't have one, he's not getting on the ship.

 

I assume the family member has a valid green card? 

Yes, he does 

[njhorseman]

1 hour ago, Andy P. said:

I’ll definitely check the embassy on Monday after when they open.  My family member does have a green card and after I gathered some information from ya, it seem like he can use the greens card and his Chinese passport to get to Honduras and Mexico.  When I do some research in the internet, it looks like Mexico isn’t an issue for Chinese passport holder for cruise passengers.  Honduras is the one I get mixed message.

 

Last question, does the cruise line allow you on board when you don’t have the proper visa and decide not to leave the ship?

You won't be allowed to board the ship if you don't have the proper visa.

[1025cruise]

Whether or not you get off the ship, you are still entering the country so you need to have the proper paperwork. If a VISA is required and your relative doesn't happy, they'll be able to get a picture of you waving to them, from the pier.

[Ferry_Watcher]

10 hours ago, njhorseman said:

You won't be allowed to board the ship if you don't have the proper visa.

 

This is true - without the required visa, it would be a full-stop denial.

 

 

[Ferry_Watcher]

Assuming that your family member can travel on this particular cruise, please make sure he hands both his Green Card and passport to the check-in agent.  It just makes checking that much easier.  Also, when returning back to the US, the CBP Officers will only care about the Green Card.

[David - Florida]

So, cruise ships will not let you board if you don't have necessary visas, but they won't share that information with you in advance.  Disgusting!  My wife is a Chinese Citizen and a long time US Permanent Resident.  We have cruised the Caribbean  and Mediterranean.  We would happily cruise to more places more often if Visa requirements were more transparent, simplified or waived for cruise ship passengers.  The cruise industry could ease this situation if they took a unified information approach - it would only take one or two employees to track the information and share it on a web site available to all prospective passengers.  Their currently policy of putting the onus on potential passengers to research independently is selfish and undoubtedly costing them in the long run.

[mom says]

1 hour ago, David - Florida said:

So, cruise ships will not let you board if you don't have necessary visas, but they won't share that information with you in advance.  Disgusting!  My wife is a Chinese Citizen and a long time US Permanent Resident.  We have cruised the Caribbean  and Mediterranean.  We would happily cruise to more places more often if Visa requirements were more transparent, simplified or waived for cruise ship passengers.  The cruise industry could ease this situation if they took a unified information approach - it would only take one or two employees to track the information and share it on a web site available to all prospective passengers.  Their currently policy of putting the onus on potential passengers to research independently is selfish and undoubtedly costing them in the long run.

Stop and think past your own selfish wants. There are hundreds of countries in this world, and cruisers come from most of them. Each country has their own specific requirements for travel to other countries. And those requirements can, and do, change on a dime, with little or no warning.

 

These requirements come from the federal governments of individual countries, and the cruise lines have absolutely no say in them. Nor are the cruise lines a sufficiently important entity to hold sway over entire governments. The entire issue is too large and complex for "one or 2 employees" to track this volume of information. Millions of people cruise each year.

 

Thoroughly read the websites of any cruise line, and their T&Cs, and you will find language to the effect that it is up to the cruiser to determine and obtain all of the necessary travel documents. That requirement is not hidden. And should be self evident, although expecting a degree of personal responsibility may be asking too much from some people.

 

However that information is readily available for most cruisers by going to the website specific to their passport ( for example travel.state.gov if you hold a US passport).

Edited February 12 by mom says

[chengkp75]

1 hour ago, David - Florida said:

So, cruise ships will not let you board if you don't have necessary visas, but they won't share that information with you in advance.  Disgusting!

So, airlines won't let you board if you don't have necessary visas, but they too won't share that information with you in advance.  Disgusting!

[Ferry_Watcher]

@David - Florida, at least the good news for your wife with the US Permanent Resident status is that she just needs her Green Card for any of the closed loop cruises.

 

It would be interesting to know if she (Chinese national, but US Permanent Resident) would need visas for traveling to different countries that you, her American spouse would not be required to have.  I wonder if US Permanent Residents are given the same entry privileges that US citizens have.

[chengkp75]

7 minutes ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

at least the good news for your wife with the US Permanent Resident status is that she just needs her Green Card for any of the closed loop cruises.

While the Green Card is acceptable for re-entry into the US from any closed loop cruise, your statement is not quite correct, as many nations do not grant visa rights to US Green Card holders, as they would to US citizens.  There are only 38 countries world-wide that are visa free for US Green Card holders, and for closed loop cruising out of the US, that is only 3 of 7 Central American, and only 11 of 23 Caribbean countries.  Whether or not the countries that are not "visa free" for US Green Card holders will require a visa depends on the Green Card holder's passport.

[leaveitallbehind]

3 hours ago, David - Florida said:

So, cruise ships will not let you board if you don't have necessary visas, but they won't share that information with you in advance.  Disgusting!  My wife is a Chinese Citizen and a long time US Permanent Resident.  We have cruised the Caribbean  and Mediterranean.  We would happily cruise to more places more often if Visa requirements were more transparent, simplified or waived for cruise ship passengers.  The cruise industry could ease this situation if they took a unified information approach - it would only take one or two employees to track the information and share it on a web site available to all prospective passengers.  Their currently policy of putting the onus on potential passengers to research independently is selfish and undoubtedly costing them in the long run.

The cruise lines can't share information they don't have. Nor can they simply waive other country's policies.  And as pointed out by others, the hundreds of countries with individual policies would be difficult, at best, to track.  Your not very well thought out 1-2 cruise line employee solution would likely fall well short of success.  But as it is your idea, why don't you run with it and create the website and put together an organization to provide this information - you could likely be the next mega dot com success!

 

You also indicate that you and your wife have cruised the Caribbean and the Mediterranean, which include numerous countries with visa policies. With the disgusting lack of support you suggest by the cruise lines, how have you managed that? 

 

The cruise industry is also currently at a very high pace of bookings, soon likely to exceed pre-pandemic levels.  Their terms and conditions regarding visa policies have been in effect for decades.  I don't foresee this costing them anything near term, long term, or ever.

 

When I cruise I recognize it is my responsibility to have the correct documentation for my intended region of travel.  If I have difficulty in understanding those requirements, as sales agents for the cruise lines, I would contact a travel agent to see if they could assist.  Their experience and expertise with global travel would likely have them in a position to help.

Edited February 12 by leaveitallbehind

[john watson]

On 2/12/2024 at 3:58 PM, David - Florida said:

So, cruise ships will not let you board if you don't have necessary visas, but they won't share that information with you in advance.  Disgusting!  My wife is a Chinese Citizen and a long time US Permanent Resident.  We have cruised the Caribbean  and Mediterranean.  We would happily cruise to more places more often if Visa requirements were more transparent, simplified or waived for cruise ship passengers.  

 

I think the problem is that cruise lines do not want to take responsibility in this matter in case they make an error.  There are hundreds of countries in the world from which people may have a passport. The second problem is that cruises stop at a large number of different ports many of which are independent of a major country. The regulations change without notice at individual countries. Obtaining visas for a series of different countries is a nightmare if you have to visit in person several embassies.  I know someone who did this and once boarded they retained her passport so officials entering the ship could look at the document in person.  This happened to me on UK passport and all Americans on US passports when visiting People's Republic of China, Taiwan and Japan.  We were given photocopies for some ports.

 

Regards John

Edited February 16 by john watson

[donaldsc]

On 2/12/2024 at 7:58 AM, David - Florida said:

So, cruise ships will not let you board if you don't have necessary visas, but they won't share that information with you in advance.  Disgusting!  My wife is a Chinese Citizen and a long time US Permanent Resident.  We have cruised the Caribbean  and Mediterranean.  We would happily cruise to more places more often if Visa requirements were more transparent, simplified or waived for cruise ship passengers.  The cruise industry could ease this situation if they took a unified information approach - it would only take one or two employees to track the information and share it on a web site available to all prospective passengers.  Their currently policy of putting the onus on potential passengers to research independently is selfish and undoubtedly costing them in the long run.

 

Let's assume that the lines do their best and try to keep an up-to-date files of all possible combinations and permutations of the visa requirements. Lets ignore the calculation of how many possibilities that might be.  Let's also assume that they will occasionally make a mistake or overlook some strange issue that might occur.  When that happens the person who is not allowed to board will scream and yell that they were denied boarding by the cruise line and post their trouble to every cruise related WEB site.  They might even try to sue the cruise line.

 

That is probably the reason that they will not do what you wish.  Think about it.

 

DON

[broberts]

On 2/12/2024 at 10:58 AM, David - Florida said:

...  The cruise industry could ease this situation if they took a unified information approach - it would only take one or two employees to track the information and share it on a web site available to all prospective passengers.  Their currently policy of putting the onus on potential passengers to research independently is selfish and undoubtedly costing them in the long run.

 

I don't think you have fully thought out the situation. You are suggesting that one or two employees would be sufficient for determining the travel documentation requirements of hundreds of thousands each week. Passengers from a multitude of countries with an assortment of residency & citizenship status.

 

What is truly selfish is the belief that an individual is not responsible for their own documentation requirements.