Saudi Arabia Visa

[Gk9]

2 hours ago, HSBC said:

My most concern:  denied boarding Silversea cruise ship due to no Visa.  I don't mind just skip a port.

Thanks!

We asked that question via our travel agent and had in writing that you were able to stay on the ship without a visa.

Infact as mentioned, the visa wasn't granted until we had already sailed from Mumbai.

I would advise you do the same and get Silversea to confirm for peace of mind.

[HSBC]

2 hours ago, Gk9 said:

We asked that question via our travel agent and had in writing that you were able to stay on the ship without a visa.

Infact as mentioned, the visa wasn't granted until we had already sailed from Mumbai.

I would advise you do the same and get Silversea to confirm for peace of mind.

Gk9,

Thanks for providing the useful info.

[Daveywavey70]

But if you stay on the ship you mightn't ever get to experience the excitement of the public executions or ever get the chance to wear a burqa on a bus. The roar of the crowds as heads and hands roll into buckets. There are many "not to miss" highlights of the KSA.

[HSBC]

3 hours ago, Daveywavey70 said:

But if you stay on the ship you mightn't ever get to experience the excitement of the public executions or ever get the chance to wear a burqa on a bus. The roar of the crowds as heads and hands roll into buckets. There are many "not to miss" highlights of the KSA.

Of course I would like to join the shore excursion to visit the port if it's easy to apply the online Saudi Arabia visa.

[jollyjones]

7 hours ago, HSBC said:

Of course I would like to join the shore excursion to visit the port if it's easy to apply the online Saudi Arabia visa.

 

I fear you are not getting DW's point.

Why would anyone want to patronise a country suffering under the rule of a savage and repressive regime?

DW's gay, I'm a woman, we're both considered to be less than human there.

 

[bitob]

When I cruise I leave my politics at the door 

The list of places I could not visit would keep me home

[HSBC]

I don't expect people to talk about Politics here.

Please focus on Travel.

[Tothesunset]

9 hours ago, HSBC said:

I don't expect people to talk about Politics here.

Please focus on Travel.

This is focusing on travel. In fact the very point is about travelling to somewhere that certain people would be potentially open to criminal proceedings were they to visit the place. There are plenty of posts about the attractions or otherwise of many destinations, how visitors support the economy, provide jobs and so forth. Equally political. 

 

If you can seperate travel from politics, enjoy your visits to N Korea, Russia etc. 

[Daveywavey70]

14 minutes ago, Tothesunset said:

This is focusing on travel. In fact the very point is about travelling to somewhere that certain people would be potentially open to criminal proceedings were they to visit the place. There are plenty of posts about the attractions or otherwise of many destinations, how visitors support the economy, provide jobs and so forth. Equally political. 

 

If you can seperate travel from politics, enjoy your visits to N Korea, Russia etc. 

Well said TTS. It speaks volumes about the type of person that thinks the matter should be laughed at. 

[cashmeremypuppydog]

Hello all,

I promised I would update this discussion. Here it is:

Yesterday, we just boarded SilverSea Spirit. As we were in line to check in at noon, my husband received his 'Transit by Sea' e-visa. I did not. When ask for our Saudi Arabia visa, we both showed our photocopy of our applications. This was accepted and kept by SS. Then, we boarded.

 

Last night, we received this letter (see attachment) in our suite. I am not worried at all as the worst case scenario would be hubby going on a shore excursion and me staying on the ship when we are docked in Damman, Saudi Arabia.

[Nowvoyager8]

Hi, we checked in yesterday too. I applied for our tourist visas in September. Mine arrived within 3 days, hubby's is still stuck in the system. The lady at check-in next to us was in exactly the same position - she had applied ages ago, paid her money & received nothing since! Silversea took copies of my hubby's application form and have said that they'll try to get it sorted. We've spoken to other couples who could not get the single entry or transit visa on the MOFA.gov.sa website & were not prepared to pay the £130+ for the tourist visa. I emailed "MOFA customer care" (what a misnomer!!) 3 times and got the same response - "keep checking the status of your application". Tried to ring the Saudi embassy in London twice but they never answered the phone and emailed them but never received a reply! I don't understand why the Saudi government have spent millions on an advertising campaign to encourage visitors to go and then make it so difficult to get there!

It would be interesting to know how many passengers on this cruise have had the same difficulties.

[cashmeremypuppydog]

Thank you for your post. I was not prepared to pay 💰 such a high price for a visa for 7-hour tour. It is not only the cost but the principle. I am confident SS will make everyone happy by communicating with Saudi immigration if someone does not get their e-visa. I will post in a few days…

[cashmeremypuppydog]

We boarded Nov 16. Hubby received his Saudi Arabia e-visa on Nov 16 and I received mine on Nov 17. We will visit Saudi Arabia on Nov 20. I am a happy girl! I did not order the regular visa but the ‘Transit by Sea’ which cost us about US$25 each including insurance. Go for it people instead than buying the regular visa at US$150.

 

[david63]

45 minutes ago, cashmeremypuppydog said:

which cost us about US$25 each including insurance

Forgive me for asking but why do you need insurance on a visa?

[cashmeremypuppydog]

3 hours ago, david63 said:

Forgive me for asking but why do you need insurance on a visa?

This is mandatory per Saudi Arabia. If you get sick while in SA, you have medical insurance. You have no choice.

[david63]

43 minutes ago, cashmeremypuppydog said:

This is mandatory per Saudi Arabia. If you get sick while in SA, you have medical insurance. You have no choice.

But don't you have travel insurance anyway?

[cashmeremypuppydog]

1 hour ago, david63 said:

But don't you have travel insurance anyway?

Yes but you don’t have a choice. You have to take SA insurance…

[Critically Cruising]

2 hours ago, cashmeremypuppydog said:

Yes but you don’t have a choice. You have to take SA insurance…

 

Interesting.  When I applied directly with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for a transit visa, there was no provision or mention of any kind of insurance.  Only a US$10.50 fee.

 

Could this be because you indicated residence/citizenship in Canada?

 

 

[Gk9]

3 hours ago, Critically Cruising said:

 

Interesting.  When I applied directly with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for a transit visa, there was no provision or mention of any kind of insurance.  Only a US$10.50 fee.

 

Could this be because you indicated residence/citizenship in Canada?

 

 

We are from Australia and also had to purchase mandatory insurance.We just went for the cheapest option.

[CardowMD]

The Saudi website says you can apply for transit visa w/ insurance but didn’t show that price. Had prices for evisa and Visa on Arrival option. 
 

The Saudi Aramco actually has a joint venture with John Hopkins Hospital -Baltimore with facilities in Saudi, but the kingdom has open new large state of the art healhcare facilities in the lazy 10 years. (I have provided furniture and medical equipment). Maybe they are concerned people will show up as visitor and “suddenly” need this healthcare?

[Gk9]

19 minutes ago, CardowMD said:

The Saudi website says you can apply for transit visa w/ insurance but didn’t show that price. Had prices for evisa and Visa on Arrival option. 
 

The Saudi Aramco actually has a joint venture with John Hopkins Hospital -Baltimore with facilities in Saudi, but the kingdom has open new large state of the art healhcare facilities in the lazy 10 years. (I have provided furniture and medical equipment). Maybe they are concerned people will show up as visitor and “suddenly” need this healthcare?

Quite possibly.On our application it just had a fairly long list of Insurance options and we just selected the first which from memory was about $10 ( us).We had our own travel insurance as most would.

The application might well be different now.

We applied in March this year through the Mofa website.

 

[cashmeremypuppydog]

The goal of this discussion is to show cruisers you do not have to buy the expensive regular visa but together transit via. I am 54 and I paid around US$25 including the cheapest option of medical insurance. Hubby is 75 and he paid US$30. 
 

I had called my cruise line SilverSea and they were no help AT ALL. They wanted me to buy the regular visa. They never mentioned the transit visa as it is creating a lot of work for the employees at the guest services desk. Why? Because you receive you visa once you are onboard. They have to print a copy for you and one for them,… so everything is done last minute. 

 

The point is not to be afraid of the ‘Transit by Sea’ e-visa!

[difranco]

I quite agree, there should be no fear of the maritime e-visa as you still have the perfect safety net. If the visa fails to materialise after embarkation or before arrival in Saudi, you just remain on the ship with the majority of the non-visa passengers. It really is that simple, although Silversea are making a meal of it regarding communication of the fact. However, the Saudi authorities need to get a grip of their immigration process if they want to rival the UAE as the tourism destination of choice over the next 10 years. I don’t  think any of us currently on the Silver Spirit will be claiming asylum on this visit.

[Gk9]

1 hour ago, cashmeremypuppydog said:

The goal of this discussion is to show cruisers you do not have to buy the expensive regular visa but together transit via. I am 54 and I paid around US$25 including the cheapest option of medical insurance. Hubby is 75 and he paid US$30. 
 

I had called my cruise line SilverSea and they were no help AT ALL. They wanted me to buy the regular visa. They never mentioned the transit visa as it is creating a lot of work for the employees at the guest services desk. Why? Because you receive you visa once you are onboard. They have to print a copy for you and one for them,… so everything is done last minute. 

 

The point is not to be afraid of the ‘Transit by Sea’ e-visa!

Thank you very much for posting this.Your experience was similar to ours.Hopefully it will help others .I also found out that MSC cruises have a step by step guide to obtaining the transit visa.A complete contrast to Silversea! You find it on their home page at the bottom. Click on "travel info" then  " before you go ". There you will find is a section on visas and one specifically for Saudi.

I wish we had seen this before our application.

 

 

Edited November 18, 2023 by Gk9
Typo

[cashmeremypuppydog]

3 hours ago, Gk9 said:

Thank you very much for posting this.Your experience was similar to ours.Hopefully it will help others .I also found out that MSC cruises have a step by step guide to obtaining the transit visa.A complete contrast to Silversea! You find it on their home page at the bottom. Click on "travel info" then  " before you go ". There you will find is a section on visas and one specifically for Saudi.

I wish we had seen this before our application.

 

 

This is what I followed (MSC step by step) when I requested our visa! Plus, I took the time to call SS and then email my concern (see email below). No one bothered responding! I was quite disappointed with their lack of care for such a beautiful cruise line.

 

“Sept 1

To whom it may concern,
I would like to introduce myself before I explain my problem with SilverSea. I am a 53 years old well- travelled female and have discovered over 90 countries. I have sailed mostly on HAL, Princess and Celibrity. I am a retired police officer who worked only 20 years in Saskatchewan, Canada. My husband is 75 years old and a retired police officer with 31 years of service. All that to say we are VERY BLESSED to be able to sail our first SilverSea cruise on Nov 16 (9 nights) from Dubai. 
This upcoming trip: We are flying on Oct 16 to Dubai and will then fly to Sri Lanka and then Nepal to finally fly back to Dubai on Nov 14 and will embark on our first SilverSea cruise on Nov 16.
I always plan our trips perfectly which means many hours of research. We will need e-Visa for India, Nepal and Saudi Arabia. I find valuable information on cruisecritic.com
I found out that since Jan 2, 2022, it is possible to obtain an eVisa through Saudi Arabia MOFA (Ministry of Foreign Affair): visa.mofa.gov.sa for under US$30.
I contacted SS about 2 weeks ago to ask them why they were directing us to a Saudi Arabia website who did not offer the “maritime e-Visa” but only the regular e-Visa over US$100. I was informed that someone would look into the matter.
About 1 hour later, I received a generic email from SS showing the same info I had received when I booked my SS cruise. Obviously, no one had look into the matter.
I was sad as MSC cruise line shows on their website how to obtain the maritime e-Visa.
Because I am thrifty (we travel 4 months every year), I decided to apply for our eVisa on MOFA website (Aug 26, 2023). Everything went smooth expect the downloading of the photo and from what I read, it is as difficult on the regular eVisa website (resolution need to be 200x200....). But I succeeded. My cost: US$26.52 and hubby US$30.00. It is due to the difference of age as you need to select a mandatory
Travel insurance. Both cost: $10.50 for the application of the visa, another $10.50 for the application of the insurance and Chantal $5.52 for the insurance and Dennis $9 for the insurance.
I am taking time out of my life to contact you as I really feel your customer service on this matter was a 1/10. Not bothering checking into this issue about eVisa is not acceptable. Many of the upcoming cruise will stop in Saudi Arabia... I had pride in doing my job perfectly when I was a police officer and as I have a passion for travelling, it is why I guess I am taking some of my precious time on earth to contact you for a second.
Your agent Jorge Lay that helped me on Sept 1, was 10/10. This is a quality worker and I hope you know that.
I do hope hubby and I will be able to experience SS many more times after the Nov 16. Actually, I am keeping my eyes open for Silver Nova for Feb 2024. We will be cruise HAL Jan 7-29 Santiago to Buenos Aires and will be flying to Iguazu Falls. I have already organized a few tours on CruiseCritic... We purchased a one-way ticket to Santiago. I am hoping your cruises on Silver Nova will become Interline. Time will tell!
Sept 1, 2023
  
 Thank you for listening.”