Can anyone please explain to me how it works when HAL obtains Visas for passengers at ports?

[fussylady]

Im booked on the Noordam with stops in Vietnam and Cambodia that require VisaS.  I’ve been told that HAL will obtain a Visa for all passengers who need one at the port and charge your onboard account any fees.  
 

US Passport. 
 

I’m wondering if I should take care of it on my own ahead of time.  If there’s paperwork to be done at the port I don’t want to miss my shore excursion.
 

So how does it work if you get the visa onboard?
 

1.Do I have to stand on a line at the port for a Visa…possibly missing my shore excursion?  

 

2. Or do I give my passport to HAL at the port and they just give it back to me when it’s done?

 

3.  Do I need extra passport photos?

 

4.  Is it cheaper to get it done by HAL on the ship than by the VISA service HAL recommended in an email.  The charges of that visa service recommended by HAL are extremely high.  It would end up costing me about $600 for 2 visas for myself and my husband.   But I don’t want to miss my shore excursions.

 

Thank you for any information you can give me.

 

 

[durangoscots]

I have let HAL obtain visas for the ports where that service is offered. No standing in line and in most cases they already have your passport (depends on location). I would rather pay extra and not have to worry about filling out forms.

 

Susan

[fussylady]

Durangoscots….Thanks so much for your helpful reply.

[WriterOnDeck]

On the world cruises HAL gets a lot of the visas. The ship typically holds our passports (which lets them process country entry behind the scenes before we arrive). If the country requires a face-to-face process or for you to carry it ashore, HAL gives you back your passport. It's pretty painless. Having faced obstacles getting some visas (Brazll recently for example), I think it generally is worth letting HAL handle the process. Exceptions are NZ, Australia, Sri Lanka and India, which were easy online.

[Ottawa traveller]

Last fall, I was on the Westerdam and I let them get the visas for Vietnam and Indonesia. One cost $56 and theother $60. I can't tell from my statement which was which. They have a good system for keeping your passport and letting you have it back when needed. It is usually done on boarding or on a sea day so no interruption to your shore plans.

[asebastian]

53 minutes ago, Ottawa traveller said:

I was on the Westerdam

We were on the Westerdam cruise as well, 56 days across Asia. Most of us in my tour group had applied for Vietnam and Indonesian visas online ($25) and the rest just paid the ship to apply for the visas, cost them double. It was an easy process online, clear instructions in our roll call. Whatever suits you I guess.

[fussylady]

Thanks so much to everyone for all the thoughtful responses.

[Snets]

Another visa question. If getting them on board, do they take your pictures on the ship?

thanks

Pam

[durangoscots]

15 minutes ago, Snets said:

Another visa question. If getting them on board, do they take your pictures on the ship?

thanks

Pam

No. Either not needed or they use your passport.

[Torquer]

We have a cruise booked for Asia in 2025, where several countries require visas.  How do I know if this is a cruise where HAL will obtain the visas for us, or if we have to do it ourselves?  The cruise is more than a year away, so maybe they will send us this information, but I haven't seen anything under "My Bookings" about it so far.  If HAL will do this, does that means they will do it for all countries that require a visa, or could it be a mix?

 

Last year we went to Australia and New Zealand, and we had to acquire visas ourselves; at least as far as I know HAL did not provide them.

[Ottawa traveller]

"We have a cruise booked for Asia in 2025, where several countries require visas.  How do I know if this is a cruise where HAL will obtain the visas for us,"

 A couple of months before you go, HAL will send an email with a link to CiBT visa service. There is a lot of information on the site. Here is a link to the page showing for which countries HAL can get visas as of today. You have to keep checking as these requirements can change.

HAL Travelers (cibtvisas.com)

[Will_Dieterich]

The prices for the cibtvisas are terrible.  I checked for Australia and can get it for the USA passport for around US$14 from the Australian government app.  That site wants US$140

Edited August 16 by Will_Dieterich

[Torquer]

14 hours ago, Ottawa traveller said:

A couple of months before you go, HAL will send an email with a link to CiBT visa service. There is a lot of information on the site. Here is a link to the page showing for which countries HAL can get visas as of today. You have to keep checking as these requirements can change.

HAL Travelers (cibtvisas.com)

Thanks, but I went to that website and it just seems to be an independent visa service company.  As I understood from what others were saying, HAL was getting the visas for cruisers while they were on the ship.  I could find nothing specific to Holland America on this website...if I just missed it, can you point out what to click on. 

[fussylady]

I asked the original question on this thread.
 

I was turned off by the exorbitant fees being charged by the cibt visa website sent to me in an email by HAL.  Since then, several people have reassured me that with my US Passport I’ll be able to get visas for Vietnam and Cambodia onboard at a much lower cost.  
 

I always carry extra passport photos just in case of emergency but someone advised me that you can also use the photo that is taken of you when you first board the ship.

 

I have no personal experience with any of this but I’m going to hope and pray this information is correct because that’s what I plan to do.

 

Happy travels.

 

[Ottawa traveller]

" I could find nothing specific to Holland America on this website...if I just missed it, can you point out what to click on. " 

The page I referred you to answers the question you asked about the countries where Holland America Line can obtain your on arrival visas and/or where visa exemptions are available for HAL passengers. How HAL gets those visas I don't know except that I relied on this page on my Asian cruise to know that I could depend upon HAL. Fortunatley for me money wasn't an issue and it was $60 and $56 for my two visas.

[fussylady]

There is a helpful discussion of visas and purchasing foreign currency if you go to a thread:  “28 Day Oct 27 - Nov 24, 2024 Tokyo to Singapore, Noordam”.  There are 27 pages to this thread but specifically on p. 27 of 27.