Visa info needed

[Retired in Whitby]

:confused: When we took an Oceania cruise and stopped in Turkey, we were given passes for the day so we didn't need to get a visa. We're going from Rome to Singapore in November/December and don't know if the same thing will be done for Egypt, India, Dubai, Oman, Thailand and Malaysia (our ports of call). We've tried contacting some of the embassies but can't get a straight answer! Has anyone ever taken this cruise and can you please tell us what to expect. Many thanks!!!

[Sharicruz]

:confused: When we took an Oceania cruise and stopped in Turkey, we were given passes for the day so we didn't need to get a visa. We're going from Rome to Singapore in November/December and don't know if the same thing will be done for Egypt, India, Dubai, Oman, Thailand and Malaysia (our ports of call). We've tried contacting some of the embassies but can't get a straight answer! Has anyone ever taken this cruise and can you please tell us what to expect. Many thanks!!!

 

 

Your travel agent should be able to answer your questions regarding the visa requirements. Visa's are needed for India and Egypt.

 

Shari

*****

CCC MEMBER

[Rickey 88]

Shari is quite right - and always is!

We took the Istanbul to Singapore cruise in Nov. 2006 - and visas were required for Turkey (no big deal - buy them at the airport), India and Egypt. India was especially tight on their visas, as government officials boarded in Dubai, and spent the next three days inspecting passports on our way to Mumbai. (Pretty good deal for them, three days at sea and great food!)

I now hear two different stories about Egypt - one is that visas are required and must be arranged in advance. Second version is that the ship will arrange a group visa for all passengers. We had arranged ours direct with the Egyptian consulate in San Francisco and had no problem at all.

Get your TA is get you the correct information regarding your specific cruise.....

[cathi]

From a fellow Canuck - you will need Indian visas before you leave. Pretty easy to do just find the closest embassy -just go online and google Indian embassy in whatever city. The visa is only good for 6 months so make sure you don't do it too soon.

Thailand, Oman, Malayasia, Singapore -either don't need visa or it is avaiable on arrival.

Egypt - it is available on arrival for $15 US BUT Oceania will charge you $50 is you don't have one in your passport before you leave! I had problems contacting the Egyptian embassy since the only one I could find was in Ottawa and they never return calls or emails!! So left it. Several days before we arrived got a letter saying we would be charged the $50. Was not pleased and talked to front desk but they said they use an agent and that is what they get charged! So to save yourself some pain get one before you leave!

Also, Oceania will get all your visas for you for a price. I found it considerably cheaper to do it myself! Most applications can be downloaded, then if you are lucky enough to be near a major city you can take it to the embassy. Doesn't take long.

Enjoy your cruise!!

[spindrift]

Why not just ask Oceania--it's their cruise, isn't it? Simple and easy. Please don't tell me they can't answer that question. You don't need an agent to ask that question--just your cruise line.

[Sharicruz]

Why not just ask Oceania--it's their cruise, isn't it? Simple and easy. Please don't tell me they can't answer that question. You don't need an agent to ask that question--just your cruise line.

 

 

Why wouldn't you ask the agent that is taking care of you? It is the agent's job to be there for their clients, and answer any questions they may have.

 

Shari

*****

CCC MEMBER

[Cruiser John]

Hi Retired My wife and I took this cruise last year. You'll love it. Re visas After a lot of double talk from O and the embassies I eventually learned that in fact you will need visas before boarding Nautica for both India and Egypt. If I remember correctly. the Egyptian visas are issued from their consulate in Montreal (find the address on their web-site) and the Indian visas are issued from the Embassy in Ottawa. Make certain that your passports have sufficient blank pages for the attachment of these visas. We needed new passports just to get the required blank pages. I envy you this trip. It was our best so far. John

[Rickey 88]

John, while we in the U.S. have foreign embassies in most major cities, I have always used a professional visa service to "walk" our applications and passports through.

 

The service offered by Oceania and other lines is quite expensive, but if you would do a search, you can come up with a number of firms, both Canadian and American, who perform this service for less.

 

Yes, it does cost more than trying to "do it yourself", but the peace of mind is well worth it....

[Jancruz]

Hi Retired My wife and I took this cruise last year. You'll love it. Re visas After a lot of double talk from O and the embassies I eventually learned that in fact you will need visas before boarding Nautica for both India and Egypt. If I remember correctly. the Egyptian visas are issued from their consulate in Montreal (find the address on their web-site) and the Indian visas are issued from the Embassy in Ottawa. Make certain that your passports have sufficient blank pages for the attachment of these visas. We needed new passports just to get the required blank pages. I envy you this trip. It was our best so far. John

 

United States Passport Service adds these extra pages at no cost to you!

Jancruz1

[potterhill]

Canada used to but no more. If you need more pages, you have to get a new passport. Ours is only good for 5 years so they probably didn't get a lot of requests for extra pages.

 

Mo

[LHT28]

If you plan on travelling a lot in the next 5 years you can get the 48 page passport (for an extra fee)

 

http://www.voyage.gc.ca/main/before/passports-en.asp

They have a simplified renewal form if you already have passports & need to renew

http://www.pptc.gc.ca/cdn/ren.aspx?lang=eng

 

You can also check the country requirements at

http://www.voyage.gc.ca/dest/ctry/visa-en.asp

 

Lyn