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Do uk cruisers need Vietnam visa


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I am trying to find out definitively if we need a visa for Vietnam. We are sailing RCI Voyager and are stopping at 3 different ports in Vietnam. From what I can gather reading on trip advisor and gov websites is that we don't but I have asked RCI and they have put me in touch with http://www.visacentral.co.uk/royalcaribbean who say we 'may'!!! Not really happy with this response tbh so can anyone on here advise?

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You should contact the Vietnam embassy or consulate closest to you to check. UK govt says no, for certain visits.

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/vietnam/entry-requirements

 

 

http://vietnamembassy.org.uk/index.php?action=p&ct=Consular%20Services%20for%20UK%20residents

 

When I complete the questionnaire from the RCI visa company URL you post, it says I need a visa. (I use your data - UK citizen, multiple entries into Vietnam) Assume that's the issue - 3 ports = multiple entry?

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I know that Vietnam has relaxed its visa requirements for Brits - an arrangement which they plan to extend in the future to Americans etc.

IE - we Brits are the guinea pigs.

Sorry, can't comment on the specifics - for instance whether you need a visa for three Vietnamese ports in succession.

 

But you won't need to fix a visa in advance - for port-of-call visits the ship will arrange for all passengers a visa that is good for all Vietnamese ports, and charge the cost to your on-board account. The cost does seem to wobble considerably from cruise line to cruise line and even from month to month - I've heard figures ranging from about $8 to $50 per person for a visa covering all Vietnamese ports.

If you don't need one you will save a few dollars, if you do then a ship-issued visa is not too painful on your wallet.

A ship-issued visa doesn't limit you to taking ship-sponsored tours.

 

Cruise line head offices are notoriously short on knowledge of visa requirements (OK, they deal with hundreds of ports and hundreds of nationalities), but I've always found that ships' pursers know their stuff.

 

Ships also arrange inexpensive port-of-call visas on-board for Cambodia if your cruise includes Sihanoukville.

Again, nothing you need do in advance.

 

To emphasise - those ship-issued visas aren't regular tourist visas, they're only good for disembarking / re-boarding the ship.

 

JB :)

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Personal anecdote, not data: I am American, we had one port in Vietnam (overnight in HCMC) and Azamara charged us $6 usd for the Visa.

 

(Fyi the link that OP posted is not RCI head office but the visa agency they use, so presumably/hopefully more aware of actual requirements than the cruise company....)

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Thanks for all the replies. I emailed RCI and got a number to call which is their Visa specialist. As we will not be leaving Vietnamese waters between the 3 ports of call then we will not need a visa.

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Thanks for all the replies. I emailed RCI and got a number to call which is their Visa specialist. As we will not be leaving Vietnamese waters between the 3 ports of call then we will not need a visa.

 

Best you let the purser's office know when you board.

They'll be fixing up ship-issued visas for all - if they know their stuff, and if they take the trouble to sift out Brits, you'll not be charged. And that's so much easier than querying the cost after it's gone on your on-board account.

 

Had a similar issue with a cruise which ended in Istanbul. Visas are required for those flying in or out (not required if just mid-cruise Turkish ports-of-call). We already had valid visas from a previous trip but unbeknown to us the ship block-booked visas for everyone - we only found out when we saw it on our final on-board account statement.

Small sum, and it was refunded - but would have been avoided if we'd told them earlier in the cruise.

 

JB :)

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We sailed to Vietnam - 2 ports - on Celebrity last December. We are dutch, we needed a visa for Vietnam , but our cruiseline organised this. I donot remember the cost.

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  • 4 weeks later...
I am trying to find out definitively if we need a visa for Vietnam. We are sailing RCI Voyager and are stopping at 3 different ports in Vietnam. From what I can gather reading on trip advisor and gov websites is that we don't but I have asked RCI and they have put me in touch with www.visacentral.co.uk/royalcaribbean who say we 'may'!!! Not really happy with this response tbh so can anyone on here advise?

 

I have emailed the Vietnamese embassy in London with this question and they have been rather unhelpful. I gave them our three-stop itinerary and dates for the country (o/night in Halong, 1 x stop in Hue and 1 x stop in Ho Chi Minh) and their reply was:

 

If you travel on a cruise, you need to check with cruise organiser how many times you should go through entry/exit passport controls, in order to determine the trip is single entry of multiple entries.'

I await Celebrity's reply with baited breath.

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You should contact the Vietnam embassy or consulate closest to you to check. UK govt says no, for certain visits.

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/vietnam/entry-requirements

 

 

http://vietnamembassy.org.uk/index.php?action=p&ct=Consular%20Services%20for%20UK%20residents

 

When I complete the questionnaire from the RCI visa company URL you post, it says I need a visa. (I use your data - UK citizen, multiple entries into Vietnam) Assume that's the issue - 3 ports = multiple entry?

 

 

Yes, I got the same then I clicked the 'Ocean Cruise Passenger' information box which says, may not need them as you are considered in transit.

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Yes, I got the same then I clicked the 'Ocean Cruise Passenger' information box which says, may not need them as you are considered in transit.
I believe that as you may not leave Vietnamese territorial waters it would be considered single entry. And gov.uk have details that the requirements for UK passport holders to be exempt from needing visa has been extended until end June 2018.

 

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

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  • 2 weeks later...
If you do not join the ship's excursions but use a independent third party tour company for Vietnam. Will the ship's visa be ok? Thanks so much

 

 

Yes, no worries. :cool:

 

The ship-issued visa is only good for port-of-call visits, but it's not dependent on taking ship's tours.

So you can fix up an independent tour or do your own thing.

 

JB :)

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Yes, no worries. :cool:

 

The ship-issued visa is only good for port-of-call visits, but it's not dependent on taking ship's tours.

So you can fix up an independent tour or do your own thing.

 

JB :)

I believe the ship issued Vietnam visa ($6.00 onboard RCI) doesn't cover if you are staying over night on your own.

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Is it all nationalities have to pay $6?

Yes.....Even those that had been talked into obtaining the visa pre-cruise by their TA's...were very upset that the ship did this easily and cheap ($6.00pp) automatically onboard for everyone and were now going to have to try to get their money back once back to their home country...We heard this by many when we were onboard Mariner for our Asia cruise.

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