wyandotte

Word has it that the Captain has to.d cruisers currently on ship that we will NOT be stopping in Busan on April 20.

Any OFFICIALS info on that from HAL yet?

Thanks,

Wyandotte

Just back from a wonderful "Adriatic Explorer" cruise on Prinsendam, but a horrible experience with an independent excursion. I will never, never again book one of these unless the seller specifically states a "pick-up & drop-off" at the cruise pier. My excursion was in Venice, did get a vague description of the directions to the tour meeting place, however there was absolutely no way I was able to make it there by the time they left. I disembarked the ship about 5 minutes after the door was opened, at 0800 and tried to follow the directions. My meeting time was 9:40, had to purchase vaporetta ticket, wait & wait for it, get to St. Mark's square, and walk through many non-marked streets/alleys. I asked for directions with no help, had to back-track several times. I arrived 3 minutes after the stated meeting time, but they had left without me. 2 of the gondola "guys" tried phoning the number on my confirmation letter, no answer. Lesson learned..........

Hello,

D. Lopez mentioned that you might be interested in joining our Busan tour next spring while there in Korea. There are about 16 of us currently signed on with Novaland Tour. It is a about a seven-hour tour, ship to ship, includes lunch and returns to the ship around 3 p.m. Price is $78/pp which includes a 3% fee by paying through PayPal as Novaland prefers. If you're interested, you can get back to me and I will send particulars of itinerary, payment, cancellation policy, etc.

Make it a good evening,

Wyandotte

My interpretation is on HAL cruise, Apr, 2018: Avoid the ?'S and worry. Doing HAL tours both days in Shanghai rather than purchasing visa as will not be returning to China.

As usual, held captive by cruise company for tours. I'll be doing different tours in rest of Japan, though.

Wyandotte

Thank you again, Hoyaheel and Ann and TravelMoreNMore, I was confused about the 'C'country since in our case it A and C are both Japan:(. Just had to get that straight in my head.

Thanks, but since ship'sfinal destination is Canada, does that count as third country for 144-hrtransit permit?

Thank you. We begin in Yokohama, are in Okinawa prior to Shanghai, continuing in Japanese ports after Shanghai. Cruise final destination is Vancouver, B.C. (Third country?). Yes, it does seem like a ploy by HAL to recruit shore excursion participants.

Maybe get a new one now.

U.S. has the 52 page version for the frequent traveler.

At about $100 or so.

We at one time had pages added to our passport. It was still valid for several years and it was either no-cost or cheap to have the added pages; more so than buying a new passport when our existing ones didn't expire for a while.

This is absolutely crazy. Why do I have a feeling HAL will not honor an 'advanced entry visa-free permit'? THey keep saying we need to either go on THEIR (expensive) shore excursion or have an "L" visa - - expensive as well. HELP?? We are on 4/11/2018 cruise with two-day stop in Shanghai - - 144 hour visa-free permit?