HPfoodie

On 1/1/2024 at 9:50 AM, Fletcher said:

I am thinking of taking a Silversea cruise in Asia and wondering about the Chinese visa.  To be honest, I’m a bit confused. I read that people aged over 70 can apply online but the official Chinese visa service website makes no mention of this and says everyone must attend a visa centre in person so their fingerprints can be taken.  The application form looks as fiddly as India.

 

As China is a fairly common port of call (my cruise would call at Xiamen and Shanghai), I wonder if any UK citizens on here can tell me about their experience obtaining the visa.

 

I know Americans like to be helpful but this is just for UK readers.

 

Thank you.

On 1/1/2024 at 9:50 AM, Fletcher said:

I am thinking of taking a Silversea cruise in Asia and wondering about the Chinese visa.  To be honest, I’m a bit confused. I read that people aged over 70 can apply online but the official Chinese visa service website makes no mention of this and says everyone must attend a visa centre in person so their fingerprints can be taken.  The application form looks as fiddly as India.

 

As China is a fairly common port of call (my cruise would call at Xiamen and Shanghai), I wonder if any UK citizens on here can tell me about their experience obtaining the visa.

 

I know Americans like to be helpful but this is just for UK readers.

 

Thank you.

@Fletcher I can now report that we have our visas. We went to Edinburgh and it was apparent that my husband didn’t have to as they didn’t take his fingerprints. He’s 70 - and when the info said ‘over 70’ we weren’t too sure whether it meant 71. However, not sure if he’d have to have posted off his passport so in the end it was easier just to attend with me. We managed to do the train fares very reasonably. Just looking forward to the holiday now. 

10 minutes ago, Ellemdee said:

@HPfoodie Great!  Next hurdle is deciding what to pack. 

@Ellemdee yep … and how much! Concerned about excess baggage on internal flights and train. The temperatures differ so much on this holiday we’ll need a variety of clothing. 

@Ellemdeepassports with visas all done. ✔️ 

Was that a photo of your trivia team? If so, hi to Penny. 
And I know the 3 people left in Mumbai due to Visa problems (well, for 2 of them, the other stayed as it was her husband) managed to join in Cochin. Thank goodness for them. Very stressful I believe. 

8 minutes ago, Ellemdee said:

@HPfoodie That’s great 🙂

We arrive in Beijing on 6th March ….not long now 😃

@EllemdeeSo you’re arriving earlier than us. We leave here on the 7th arrive Beijing on the 8th. 

On 2/8/2024 at 5:44 PM, Ellemdee said:

@HPfoodie Yes all good, our visas are glued in so we’re all set 
Had to queue again though, but I didn’t need to attend this time.
You are given a receipt when you apply, which must be given back at pick up 

Make sure you have copies of passports, flight e-tickets and hotel stays for each of you and don’t forget to sign the form  ( I think on pages 2 & 6 from memory) You’ll have your photo and fingerprints taken at the desk when you’re called. 

 

 

Allowing myself to get excited now 😁

@Ellemdeejust been to Edinburgh. In and out in half an hour. Ready next Tuesday. 👍

1 hour ago, Ellemdee said:

@HPfoodie Yes all good, our visas are glued in so we’re all set 
Had to queue again though, but I didn’t need to attend this time.
You are given a receipt when you apply, which must be given back at pick up 

Make sure you have copies of passports, flight e-tickets and hotel stays for each of you and don’t forget to sign the form  ( I think on pages 2 & 6 from memory) You’ll have your photo and fingerprints taken at the desk when you’re called. 

 

 

Allowing myself to get excited now 😁

@EllemdeeThat's reassuring to know. And the fact we both don't have to back to collect.  Look forward  to meeting you at the hotel - think we're arriving into Beijing around 4.30pm on Air France. I'll let you know what happens after we've been to Edinburgh.

On 2/1/2024 at 3:13 PM, Ellemdee said:

@HPfoodie We went to the London office today with all our paperwork, or so we thought - We needed copies of our passports too, along with copies of flight e-tickets and hotel stays, so a phone call to Imagine Cruising to provide the info and on to Rymans to print and we were all set.

From getting our ticket (a bit like the deli counter), digital photos and fingerprints taken, to payment took about 2hrs 30

£130 each and we can pick up on Tues if all is well 🤞

@Ellemdeedid your pick up go to plan? Think we now have all the relevant paperwork, but have to wait a few days because it’s Chinese New Year (we’ve just come back from a break in the Canary Islands). 

53 minutes ago, Ellemdee said:

@HPfoodie We went to the London office today with all our paperwork, or so we thought - We needed copies of our passports too, along with copies of flight e-tickets and hotel stays, so a phone call to Imagine Cruising to provide the info and on to Rymans to print and we were all set.

From getting our ticket (a bit like the deli counter), digital photos and fingerprints taken, to payment took about 2hrs 30

£130 each and we can pick up on Tues if all is well 🤞

Thanks for that info. We will contact Imagine for the detailed info. Not too long now. 

18 hours ago, Ellemdee said:

@HPfoodie Fellow Brits here…..I suspect we are on the same cruise. We were hoping to get away with the Transit Visa Exemption but it seems not. Have you had your interview yet?  Would be interested to know how much it cost and how long it took - thanks 🙂

We had the experience of waiting in a long queue for Indian visas and a few people were turned away for not having right paperwork & wrong sized photographs!

Our cruise departs HK 14/3. We haven’t been for our visa yet as we need our passports in the next couple of weeks. Will let you know how it goes though. 

We are having 6 days in China pre cruise in March. We have comprehensively looked into this - there’s a 144 hour visa free transit which unfortunately we can’t use because we are visiting 2 provinces. So we have spent a good few hours - that included doing our photos - completing the on line application form. Which we now have to take to Edinburgh for our visa ‘interview’ and then go back a few days later to collect. We wish we hadn’t bothered with the China part and just gone straight to Hong Kong to be honest. Can do without the stress. 
However, if you are just visiting on a cruise I’m sure the requirements are different. 

1 minute ago, A Tucson Guy said:

re you saying that eating a burger or a pizza should be forbidden on a luxury cruise ship or am I reading your comment incorrectly????

No I’m absolutely not saying that. Just the comment about being by the pool on a sunbed (which is how I interpreted the original comment) and ordering it to be delivered to you there. I love pizza, and a burger. 😀

On 1/6/2024 at 8:43 PM, joutvs said:

Sharing is caring and as you mentioned speaking and making notes to management is a way of giving our points of views.  
 

I did spoke to the food and beverage manager about the lack of options in la terraza for lunches, the bad quality of burgers, the sadness of having cold items delivered in suite dinning. He told me nothing has changed made a few notes, apologized and left. 
 

For us the Nova was just another cruise. Silversea did nothing to deliver a luxury experience, despite the basic amenities of a luxurious suite. Name acknowledge was not there, Feeling a personalized experience at dinner was not there. Not a single night on Atlántide the servers introduced themself, explained the menu of recommended items. The service was rushed with slow delivery. 
 

One day I was by the pool and I asked for the possibility of ordering a pizza and have it deliver. The answer was “NO”. On our last crystal cruise just 2 weeks before the “Silver Nova”  this happened without questions, even the burgers were delivered to us. 
 

We put money and effort on this vacations because we like to experience quality over quantity. Silversea is loosing the line. 
 

 

 

 

I’m just catching up on this thread hence several comments. 
 

Can I just say, that if I’d seen people eating pizzas and burgers by the pool I would’ve been less than happy and assumed I was not on a luxury cruise. If people are doing that on Crystal, I’m glad we decided that it’s not a company we would book (we were booked and weeks away from a Crystal cruise when it went into liquidation). 
Obviously our views are very different. 

On 1/12/2024 at 5:36 AM, ronrick1943 said:

We just got off the Nova, loved the ship and the staff.  Just didn’t WOW me as a luxury line.

Am I missing something? What did you expect that was lacking as far as luxury is concerned? We found that everyone bent over backwards to ensure luxury. 

On 1/2/2024 at 6:53 PM, joutvs said:

Not a fruit expert but I’m in food and beverage industry. You can know when a fruit has been frozen and reused more than 2 times. Not that is bad just not fresh and the taste and texture is different. 

I too am in the food industry- have been all my working life. I have no idea about the mango on your cruise, but we sailed Nova for 16 nights Nov/Dec and this definitely was not the case. All the fruit was amazing quality. In fact, all the food in the restaurants was first class. 
It was only our second Silversea cruise and we’re unable to compare with the other equivalent cruise lines, but we are extremely happy with everything. I really don’t understand how much luxury people want/expect. We’re booked on 3 more Silversea cruises - and are really looking forward to sailing the Moon and the brand new Ray. 

11 hours ago, drron29 said:

China has a free 144 hour transit visa. It is available to citizens of Australia, UK and the USA as well as 56 other countries.

You don’t need to apply.So if you’re trip is 6 days or less you will be fine.

 

https://www.visaforchina.cn/CBR2_EN/generalinformation/faq/275556.shtml 

We've looked into this comprehensively. We are doing a pre land tour - not with Silversea, but joining Silver Moon in Hong Kong.  We have found out (we are UK citizens) that because our tour is visiting two provinces - Beijing and Xian - we cannot use the 144 hour transit visa. So we have spent a careful few hours completing the online form ready to take to the Edinburgh visa centre a month before we need it. Yes, you'll need all the info for the form, hotels, flights etc. but we are lucky to have those. Apparently it's taking about 4 days to process the visa, but it means we have to go to Edinburgh twice - well one of us has to go the second time. We would go now, except we need our passports for another pre arranged holiday soon.   We wish we'd not bothered with the China part, all very stressful. 

2 minutes ago, steamboats said:

It´s outdoors the Connoisseur´s Corner which is the port side of the Panorama Lounge outside area. I haven´t seen any other "designated outside areas" besides The Dusk Bar and the outdoor area of the Panorama Lounge/Connoisseur´s Corner.

 

Thank you. This confirms what I had already heard from someone who was on the inaugural pre cruise - who said there was a super efficient extraction system in the outdoor area of the Connoisseur's lounge. But thankfully not in the general Panorama outdoor area. 

6 hours ago, steamboats said:

Smoking is permitted on the port side of The Dusk Bar and the port side of the outside area of the Panorama Lounge. And of course in the Connoisseur´s Corner.

 

Are you certain about the Panorama lounge?  Officially I'm sure it is only Dusk Bar. The main reason I would be unhappy with Panorama is because there are cabin balconies immediately above - and we have on of those booked on the Ray. 

Just been looking at the Crystal website, which is pretty poor to be honest. And wondered what the difference is between an ‘attentive’ butler as opposed to a ‘junior’ butler. And still not all categories are eligible for butler service. I know we didn’t use our butler too much at all - but it was a luxury we enjoyed. 

Can I ask (on behalf of my sister in law who is doing this cruise in March)  - does the ship organise visas for Cambodia for all nationalities? They are UK citizens. Thank you

1 hour ago, Nuka said:

Not sure if link is current. If one clicks on the link for e-visa at the URL , UK as a nationality is not available as a selection.

We received a notification from the Government FCO. 

Relief for many https://www.india-visa-online.org/indian-e-visa-eligibility/british-citizens/

2 hours ago, ak1004 said:

 

Well, we are beyond the final payment now and within 60 days prior to sailing, so if we cancel now, we will lose 100% of the payment. Will SS take responsibility for their mistake and allow us to move the money to another booking? 

I doubt it. I’m just glad we looked into the visa situation before our payment was due. I really hope it works for you. It’s frustrating that 156 countries can apply for the E visa. But not U.K. and Canada. 

32 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

 

Yes, it's guest responsibility to obtain visas, but SS clearly failed to mention about Canadians and UK nationalities excluded from the e-visa program, so hopefully they won't hide behind T&Cs and will do something to help. Unless they just want to keep our money (it's a group of 12 guests that have this issue, not to mention other guests from Canada and the UK).

Yes I agree. we brought it up with our travel agent in the UK who thought it would be straightforward. Not so - loads of issues about unavailability of appointments leading to thousands of Indian holidays from the UK being cancelled. We took the decision to cancel ours before the payment was due (cruise in March '23) and have since booked a land based trip to Singapore and Malaysia. Monies already paid have been transferred to our next booking - which is NOT India. SS acknowledged it was incorrect information on the UK info page directing us to the E visa.

We’ve opted for shower only. Had that on Spirit and those we met on the cruise all wished they had chosen that option.