Gk9

https://www.amazetours.in/contact-us We did the whole day Mumbai tour including the Dharavi slum. They have good reviews on Trip Advisor if you would like to take a look. Very reasonably priced too.Once booked they send you a payment link via What's App. They told us in advance the name of the driver and licence number. There is a driver and a guide with you for the tour. The guides to the Dharavi slum do actually live there. Hope you enjoy India and your cruise. We did.

When we were in Mumbai in March last year we booked a tour of Mumbai with a company called Amaze Tours ( recommended). As we hadn't arranged transfers to the port we asked if they could do it.My sister also needed to get to the airport later in the day . They provided a car for us to get from the hotel to the port and my sister from the hotel to the airport . The charge was roughly 2,500 INR ( for both) and was paid in advance via a payment link. We tipped the driver on top . In contrast the Oberoi charged about $100 US for a one way pickup from the airport. The Oberoi car was super swish but still a huge difference in pricing. Amaze tours might be able to help although they don't advertise transfers per se.

Thank you very much for posting this.Your experience was similar to ours.Hopefully it will help others .I also found out that MSC cruises have a step by step guide to obtaining the transit visa.A complete contrast to Silversea! You find it on their home page at the bottom. Click on "travel info" then " before you go ". There you will find is a section on visas and one specifically for Saudi. I wish we had seen this before our application.

Quite possibly.On our application it just had a fairly long list of Insurance options and we just selected the first which from memory was about $10 ( us).We had our own travel insurance as most would. The application might well be different now. We applied in March this year through the Mofa website.

We are from Australia and also had to purchase mandatory insurance.We just went for the cheapest option.

Well hopefully it improves and you enjoy the rest of the trip.We are on the Muse in February, Melbourne to Auckland.

Really enjoying your musings Fletcher although I found your description of the large tattooed crowd at the pool downright scary ! A little troubled by yours and others comments on the food. I have done 5 Silversea cruises , the latest on the Spirit earlier this year and always found the food mainly very good.Maybe I'm not as discerning ? Hopefully there isn't a drift towards declining standards though.

No problem.I agree the application process is convoluted and definitely not for the faint hearted! I was told by reception on the ship that the transit visas are only issued after the Saudi authorities get to view the ship's manifest so if that's the case then it explains the delay.We were ambivalent about the Saudi port stop and was therefore relatively relaxed about it.From memory it was issued about 2 days before arrival in Jeddah.We definitely didn't have it on embarkation in Mumbai . The alternative if one wants certainly about disembarking is Saudi is the full tourist visa. We just weren't prepared to stump up with so much cash for the few hours we were there

I might be able to help with this.I obtained the transit visa for Saudi in April this year ( Silver Spirit).It's far cheaper than the tourist visa.I paid about $40 AUD including the mandatory insurance. Both are obtained through official Saudi websites.The transit visa is obtained via the ministry of foreign affairs.If you visit the MSC cruiseline website there is a step by step guide to the application.On the main page scroll to the bottom and select " before you go ".It's under " visas and travel documents". Ours wasn't issued until a few days before arriving in Jeddah.I believe the other more expensive tourist visa is issued almost right away but that's only recounting other people's experiences. We had in writing from Silversea that we would be able to board without a Saudi visa and we did. If the visa hadn't come through then we were prepared to stay onboard and drink non alcoholic cocktails ... Hope this helps and this info is still current.

We asked that question via our travel agent and had in writing that you were able to stay on the ship without a visa. Infact as mentioned, the visa wasn't granted until we had already sailed from Mumbai. I would advise you do the same and get Silversea to confirm for peace of mind.

From memory I think ours said the same.We applied a couple of weeks before the trip after several attempts and it was issued only a few days before arrival in Saudi. We had certainly already sailed from Mumbai Apparently they need to see the ship's manifest first which is why it's issued so late. It sounds like it's all ok . The tourist visa may well be more straightforward but we thought it was a ridiculous amount of money for the 48 hours we were in Saudi. If the visa hadn't come through then we were prepared to just stay on the ship.

Also, you click on visitors and then the selection is " visa application from Saudi Missions abroad". You create an account and is saves your progress.We revisited several times believe me !Gook luck.

I can confirm that I successfully obtained the Maritime visa when I visited Jeddah in April this year on Silver Spirit.It cost about $40 (AUD) including the mandatory insurance. It is valid for 4 days only so was perfect for the overnight stop in Saudi. The visa is issued by the department of foreign affairs https://www.mofa.gov.sa/ rather than the tourist website https://www.visitsaudi.com/en The web page is in Arabic but if you click on the menu there is the option to switch to English. The application was fiddly and a bit glitchy but we got there in the end. It was a significant saving over the full tourist visa. It was issued only a few days before arrival when the voyage from Mumbai was already underway. I believe they don't issue it straight away as they need to see the ship's manifest, or at least that what I was told by reception on the ship. If it hadn't come through we would have just been content to stay on the ship and sip non alcoholic cocktails. I hope this info. is still current.As I say it was only in April this year.

We also approached Silversea for advice about the Saudi maritime visa and they didn't know it existed. We successfully applied and visited Jeddah in April.this year The transit visa wasn't issued until the cruise was underway.We wre l told that it was because they required the ship's manifest first.

We did Mumbai to Athens on the Spirit in March this year There is such a thing as a maritime visa which is especially for cruise passengers and valid for 4 days, $29 US , including the mandatory insurance. The application is fiddly but we got there in the end.It was also issued just a few days before we arrived in Jeddah.

Yes, me too.

We did a cruise on Silvermoon starting in Iceland at the end of May this year. Initially we were told by Silversea that we would need to provide negative tests within 48 hours before departure but then it changed to within 72 hours which was much better for us as we were able to get our tests done in London before flying to Reykjavik.We had one night in a hotel there. We were also informed that no pier side testing would be offered. Silversea are leaving it quite late in the day with final instructions as the rules are ever changing and differ between different countries of embarkation. The best thing is to wait for the final email confirmation regarding Covid testing. From memory we only received this information about 2 weeks before the start of the cruise. Luggage labels were provided at the pier. Embarkation was very straightforward and pretty quick.We had to fill out a health questionnaire and then went to a desk staffed by nurses who checked our negative antigen test certificates on our phones provided by a pharmacy in London. You won’t need any local currency, cards are accepted everywhere. You’ll be grateful to get on board and have your first drink.Iceland isn’t cheap. Have fun.