porrah

I called the Turkish consulate who connected me with the visa department. The definitive answer is that I need a visa for the privilege of flying back from Istanbul. If we were leaving again on the ship, no problem. Much as I'm ticked off about having to fork out another$120 for that, I don't think its a time to play games and try to "get away with it", as was suggested! By the way, the reason that Canadians pay $60 is because that is what we charge them. Good old Canadian government.

Thanks to all for your responses. End of story.

Currently, you do not need a visa if you are stopping in Turkey for less than 72 hours during a cruise. But this visa waiver seems to apply only if you arrive and leave by cruise ship. Since the OP's cruise ends in Istanbul, the people at the airport will expect them to have a visa when they try to fly out of Istanbul. Unfortunately it is $60 per person for Canadians… :(

 

OP, when is your cruise? The visa procedures are supposedly changing in April 2014 and you will no longer be able to obtain a "sticker" visa upon arrival and you will have to pay for an e-visa in advance. If you're cruising before that, you should be able to buy a sticker at the port. But definitely find out if Viking is already arranging this for you, or if they offer it as an extra service.

 

See also the following threads (Google is still working ;)):

Visa - Disembarking in Istanbul

Visas for Turkey

On Line Visas for Istanbul/Turkey

Visas for Turkey

My cruise is not until next year. I heard from my TA about the change in April. He seemed to think I would need a Visa. I called Viking. The lady kept putting me on hold and came back with a number for me to call which wouldn't work from Canada. Then I looked up that place and e mailed them. They wrote right back saying the only people who could tell me for sure were the airline I would be flying. Today's job - call the Turkish embassy in Toronto.

I have read the other threads, called the cruise line etc and get differing answers.

Scenario: we are taking a Viking cruise which ends in Istanbul after overnighting there. In the morning, we go to the airport with Viking's transfer, using air booked through them. Visa or not? We are Canadian, so it would cost an extra $120 dollars (60 each).

Our cruise will end in Istanbul after an overnight there. We will then be going to the airport to fly home to Canada. Do we need a visa?

I totally didn't think about laundry, germs etc. thank you for the alert and for getting my brain in gear! We do have a plastic container/tray which goes with us on trips. I was just thinking of being economical with luggage as we are there for two weeks.

Thanks again.

We were on the NA a couple of years ago and discovered that the stool under the desk had a tray. The lid came off and you flipped it over. Does anyone know if the Eurodam has this? I'm wondering whether I need to pack a tray.

We disembarked on Friday Dec 20th at pier 18. (Equinox). Our flight was at 12.55 but I said on the form it was at 11.55. We were given a disembark time of 8.15. Got off the ship at 8.25, picked up luggage, lined up for about 40 minutes, no line up for taxis, arrived at the airport just before 9.30. I could have booked an earlier flight but didn't dare risk it. If you are not self disembarking, tell them your flight is earlier than it is and try to get in the first group off.

Think that is more of a UK thing. I have never bought body wash, we like our bar soap:) I know DH for sure would never use body wash lol.

We were on the Equinox in August. They do not give out body wash except in suites. I asked our steward, he told me he would have to check with his supervisor, and soon thereafter, four bottles appeared in the cabin. So, ask!

We just returned from our first Celebrity cruise. (Mediterranean, Equinox) I know the crew work hard etc etc, but I must admit to being a little disappointed that on our 12 day cruise we didnt get any creations. On other lines, we have always looked forward to seeing what would be in our cabin and it got to be a game between us and the cabin steward. Is this the norm for Celebrity? Maybe towel animals are beneath them? Or did we just have a lousy steward?

I just found a reference to a James Cox cruise director on the Celebrity boards. is this person a different CD or did JC jump ship from HAL to Celebrity? just curious - does anyone know?

We will be on the Equinox in a few weeks and I am finalizing our plans. In Livorno we want to get the bus to the station to go to Pisa. from what I have read you are not allowed to walk out of the port and have to take Celebrity's shuttle at whatever price they choose. So basically, that means you have to pay Celebrity to be able to leave the ship(unless of course you are doing one of their excursions). I find this hard to believe. Can anybody tell me the situation please?

We flew with KLM Toronto to Amsterdam in March. I was persuaded to pay the extra $50 each for choice of flights. Even though we had been assigned seats, we were shocked when we arrived for the return flight to discover that we were on standby and got the usual story of overbooking. We did get on the flight but had a couple of hours of stress which we did not need. We are doing a 2015 Star and the airfare is a fantastic price.

Jane and Marilyn in Gentlemen prefer blondes.

Wonderful!! We are cruising Vision in January and were looking at going back to HAL next - wine policy being one of the reasons. We usually take a box (or2), a box being 3 litres. So, is that not allowed? Probably not, but I can't see us in the naughty room measuring and pouring out the other 2 litres!

Hi Trainman/ You made reference to your cabin which is right at the centrum. They have music until midnight. Our cabin on our upcoming cruise is deck 7, four cabins down from the library. Do you near the music from your cabin? (I go to bed early and hate noise). Also, if you happen to be in the shops can you check out the price of a litre of vodka for me? Thanks.

Trainman where are you -

I'm having withdrawal symptoms!

Trainman,

I'm sure you know that you are generating an immense amount of interest in the Vision. We sail on her in January for the first time and our first return to RCC in about 6 years. I log on 3 or 4 times a day looking for your updates. I hope RCC is giving you free computer time (yeah, right). They should be for the amount of publicity they are getting!

Anyone know what the delay is? I've been stuck at this computer screen for hours - well a couple anyway. Live poster showed muster photo and and dashed away for sailing - that was at 5 p.m. I think.

Cat among the pigeons - what if the airline loses your luggage? It happened to me a year ago. For some reason DH and I had not mix and matched and I had no clothes for a week. The case was sitting in Toronto the whole time. Now I am wearing running shoes, have my flip flops and another pair of canvas shoes in my carry on and have a pair of black dress shoes in each suitcase.