karioncruising
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Posts posted by karioncruising
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Wow, that is nerve wracking and thanks for letting us know that this can happen when booking a guarantee cabin. I guess you will have to check in and get your cabin assignment before leaving your large luggage with the porters. Not ideal. I hope you get a good cabin.
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Customer relations at Princess does a good job of calling their customers if there is a complaint but they sure don't go above and beyond to remedy the situation. I received another phone call after I informed customerrelations@princesscruises.com that passengers on the Coral Princess were charged $30 USD for the visa. She said there is no way to find out how much they were charged. All she has to do is phone the accounting dept or someone on the Coral Princess to find this information.
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9 hours ago, Hazegreyunderway said:
Ahoy,
We are sailing on the Grand Dec 3 for the Mexico cruise. Puerto Vallarta, Manzanillo, Mazatlan and Cabo.
Does anyone know some spots in port that have free WiFi so we can check email?
Thanks in advance.
I believe the Liverpool mall across the street from the cruiseship dock in PV has free wifi and there is a Starbucks there too.
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On 10/16/2018 at 12:34 PM, mishfromva said:
Wow! Thank you for your correction! I’ve been bamboozled! Looked like a legitimate page! Thank you for the clarity.
Curious if I’m better off obtaining a visa at the embassy (I’m 10 miles from DC) or just paying the $56 from Princess? Thank you again for correcting my mistake.
The current fee for the loose leaf visa is $5 USD per person. Obtaining a visa from the embassy for overland multiple visits will cost more than the $56 charged by Princess.
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15 hours ago, trbarton said:
There are several threads for the visa to Vietnam while on a Princess Cruise.
My purpose of this thread is to hear from anyone who has visited Vietnam recently on a Princess Cruise & received their visa through the ship & what you were charged.
If you had recently received the Vietnam Visa on board please post what you were charged.
People are saying Princess is charging a $56 charge on board.
Thsnks for your reply.
Tom😀
Hi Tom, I am curious. Did you post a new thread and an admin put it under this Sapphire Princess thread? The same thing happened to me, but mine was called Princess cruises Vietnam visa rip off. I heard that passengers on the Coral Princess were charged $30 or $34 USD per person. It may have been a 60 day cruise starting in LA so they may have had more Americans on board. Perhaps, it has an effect on the fees.
Kari
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22 hours ago, nask said:
I think this is outrageous to have to pay $112 for the two of us verses $10 if would be allowed to get off the ship to get the visas. I don't understand why they have to up the charges so much especially if other cruise lines don't!!!!
Hi Nask,
especially since we have to pay twice if we want to get off the ship the second time around. Princess rep said they have to have a processing fee. A $50 processing fee for 1000 plus passengers. Or maybe there is only 500 of us who have to pay since there will be more passengers that have the visa exemption.
See you on board
Kari
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16 hours ago, harfield said:
That's true but it doesn't hurt to voice your opinion and if enough people did then maybe Princess wouldn't charge so much. Its called the Might Of The Media.
I have sent an email the Princess outlining my concerns.
As a platinum member and booked on the 18 Feb 2019 cruise I am both disappointed and annoyed that Princess Cruises are going to rip off their passengers for a visa when we arrive in Vietnam $56 pp. This is total obscene considering Vietnam only charges $5 pp for cruise companies ship passengers. Also other cruise ships only charge $5 pp.
After being and loyal Princess Cruiser (and our possible next booking Panama Canal we will be Elite) I am now starting to think other cruise lines maybe the way to go.
Come on Princess be honest with your customers and then we will continue to support you in the future.
Looking forward to your loyal support with this issue.
Thanks so much Harfield,
there is strength in numbers.
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On 11/25/2018 at 10:39 AM, djefferis said:
Looking at a 5 day to Alaska in September 2019...looks like Princess only offers this a couple of times a year...curious as to what to expect, both weather wise and passenger mix.
Only other cruise offering for the 5 day is offered is in May, and have heard your taking chances with a rainy cruise in May. Any warmer (comparatively) in September?
Also curious on what the passenger mix might look like on this shorter cruise. I understand what Princess draws overall - and this being a cruise sailing North it’s likely to reflect more of the same....but hopefully a little better mix than our last sailing on the Regal (Canada/New England).
We have done Princess 3 times now - California coastal and the most recent Can/NE...first 2 were ok..but the most recent really had us questioning coming back to Princess. Significantly older passenger base and felt like the ship collectively went to their cabins at 8:30 nightly...entertainment was a yawn and the food in MDR was just not good (service wasn’t much better). Now we plan on doing the paid meals and skipping MDR in the evenings - and we don’t hold high expectations for the shows - but hoping for a little more lively nighttime’s in the lounges.
Hopefully the smaller ship and short cruise will be more to what we have came to expect and enjoy about cruising. We looked at X - but nothing less than 7 days and the price is more than Princess.
Sounds like the passenger mix is important to you. Alaska and the Canada/NE will generally draw a more older crowd. Don't expect a lively crowd out on the deck like on a Carnival Caribbean cruise.
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On 10/21/2018 at 10:39 PM, Expat Cruise said:
Have been on two Princess Cruises this year with port stops in Vietnam, both times July & October Princess charged me US Passport $30.00 for visa. My wife presented her Philippines Passport and the visa fee was zero. I have heard these numbers quoted 56.00 by never know anyone charged this amount in USD. In AUD dollars yes the fee is higher and charged at AU$56.00 but never talked to a passenger charged* US$56.00 for the visa.
*Charged means added to your ship account and paid..... I know Princess says US $56.00 but what they say and do seem to be two different things.
Thanks for this info. I hope we are only charged $30 on the Diamond Princess.
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On 11/25/2018 at 4:54 AM, ccrain said:
Wow! What a great cruise! I have a question. Were you charged about $34 for the Vietnam visa?
Thanks so much!
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I was also really surprised that there were not many people on the roll call for Asia. But, I guess there are less North American passengers. On a roll call for NCL South America, there were so many members, I could not keep up to the traffic.
Kari
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4 hours ago, nask said:
I think this is outrageous to have to pay $112 for the two of us verses $10 if would be allowed to get off the ship to get the visas. I don't understand why they have to up the charges so much especially if other cruise lines don't!!!!
Not only $112 ..it will end up being double that for the two non consecutive visits on the 22 day cruise. That will be $200 more than what Princess will have to pay to the Vietnam authorities. I doubt that they will let us get our own visas when we arrive in Nha Trang.
Kari
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Sorry if you have read this before, but it seems that cruise critic has moved my previous post to be under the heading of Sapphire Princess Vietnam visa. I just want to bring this to everyone's attention.
Be aware that Princess cruise lines may still be overcharging their passengers and charging $56 USD for the Vietnam loose leaf visa. The Vietnamese government is currently charging $5USD as a group rate to cruise ship passengers. This could change of course, but I have written to Celebrity and they have been charging $6 USD per person for quite awhile. Numerous posts also state that RCL charges $6 USD.
Please write customerrelations@princesscruises.com to request a decrease in the fees to be more in line with their competitors.
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20 hours ago, karioncruising said:
Be aware that Princess cruise lines is still ripping off their passengers and charging $56 USD for the Vietnam loose leaf visa. The Vietnamese government is currently charging $5USD as a group rate to cruise ship passengers. This could change of course, but I have written to Celebrity and they have been charging $6 USD per person for quite awhile. Numerous posts also state that RCL charges $6 USD. Please write customerrelations@princesscruises.com to complain about this outrageous overcharge.
On top of all this, did you know you have to pay the $56 twice if you visit Vietnam twice unconsecutively.
Kari
Sorry for quoting myself but it seems that cruise critic has moved my comments under the Sapphire Princess thread. Do you think it is due to the fact that I put Princess Vietnam Visa rip off in the heading.?
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5 hours ago, Quartzsite Cruiser said:
We were in Vietnam the end of October on the Coral. Princess charged our account $32 or $34/pp for the landing card for the three ports we visited. We had been told it would be $56/pp, so we were pleasantly surprised.
Thanks so much for this information. It will be interesting to see what the Diamond Princess charges. Especially, since we are doing multiple entry.
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If anyone is on a current cruise in Vietnam, let us know how much Princess is charging.
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On 10/22/2018 at 1:25 PM, Bill B said:
I live in Vietnam; and can tell you the only thing constant about visas is change... all is flux.
Anything you read about visas for past cruises is anecdotal - it may or may not apply by this December. The links above in mishfromva's and LBSKY's posts, stating a cruise ship pax visa is $5, is to an article published on Jan. 14, 2015.
While I cannot speak for Princess, I think what they do is set a price - $56 - based on a worst case scenario (HAL is currently quoting $63) so as to not have pax ending up with 'visa shock'. The lines quite literally don't know what it's going to cost by the time the ship gets there... and neither do the Vietnamese.
It is quite likely the charge will end up being much less than what they are quoting. This has been my experience on past cruises and is backed up by Expat Cruise's experience.
In the past, unless one needs a visa for pre or post-cruise travel, the easiest and least expensive way to obtain a visa/landing clearance is to let the cruise line handle it.... of course, this is anecdotal.
Thanks for this info. I have friends living in Vietnam and yes the overland 30 day visa does change in price, but has the loose leaf visa for cruise ship passengers changed. There are many old posts dating back to 2015 on cruise critic from Celebrity and RCL passengers that state they paid $6. I haven't found one from a Princess passenger. Princess could state that we will be charged between $20 to $56 depending on the going rate for the visa at the time.
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2 hours ago, terry&mike said:
I'm going to file this under things not worth worrying about. My documents from Princess for my January, 2020 cruise state the charge will be $56 per person for the Vietnam visa, that is the amount I am prepared to pay. If it is less, then it's lagniappe. Whether the Vietnam visa is charged at $5, $30, or $56, it is a nominal amount in the overall vacation cost which will most likely exceed $15,000.
I certainly don't mind paying $56 if that is what it costs,.but when their competitors are charging the going rate plus $1 for processing then I will not sit back and say nothing. Especially, since we will have to pay this fee twice per person for stopping in Vietnam two times at non consecutive times. I just want to let everyone know that this is happening.
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20 minutes ago, LBSKI said:
That's not true. They say $56 but usually charge less. We have had confirmation that someone on a recent Princess cruise that he was charged $30. For that amount it certainly is easier to let Princess do it. That is less than charged on those 'cheapy' sites.
I hope you are right. Then Princess should stop telling us $56. Everyone on the phone and email say $56.
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On 11/23/2018 at 12:12 PM, v3cruiser said:
Hello,
Noticed on a different website you were scheduled to dock in Guatemala nov 24th.
Just curious if you were able to stop in Guatemala? We are scheduled to visit there on December 8th. Was just curious if you were able to port and explore? We are looking to go the Antigua with the volcano erupting a bit, just curious on how things are going!
My daughter in law just got back from Guatemala? No issues that I know of.
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On 10/23/2018 at 10:46 AM, Cruise Raider said:
We experienced this on our last sailing, although were assigned to anytime dining per our request. The anytime dining lines were crazy because some of those that had their traditional times changed without notice showed up in the anytime dining lines. Very disappointed in Princess for doing this!
It is going to be crazy. I tried to get the Princess rep to change us to ATD and she said I have to get my TA to do this. I told her that I wanted to switch because our table for six would only have four people seated or possibly only two seated every night because 5 pm would be too early on most Port days. And, they claim this was due to popular demand.
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2 minutes ago, leck57 said:
Interesting, and I see you have commented on the other thread. That other thread also refers to the "supposed" Vietnam Govt advice and quotes a Government person who had left office some time earlier.
On face value it is concerning IF other lines are charging $5 and Princess $56, so I'll be interested in later comments and also the response you get back from Princess. I have Feb cruise that has a one day stop in Vietnam and I am interested in this matter.
Hello again,
I emailed Celebrity and they told me $6.
Princess has so far refused to budge. Although, one rep said she wants proof that Celebrity charges $6. I forwarded the email from Celebrity to her.
You should start emailing Princess. They actually phoned me about this and told me it would be $56.
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That is for the visa on arrival which can only be picked up at ariports. I am not sure about the authenticity of the vendors. The Vietnam embassy in Canada charges $140 for a 30 day multiple entry visa which I would only get if I was staying in Vietnam.
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17 minutes ago, TheRabbit said:
Not sure if you are going to China on your trip, but the Visa for China was $140 and you had to go to the consulate and wait twice. Once for turning in your passport and application (yes, they take and hold your passport for 3 to 4 days for processing) and another time for picking it up. You can avoid the wait by paying $100 extra each ($240 total) to an agency that will do the foot work for you. Makes the $34 look like a bargain!
But, we all know that China has a visa requirement and it is good for ten years. Vietnam has a visa requirement as well. All I am asking is for Princess to be fair.
Visa for Vietnam and/or Cambodia
in Norwegian Cruise Line
Posted
Just letting you know that Celebrity charges $6 USD for the Vietnam loose leaf visa and Princess charged $31 USD in December for the same visa. It was changed from $56 at the last minute. I would complain to NCL if I were you.
Kari