Far East Cruises 2019?

Unless there has been a very recent change in the criteria, my understanding is that an e-visa is not usually valid for cruise ship calls. Again, depending on the passport you hold, read very very carefully for current info.

Whilst I dont know about Port Blair, that is useful to know, I was reading yesterday that since the beginning of 2018 there has been some relaxation in the use of the evisa.

I too thought it was only valid for arrival by air and only for a couple of airports and was single entry

The Indian Tourist industry was suffering badly because of this and my understanding is that the evisa MAY now be valid for entry from a cruise ship

at 3 named seaports in India Goa & Mubai were 2 but cant remember the third.

BUT as you have pointed out anyone looking to cruise there MUST check this out with the relative authorities as visa information can change very quickly. My comments relates only to British residents with a British passports others must check what the requirements are for their

country/passport.

E-visa are now in place and for five major ports:Mumbai, Mormugao, New Mangalore, Cochin & Chennai. These are the ports most cruise ships use, below is a link to a news reports with quotes from the Indian Government. India is no longer the problem for visas that it was in the past.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/nri/visa-and-immigration/cruise-tourists-with-e-visa-exempted-from-biometric-enrolment/articleshow/62338047.cms

OK - that is in a newspaper?

From the Visa Site https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/evisa/tvoa.html

"

• e-Visa is valid for entry through 25 designated Airports (i.e. Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bagdogra, Bengaluru, Calicut, Chennai, Chandigarh,Cochin, Coimbatore, Delhi, Gaya, Goa, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mangalore, Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune, Tiruchirapalli, Trivandrum, Varanasi & Vishakhapatnam) and 5 designated seaports (i.e. Cochin, Goa, Mangalore,Mumbai,Chennai). However, the foreigner can take exit from any of the authorized Immigration Check Posts (ICPs) in India.
  
• This facility is in addition to the existing Visa services.
  
• e-Visa can be availed for maximum of two times in a calendar year i.e. between January to December.
  

So yes 5 ports BUT what does the 3rd point mean ??

Does it mean you can only visit 2 ports?

If I were going I would want that confirmed. There is a link for queries

on that official site so that is where I would ask.

Out of interest, following your post on Port Blair and the additional permit required, I went through the online Marella booking for a cruise on Discovery visiting the Andaman Islands.

At the end of the booking process it states that a multiple entry visa is required but fails to mention the need for the additional permit.

I wonder how much other Indian visa information is incorrect or incomplete.

The permit to visit Port Blair (Andaman Islands), a ‘Restricted Area’ is issued on arrival at Port Blair, free of charge.

The permit to visit Port Blair (Andaman Islands), a ‘Restricted Area’ is issued on arrival at Port Blair, free of charge.

Interesting, but edinburgher says differently, which shows the confusing information regarding Indian visas.

The permit to visit Port Blair (Andaman Islands), a ‘Restricted Area’ is issued on arrival at Port Blair, free of charge.

Is that a quote from an official source? and does it relate to arrival by ship?

The on arrival permit usually says subject to a VALID

visa being held.

As the evisa is not valid for arrival by cruise ship at this port would that affect what you say?

Furthermore section 12 on the current evisa

applicaion site says

"e-Visa is non-extendable, non-convertible & not valid for visiting Protected/Restricted and Cantonment Areas. If you intend to visit Protected/Restricted/Cantonment areas, you would require prior permission from the Civil Authority please visit here."

Aulanis, I had this ready to copy and paste. Some the same as you said, so some duplication, sorry.

The general inability to get accurate info for Indian visas is one of the reasons we decided after two cruises with Indian ports "never India again" Doesn't seem to matter which official websites you look at, either there is only partial info or it doesn't match info elsewhere. The form filling is also not straightforward with several tricky questions to be answered (at least we thought so) and the cost to Brits for a regular Tourist Visa is horribly high. We even had to keep the visa info from the first visits in case we needed it again (which we did on our application for a second visit)

Being able to buy a permit on arrival into a Protected Area (such as Port Blair where some cruises visit) is not straightforward either. Again conflicting yes/no info.

There is this info online:

For a "regular" Tourist Visa :

Applicants who wish to travel to Restricted/Protected Areas (Andaman-Nicobar/Sikkim) for tourism are required to obtain the Restricted Area Permit before their travel. Please fill the Additional Information Form for the restricted area permit. That is on this official website which Brits have to use:

http://www.vfsglobal.com/India/UK/Tourist.html

And if applying for an e-Tourist Visa, this from the official site https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/evisa/tvoa.html

(#12) e-Visa is non-extendable, non-convertible & not valid for visiting Protected/Restricted and Cantonment Areas. If you intend to visit Protected/Restricted/Cantonment areas, you would require prior permission from the Civil Authority please visit here.

I was interested to know if the e- Tourist Visa would be simpler and less expensive than an actual Tourist Visa as we would maybe consider visiting again now that several different ports have been added, so I dug around Cruisecritic and Tripadvisor. Lots of the usual Indian Visa confusion to be found on both Roll Calls and on Tripadvisor. Even the E-Visa has confused to a degree because of the double entry reference. Some with more than two Indian ports were unsure if they could use it. I can understand that, as some countries consider consecutive port calls as "single entry", others consider each port "multiple entries" as ships often sail in International waters between ports. (we had this issue with visa for China)

This was an interesting read on Tripadvisor (from page 26 onwards as they are within recent months) and some cruise passengers who already used the e-Visa earlier this year reported back after their trip. I could SO empathise with the poster at #288! For what it's worth:

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTopic-g1-i10703-k8397684-o250-Do_I_need_an_Indian_visa_while_cruising-Cruises.html

Not wanting to stir up yet another debate, I just want to strongly advise that before travelling to Asia, India etc for the first time, that people do some research before travelling as there are several differences in what can and what cannot be taken into some of them.

One of the most important for anyone visiting the UAE is the medications issue. Time must be allowed to get info for prescribed meds being taken, and the list below should be checked for ingredients in some of our commonly bought "over the counter" meds which you might want to take with you as they could be on the list. We bought what we needed in a chemist shop in Dubai at the start of our trip when we had a couple of days before boarding Lots of them all over the city. Second time Dubai was our final port and we had a day in port before flying home next day. We took our usual "over the counter" with us on the trip and disposed of them in the cabin waste bin the evening before arriving into Dubai.

For the UAE: https://www.uae-embassy.org/sites/default/files/Guidelines%20for%20carrying%20medecines%20to%20UAE.pdf

Bad news for "vapers". E-cigs are banned/prohibited in many countries including Singapore, UAE, Thailand and others so check the rules for each country you will visit.

Worse for smokers too. Singapore has NO tobacco allowance whatsoever. Local tax will have to be paid on each cigarette brought in, or choose to have them confiscated. This applies even on a port of call if leaving the ship for some sightseeing. Take off only what you need and pay the tax or buy a pack in a local store. If you pay the tax you must keep the receipt to show you have paid it, because you could be approached by a lawful person in uniform or in plain clothes who will check the tax has been paid.

Have visited Singapore several times. When we have disembarked there or visited as a port of call, there were x-rays at the cruise terminal as you leave the ship, and staff. They x-ray everything. The tax office is conveniently next to the machines. Fines if you get caught and have not declared something you should have.

And if the ship has arrived from Malaysia there is no alcohol allowance either. Again tax to be paid.

So, read read read, and unless there has been a change, I would advise you not be tempted to buy alcohol or cigs onboard for "taking home" if you are flying back from Singapore. Even if you are only leaving the ship and transferring to the airport. You can buy cheaply at the airport duty free anyway.

Lots more to know about Singapore including absolutely no eating or drinking on public transport (not even sips from a water bottle.) They have fines for so many things. You will see the t-shirts for sale with the slogan "Singapore, a fine city". They mean it.

It definitely pays to research each country before you leave home.

Phew!

Thanks for all the helpful advice from those 'wot knows'.

It makes me glad that the Discovery itinerary does not go any where near India, although we will be going to Malaysia and Singapore. Clearly there's a lot of reading to be done.:o

Still looking forward to it though and getting used to the hot weather thanks to our heat wave.

Happy cruising everyone.

Phew!

Thanks for all the helpful advice from those 'wot knows'.

It makes me glad that the Discovery itinerary does not go any where near India, although we will be going to Malaysia and Singapore. Clearly there's a lot of reading to be done.:o

Still looking forward to it though and getting used to the hot weather thanks to our heat wave.

 

Happy cruising everyone.

Singapore & Malaysia are not problems, regardless of what others my say. Over the last 20 years have been in Singapore about 100 times, never a single problem or issue. The Security people in Singapore are great, friendly, knowledgeable, and professional. Singapore is like traveling to any other first World City. Except for illegal drugs which carry a sentence of death. Follow the law and you have no issues. Also never a problem in Malaysia, very nice country but again need to respect the laws.

Both thee countries understand cruise ship passengers are tourist and really do not know the local laws, so small things will be overlooked, as they want tourist to have a enjoyable visit,

Good news guys, I was on Tui site looking for the flight number for our airport parking and low and behold there were extra space seats available so I have upgraded and booked, so no worries about being separated on a 12 and a half hour fight. Result!!! :)

Oh well done Weeminx, it's always helpful to know your seats in advance it takes all of the stress out of queuing for the check in.

En:cool:joy!

Thanks cuisign :)

Does anyone know when the excursions can be booked for this cruise please? - we will also be looking into how easy some are to do yourself too, so any advice greatly appreciated.

 

I gather there is a seperate board Asia 2019? but can't find it?

 

Thank you

I am also going jan 2nd cut can’t seem able to book any excursions yet sylvia

Babby and Sylvia

Try this site, it should work.

https://cruiseexcursions.tui.co.uk/

Coincidentally I was talking to the TUI travel agent yesterday and her advice was to select the ones you want on line then book them via the agent because they sell them 5% cheaper than the on line price; but I haven't checked this out for myself yet so I'm not sure how accurate the info is.

I tried to book some time ago and failed too.

I was thinking of waiting now till after the cruises start (November?) and see what experiences other cruisers have had when booking and going on the excursions.

I'm hoping that someone else is also going on 7 March!!

Happy cruising

Thank you for that,I will certainly check prices with my ta

Only too pleased to help I hope you manage to book the excursions you want and I look forward to benefiting from your experiences when you get back!

Have fun and enjoy it.

Thank you,we are really looking forward ti it and I most certainly will be writing a review on here when I get back,with hopefully lots of good tips for everyone doing this cruise after us