Getting Vietnam visa on board

Hi guys we are sailing on Mariner of the Seas on 11th of February from Singapore I know you can obtain a visa for Vietnam on board for Australian and U.S.A passport holders I was wondering if this was so for British Passport holders.Would appreciate any input on this matter.Thanks Janet.

Hi guys we are sailing on Mariner of the Seas on 11th of February from Singapore I know you can obtain a visa for Vietnam on board for Australian and U.S.A passport holders I was wondering if this was so for British Passport holders.Would appreciate any input on this matter.Thanks Janet.

It would be one for your Travel Agent.

On questions this important, it is best to get professional advice. Folks here have good intentions and may tell you "no problem." Unfortunately, it may also be the case that laws or procedures have changed.

Call Royal Caribbean and ask directly.

On questions this important, it is best to get professional advice. Folks here have good intentions and may tell you "no problem." Unfortunately, it may also be the case that laws or procedures have changed.

 

Call Royal Caribbean and ask directly.

We got ours this march whilst on mariner and we are from the uk :)

We got ours this march whilst on mariner and we are from the uk :)

Thank you for your reply looks like we are all good.

On questions this important, it is best to get professional advice. Folks here have good intentions and may tell you "no problem." Unfortunately, it may also be the case that laws or procedures have changed.

 

Call Royal Caribbean and ask directly.

Have called Royal they where no help.Have researched on the Vietnam visa web sight and one can apply for a transit visa if not being in Vietnam longer than five days but cannot apply online but tour groups and cruise lines can process a group booking which is apparently what you get on the ship, only other option is to either go to the Vietnamese embassy which is too far away from where we live or send our passports away to be stamped which we are loathe to do incase we have trouble getting them back .Thats why I asked the question here as I know there will be recent cruisers on the forum who may be able to help.But I appreciate your input.

Have called Royal they where no help.Have researched on the Vietnam visa web sight and one can apply for a transit visa if not being in Vietnam longer than five days but cannot apply online but tour groups and cruise lines can process a group booking which is apparently what you get on the ship, only other option is to either go to the Vietnamese embassy which is too far away from where we live or send our passports away to be stamped which we are loathe to do incase we have trouble getting them back .Thats why I asked the question here as I know there will be recent cruisers on the forum who may be able to help.But I appreciate your input.

Have you prepaid a fee to RCL for the visa or have they said it will be an added expense? If so, you can assume they will take care of it

No worries.:)

You'll get no sense out of RCI head office - they don't know their stuff about visas, same as other cruise line head office staff. The response will almost invariably be the stock "you need to sort your own visas". :rolleyes:

But for Vietnamese ports of call RCI will arrange your visas on-board & charge the cost to your on-board account, same as they do for Americans, Canadians, Brits, Kiwis & most (all?) nationalities. And the same as other cruise lines do for their passengers' Vietnam visas. One visa covers all ports, the cost will be in the order of 25USD to 40USD, depending how much the cruise line adds for its trouble.

You only need to fix your own visas if you travel to or from Vietnam by any means other than your ship. And, according to one CC member, if you take an internal flight.

To get confirmation from fellow-Aussies, re-post your question on the Aussie Cruisers' forum.

JB :)

Citizens from Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden (and few other countries) does not need a visa if staying less than two weeks - passport validity at least 6 months.

When entering Vietnam by cruise ship Visa will be provided onboard for a charge.

Thanks for the replys it appears what I thought was right we will get our visas on board even $40 is cheaper than what I was quoted which was $70 each to be processed if posted to the embassy.

Just returned from Celebrity Millennium. The ship charged US$20 for Vietnam visa, and was deducted automatically from the shipboard account.

Do we need to provide passport photos on board to get the visas? Is it 2 passport size photos?

Regards,

Victor

On 31 December, the Vietnamese Government informed all cruise lines that the group visas previously available for cruise ship passengers are no longer.

The cruise line can still get the visa for you onboard, but it will be the far more expensive individual visa.

On my ship last week, we charged over US$100 for this visa (including handling fee).

On 31 December, the Vietnamese Government informed all cruise lines that the group visas previously available for cruise ship passengers are no longer.

The cruise line can still get the visa for you onboard, but it will be the far more expensive individual visa.

On my ship last week, we charged over US$100 for this visa (including handling fee).

Yikes...$100.00pp...not very happy with this new policy.

I'm going to be on RCI Mariner (March) with a port stop in Phu My..that changes things a bit...Wonder how the private tour operator's (or ship offered excursions) are going to handle this...I was considering using one for the short 10 hours in port.

Not even an in-transit option for cruiseship passengers...Yikes...I thought they wanted our business.

On 31 December, the Vietnamese Government informed all cruise lines that the group visas previously available for cruise ship passengers are no longer.

The cruise line can still get the visa for you onboard, but it will be the far more expensive individual visa.

On my ship last week, we charged over US$100 for this visa (including handling fee).

Yikes...$100.00pp...not very happy with this new policy.

 

I'm going to be on RCI Mariner (March) with a port stop in Phu My..that changes things a bit...Wonder how the private tour operator's (or ship offered excursions) are going to handle this...I was considering using one for the short 10 hours in port.

 

Not even an in-transit option for cruiseship passengers...Yikes...I thought they wanted our business.

But, then there is this article published just three hours ago in which the Vietnamese Prime Minister has called for making the visas the same price as before:

http://www.eturbonews.com/54401/vietnam-pm-visa-cruise-tourists-should-be-cheaper-easier-obtain

Quoted from this article:

"In it, he asked that the visa fee for cruise tourists remain at US$5—the fee that was in place before January 1 when the new Law on Entry, Exit, Transit, and Residence of Foreigners went into effect.

The new law charged cruise passengers $45 each to enter the country.

Dung has directed the Ministry of Finance and relevant organs to quickly amend regulations on visa fees to make them easier and cheaper to obtain."

Note that the new charge is $45, but BruceMuzz says his ship is charging over twice that much! That's quite a hefty profit.

But, then there is this article published just three hours ago in which the Vietnamese Prime Minister has called for making the visas the same price as before:

 

http://www.eturbonews.com/54401/vietnam-pm-visa-cruise-tourists-should-be-cheaper-easier-obtain

 

Quoted from this article:

 

"In it, he asked that the visa fee for cruise tourists remain at US$5—the fee that was in place before January 1 when the new Law on Entry, Exit, Transit, and Residence of Foreigners went into effect.

 

The new law charged cruise passengers $45 each to enter the country.

 

Dung has directed the Ministry of Finance and relevant organs to quickly amend regulations on visa fees to make them easier and cheaper to obtain."

 

Note that the new charge is $45, but BruceMuzz says his ship is charging over twice that much! That's quite a hefty profit.

Very interesting...Thanks for posting the link.

On 31 December, the Vietnamese Government informed all cruise lines that the group visas previously available for cruise ship passengers are no longer.

The cruise line can still get the visa for you onboard, but it will be the far more expensive individual visa.

On my ship last week, we charged over US$100 for this visa (including handling fee).

What cruiseline were you on ?

But, then there is this article published just three hours ago in which the Vietnamese Prime Minister has called for making the visas the same price as before:

 

http://www.eturbonews.com/54401/vietnam-pm-visa-cruise-tourists-should-be-cheaper-easier-obtain

 

Quoted from this article:

 

"In it, he asked that the visa fee for cruise tourists remain at US$5—the fee that was in place before January 1 when the new Law on Entry, Exit, Transit, and Residence of Foreigners went into effect.

 

The new law charged cruise passengers $45 each to enter the country.

 

Dung has directed the Ministry of Finance and relevant organs to quickly amend regulations on visa fees to make them easier and cheaper to obtain."

 

Note that the new charge is $45, but BruceMuzz says his ship is charging over twice that much! That's quite a hefty profit.

At Nha Trang and Phu My last week, the new individual visa was US$77. My company added $25 for processing and handling.

The current price for a tourist visa for a Vietnamese citizen visiting the USA is US$160.

One of our sister ships called at Ha Long Bay this morning.

Vietnamese Immigration charged US$80 per individual visa and added a $10 surcharge for everyone for rush service.

Total US$90 per person.

On 31 December, the Vietnamese Government informed all cruise lines that the group visas previously available for cruise ship passengers are no longer.

The cruise line can still get the visa for you onboard, but it will be the far more expensive individual visa.

On my ship last week, we charged over US$100 for this visa (including handling fee).

I realize that the cruise lines have no control of these types of changes. But this changes the cruise significantly. We booked ours knowing that we would need a visa for China (we debark in Shanghai). The cost of the visas for 4 for China is reasonable, given we're spending 1 port day in China, then debarking and spending 6 days in China post cruise.

Paying $100 US for us (so $400 total) to spend 8-9 hours in a country isn't what we signed up for!

The linked article seems to imply that ships are being delayed because of the additional workload.

Not sure what, if anything, can be done. Frustrating. The cost of that port just increased 10 fold.

I realize that the cruise lines have no control of these types of changes. But this changes the cruise significantly. We booked ours knowing that we would need a visa for China (we debark in Shanghai). The cost of the visas for 4 for China is reasonable, given we're spending 1 port day in China, then debarking and spending 6 days in China post cruise.

 

Paying $100 US for us (so $400 total) to spend 8-9 hours in a country isn't what we signed up for!

 

The linked article seems to imply that ships are being delayed because of the additional workload.

 

Not sure what, if anything, can be done. Frustrating. The cost of that port just increased 10 fold.

I too am very upset with this unexpected upcost for this particular port.

I was also not happy when I realized that RCI wasn't even going to offer the usual DIY for Phu My for this (my) cruise's timeframe.

Having read about this contacted Celebrity in the UK who advised us that the issue has been resolved and that it is back to the earlier position. Have asked our private tour advisor in Vietnam to advise as cruise company offices can be wrong. We are on the Millie on 1 February

. http://tuoitrenews.vn/society/25368/5-fee-still-applied-to-foreign-travelers-coming-to-vietnam-by-sea

The latest news I've see...hopefully it's correct.

http://www.vietnambreakingnews.com/2015/01/visa-fee-for-cruise-passengers-back-to-us5-per-pax/

although I will be keeping my eye on it. this was latest news posted 19hours ago.

I showed this news article to Vietnamese Immigration Officials at Ha Long Bay this morning.

They were unfortunately unaware of the news and still charged each passenger US$80 plus a $10 express processing fee for individual entry visas. Group visas were not available. For those passengers who already had a vietnamese visa in their passports, there was a $1 fee for a landing card to go ashore.

Maybe next week..................

Meanwhile, a tourist visa for Vietnamese citizens to visit the USA is still US$160, plus a 30 day processing time.