billie5 Posted January 19, 2011 #1 Share Posted January 19, 2011 If you take an Oceania excursion in Syria, does Oceania obtain a group visa for all those on the tour, or will I still need to get my own Syrian visa? If it is the former, is the cost of the group visa included in the excursion price? I don't know if group visas even exist for Syria (as they do, for example, for St. Petersburg in Russia), but I am hoping someone might be able to enlighten me. Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBVols Posted January 19, 2011 #2 Share Posted January 19, 2011 We are on Nautica's 6/13/11 from Rome to Athens and we have the same question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbb Posted January 19, 2011 #3 Share Posted January 19, 2011 Our TA contacted O and got our visas added to the final payment. We will be using the ship's tour to visit Syria for safety reasons. We were told that everyone from the US had to have their own visa and it's not cheap but then again how often does one get a chance to visit such an ancient land. c Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulchili Posted January 19, 2011 #4 Share Posted January 19, 2011 We visited Syria in 2007 with another cruiseline and we took their shore excursion to Damascus (a fantastic trip). They obtained the visas for us. I would imagine it will be the same for O. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharicruz Posted January 19, 2011 #5 Share Posted January 19, 2011 Oceania does not obtain a blanket visa for Syria. There is an additional charge if you purchase it through them. The visa's are less if you purchase them from a visa company(ie...Zierer)...If you have an Israeli stamp in your passport, you may want to double check and make sure you can still enter Syria. You may need a passport void of that stamp. Shari Sharicruz6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbb Posted January 19, 2011 #6 Share Posted January 19, 2011 I wasn't too clear. We asked O to obtain our visas for us at an additional charge so that we could enter Syria. The ship's excursion into Syria doesn't include the cost of the visa as a "blanket" visa and we weren't willing to take a chance on a private company. I'm sure those companies are professional and timely but I am fairly anal when it comes to things like this and am willing to spend the extra money to make it O's responsibility!! Paul, Damascus is not one of the options; we have the choice of Amrit & Tartous Museum or Crac des Chevaliers & Amrit and we are taking the latter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mura Posted January 19, 2011 #7 Share Posted January 19, 2011 I wasn't too clear. We asked O to obtain our visas for us at an additional charge so that we could enter Syria. The ship's excursion into Syria doesn't include the cost of the visa as a "blanket" visa and we weren't willing to take a chance on a private company. I'm sure those companies are professional and timely but I am fairly anal when it comes to things like this and am willing to spend the extra money to make it O's responsibility!! . It's interesting how our reactions and perceptions can be so different. Rather than trusting O in this case, I'd be more likely to trust an agency like Zierer! Normally we get our own visas when we need one but with St. Petersburg we needed an invitation letter, so we went through Zierer. At that time, it was actually cheaper to use them than it would have been to get our own! (We've never used O for a visa but most of our cruises with O have not required visas to begin with.) Actually, I'm sure both sources are perfectly reliable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulchili Posted January 19, 2011 #8 Share Posted January 19, 2011 I think it is understood that the visa through Oceania would be at an extra cost (I am sure we paid extra for ours too) and that the cost of visa would not be included in the cost of the excursion. As to how much it would be and where to get the visa (agency vs Oceania) - I do not know the answer to that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbb Posted January 19, 2011 #9 Share Posted January 19, 2011 I just figure that if O wants me to spend $ on a shorex I'll let them be responsible for dotting those Tees and crossing those I's... one less thing for me to think about!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billie5 Posted January 21, 2011 Author #10 Share Posted January 21, 2011 I believe some people are misreading the thread. Of course, one can get a Syrian visa through Oceania -- an individual visa -- and Oceania will be happy to add it to your cruise fare. However, some ports, such as St. Petersburg, do not require an individual visa -- you can get a "group" visa by registering for a tour with an authorized tour agency. I am doing that at St. Petersburg in August, where my private tour agency (which is taking the bulk of the CCers on the roll call) will get a vastly less expensive "group" visa. I am sure many cruisers will not know this is possible and will get much more expensive individual visas for Russia, either through a visa agency like Zierer or through the cruise line. My question was two-fold: (1) Do GROUP visas exist for Syria, so that one can avoid the high expense of an individual visa by taking a tour with an authorized tour agency (who will obtain the inexpensive group visa for everyone on the tour); and (2) if such a GROUP visa exists, will Oceania obtain it for those on its tours? Please understand, I know there are various ways to obtain expensive individual visas. That is not the question. I am sorry I was not clearer at the beginning of the thread. Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ewana Posted January 23, 2011 #11 Share Posted January 23, 2011 I read that Voyages to Antiquity cruises offered Syrian group visa for their passengers free of charge. So, group visas DO exist. However, I called Oceania and they told me that we have to obtain individual visas either through Oceania's visa service ($299) or from the Syrian embassy or consulate ($131). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mura Posted January 24, 2011 #12 Share Posted January 24, 2011 CBB, given that incredible price differential are you still going to use O? I can find other uses for that money ... I might even go into a bar once or twice on board! My quotes here for Turkey are not necessarily correct at this juncture, but when we got our own visas for Turkey about 10 years ago it cost us $45, and through Renaissance it was $90. For the convenience, well, I could go with that. But for $299 VS. $131, I think I'd do it on my own. That's probably what living with Frugal Howard all these years has done to me... It also helps that we live in NYC and going up to a consulate to get a visa isn't all that difficult. And if I have to use a service like Zierer, that isn't so hard either! Come to think of it, I think the only problem I heard about through message boards of problems with using a service was when Zierer lost someone's passports ... now, that would NOT be good! (It was ultimately resolved to the satisfaction of everybody involved as I recall.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billie5 Posted January 24, 2011 Author #13 Share Posted January 24, 2011 Ewana, Thank you very much. That was precisely the info I was looking for. I guess DW and I will have to bite the bullet and send our passports to a visa agency. We usually wait until about 3 months before our departure for that sort of thing. Anywhere else on the cruise in a similar situation I would simply go with a private tour agency which did include a group visa. (In fact, that is what we are doing in St. Petersburg -- I didn't even inquire as to whether the cruise line offered them on their tours) However, if something should happen to delay our re-embarkation in Syria, then there would be no way for us to catch up to the cruise ship except to fly directly to the final destination, Athens, and it might even be problematic if one could get a flight at the last minute from Damascus to Athens. (Plus DW would be in a panic the whole time, even though Syria is one of the safest countries in the mid-East.) Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mura Posted January 24, 2011 #14 Share Posted January 24, 2011 Certainly that is a good reason to be concerned about the possibility of NOT getting back to the ship in time. That's exactly why we only did ship's tours on our Buenos Aires-Valpo cruise in 2000. Well, partly -- we also booked so late that I didn't have a chance to do any research or book private tours. But we were thinking about doing some taxi tours in some of the ports (this was on NCL and they even told us we could do so). But I was worried about a taxi getting a flat tire when the next tour was a two day sail. At least we only had two countries to worry about! It's one thing when you might be able to hop on a train and catch the ship the next day ... another when a flight is involved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jancruz Posted January 24, 2011 #15 Share Posted January 24, 2011 Dear Guest, We wish to provide you with an important update concerning Syrian entry requirements for your upcoming cruise. The Syrian authorities have made changes to their immigration regulations requiring that all United States Citizens are required to obtain an individual tourist visa for entry into the country. Guests not in possession of a valid Syrian Visa will not be allowed to go ashore by the Syrian Authorities. Guests booked on this cruise will need to contact a Visa Service of their choice; contact the Syrian Consular office closest to them; or purchase the Syria Visa Package from Oceania Cruises at a cost of $299 per guest. Please be cognizant that Syrian authorities will deny issuance of an entry visa to any guests using an Israeli Passport or presenting a non Israeli passport with Israeli entry/exit visa stamps. If your passport contains any stamps or markings from Israel, we kindly suggest that you consult with an experienced immigration or visa professional. We thank you for your attention to this matter and look forward to welcoming you onboard. Sincerely, Oceania Cruises Fom O to clients Jancruz1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billie5 Posted January 26, 2011 Author #16 Share Posted January 26, 2011 Thank you for a definitive reply. If you apply for a Syrian visa, be aware that the visa will be valid only for 3 months from date of issue, so do not apply for the visa until you are within that period before arrival. If you apply through a visa agency, be prepared to add at least $35 per passport as a service fee (Zierer Visa Service is much more expensive) and about $25 Fedex return postage fee for up to 3 passports. That would add $95 to the total cost for processing 2 passports. Downloading the visa forms from the internet and sending directly to a Syrian consulate (with a stamped return addressed envelope) will save all of that except the cost of the postage stamps. Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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