Turkey Question ?

[ISLANDCRUSO]

Ok guys does anyone know the answer to this one ? If you fly to Turkey from the Uk for a land based holiday you have to pay £10 to enter and put a sticker/Visa into your passport.

 

So what happens when your port stops include Turkey ? is it paid by the Cruiseline or do you pay before leaving the ship? or do you have to take your passport with you when leaving the ship to go through customs to get it stamped/pay.

 

If so what happens when you have multiple stops in Turkey do you have to pay twice ?

[Elizanessie]

You do not have to pay the £10 to enter Turkey.

 

As you are on a ship it is considered as " in transit" so therefore no £10 fee.

[SwissDave]

Cruise passengers do not need a visa for Turkey if arriving on a ship, even if the ship stays overnight.

 

If flying into Turkey to join a ship, then normally you will need one - purchased on entry to the country.

However I did hear from a couple of friends joining a cruise at Istanbul that they showed their cruise docs to the border control at the airport and they allowed them though without buying the visa. But just in case this was a one off make sure you have a £10 note for the visa.....

 

The ship will keep your passport when you board and then return it after Turkey.

[ISLANDCRUSO]

Thanks for the replies guys ..... :)

[jocap]

On one cruise- I think NCL Jade- we were issued with a sort of day pass from the ship....no-one looked at it. It must have been instead of a passport, because Jade takes Egyptian immigration on board in Turkey, who spend the day stamping a visa in your passport....so we didn't have access to ours from check in until Alexandria.

Jo.

[ISLANDCRUSO]

jocap .... we are somewhat puzzled by your post ..... :confused:

 

did you mean that the Egypt Immigration stamped your passports while in Turkey because you were heading to Egypt from Turkey ? we are not going to Egypt by the way.

[Wingtips56]

jocap .... we are somewhat puzzled by your post ..... :confused:

 

did you mean that the Egypt Immigration stamped your passports while in Turkey because you were heading to Egypt from Turkey ? we are not going to Egypt by the way.

 

That post applied to the Jade's normal itinerary, which goes from Izmir to Alexandria. If you are on the modified itinerary that is calling at Istanbul rather than Alexandria, then the Egyptian reference doesn't apply. On the normal Jade itinerary, Egyptian Immigration officers do board the ship at the last stop prior to arriving in Egypt so they go through all the passports while en route. They stamp and issue the abbreviated tourist visa for the cruise passengers and then return the passports to the front desk. Prior to going ashore at Alexandria, you pick up your passport from the Reception Desk all ready to just walk-off. No lines (queues) on the pier trying to get stamped in while your tour bus is preparing to leave. You have to hold your passport open to that visa page to an official on the dock before you can proceed. It really simplifies the process and makes it easy for the traveler.

 

Some other countries put their customs officers on board at a prior stop as well, depending on where in the world you are, even U.S. Customs. I think Turkish officials pre-clear you on-board prior to arriving in Turkey as well, which is why we surrendered our passports at check-in in Barcelona and didn't get them back until going ashore at Alexandria. Memory is foggy...on some cruise, maybe the Jade, we had to get our passports to go ashore at one point but turn them back in on re-boarding for the customs procedures for the next port.

[jocap]

Cheers, Wingtip!! Yes, my post was a bit muddling...:confused:

I meant to say, that we couldn't have taken our passports ashore in Turkey, because the ship was holding on to them for a reason....

The reason was because the immigration for the next port had flown in to stamp them

...so we were issued with a card instead, which no-one looked at..

...but Wingtip answered so eloquently for me!

Thanks!!!:D (DOH!)

Jo.

[Host Sharon]

I have been to Turkey several times with P&O and they have never taken/required our passports. We just wandered off the ship like any other European port.

[gosport11]

When we went with Thomson,there was a dedicated cruise entry point at the airport so you didnt have to pay the tenner :):)