Turkish visa

[TravelnAl]

For those of you who have flown into Istanbul previously, we will be joining the Mariner in Istanbul for the July 13th sailing.

 

Regent has charged us for the Turkish visa. How do we get it from Regent? Is it separate or will we need to send in our (US) passport?

[Travelcat2]

We will be visiting Istanbul for the second time next week. Usually Regent charges quite a bit of money to obtain a visa. A Turkish visa is available when you get off of the plane -- for $20 (U.S. cash) each. You may wait in line a few minutes but, IMO, it is better than paying someone to do it for you.

 

You'll love Turkey -- it is a magical place:)

[nana541]

Just got off Mariner in Istanbul...we received out Turkish Visa from Regent with our final documents from Regent about 3wks before sailing....they will be in attached envelopes as the last page of your cruise documents....note that each Visa is numbered so make sure to put the correct Visa stamp in each of your passports....there was a seperate envelope with each of our names.

[Travelcat2]

Just got off Mariner in Istanbul...we received out Turkish Visa from Regent with our final documents from Regent about 3wks before sailing....they will be in attached envelopes as the last page of your cruise documents....note that each Visa is numbered so make sure to put the correct Visa stamp in each of your passports....there was a seperate envelope with each of our names.

 

Do you recall what yuo paid Regent to handle this for you?

[boblerm]

Do you recall what yuo paid Regent to handle this for you?

 

They charged us $49 each.

[Travelcat2]

They charged us $49 each.

 

Thanks for that information. Think we'll continue to take care of it ourselves for $20 each.

[boblerm]

That certainly makes sense if you are flying into Turkey and can easily get the visa at the airport. We are disembarking in Istanbul, and I wasn't sure how I would go about obtaining a visa on the other end.

[tallship]

We just disembarked and let Regent handle it for us once onboard. The price was 99 pp as we are from Canada and we used our shipboard credit to purchase the visas.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Regent did it for us, and put the visas into our passports (we were disembarking in Istanbul.) This was 2004, granted, but I don't think they charged anything like $99 pp. If I was flying into Istanbul, I would just get it at the airport when I landed. (As I remember, they like US currency, not Canadian, or Euros probably.)

[TravelnAl]

Everyone, thanks for the input. Will try for the airport.

[Travelcat2]

Regent did it for us, and put the visas into our passports (we were disembarking in Istanbul.) This was 2004, granted, but I don't think they charged anything like $99 pp. If I was flying into Istanbul, I would just get it at the airport when I landed. (As I remember, they like US currency, not Canadian, or Euros probably.)

 

You are correct - they only accept U.S. dollars. To us this is a no brainer. Getting a visa at the airport could not be easier.

[tallship]

Just keep in mind that if you are disembarking by ship and not arriving by plane, the Visa must be obtained prior to leaving the ship.

[petcoke]

Just disembarked mariner in istanbul you need a visa to fly out, but the port before is kusadasi where you can buy one £10 or 15 euro or 20 dollars depending on nationality

[nana541]

Almost positive that Regent "will not" let you sail without that Turkish Visa...Turkey is the reason they take your passports.....personally the Regent Fee, whiile many consider it a spendy item they do it for you as a convienance....but much easier to let Regent do it and save the effort for packing :)

Easy to get yourself if you are flying in to Turkey but for boarding the ship that stops in Turkey I would not risk a problem on enbarkation. of course you can always use a Visa Service or obtain yourself (prior to boarding).

[tallship]

Agree with Nana

Let Regent take care of it

[esimon]

I get a kick out of peoples ideas and opinions on this thread-

 

before, after , it's a 'no brainer', regent over chargers, no they don't, yes the do -

 

If you have never traveled to Europe - let alone Turkey where a Visa is required, why wouldn't you let Regent do it for you -- will you be be the one complaining if you can't get of the ship in TurkeyLOLOL

 

Is Regent really making that much money off of you that you would chance having a problem??

 

Curious, funny, amazing -- keep it up

[nana541]

Better safe than sorry is what I think about this issue.....:p

[RachelG]

When flying into turkey, get the visa at the airport for $20--totally easy and the desk is right there. Takes just a couple of minutes.

When arriving by ship, I let regent do it because it was just easier. I didn't want to have to try and deal with it in kusadasi when we were wanting to go on an excursion that morning.

[ChatKat in Ca.]

When we deplaned in Istanbul with our visa already taken care of, after 16 hours of flying to get there, I was happy to not wait in one more line to clear immigration and customs. Totally worth the extra money to me.

[Atriumgirl]

Just disembarked mariner in istanbul you need a visa to fly out, but the port before is kusadasi where you can buy one £10 or 15 euro or 20 dollars depending on nationality

We are booked on the April 30th cruise & I tried for ages to get confirmation that we could buy a visa in Kusadasi but was constantly stonewalled by Regent and our TA. I was forgetting that Regent take and keep our passports. Last time we were in Turkey the visa was just a stamp in our passport, no hassle, no problem. I just object to paying $49 for something that actually costs £10 and comes with no added value. Something to do with my Scottish blood I think! Petcoke - did you manage to get your passport back from Regent at Kusadasi?

[mom0f3]

We are in the same situation of hoping to purchase the Turkish visa in Kusadasi before we have our stop in Istanbul. Does anyone know if Regent gets it for us whether our on-board credit can be used? Thanks.

[petcoke]

We are booked on the April 30th cruise & I tried for ages to get confirmation that we could buy a visa in Kusadasi but was constantly stonewalled by Regent and our TA. I was forgetting that Regent take and keep our passports. Last time we were in Turkey the visa was just a stamp in our passport, no hassle, no problem. I just object to paying $49 for something that actually costs £10 and comes with no added value. Something to do with my Scottish blood I think! Petcoke - did you manage to get your passport back from Regent at Kusadasi?

yes just asked for it told them i was going to get my own visa. As you enter building from ship look to your left there is a office door with VISA on it , just get visa DO NOT get it stamped ,handed passports back and then had them stamped at airport as you leave / hope this helps you

[esimon]

our visa thru Regent -- $49 ea.

[Jim B]

A comment I have heard a number of times is if you should decide to do your own

visa when you arrive in Istanbul make sure it is a clean almost new US $20.00 bill.

They will not take a worn out bad looking one.

 

We will be on the October 7th 2013 Istanbul to Rome so are monitoring these sort of things.

[Travelcat2]

A comment I have heard a number of times is if you should decide to do your own

visa when you arrive in Istanbul make sure it is a clean almost new US $20.00 bill.

They will not take a worn out bad looking one.

 

We will be on the October 7th 2013 Istanbul to Rome so are monitoring these sort of things.

 

Hi Jim --thanks for your input. I cannot understand how people could not care that you can easily get visas in Turkey for so much less money than paying Regent to do it. As you so accurately stated, you do need new US $20 bills. IMO, this is a no brainer. We have plenty of uses for the money we will save by doing it ourselves (being tired is a poor excuse but some people believe it is a valid one). We sleep on the plane and arrive with nothing but pent up energy:-) Our TA supports our decision to get the visa on our own (which we will do this Friday)

 

Enjoy your Istanbul to Rome sailing. Istanbul rates as one of our top 5 cities in the world.