visas

[FrankieSue]

When visas are required for some of the ports on your schedule, do you need to obtain your visas yourselves or will Holland America assist you in obtaining these?

 

Thanks for your help

[take us away]

HAL will let you know before you sail but you can also go to the HAL website, click For Booked Guests, then Cruise Preparation, then Passports, Visas and Vaccinations, the Do I Need a Visa and this web page can help you as there is a link to a list of which visas you can get on board (the ship takes care of everything such as for Cambodia) or ones that you need to get before you sail, such as Brazil, India, China. The Visa Service Provider tab also has excellent information. There is a list of specific cruises and required visa on the Home tab but also check the HAL Traveler tab in this website. This is a company recommended by HAL but definitely not required to be used. We use it as a source of information.

 

Hope this helps.

[Mtn2Sea]

For our upcoming cruise that includes Egypt, I contacted our HAL PCC to ask if we needed a visa if we chose an excursion that includes an overnight in Cairo. Because he wasn't sure, he gave me contact info for the visa service company they use. Within a day of sending my email inquiry, I got a response indicating I would not need a special visa for the overnight excursion as long as I was leaving the country on the ship. Apparently, if I was arriving by ship, but leaving by airplane, I would need a special visa. The email included the following info:

 

Visas On Board: If your segment visits Australia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Gambia, Ghana, Indonesia, Egypt, Oman, Jordan, Myanmar, or Senegal, Holland America Line can obtain your on arrival visas on your behalf. Additional charges will be posted to your shipboard account. Please note that some nationalities may not be able to obtain visas on arrival for Australia.

 

The visa is valid for Holland America sponsored shore excursions. Travelers who embark or disembark in Egypt will have to obtain visa prior to leaving the US.

[FrankieSue]

Thanks all.. Just the info that I needed....

[Harry1954]

Thanks all.. Just the info that I needed....

One note of caution .. if you are informed you must obtain visas in advance yourself, be sure to allow sufficient time for them. Some countries visas take considerably longer at times than others .. Brazil is an example where they ran out of some supplies needed to complete the visa and they were taking about three times as long as usual ... naturally, a few folks who waited till the last minute were put into some very stressful moves to get them.

HAL will not allow one to board without the proper visas as one would expect.

harry

[serendipity1499]

When visas are required for some of the ports on your schedule, do you need to obtain your visas yourselves or will Holland America assist you in obtaining these?

 

Thanks for your help

 

I've always handled our visa's for various countries, but it's a lot of work.. In some cases I've used a visa service & in other cases I could apply directly to the Embassy or the Consulate nearest to us...Do not confuse an Embassy with a Consulate, which many people do!

 

There is a recent thread about obtaining visa's on CC.. Check out Posts No. 5-6 & 7..They give excellent input about obtaining visa's..

 

I handled our own visa's when we booked our 68 day South America/Antarctica cruise in Jan 2013..

 

One thing you have to be careful about is do not start too early or too late as some visa's are good for only 90-120 days after issuance..

Edited August 5, 2014 by serendipity1499

[Keith1010]

There are some visas that Holland and no Cruise Line can get you and then there are others they can get you on the ship.

 

Examples of visas that you have to get yourself includes: Mainland China, Brazil and India.

 

Keith

[serendipity1499]

I've always handled our visa's for various countries, but it's a lot of work.. In some cases I've used a visa service & in other cases I could apply directly to the Embassy or the Consulate nearest to us...Do not confuse an Embassy with a Consulate, which many people do!

 

There is a recent thread about obtaining visa's on CC.. Check out Posts No. 5-6 & 7..They give excellent input about obtaining visa's..

 

 

SNIP

SIZE]

 

So sorry..Should have posted the URL for the thread I mentioned:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2017537&highlight=visas

[RMLincoln]

What countries? It makes a big difference. I've used travel pro with excellent service and better prices for Brazil, but did Australia online myself, very easy with acredit card for nomial fee. M

[FrankieSue]

It would be a visa for India. I think for Jordan, we can get the visa onboard.

[Keith1010]

It would be a visa for India. I think for Jordan, we can get the visa onboard.

 

India you need to get yourself.

 

Keith

[RMLincoln]

I recommend doing your own research. Travel visa pro first gave me free info over the phone. There are many other agents too. It's worth their fee, imho, to use the pros. I had inconsistent info from the cruise lines (HAL once, other line once). CC is a great place to start. Sorry, haven't done India but someone else will have more specifics for you. :) m--

[2bout2c]

For our upcoming cruise that includes Egypt, I contacted our HAL PCC to ask if we needed a visa if we chose an excursion that includes an overnight in Cairo. Because he wasn't sure, he gave me contact info for the visa service company they use. Within a day of sending my email inquiry, I got a response indicating I would not need a special visa for the overnight excursion as long as I was leaving the country on the ship. Apparently, if I was arriving by ship, but leaving by airplane, I would need a special visa. The email included the following info:

 

Visas On Board: If your segment visits Australia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Gambia, Ghana, Indonesia, Egypt, Oman, Jordan, Myanmar, or Senegal, Holland America Line can obtain your on arrival visas on your behalf. Additional charges will be posted to your shipboard account. Please note that some nationalities may not be able to obtain visas on arrival for Australia.

 

The visa is valid for Holland America sponsored shore excursions. Travelers who embark or disembark in Egypt will have to obtain visa prior to leaving the US.

VISA ON BOARD.Thank you for this info. Where can I find that in writing. My travel companion must see this.

melissa

[Mtn2Sea]

VISA ON BOARD.Thank you for this info. Where can I find that in writing. My travel companion must see this.

melissa

 

The info regarding visas was in an email sent by a customer service specialist at the visa service company that HAL uses. Their web site is hollandamerica.visacentral.com . You can get basic info from their site. Because my question was not specifically covered, I clicked on the "Contact" link and asked my question.

[Storylady]

As several people mentioned the three countries that you need to get a visa yourself are China, India and Brazil. The rest you can get onboard the ship. Naturally, they will cost slightly more than if you do it yourself. Here is a link from HAL's website of the visas requirements for most of the countries.

 

http://www.hollandamerica.com/assets/Miscellaneous/Holland-America-cruises-ALL-Visas-info-sheet.pdf

 

If you are going to Argentina, you don't need a visa. But you do need to pay a reciprocity fee which you can do electronically.

[Fouremco]

When visas are required for some of the ports on your schedule, do you need to obtain your visas yourselves or will Holland America assist you in obtaining these?

FrankieSue, the visa requirements for those travelling on a Canadian passport are not the same as those on an American passport, although the differences are very minor and not applicable in this case. You might want to check each country in the DFAIT database. http://travel.gc.ca/travelling/advisories This will give you the most up to date information on entry and exit requirements for those travelling on Canadian passports plus very worthwhile travel information specific to the country. Both India and Jordan have current regional travel advisories.

 

Depending upon where you live in Canada, acquiring the visa on you own may be a very simple task and would certainly be my recommendation. This site provides detailed information on foreign consular offices across Canada: http://w03.international.gc.ca/Protocol-Protocole/Consular-Consulats.aspx?lang=eng

 

Enjoy your trip!

[2bout2c]

As several people mentioned the three countries that you need to get a visa yourself are China, India and Brazil. The rest you can get onboard the ship. Naturally, they will cost slightly more than if you do it yourself. Here is a link from HAL's website of the visas requirements for most of the countries.

 

http://www.hollandamerica.com/assets/Miscellaneous/Holland-America-cruises-ALL-Visas-info-sheet.pdf

 

If you are going to Argentina, you don't need a visa. But you do need to pay a reciprocity fee which you can do electronically.

Thank you Sharon, This is what I needed for her to see.

melissa