Worrying needlessly about my Princess-provided Visa?

[BrandiGreg]

For an Australian cruise, my understanding is that Princess is obtaining our Visas, as part of the cruise cost (we are US citizens). We fly off to Australia in a few days. We have received nothing from Princess saying "all is ok". Does the process work wonderfully without any confirmation from Princess, and are we worrying too much? We just don't want to land in Australia and be told our passports show no visa and be sent back home. Thanks

[caribill]

We just don't want to land in Australia and be told our passports show no visa and be sent back home. Thanks

 

That cannot happen.

 

If not arranged, then you will not be allowed to board a flight to Australia.

Edited October 25, 2014 by caribill

[Pam in CA]

The visa is linked electronically to your passport which is double-checked when you check in for your flight. You won't be allowed to board the flight if the visa isn't linked to your passport.

 

I'd have my TA confirm with Princess that the visa is applied to your passport. It should be there as long as you entered your passport info into your Personalizer.

[Dietemann]

For an Australian cruise, my understanding is that Princess is obtaining our Visas, as part of the cruise cost (we are US citizens). We fly off to Australia in a few days. We have received nothing from Princess saying "all is ok". Does the process work wonderfully without any confirmation from Princess, and are we worrying too much? We just don't want to land in Australia and be told our passports show no visa and be sent back home. Thanks

 

You won't be able to board your plane without a Visa, the airline will check that it is attached to your passport at check in (personal experience). Contact Princess or your TA to get a Visa confirmation email from them. We have been in your shoes, no problem getting the Visa through Princess, but I also asked for email confirmation to help me sleep:).

[BrandiGreg]

You won't be able to board your plane without a Visa, the airline will check that it is attached to your passport at check in (personal experience). Contact Princess or your TA to get a Visa confirmation email from them. We have been in your shoes, no problem getting the Visa through Princess, but I also asked for email confirmation to help me sleep:).

OK, I will call them tomorrow. I was hoping I would not have to do that. One would think they would automatically email confirmation to everyone so they don't get calls from people who worry like I do.

[robtulipe]

I don't know what the cost of a ETA (Electronic Travel Authority) for Australia through Princess is or if it's included in the cruise fare but using the following service is very inexpensive and quick. It's only $9.95US or CDN and we got our approval notification email within six hours of applying online which should be done as least 24 hours prior to going. I recommended this service on our Voyager of the Seas Oz Cruise roll call and all who used it got good results.

 

 

http://easyeta.com/

Edited October 25, 2014 by robtulipe

[GUT2407]

Or even direct from Australian Immigration online about $20Aus I think.

[GUT2407]

I'd be shocked if it wasn't all OK though.

[robtulipe]

Another way of checking if you have an current ETA is to do an application with the service provider on the Australian Government Site and if you already have one they will advise you of that and won't allow your application to go through. This service cost is $20AUS if you do use it for your ETA.

Go to https://www.eta.immi.gov.au/ETA/etas.jsp

If I recall correctly the Easy ETA site does allow the application of those with existing or current ETA to go trough which will extend that ETA for 12 months from the new approval date.

One could use the first service to check for a current ETA but not complete the transaction by cancelling when you are required to give your payment information if they allow your application. Then you can use the lower cost EASY ETA service if you do need to apply.

Edited October 25, 2014 by robtulipe

[Holomoku]

On our two cruises to Aust. I did not even think about and all was fine.:) Princess does a very good job with Visas. The only time they could not help so far has been with the Chinese Visa. I personally would not spend extra money for something they will take care of for you, but to put your mind at ease just call Princess to see if it has been taken care of for you.;)

[rpcv77]

We did a NZ/Australia cruise at the beginning of this year. I was a bit nervous too but everything went seamlessly for our group of 8. Have a wonderful cruise.

[sandyoftheseas]

When My DH and I went to Australia 2 years ago we got to the airport about 3 hours early because it always makes me nervous that I will miss the flight. We went to check in and they could not find our electronic visas. They kept looking and finally found them. I would recommend arriving early they told us we could apply on line using our laptop computer right there and would receive our visa within the hour it was expensive I think about $120USD each but, would have been worth it.

[BrandiGreg]

Thanks all for the responses. I finally called Princess saturday saying I wanted confirmation that the visa had been processed. They then emailed me by booking summary saying it was processed (the booking summary on cruise personalizer does not give that information). I would think they could save themselves a lot of trouble by just routinely emailing passengers with this info once it is in place. I know some people fly out there weeks ahead of the cruise and would like to know they are not waiting till close to the cruise date to get the passenger's visa.

[skynight]

Thanks all for the responses. I finally called Princess saturday saying I wanted confirmation that the visa had been processed. They then emailed me by booking summary saying it was processed (the booking summary on cruise personalizer does not give that information). I would think they could save themselves a lot of trouble by just routinely emailing passengers with this info once it is in place. I know some people fly out there weeks ahead of the cruise and would like to know they are not waiting till close to the cruise date to get the passenger's visa.

 

Glad all is ok. But if you want to check even further the Australian Embassy in Washington has a telephone no. that you can call. Provide them with your names and passport numbers and they will confirm that the Electronic visa is there. This is what we did. If not you can go online and do it yourself it is very easy.