Do passengers get turned away for not having a Brazilian visa?

[recyclelady]

Let me start by saying that I will be on the Island Princess in January around South America. I DO have my Brazilian visa!

 

The Princess site says that passengers must have the visa even if they opt to stay onboard in Brazil.

 

My question: Do folks show up at the beginning of the cruise (in this case Fort Lauderdale) without the visa and do they get turned away? Anyone have any first hand knowledge of this?

 

Just curious. It seems that some inexperienced travelers could be caught off guard on this one.

[cherylandtk]

Yes they do. It has been posted here on cruise critic several times.

[smslms]

Yes, they will be denied boarding. The cruise line makes it perfectly clear, however sometimes people don't bother to read the information provided to them.

[fishywood]

Someone is turned away from Every. Single. Cruise. for not having sufficient travel documents. Sad but true.

 

Princess used to regularly do a westbound Transatlantic from Europe to South America in the fall. It had been reported back then that the number of passengers on those sailings denied boarding due to ignoring Visa requirements was often in the hundreds.

 

And every summer there are threads from someone denied boarding on the round trip Seattle cruises to Alaska because they are a citizen of a country that Canada requires a Visa from. Their pleas that they would just stay on the ship during the call in Victoria BC of course fall on deaf ears.

 

The last sentence of the OP's post would be more accurate if 'inexperienced' was replaced with 'ignorant'. And that's the truth.

[paul929207]

Yes, you must have a visa even if you will stay on the ship at all Brazilian ports

[triptolemus]

People seem to have some strange misconception that the ship is a sovereign nation and they can simply remain within its borders wherever it goes. Pro tip: When the ship is at the dock, it and everyone on it has already entered the country.

[luvtheships]

Yes they do. Just ask those 150 pax left in Miami that were denied boarding on the carnival splendor around South America

 

 

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[GeeDunk]

[quote=recyclelady;53908082

My question: Do folks show up at the beginning of the cruise (in this case Fort Lauderdale) without the visa and do they get turned away? Anyone have any first hand knowledge of this?

 

As every one has stated "YES".

 

When I was sailing there, two couples, in front of me, were denied boarding.

[skynight]

Let me start by saying that I will be on the Island Princess in January around South America. I DO have my Brazilian visa!

 

The Princess site says that passengers must have the visa even if they opt to stay onboard in Brazil.

 

My question: Do folks show up at the beginning of the cruise (in this case Fort Lauderdale) without the visa and do they get turned away? Anyone have any first hand knowledge of this?

 

Just curious. It seems that some inexperienced travelers could be caught off guard on this one.

As all others have stated, yes, Princess will not let you board if because of your citizenship a visa or other official documentation is required There are no refunds. When we took a S.A. cruise in February the check in desk specifically looked for the Brazilian visa. Princess also sent us more than one reminder. On your specific cruise Princess will deny boarding in Ft. Lauderdale, but may allow the passenger to fly to Buenos Aires and board there for the reminder of the trip providing they has the proper documentation for the remaining countries to be visited.

Visa requirements vary by your citizenship.

[FolksOfMeans - ByNoMeans]

Yes they do. Just ask those 150 pax left in Miami that were denied boarding on the carnival splendor around South America

 

 

Know a couple who were on that Cruise.

I told them that they needed a Visa.

They did not listen to me.

 

When they found out that they needed one.

They rented a car and drove to Miami.

Got their Visas and then flew to the next Port

and caught the ship.

 

Cost them a few $$$$$

[easyboy]

Those booked on an itinerary that requires a visa are given notifications and required by Princess to acknowledge of being informed, once they initially access their booking's cruise personalizer. Those denied boarding without a visa can not reason out of being uninformed.

 

 

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[Pam in CA]

I think every single cruise that is scheduled to stop in Brazil has several passengers denied boarding because they felt that the visa requirements didn't apply to them.

 

I've taken Princess charters to Manaus and both times, a substantial number of people weren't able to board the plane because of no visa. Both times, rush taxis to Miami to the Brazilian consulate and lots of $$$$ spent to fly to Brazil.

[satxdiver]

This past spring we were on the BA to FLL cruise with stops in Rio and Salvador. When we checked in in BA, Princess took our passports and did not return them until we had left our last Brazilian port of Salvador. The Brazilian authorities came aboard when we arrived in Rio and checked all our passports before they would allow the ship to start letting pax off for tours. They were very slow and it was about 2 hours before we could leave the ship. The Brazilian visa was required for all US pax and other citizens. As has already been stated don't follow the Brazilian law at your own peril.

[vickie_bernie]

Yup - we did the 49 South America a few years ago. All passengers needed the Brazilian Visa and the Argentinian visa (but that was easy to get once on board and those that did not have it by Brazil were going to be put off - needless to say they got that one).

 

But at check in we witness quite a few people being denied for not having Brazilian Visa.

 

Later we spoke with the Customer service director and they said there was around 40 Americans who were denied and they had to travel to Miami to get their visa. They then flew to Barbados to meet the ship a few days later.

 

There was also one Canadian couple who were denied for not having one and they had to fly home to Montreal and either get it and meet the ship or not get it and meet the ship in Uruguay. Not sure what they ended up doing. And note insurance does not cover this error.

 

Costly mistake.

[USN59-79]

A few years ago we booked a Carnival 49 day cruise around South America starting at Ft Lauderdale. That was the first time that Carnival had cruised in South America. We were told that we didn't need Brazil visas as the ship was only stopping there. My daughter suggested we log into Cruise Critic and maybe converse with some of the people on our cruise. I did, and the conversation was about Brazilian visas. I asked if I really needed one and the reply was "You won't get on the ship if you don't have one." I contacted Carnival and they said "Sorry, we made a mistake. We suggest you contact their visa contractor to get the visa." I contacted my TA and she said she made a mistake by trusting Carnival and suggested we send our passports to a company in Miami and she would pick up the extra cost, as this was ten days before the cruise. We got the visas in time and there were about 200 passengers that were denied boarding in Ft Lauderdale. They all went to Miami and got an expedited visa and flew to Barbados to rejoin the ship. That was when I realized how useful Cruise Critic was and have used it since then.

[Thrak]

Yup - we did the 49 South America a few years ago. All passengers needed the Brazilian Visa and the Argentinian visa (but that was easy to get once on board and those that did not have it by Brazil were going to be put off - needless to say they got that one).

 

But at check in we witness quite a few people being denied for not having Brazilian Visa.

 

Later we spoke with the Customer service director and they said there was around 40 Americans who were denied and they had to travel to Miami to get their visa. They then flew to Barbados to meet the ship a few days later.

 

There was also one Canadian couple who were denied for not having one and they had to fly home to Montreal and either get it and meet the ship or not get it and meet the ship in Uruguay. Not sure what they ended up doing. And note insurance does not cover this error.

 

Costly mistake.

 

Please correct me if I'm wrong but I believe Argentina has dropped the visa requirements for US citizens.

[Level six]

I am glad Princess follows this rule. When I sailed on NCL last fall, we all needed Indian Visa's (costly and difficult). Then we got on board, over 50 people did not have Visa's(so many that a notice was placed in every cabin asking those without visa's to come to the service desk at a certain time) and NCL let them board, plus made special accommodation for these "non rule followers" and had special excursions so that they could pay NCL to take a tour without a visa, for a mire $100, not like the rest of us who paid over $160 each and got no tours. Plus the amount of time doing the visa application perfectly, sending our passport, etc. I was mad that this accommodation was made because it just teaches people to not pay attention to rules (and laws) and makes the rule followers think???? Maybe next time I won't do the right thing too. NCL is no Princess, that is for sure. All those that did not have Visa's should have been denied boarding and left in Dubai, IMHO.

 

BUT, that is why I haven't gone to Brazil yet, too lazy to get a visa, haha. Have fun.

[paul929207]

Thrak,

Currently US citizens do not have to pay the 'reciprocal' fee that has been charged at times in the past

[skynight]

Please correct me if I'm wrong but I believe Argentina has dropped the visa requirements for US citizens.

In recent past Argentina required that U.S. passport holders pay a Reciprocity Fee on line before they entered the country. This was waved for a temporary period when President Obama visited the new President of Argentina which I think was in the spring of 2016. The waiver became permanent sometime in the fall of 2016. This was not really a visa.

[vickie_bernie]

Please correct me if I'm wrong but I believe Argentina has dropped the visa requirements for US citizens.

 

Yes. For US citizens it has been waived. But i am Canadian and we still need it. ;)

 

But back when we did the SA trip everyone needed it.

[west coast cruiser]

Let me start by saying that I will be on the Island Princess in January around South America. I DO have my Brazilian visa!

 

The Princess site says that passengers must have the visa even if they opt to stay onboard in Brazil.

 

My question: Do folks show up at the beginning of the cruise (in this case Fort Lauderdale) without the visa and do they get turned away? Anyone have any first hand knowledge of this?

 

Just curious. It seems that some inexperienced travelers could be caught off guard on this one.

 

I was on this cruise a couple of years ago and about 6 people were turned away. Brazil doe not care if you are just staying on the ship . You MUST have a Visa.

[caribill]

We were on one Princess Brazil itinerary that also required a yellow fever vaccination for entry into Brazil.

 

A number of passengers had to get the inoculation the day of the cruise after initially being denied boarding.

[GeeDunk]

We were on one Princess Brazil itinerary that also required a yellow fever vaccination for entry into Brazil.

 

A number of passengers had to get the inoculation the day of the cruise after initially being denied boarding.

 

That cruise, a yellow fever shot, was required since we were supposed to stop

at Devil's Island.

[capriccio]

We were on one Princess Brazil itinerary that also required a yellow fever vaccination for entry into Brazil.

 

A number of passengers had to get the inoculation the day of the cruise after initially being denied boarding.

 

That cruise, a yellow fever shot, was required since we were supposed to stop

at Devil's Island.

 

We did that Amazon cruise in 2010 (too bad Princess doesn't offer it anymore; it was fascinating) and we were told that the yellow fever shot was a requirement of the Brazilian government because French Guyana (including Devil's Island) had been identified as a country with cases of yellow fever. According to the World Health Organization (http://www.who.int/ith/2017-ith-country-list.pdf) in 2017 only travelers from Angola and Democratic Republic of the Congo over 9 months of age must show a yellow fever vaccination certificate upon entry to Brazil.

[satxdiver]

It has always amazed me at my fellow US citizens that feel they don't need a passport or don't need a visa etc. All cruise ships must meet international and local laws. Brazil says that everyone entering their country and that means in their harbor must have a visa and they dictate the rules to get that visa. Argentina and Chile at one time required an entry fee for US citizens but luckily it was easy to pay it. Now both countries have entered an agreement with the US that their citizens can visit without the fee. There are no exceptions and Princess is required by law to comply. Incidentally Brazilian requirements mirror what the US requires of Brazilians visiting the US.