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Indian Visa for cruise - Beware!

Tayavaree

By Tayavaree,
in Celebrity Cruises

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Tayavaree

Tayavaree

Posted
Posted

We have booked the Constellation to middle east and india leaving on 1st January 2018 and were really excited about our first trip on Celebrity and have done 16 cruises before-hand (last ones on Viking Ocean). However, only after booking and paying, were we made aware by Celebrity of the critical process, cost and time required to get a multiple entry Indian Tourist Visa required to cruise to India. It took my wife and I (both Professionals) about 5 hours on the computer filling out our on-line applications (not straightforward at all - requiring both parents details - dead or alive and a list of all the countries you have visited over the last ten years), then printing these out, together with passports, proof of on-line payment (£122 each), additional passport photos, and sending by Royal mail special delivery, with return special delivery envelopes included. We were not told to include the cruise itinerary, and our applications were initially rejected for not including this information, and our photos having a light grey background and not a white one! We resent with professionally verified Indian Visa photos and the cruise itinerary and the good news is we have our passports back with visas included so we are ready to go - however it has been a stressful couple of weeks and cost us a total £305 with courier fees. We probably would not have booked this cruise if we had been aware of this beforehand.

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evanderm

evanderm

Posted
Posted (edited)

Unfortunate, but not Celebrity's fault (nor their obligation, IMO, to inform you). As with any travel to a foreign country the onus is on the traveller and not the carrier to inform themselves of the visa requirements and obligations based on their own circumstances. Best to check (if you are British Citizens) with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice for all countries you intend on visiting, and then again with the embassies/consulates before making any plans.

 

Hope it hasn't put a dampener on your holiday.

Edited by evanderm
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bEwAbG

bEwAbG

Posted
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Visa requirements are set by the country. Always best to look up the entry requirements before you decide to go anywhere. This is regardless of the travel provider. Cruise Critic is a good resource for this info specifically for cruises, if you search for it.

 

The Celebrity UK site also has a whole section dedicated to visas (that you may need one) in their booking terms. There is even this specific blurb:

 

India - A visa is required prior to departure for entry to India. Please supply your full itinerary as this will dictate the type of visa you require. Ocean cruise liner passengers are not eligible for transit or eVisas. VisaCentral can assist with the processing of your visa.

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mom says Excellent Advice! Rare

mom says

Posted
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So, basically, you didn't do your due diligence before you booked your cruise. Lesson learned. In the future you'll know to check out the entry requirements for any country you are considering visiting. Or use a travel agent, who should advise you of such requirements.

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LiveToCruise99

LiveToCruise99

Posted
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Thank you for this. Often we assume (sometimes wrongly) that the process will be easy. I for one would not have thought that it would be such a hassle or so expensive. I've been to Russia and Turkey by cruise ship and those were easy. And I do realize each country can set it's own rules. India was one of the countries I would like to visit along with some others in the middle east. This has been a good warning and reminder for me to check carefully so I consider the extra costs and hassle when making my cruising decision.

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downsmead

downsmead

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We have been through the process twice. Once for a land trip to Goa, before the e-visa, and again last year for the India and Sri Lanka cruise. Yes it does work out expensive but worth it for the trip. We got 1 year visa (same price) and were planning on doing a land trip this year (Taj Mahal etc) and then I realised that my passport would not have 6 months left at the time of the trip 😢. At least flying in you only require the e-visa and so am planning on the trip sometime next year.

At least Celebrity sorted out all the other visas for the cruise for which we were grateful.

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excitedofharpenden

excitedofharpenden

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I’d agree that the VFS Indian visa website is difficult to navigate because the information is all over the place. However once you gather all the correct information together the visa itself comes back very quickly. Typically I’ve had it returned in a week. Yes, it’s expensive.

 

The guest has to take responsibility for finding out what travel documentation is required. Going to places like India especially. Have you thought about vaccinations? This should have been part of the thought process too when you booked.

 

Phil

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Fouremco

Fouremco

Posted
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I think that any traveller contemplating a first visit to a foreign country would be wise to determine the entry requirements before committing to the travel. Had the OP and/or his wife not been issued a visa, it would have been a very expensive lesson. I can recall a thread a year or two ago where a foreign student studying in the US purchased an Alaska cruise but was refused boarding in Seattle as he had erroneously assumed that his US student visa would allow him entry to Canada. I'm glad to see that the OP of this current thread was able to report a happier ending.

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delondin

delondin

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No need to worry - India now has e-visa which takes minutes and is all online. Yes, it can be $100 but it is not a cumbersome process at all.

I'm not sure about other countries, but from the uk the e visa is not valid for the Celebrity cruises.

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4774Papa

4774Papa

Posted
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We have been to Russia, China and India, which have extensive visa application processes. The Indian application was the biggest pain in the aaa of them all. Also, going through immigration was slow and the ladies on the ship, just were in no hurry to allow us into their country.

 

It makes going back to India a question.

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tinaincc

tinaincc

Posted
Posted
We have been to Russia, China and India, which have extensive visa application processes. The Indian application was the biggest pain in the aaa of them all. Also, going through immigration was slow and the ladies on the ship, just were in no hurry to allow us into their country.

 

It makes going back to India a question.

 

Agreed however I travel to India multiple times per year and just in the last 9 months have they completely upgraded the process.

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funnybunny70

funnybunny70

Posted
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Not sure I understand ... see this link, UK ,Canada and US are available for tourist visa. I just did this from the UK for a friend.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

 

 

An evisa is only acceptable if you fly into India not by sea and also sometimes Mumbai don’t except it. You need the full tourist visa!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

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Mr. Click

Mr. Click

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Wow, glad I am not planning on going to India....China was bad enough. $US140 each for the visa, at least two trips to the "local" consulate are required and once you get your visas the immigration folks love to mess with you big time every chance they get. Even though we now have 10 year, multipule entry visas it is not likely we would ever go back to China. Celebrity was great and while China was fascinating the Chinese government makes me want to go else were with my money.

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PhD-iva

PhD-iva

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Unfortunate, but not Celebrity's fault (nor their obligation, IMO, to inform you). As with any travel to a foreign country the onus is on the traveller and not the carrier to inform themselves of the visa requirements and obligations based on their own circumstances.

 

 

I disagree that Celebrity does enough to inform potential passengers of visa requirements. I will contrast Celebrity’s uncaring, unhelpful process with Oceania. We booked a Baltic cruise for June 2016 on the Marina. There were continual notices when booking excursions (no visa needed if you stay onboard the ship) regarding the difficulties of getting a visa unless we let Oceania do the job for us. In the end we went w a third-party tour group (SPG tours) and they handled the visas for us. But we knew in advance because Oceania had multiple notices.

 

I will cruise again w Celebrity, but they are not setting the standard for customer care!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

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CYNSport

CYNSport

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No need to worry - India now has e-visa which takes minutes and is all online. Yes, it can be $100 but it is not a cumbersome process at all.

 

Obviously you haven’t cruised to India or you would know that the multi entry Visa is required and the E Visa isn’t accepted. We sailed to India in 2016 and got the Mutli Entry Visa as required. A small expense relative to the cost of our trip.

 

You provide a cautionary tale about getting information from Cruise Critic posts.

 

 

Everyone should do their own research before going to other countries.

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Cruise Junky

Cruise Junky

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Posted
Not sure I understand ... see this link, UK ,Canada and US are available for tourist visa. I just did this from the UK for a friend.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

If they’re going on a cruise you need to let them know ASAP they can’t board with an EVisa.

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