Indian Visa for cruise - Beware!

[G.M.T.]

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.

The E-Visa is not valid for all cruise ports, e.g. it cannot be used in Mumbai.

[G.M.T.]

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!

 

 

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Cruising to Russia and India and the required visas are totally games and cannot be compared.

 

How many different nationalities are on a cruise, too many for Celebrity to cover as visa reuirements can chan ge overnight. Each country will have it's own reciprical visa arrangements with India. So the onus is on the passengerf to check their visa requiements. Time people started to take care of their own responsibilities.

[sanger727]

While it is the cruisers responsibility to figure out what is needed in terms of visas, I appreciate hearing about the visa processes for different countries. I know from a family member that Brazile is difficult also. While India wasn’t any place we were going imminently, China was on a list for an Asia trip in 2019. Thanks to all for their experiences.

 

 

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[diesel1973]

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.

Did a land tour in China last year. Most interesting country I've been to.No problems obtaining Visa at Consulate and no problems during tour.Will be returning again next year!

[tinaincc]

Interesting the link I attached allows for arrival by sea.

 

 

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[CYNSport]

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!

 

 

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We sailed the Baltic with Celebrity and got this same info from them. Russia is easy and the cruise companies use the Visa situation to push their own excursions. Would be interested to know how helpful Oceania is with countries like India that are notoriously difficult and give no special favor to ship excursions.

[excitedofharpenden]

Interesting the link I attached allows for arrival by sea.

 

 

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Trust us. You need a multi-entry visa for a cruise. An e-visa is no good. This year is the fifth time I’ve had to do an Indian visa for a cruise. The e-visa has been introduced since my first cruise to India, but it doesn’t provide the necessary authorisation. Not yet at least.

 

Phil

[pretzlaff]

The eVisa webpage linked in post #17 is a good example of the frustration I found with the process.

 

Up pops the webpage and you have to fill in some basic information, but then attest that you have everything needed and have read the application instructions. The problem is that there is no link on that page to the list of needed things or the instructions.

 

I found many confusing things like this while attempting the process.

[ECCruise]

Can't figure why you weren't informed.

 

We did this sailing in April and not only is the information for the visa attached to the reservation online, Celebrity informed us about it by email months and months before sailing and our TA also informed us about the requirement.

 

And for those who keep saying "e-visa, e-visa" if you arrive with one you will have 2 choices: 1) you cannot board the ship or 2) if you somehow are allowed to board you will never see land in an Indian port.

[gek]

I've done this twice in the last 18 months and it was a straightforward process. Yes, the website is confusing but the questions aren't really all that hard and I doubt they pay too much attention to most of them. The price is a fraction of the cost of your cruise and definitely worth the money for such an amazing country. A couple of things which have already been said but need to be stressed:

 

1) An e-visa is NOT valid for arrival in Mumbai and probably other ports too

2) A multi entry visa is required for cruises

3) Make sure you have 6 months validity on your passport from the date of departure from India

4) The photo required is not standard passport size

 

The whole process this time took me less than a week.

[Merly]

I've done this twice in the last 18 months and it was a straightforward process. Yes, the website is confusing but the questions aren't really all that hard and I doubt they pay too much attention to most of them. The price is a fraction of the cost of your cruise and definitely worth the money for such an amazing country. A couple of things which have already been said but need to be stressed:

 

1) An e-visa is NOT valid for arrival in Mumbai and probably other ports too

2) A multi entry visa is required for cruises

3) Make sure you have 6 months validity on your passport from the date of departure from India

4) The photo required is not standard passport size

 

The whole process this time took me less than a week.

 

I agree the questions aren’t difficult. The bit I had a real problem with was the photo and passport. After scanning scanning the passports in, it was getting them to the right size and in the right format. Then taking the photo was easy but again my difficulty was format and size. I wanted to throw my computer out of the window!

 

When I did eventually get it I realised it wasn’t that I was doing something wrong it was the programme that didn’t populate properly. I got one done, then had the same issues for DH and had to keep coming out of the application and going back in until it downloaded properly.

DH just sat there saying “it can’t be that difficult “. Grrrr

[gek]

I agree the questions aren’t difficult. The bit I had a real problem with was the photo and passport. After scanning scanning the passports in, it was getting them to the right size and in the right format. Then taking the photo was easy but again my difficulty was format and size. I wanted to throw my computer out of the window!

 

When I did eventually get it I realised it wasn’t that I was doing something wrong it was the programme that didn’t populate properly. I got one done, then had the same issues for DH and had to keep coming out of the application and going back in until it downloaded properly.

DH just sat there saying “it can’t be that difficult “. Grrrr

 

I know your frustration. I had a similar problem with passport photos a few years ago when I decided to take and print them myself.

 

However, I found a website called visafoto that actually allows you to upload photos then crop and resize them based on the visa or passport requirements of the country you specify. Then you can either pay to download a photo (about US$5), or in my case I just used the sample photo to help me get it right in my own editing software.

[kobecat]

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!

 

 

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That doesn't sound like Oceania was looking after you. They were giving you incorrect information that you needed to do their tour if you didn't want the difficulty of getting a visa.

 

 

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[stump300]

Thanks for the warning about visas being required in some countries! As you can tell from from my signature, we have not traveled to far from US. But, we are starting to think about expanding our cruise itineraries and will keep the visas requirements in mind before booking for sure.

 

I will say that the one Med cruise we did in 2009, Princess took care (while we were onboard the cruise) of the visa we needed to get off in Egypt and tour the pyramids. Guess we got lucky!

 

 

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[Mr. Click]

Diesel 1973, don't get me wrong, we loved our time in China, it was the air polution and the governmental interference that we did not love. Two trips to the visa office in NYC from our NJ home would cost well over $100 so we opted to use a visa service that cost $69 per person plus the Fedex fees. They did it quickly but in the end our two visas cost something around $500. Once we got to China the games were absurded. Leaving Korea for Tianjing we picked up Chinese immigration officers who were onboard for two days so we could "save time" when we arrived. We docked at 6am, we were not allowed off the ship until about 10:30am, two hours after we were scheduled to depart so we lost two hours of hour day and a dock full of guides had to sit and wait and waste time. Once off the ship and on the road to Beijing we, and everyone else on the road had to pull off the highway and stop for a credential check and enjoy the presences of armed guards. Checking into our hotel in Beijing took almost a hour for "paper work". We were a group of 5 couples traveling with a licensed tour company/guide. When we were ready to sail from Tianjin after our three day port visit and to Shanghai for our final stop the ship was required, at the last minute, to sail back to Korea and make an "official port visit" before going on to Shanghai. The captain was not really happy about a 160 nautical mile detour and neither we were. We still got into Shanghai on time thanks to the captain's hard work pushing the ship and again, long delays getting off the ship. Checking into our hotel in Shanghai again took forever because they "could not find" our reservations. Three couples, we all had hard copies of our bookings but the hotel could not find them until the next day and had to put large holds on our credit cards "just in case".......DW who has some asthema issues was sick for almost two months....so no, we won't be going back. As interesting as it was we would not deal with it again.

 

As ofthers have said, if you are traveling to foreign countries, it is your responsibility to make sure of the various visa requirements. Check it out before you book, it makes life easier.

[diesel1973]

I'm wondering if it was the tour agency's fault. I went on a guided 10 day land tour and our guide took care of everything,hotel res.,flights between cities,entering tour sites,customs,etc.She was an angel. Will be doing a longer tour next Sept.(best time to go,no pollution)with same tour agency. Worst time to go is winter months as they burn plenty of coal.Can't wait! Sorry your trip was not very enjoyable.

[Mr. Click]

The trip was pretty amazing, we saw so much and experienced so many great things. We are both glad we went but going back is not in the cards for us. Again, personal choice. We are doing Norway this spring, the eastern Med in the fall. No visas needs, no bad air to deal with and no crazy governments to put up with, as of now anyway.... Part of both of us would love to go back and see more of China, especially the Great Wall since the day we went it was raining and foggy. Visibility was about 100 yards. My pictures are very different from most you see.....

[Easterncommand]

Getting back to the Indian visa, I am currently on board Constellation and looking forward to docking in Goa tomorrow. We have some passengers on board who have not bothered with a visa and some who came aboard with the E visa. These are looking at a lenthy delay in Goa the first port of call trying to sought out visas so hat they can land in the next port of Mumbai. So be warned nothing other than a full visa is acceptable when entering on a cruise ship, as someone has already stated it is a small price to pay in regard to the cost of the cruise.

Harry

[adrimon]

It is notonly a question of price, but also a “how to” issue. In the Indian visa officea paper says “do not make any reservations before you have got your visa”

 

But, themost important document you have to attach here with your visa request is……..thereservation proof.

[icsys]

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.

Hi Tayavaree I know you have purchased full tourist visas but do please come back and let us know how the process went in Goa and Mumbai for those passengers with an e-visa.

 

The Indian Government have relaxed the rules for cruise passengers with e-visas and added Mumbai as a valid sea port. http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=175113

Press release states that as of the 31st of December, cruise passengers with an e-visa will be exempt from biometric collection simplifying the immigration clearance procedure at the first port of call.

 

This has been one of the main reasons cruise lines have been insisting on full visas even when the e-visa (valid for two ports of call) would be perfectly acceptable.

[emmas gran]

Reply for ICSY

 

See page 8 post from Doc Mom an Australian lady and posts from someone on Constellation

Liz

[icsys]

Hi emmas gran, I can't see page 8 as this thread only has 3 pages.

 

Getting back to the Indian visa, I am currently on board Constellation and looking forward to docking in Goa tomorrow. We have some passengers on board who have not bothered with a visa and some who came aboard with the E visa. These are looking at a lenthy delay in Goa the first port of call trying to sought out visas so hat they can land in the next port of Mumbai. So be warned nothing other than a full visa is acceptable when entering on a cruise ship, as someone has already stated it is a small price to pay in regard to the cost of the cruise.

Harry

 

Do please come back and let us know how the e-visa situation went for those passengers with e-visas.

 

The e-visa is perfectly acceptable provided the cruise has just two ports of call and they are designated sea ports.

It is the cruise lines who are saying only a paper visa is acceptable.

 

However...... if you are visiting a port that is NOT a designated sea port or visiting three or more, then you WILL need a full visa.

Edited January 8, 2018 by icsys

[smtcan]

Hi emmas gran, I can't see page 8 as this thread only has 3 pages.

 

 

 

Do please come back and let us know how the e-visa situation went for those passengers with e-visas.

 

The e-visa is perfectly acceptable provided the cruise has just two ports of call and they are designated sea ports.

It is the cruise lines who are saying only a paper visa is acceptable.

However...... if you are visiting a port that is NOT a designated sea port or visiting three or more, then you WILL need a full visa.

 

Their ships, their rules!!

We have travelled to China three times and cruised in India once. The problems encountered with Indian visas made China look very simple and we live close to a large city so could hand deliver our paperwork in both cases.

 

For China we filled out the forms online, printed them and took them to the office at a preselected time. The clerk checked the forms and gave us a receipt with a date to collect the passports with visas. Total time ten minutes. Collection time 5 minutes.

 

India - fill out the form with details of parents places of birth, then take them to the office and wait over an hour to see an officer. Problem - DH's father was born in India to British parents and registered as British. Official was convinced he must be Indian, so a whole different form would be needed. Told us to check with FIL - difficult since he died 25 years ago! Eventually persuaded him that DH would never attempt to claim Indian citizenship and he accepted the original form. Waited another hour to see a second officr and have photos taken since ours' didn't meet their requirements, background was too light and my white hair wasn't clear enough. Eventually had the forms accepted and they wanted to charge us $15 each to courier the passports back to us. We said we wanted to collect them , which seemed to upset their system, but eventually they agreed.

 

There was another issue when getting off the ship in the Indian ports. Everyone had to have a face to face meeting with an immigration officer, so leaving the ship took up to two hours.

 

After all that, I am glad we visited India. To go so far and run the risk of not being able to leave the ship seems foolish. Yes, it was time consuming and expensive, but it was probably our only chance to experience India, so well worth it.

Sheila

[icsys]

Of course it is "their ships, their rules!!" I never said otherwise, but it does not deter from the fact that.....

The e-visa is perfectly acceptable to enter India provided the cruise has just two ports of call and they are designated sea ports.

[Hlitner]

Of course it is "their ships, their rules!!" I never said otherwise, but it does not deter from the fact that.....

The e-visa is perfectly acceptable to enter India provided the cruise has just two ports of call and they are designated sea ports.

 

Here is a paste from the current India E-Visa web site:

• e-Visa is valid for entry through 25 designated Airports (i.e. Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bagdogra, Bengaluru, Calicut, Chennai, Chandigarh,Cochin, Coimbatore, Delhi, Gaya, Goa, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mangalore, Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune, Tiruchirapalli, Trivandrum, Varanasi & Vishakhapatnam) and 3 designated seaports (i.e. Cochin, Goa, Mangalore). However, the foreigner can take exit from any of the authorized Immigration Check Posts (ICPs) in India.
  

Note that the last item mentioned is that its only valid for 3 designated seaports...none of which is Mumbai. Most cruises do stop in Mumbai. Now perhaps you do know better then the Indian government,,,,but we are skeptical.

Hank