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1 day in Shanghai


janet1970
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We arrive in Shanghai for 1 day on the 25th of march 2018 from the msc splendia and was wondering if we required a visa as i was have heard different story's can anyone help me and give me the correct information its a Bristish passport i have please thanks

kind regards

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For correct and up-to-date information, I would recommend the website of the Chinese embassy.

 

I read the following but can't find the source any more: To encourage cruise companies to use the Shanghai port, travelers are exempt from needing a visa for travel in/to listed port cities after they have arrived in the Shanghai cruise port. Shanghai is on the list of exemptions.

 

We plan to book a cruise that arrives in Tianjin first which means we probably have to get a visa. Shanghai is our second port.

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I am totally confused about the visa. Our Diamond cruise has 1 stop for 1 day in China. Princess says visa is required, but the city is Xiamen which is on the list for not needing a visa for a 24 visit. It would be nice to know and expensive to get a visa if not necessary but just required by Princess

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go onto the china 72 hour free visa web site and it will give you all the information you will need and you can give this to your cruise company and if you need the links from the british embassy i can give you them as well please let me know if this helps you

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go onto the china 72 hour free visa web site and it will give you all the information you will need and you can give this to your cruise company and if you need the links from the british embassy i can give you them as well please let me know if this helps you

 

I know I could google it but do you have the link for the china 72 hour free visa website?

 

Thank you so much.

 

Keith

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  • 4 weeks later...
I am totally confused about the visa. Our Diamond cruise has 1 stop for 1 day in China. Princess says visa is required, but the city is Xiamen which is on the list for not needing a visa for a 24 visit. It would be nice to know and expensive to get a visa if not necessary but just required by Princess

 

 

 

We had/have the same experience on P&O UK where they say you have to book a ship’s tour or buy a visa BUT I found in the fine print that you didn’t need a visa if you were a group of 2 or more booked in a tour with an “approved” tour company. Apparently they do all the paper work for the “free” visa. I have printed out all the information for the ship so fingers crossed for when we are in Shanghai in about 2 weeks!

 

 

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We had/have the same experience on P&O UK where they say you have to book a ship’s tour or buy a visa BUT I found in the fine print that you didn’t need a visa if you were a group of 2 or more booked in a tour with an “approved” tour company. Apparently they do all the paper work for the “free” visa. I have printed out all the information for the ship so fingers crossed for when we are in Shanghai in about 2 weeks!

 

 

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I hope it works for you and would really appreciate a post here when you return. Thanks

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  • 3 weeks later...

Ok.... home now. Shanghai was nearly a disaster. We were on P&O Arcadia. In our booking info (from P&O) it stated that you could only get off the ship if.... you had a visa (which was a paid visa and obtained before boarding costing about $100aud) OR you were booked onto a ship’s tour (where they apply for the free transit visa on your behalf) OR you were booked onto a private tour with 2 or more people through an accredited tour company.

We used the last option and booked a private tour for 7 people through an accredited tour company. I had to email copies of our passports to them so that they could apply for our free transit visa. The tour company reassured us that there would be no problem as all we had to do was to advise them at immigration and our names would be on a list... it was not that simple.

When we boarded I made an appointment to discuss how it was going to work with the Asst Admin Manager. He checked our documents which had been sent from the tour company and he advised that there would not be an issue. Great we thought. Other passengers were doing the same thing but only had copies of their tour tickets with no supporting evidence from Immigration which we had. The day before we arrived in Shanghai all passengers that were “qualified”to get off the ship we’re advised to pick up their passports from reception. Well none of our groups passports were there and we were told NO you don’t qualify! So back to square one and the admin manager who coincidentally was talking to the immigration officials who were already on the ship (they had boarded at our last port). In fact they were talking about our group as they were thoroughly examining our documents so good timing for us. After some deliberation they said NO can’t get off.... this was immigration and not the ship. After much discussion they rang and spoke to the tour company who emailed them more information. We were still not given a definite answer. At midnight the night before our arrival we were advised to come to reception in the morning ready to get off the ship.

In the morning we were told still not approved and immigration were holding all our passports. We were then escorted off the ship by the manager to a holding area before going through the immigration gates where we stood for around 45 minutes until we finally got the approval and were given our passports! Phew!!!! Only an hour late to meet our guide but she was aware of the issues as she had to provide further documentation on the morning. For the length of time, hassle and uncertainty (and not to mention stress!!) I would in future book a ship’s tour or if you are in China for more than one day get your own visa. It certainly was not the ship’s fault it was the Chinese Immigration officials. We did have a great day. We were the only private tour people that were allowed off the ship as no one else had any supporting documentation that they had been approved for the free transit visa. There were a lot of very unhappy people and we could have easily been one of them if we were no so persistent. I hope this helps....

 

 

 

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I am totally confused about the visa. Our Diamond cruise has 1 stop for 1 day in China. Princess says visa is required, but the city is Xiamen which is on the list for not needing a visa for a 24 visit. It would be nice to know and expensive to get a visa if not necessary but just required by Princess

 

My advice is not to guess on this. Contact Princess and ask for documentation in writing about what you need.

 

If Princess wants you to have a visa, and you don't have one, you might not even be able to board your ship.

 

And just an FYI, a couple of years ago I needed a China visa in a hurry. Cost was about $350.

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Yes, we will most likely get the visas. I just don't like the idea of spending over $500 for 2 if we do not need them. I plan to wait a few more months and then check with Princess again. Would not be much fun standing on the dock in Yokohama waving good-bye to the Diamond Princess.

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If it is just Shanghai you are visiting the rules have only just changed recently and you don’t need a visa if cruising in and out on the same day and same ship. I would check with your cruise line.

 

 

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No, it is not Shanghai. The cruise is a round trip from Tokyo. Only 1 port stop is in China and that city is Xiamen. The travel China Guide website and a few other sites say we do not need a visa if transiting thru by plane, train or cruise ship for under 24 hours. However, those are just travel sites and not official. The Princess website says a visa is needed. It is more important to us to be allowed on the ship than to be refused boarding. The frustrating part is that we had Chinese Visas in our last passports. We did not keep the passports after replacing them with new passports. We never expected to return to China and if they were just double entry, they might not still be good anyway. It is less expensive to pay a passport service than to travel from Florida to Texas to get the passports in person.

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Our cruise is not until next year. I do not understand the reasoning behind not getting a visa. We have already committed so much money for this cruise, not including travel expenses, hotels and tours. A couple hunderd more is well worth the peace of mind rather than guessing if we will need it or not.

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Our cruise is not until next year. I do not understand the reasoning behind not getting a visa. We have already committed so much money for this cruise, not including travel expenses, hotels and tours. A couple hunderd more is well worth the peace of mind rather than guessing if we will need it or not.

As it gets closer and the ship policy still hasn't changed, I agree with you 100% about getting the visa.

 

I wonder if they have their policy because of concern that in a heartbeat China reverses the ruling and everyone must have a visa?

 

 

It would leave a LOT of people in trouble.

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Our cruise is not until next year. I do not understand the reasoning behind not getting a visa. We have already committed so much money for this cruise, not including travel expenses, hotels and tours. A couple hunderd more is well worth the peace of mind rather than guessing if we will need it or not.

 

I agree. Totally worth it for a peace of mind with a 10-year, multiple-entry visa that they now issue.

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No, it is not Shanghai. The cruise is a round trip from Tokyo. Only 1 port stop is in China and that city is Xiamen. The travel China Guide website and a few other sites say we do not need a visa if transiting thru by plane, train or cruise ship for under 24 hours. However, those are just travel sites and not official. The Princess website says a visa is needed. It is more important to us to be allowed on the ship than to be refused boarding. The frustrating part is that we had Chinese Visas in our last passports. We did not keep the passports after replacing them with new passports. We never expected to return to China and if they were just double entry, they might not still be good anyway. It is less expensive to pay a passport service than to travel from Florida to Texas to get the passports in person.

 

 

 

You will need a visa as Shanghai is the only port that is exempt from visas.

 

 

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