Vietnam Visa

[vegaszip]

It is my understanding that US citizens need a visa to enter Vietnam. We will be on the Quest for her Hong Kong to Singapore journey on October 16th. Our first port of entry will be Halong Bay for Hanoi. I know that Visas on arrival are available when entering Vietnam at an airport. I have been told that we will be able to obtain visas through Azamara before landing at Halong Bay and that the fees will be added to our shipboard account. Can anyone confirm this procedure. Thanks in advance. Eliot Zipser 

[hubofhockey]

I am on that cruise as well and can't confirm anything, but this is what is on the Azamara website, so I am not concerned about getting the visa before we disembark at Halong Bay.  

 

Vietnam: Ship will assist guests required to secure this visa. The ship will charge a one time nominal fee to the guests onboard account for guests securing a visa onboard. This visa fee includes a small processing charge by our local representative.

[vegaszip]

That should settle the issue. Thanks

[roaming_kiwi58]

We did Hong Kong to Singapore with Azamara a couple of years ago. Azamara attended to the visas for Vietnam. We were given a landing card which was stamped at the first Vietnamese port, then sometimes checked, or not, at each subsequent port. The cost charged to our onboard accounts was minimal. 

Enjoy your cruise!

[Redtravel]

We did Vietnam last year. We were confused about the visas. Americans and Canadians have different requirements than other nationalities. Americans and Canadian can get Vietnam visas on the ship. Other nationalities must obtain visas before embarkation. We had to bring a photo copy of the photo page from our passports.  It was returned to us stamped with a Vietnam visa before our first stop. The fee was minimal and charged to our sea pass. If you stay overnight in Hanoi, the visa was more expensive. It was a small fee. Top fee was less than $25 usd. Relax.  Vietnam is very interesting. Take ship tours.  Enjoy!

[late2cruisin]

We were on a Vietnam itinerary about a year and a half ago. Azamara took care of the visa and charged our account $6 pp (it may have changed since then, of course). An overnight visa was, I think, $25 at that time.

[need2cruisesoon]

12 hours ago, hubofhockey said:

I am on that cruise as well and can't confirm anything, but this is what is on the Azamara website, so I am not concerned about getting the visa before we disembark at Halong Bay.  

 

Vietnam: Ship will assist guests required to secure this visa. The ship will charge a one time nominal fee to the guests onboard account for guests securing a visa onboard. This visa fee includes a small processing charge by our local representative.

Wow good job AZ, that makes very easy for the passengers.

[Redtravel]

It was easy. However, since there are multiple nationalities on a cruise, the initial info told us to get a visa. We were quite upset thinking that we needed to get the visa before the cruise. It wasn’t until much later that we got the info specifically for US/Canada citizens. 

[uktog]

The ship also gets the required paperwork for UK guests though as I recall for us the fee at that time was less than Americans pay.  Anyone going off overnight but not on a ship’s tour had to do more but I don’t know what that was.

You don’t need to limit yourself to Ships Tours. Tours by Locals are very good in Vietnam.  

[vegaszip]

Thanks for all the helpful replies

[Grandma Cruising]

2 hours ago, uktog said:

The ship also gets the required paperwork for UK guests though as I recall for us the fee at that time was less than Americans pay.  Anyone going off overnight but not on a ship’s tour had to do more but I don’t know what that was.

You don’t need to limit yourself to Ships Tours. Tours by Locals are very good in Vietnam.  

UK guests who are ‘British Citizens’ don’t need visas for Vietnam as long as they are there less than 15 days. That has been the case for a while.

[dirtgirl]

I just called Celebrity, and they said if you have private excursions booked, then they can't guarantee that you will be able to get the $6 Visa onboard.  Therefore, they recommend getting the Visa ahead of time.  Is this a tactic to get people to book the ship excursions?  We are just doing day trips in the ports - no overnights.

[dirtgirl]

16 hours ago, Redtravel said:

It was easy. However, since there are multiple nationalities on a cruise, the initial info told us to get a visa. We were quite upset thinking that we needed to get the visa before the cruise. It wasn’t until much later that we got the info specifically for US/Canada citizens. 

That is where I am at right now, wondering if I have to get a Visa because I am taking private excursions and not ship excursions.

[Redtravel]

There were 2 types of visas for Americans.  Multiple single days and overnight.  Most people got the multiple single day which was good if you slept on the ship overnight.  It was less than $10.  We were in Vietnam overnight in Halong bay. People who went to Hanoi and stayed in a hotel overnight needed the more expensive overnight visa..less than $25.  It doesn’t matter if you take a ship tour or a private tour. Everyone needs the visa.  When we embarked we were asked wether or not we were going to stay in Hanoi overnight.  Ship got the necessary visas stamped onto a paper with a photocopy of the info page of your passport. It was checked as we disembarked in each port. We had to give it back to the Vietnamese officials when we left the last port.  It was really very simple. Nobody really looked very hard at the visas.  

[late2cruisin]

51 minutes ago, dirtgirl said:

I just called Celebrity, and they said if you have private excursions booked, then they can't guarantee that you will be able to get the $6 Visa onboard.  Therefore, they recommend getting the Visa ahead of time.  Is this a tactic to get people to book the ship excursions?  We are just doing day trips in the ports - no overnights.

 

I'm not sure how they would know if you have private excursions or not. If they're telling you that you have to book Celebrity excursions to get the $6 onboard visa, that is not true. We did DIY in all the ports and had no trouble with the onboard visa. All they asked is if we would be spending any nights off the ship, which we didn't.

[hubofhockey]

7 hours ago, Redtravel said:

There were 2 types of visas for Americans.  Multiple single days and overnight.  Most people got the multiple single day which was good if you slept on the ship overnight.  It was less than $10.  We were in Vietnam overnight in Halong bay. People who went to Hanoi and stayed in a hotel overnight needed the more expensive overnight visa..less than $25.  It doesn’t matter if you take a ship tour or a private tour. Everyone needs the visa.  When we embarked we were asked wether or not we were going to stay in Hanoi overnight.  Ship got the necessary visas stamped onto a paper with a photocopy of the info page of your passport. It was checked as we disembarked in each port. We had to give it back to the Vietnamese officials when we left the last port.  It was really very simple. Nobody really looked very hard at the visas.  

 

We're doing overnight in Halong  Bay.  If it's $15 more than the regular visa, that's fine.  Looking forward to the overnight junk as a vacation highlight.

[uktog]

11 hours ago, dirtgirl said:

I just called Celebrity, and they said if you have private excursions booked, then they can't guarantee that you will be able to get the $6 Visa onboard.  Therefore, they recommend getting the Visa ahead of time.  Is this a tactic to get people to book the ship excursions?  We are just doing day trips in the ports - no overnights.

Not the case on Azamara. If an Azamara rep said that they are wrong.  It’s not a ya tic, it’s just a made up answer imho. 

[snowglobe]

6 hours ago, hubofhockey said:

 

We're doing overnight in Halong  Bay.  If it's $15 more than the regular visa, that's fine.  Looking forward to the overnight junk as a vacation highlight.

 

I did a two-nighter on a premium ‘junk’ in Halong Bay last year. My ensuite cabin was basic, but roomy and comfortable. Unfortunately, now all the boats can only overnight in a cluster and that takes away a bit from the experience. Do try your hand at squid fishing after dinner - I had a lot of fun doing that!

[Redtravel]

We were in Halong bay overnight.  We slept on the ship that night.  You could come and go 24/7. I recall the more expensive visa was only needed by people who checked into a hotel in Hanoi overnight.  Those people needed to bring passports and visa. Everyone else just needed the paper with the stamped visa. The Vietnamese entry people only looked at your visa and waved you through. Nobody asked questions. Once you pass by, never asked again for that visa. Not sure what happens if you are on a private excursion. We took ship excursions only in Vietnam. All of our tours were very good.  Even on day excursions, most people took an extra day bag.  We always carried bottled water and snacks, camera, phone, umbrella, etc.  Bring lots of dollar bills. In Vietnam everyone wants US dollars. Bargain for everything.  Have fun.