Visa for Vietnam

[floydelayne]

We are on a Celebrity cruise and although they can get a Visa for you, the will Not guarantee they will have it in time for our ports tour. After a sea day, we are in Vietnam for 3 ports and a little concerned..

Has anyone had issues with this...did you get your Visa prior or on the ship ?

Thank you

[Ashland]

Have the ship get it for you....they are just providing the normal disclaimer...should be only a few $$'s charged to your onboard account. RCI charges $6.00 (for non overnight off ship stay you may decide to do on your own depending on your itinerary) which should be similar to X which they own.

[John Bull]

Every cruise line I know of (and that includes Celebrity) provides visas on the ship, & the cost added to your on-board account. That cost seems to have yo-yo'd in recent years, and Princess have a dreadful reputation for over-charging (about $50), but Ashland's $6 sounds about right for most cruise lines.

 

It's not a regular tourist visa, it's only good for arrival & departure on the ship - so no good if you're playing catch-up from a mid-cruise diversion (eg to Angkor Wat). And it's fine for overniting on the ship in port,, but no good for overniting in a hotel ashore.

Some nationalities don't need a visa at all - that includes Brits but not Americans, Canadians or Aussies.

 

But I'm intrigued by " although (Celebrity) can get a Visa for you, they will Not guarantee they will have it in time".

Unless things have changed it sounds like someone at head office doesn't know the routine. 

 

JB 

[G.M.T.]

Celebrity will issue the necessary documentation for landing in Vietnam while you are onboard, it is called Passenger's Landing Card (very simplified visa) and should be carried with your passport while ashore. It is valid for all the ports the ship will visit (day and overnight stay, not for as John Bull stated for catchup tours).

 

The cost was $6, it was free of charge if you have a British, German (plus 3 other nationalities) passport.

 

It sounds like you are ship right now, if you are intending only to do the day excursions and overnight in Halong Bay then go to Guest Services immediately and get it sorted out.

 

I assume you both have US passports.

 

Good luck.

[Miaminice]

Just another way to get you to book THEIR tours...

The necessary procedures are done BEFORE you reach Vietnam.

This is how it is handled with Celebrity (although the amount might have changed to 25 USD now).
Ths was on Constellation and Millennium:

Edited August 7, 2019 by Miaminice

[datone]

For my cruise in February Princess are now charging US $55 for the Vietnam visa  -  ouch for us Aussies with the dollar at 67c currently.   Certainly seems to be far more than the other cruise lines.   

[Miaminice]

3 hours ago, datone said:

For my cruise in February Princess are now charging US $55 for the Vietnam visa  -  ouch for us Aussies with the dollar at 67c currently.   Certainly seems to be far more than the other cruise lines.   

 

Yes, Princess was and is known for overcharging... they charged 55 $ while others charged the actual fee of 6 USD.
 

However, the original price of 6 USD charged by Celebrity etc. also changed as far as I know. Vietnamese officials raised the price. Actually to a quite a high amount a year or so ago  - which led to harsh complaints. As a result the fee was reduced again.
I heard it is about 25 USD now... I can tell you after February 2020. That´s when we´ll be there again.

[Hoyaheel]

$25 is what a single entry 30 day e-visa for Vietnam costs, so it makes sense that might be what they are charging for cruise passengers....

[SF]

We have an upcoming cruise on Millennium that stops in several Vietnam ports. The ship will also be doing an overnight in Bangkok where we will be disembarking and staying in a hotel overnight. So if I understand correctly after reading the above posts Celebrity will handle all our visas for Vietnam and for the one in Bangkok, is this correct? 

I've read in other posts that you need to bring extra passport photos does anyone know about this? I've also heard that you need to bring copies of your passport page wondering if this is true.

 

 

[Hoyaheel]

Thailand does not require visas for short term tourism (<30 days) if you have a US passport.

[John Bull]

1 hour ago, SF said:

 

I've read in other posts that you need to bring extra passport photos does anyone know about this? I've also heard that you need to bring copies of your passport page wondering if this is true.

 

 

 

We were asked to bring passport-size photos, but were never asked for them on the ship

This might be because the cost & terms seem to change frequently.

Probably best to take a couple, whether asked or not.

 

Alternatively, you could wait til you're on-board -  then if photos are required I'm sure ship's photographer can  oblige for only about $50 a-piece 

 

 

1 hour ago, Hoyaheel said:

Thailand does not require visas for short term tourism (<30 days) if you have a US passport.

 

Certainly that's true for Brits, so overniting in Bangkok city wasn't a problem.

But overniting remote from the ship is one of the few occasions that we take our passports with us.

 

JB 

[Miaminice]

2 hours ago, SF said:

We have an upcoming cruise on Millennium that stops in several Vietnam ports. The ship will also be doing an overnight in Bangkok where we will be disembarking and staying in a hotel overnight. So if I understand correctly after reading the above posts Celebrity will handle all our visas for Vietnam and for the one in Bangkok, is this correct? 

I've read in other posts that you need to bring extra passport photos does anyone know about this? I've also heard that you need to bring copies of your passport page wondering if this is true.

 

 

 

We are doing the same/similar cruise in February again. We were not asked for photos.

On some Asia cruises we were asked for passport copies. Some people did not bring them and they made copies during embarkation. All pretty easy.

 

Thailand doesn’t require a visa as much as I know.

[floydelayne]

Thank you all for your info and advice...

Looks like we will take our chances, and get our Visa onboard with Celebrity..yes, they prefer you taking their tours. As ours is a private tour, and although they will take care of the Visa, we are not their first priority..

Going to Gamble we will have them in time.

Will be on the Millenium in February, with an overnight in Hong Kong...lets hope all is settled there.

[Miaminice]

14 hours ago, floydelayne said:

Thank you all for your info and advice...

Looks like we will take our chances, and get our Visa onboard with Celebrity..yes, they prefer you taking their tours. As ours is a private tour, and although they will take care of the Visa, we are not their first priority..

Going to Gamble we will have them in time.

Will be on the Millenium in February, with an overnight in Hong Kong...lets hope all is settled there.

 

We might be on the same cruise...