Vietnam Visas

[Karen Lynn]

Anyone had experience regarding obtaining Vietnam visas onboard Celebrity?

Thier website says they provide , reservations are unclear and recommend getting ahead of time.

This is for Canadian and UK citizens.

 

Many thanks!

[John Bull]

Like every other cruise line that I'm aware of, Celebrity will indeed provide "visas" for Vietnamese ports - issued on the ship and to all nationalities. Same applies to Cambodia (Sihanoukville).

You might be asked to provide a couple of passport-size photos, but no need to do anything else ahead of your cruise.

 

The cost will be added to your on-board account, it's not expensive - one or two cruise lines cream their passengers ($50+), but Celebrity has always charged somewhere around $10.

The one "visa" is good for all Vietnamese ports.

The reason I've put "visas" in inverted commas is that they're not "visas" in the true sense of the word - they're "landing cards". They do the same job as tourist visas, except that they're only for arriving & departing on the ship - if for instance you join or leave the cruise at a Vietnamese port or take a side-trip to Siem Reap (Cambodia) you will need a pukka tourist visa. You also need a tourist visa if you overnite in a hotel (eg overnite in Saigon instead of returning to the ship, or take an overnite trip from Halong Bay to Hanoi).

 

But Brits do not need tourist visas for Vietnam, hence no need either a landing card or a visa.

Celebrity ships' crews are aware of this, so shouldn't issue a card or charge your on-board account.

A few other nationalities might not need visas, but unless things have changed that doesn't include Canadians or Americans.

 

If you want to get confirmation from Celebrity you'll need to go beyond reservations staff, who deal with all nationalities and all destinations so can't be expected to know the ins and outs of visas, inoculation requirements, etc.

Some reservation staff give such matters their best guess , others will check with a more-knowledgeable department or at least admit that they don't know.

 

Great part of the world for cruising, and you're not going a minute too soon - SE Asia is rapidly westernising.

With the exception of Cambodia - which is stuck somewhere between the 18th & 19th century 

 

JB 

[Miaminice]

This is the information given on board.
Note: The price might have changed a bit. The procedure is the same/was the same before shutdown.

 

 

[wongcruise]

Thank you very much.  Very helpful.