Visa required in which countries

[sgbgla]

We will be traveling in September to Greece, Israel, Egypt and Turkey on the Celebrity Apex.  Does anyone know the requirements for a U.S. citizen traveling to those countries need a visa?  Also, does the Celebrity cruise lines do it onboard or is it best to do it yourself prior to going if a Visa is required?

 

 

Thanks

 

Sheila

[Jim_Iain]

You may get a better answer by joining you Roll Call.   Since everyone is on your cruise I'm sure the requirements will be discussed and information shared.

[Arizona Wildcat]

Absolutely use the US State Department website.  There you can see the entry requirements for every country.  There are changes somewhere every couple of days.

You need to have a visa before being allowed boarding your flight or cruise.

Edited March 5, 2023 by Arizona Wildcat

[Hlitner]

Passengers are fully responsible for obtaining any necessary visas before embarkation.  In fact, if you would need a Visa and do not have it at embarkation, you may well be denied boarding.  Getting back to the OPs question, although you should check on the current requirements for each country, we have never needed a Visa for any of those countries if just on a cruise.  Turkey does have a Visa requirement, but it has always exempted cruisers who do not stay overnight (on land).  Egypt also requires a Visa, but we have been on cruises where the cruise ship/line arranged for all the passengers to be covered.  Bottom line is that you will need to check with the cruise line about Egypt.  If in doubt, you can apply for an Egyptian Visa online.  And do not rely on what somebody tells you on the phone but request any rules in writing.

 

There is a new European Union (EU) requirement going into effect within the year called ETIAS.  Depending on when you are going on your trip, and when the EU actually gets their system up and running, you may well need to apply for the new ETIAS since you are visiting Greece.  

 

One other important warning!  Many countries require that any tourist have a Passport that is valid for at least 3 or 6 months after arrival and or departure.  Most experienced travelers follow a general 6-month rule which is to make sure that they always renew their Passport before it gets down to the last 6 months.

 

Hank

[gerelmx]

1 hour ago, sgbgla said:

We will be traveling in September to Greece, Israel, Egypt and Turkey on the Celebrity Apex.  Does anyone know the requirements for a U.S. citizen traveling to those countries need a visa?  Also, does the Celebrity cruise lines do it onboard or is it best to do it yourself prior to going if a Visa is required?

 

 

Thanks

 

Sheila

More specific information

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_requirements_for_United_States_citizens

 

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages.html

 

ETIAS will be required until 2024

 

 

Greece TOURIST VISA REQUIRED: Not required for stays less than 90 days

Israel TOURIST VISA REQUIRED: Not required for stays of 90 days or fewer

Egypt TOURIST VISA REQUIRED: Yes

Turkey TOURIST VISA REQUIRED:Yes

 

Apply for a e-visa

Egypt https://visa2egypt.gov.eg/eVisa/Home

Turkey https://www.evisa.gov.tr/en/

Edited March 5, 2023 by gerelmx

[mom says]

1 hour ago, gerelmx said:

ETIAS will be required until 2024

That should read " ETIAS will NOT be required until 2024."

Edited March 6, 2023 by mom says

[mahasamatman]

10 minutes ago, mom says said:

That should read " ETIAS will NOT be required until 2024."

 

At the earliest. They keep pushing the date back.

[capsplace]

Do not trust Visa Central.

 

[wrk2cruise]

Turkey does not require a visa for US citizens for Cruise Passenger port stops.

 

https://tr.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/u-s-citizen-services-faqs/

[Arizona Wildcat]

Lots of complicated answers.  The US Department of State has all the answers and is updated immediately if there is a change.

VISA requirements are often waived for cruise passengers not spending a night on shore.

[Jim_Iain]

I can agree with others that the State Department is a great sources of information.

 

The State Department will however not be able to tell you whether Celebrity will provide the visa or not.   A couple years ago we took a b2b cruise from Singapore to Rome.    While Visa were required in many of the countries, the only one we need to obtain ourselves was for India.   Celebrity took our Passports at the beginning of the cruise and would do all the paperwork including getting them stamped.   My understanding was they obtained Bulk Visa's using the manifest.   I don't remember the details but I believe we were changed on our room pass for at least 1.

 

Unfortunately Celebrity was giving mixed answers to those that called for advise. 

[shellunderwater]

18 hours ago, sgbgla said:

We will be traveling in September to Greece, Israel, Egypt and Turkey on the Celebrity Apex.  Does anyone know the requirements for a U.S. citizen traveling to those countries need a visa?  Also, does the Celebrity cruise lines do it onboard or is it best to do it yourself prior to going if a Visa is required?

 

 

Thanks

 

Sheila

You should use the State Department for your information.  I don't want to say folks here are less than stellar at helping, but for something that has a major impact on your trip, you should use the expert source available to you.

Or, if you booked with a travel agent, they should tell you/help you.  

 

Don't disagree with the idea to look at your roll call.  But, I would be verifying it with the State Department.

It will be a bad posting that begins, "I asked folks about the need for Visas, turns out they were wrong.  I didn't check the state department's website....."

[alyssamma]

16 hours ago, mahasamatman said:

 

At the earliest. They keep pushing the date back.

And once implemented the first 3-6mo will be optional...good chance this won't be a requirement until 2025...