Visas— zero help from the Cruise Companies.

[fellowtraveller]

Those of us who are neither US nor European citizens face never ending visa issues,Cruise companies are no help and just say refer to Consulates, firstly  getting hold of anyone is near impossible and their answer is always the same  ‘“get a visa “

whilst prior to a cruise the Cruise Companies claim to know nothing yet at check in the ship knows very well what is required..I would seriously caution anyone taking repositioning or multiple country cruises,should consider the cost and hassle of these  endless visa issues for those that need them,

I wonder how long it will be before companies realize the huge market worldwide that is deterred from taking  cruises because of visa issues and start to help and simplify the problems, maybe start excluding counties and ports that are unable to be helpful.

[hallasm]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

That's a good question and it would be a great service if the cruise lines could provide this service.

Unfortunately, this is not a realistic expectation. There are many different countries and nationalities and requirements for visas can be different from country to country and requirements are often changed. The cruise lines will not have the resources to continuously keep up to date with the many frequently changing requirements.

You can try asking here in Cruise Critic, but you cannot expect to get a definitive answer - you must do your own research and you will get the best answer from the consulates and embassies of the individual visiting countries. If they say you need a visa, that is correct.

You just have to be aware of multiple entry visas if you travel back and forth between countries.

[MacMadame]

3 hours ago, fellowtraveller said:

whilst prior to a cruise the Cruise Companies claim to know nothing yet at check in the ship knows very well what is required.

My understanding is that it's the immigration officials who check those things at embarkation. And even they make mistakes as happened when a bunch of people were let onto a cruise with fake visas and got stuck later on not being able to get back to the ship when they tried to use them.

[sparks1093]

3 hours ago, MacMadame said:

My understanding is that it's the immigration officials who check those things at embarkation. And even they make mistakes as happened when a bunch of people were let onto a cruise with fake visas and got stuck later on not being able to get back to the ship when they tried to use them.

No it isn't, typically it is contracted staff that is handling embarkation check in. The reason that those with fake visas were allowed on the ship is because it wasn't government officials checking them in, the visas appeared to be valid until they were checked by government agents. But having said that those folks who are checking people in have been specially trained for the documentation requirements for the ships and itineraries from that port and for all of the different permutations that arise. And since those permutations are so varied the cruise lines will not undertake to provide more than rudimentary guidance on their website with the stipulation that passengers are responsible for having the correct documentation. As to the OPs point of the cruise lines' passing up a huge, untapped market, that is unlikely. The cruise lines know where their market is and how to entice folks to book cruises.

[Cruisercl]

8 hours ago, fellowtraveller said:

Those of us who are neither US nor European citizens face never ending visa issues,Cruise companies are no help and just say refer to Consulates, firstly  getting hold of anyone is near impossible and their answer is always the same  ‘“get a visa “

whilst prior to a cruise the Cruise Companies claim to know nothing yet at check in the ship knows very well what is required..I would seriously caution anyone taking repositioning or multiple country cruises,should consider the cost and hassle of these  endless visa issues for those that need them,

I wonder how long it will be before companies realize the huge market worldwide that is deterred from taking  cruises because of visa issues and start to help and simplify the problems, maybe start excluding counties and ports that are unable to be helpful.

All Visas and their rules are government rules not any transportation companies responsibilities. Keeping up with each individual country requirement would be daunting and costly for the cruise lines. They do change. The onus is always on the traveler.

No airline would let you board without the correct ID or passport which are all government documents. The airlines do not help you get your ID or passport. Pretty much the same thing. 

[sparks1093]

4 minutes ago, Cruisercl said:

All Visas and their rules are government rules not any transportation companies responsibilities. Keeping up with each individual country requirement would be daunting and costly for the cruise lines. They do change. The onus is always on the traveler.

No airline would let you board without the correct ID or passport which are all government documents. The airlines do not help you get your ID or passport. Pretty much the same thing. 

I would say that the transportation companies do have this responsibility, since they are prohibited by law from carrying anyone to a country that doesn't have the correct documentation. So, they do have information on their website to aid the customer in this regard and this is good customer service (even if the information is only "a visa may be required", it is still a heads up to the customer). Ultimate responsibility for having the correct documentation rests with the passenger. But it would be unrealistic to expect a company to outline every possible scenario. (And some companies impose a stricter standard than what governments impose just to prevent any confusion.)

[CruiserBruce]

There are only 200 plus countries in the world. Sure, somebody at a cruise line should know all the possible permutations of visa laws. No problem. ( I am being sarcastic.)

[wcook]

I hear you. Even as an American I sometimes have visa issues. I wanted to take a cruise stopping in Saudi Arabia. The Saudis are new to the whole tourism thing so provide incomplete and sometimes contradictory info on their visas. It would have been awesome for the cruise line - which is actively working with the Saudis in the first place - to sit down with their immigration and tourism people and put together a visa faq for the thousands of passengers. Nope. After running around in circles, I gave up and booked a different cruise. Bummer. 

[wcook]

1 hour ago, Cruisercl said:

No airline would let you board without the correct ID or passport

That kinda undermines your point. The airlines clearly have a gate keeping role. If they aren’t going to let you on the plane without the proper documentation, they can do a lot to help you understand the what proper id they will be looking for. Same with the cruise lines. 
 

While the ultimate responsibility lies with the passenger, the cruise lines can and should do more to help 

[Ferry_Watcher]

A good Visa information site for US Citizens planning to travel abroad.

 

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel.html

[njhorseman]

Just now, Ferry_Watcher said:

A good Visa information site for US Citizens planning to travel abroad.

 

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel.html

A word of caution . The State Department's website doesn't always list exceptions to the passport and visa rules applicable to cruise passengers. Sometimes cruise passengers are exempt from the requirements applicable to those arriving by air because cruise passengers may be considered to be "in transit".

[Zach1213]

Do cruiselines use Timatic like airlines do? Or do they have a separate system to verify passengers have proper documentation before boarding? 

 

39 minutes ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

A good Visa information site for US Citizens planning to travel abroad.

 

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel.html

 

That's great and all but Americans have it extremely easy when it comes to international travel. Most places Americans go either don't need a visa at all or can get a visa on arrival. The more complicated ones often result in having to work with an embassy/consulate (or a visa agency who works with said embassy/consulate on your behalf, which I highly recommend), but almost every country has one if not multiple missions in the US. Places like India, China and Brazil, while requiring visas for Americans in most cases, make it pretty easy and have multiple locations throughout the US.

 

I have a Namibian passport. We only have like 30 embassies in Windhoek, but require visas for most countries in the world. It can be difficult to get them because of that. Luckily I also have an American passport, but I can relate to the difficulties of getting visas with a weaker passport strength. 

Edited April 17 by Zach1213

[Ferry_Watcher]

15 minutes ago, Zach1213 said:

Do cruiselines use Timatic like airlines do? Or do they have a separate system to verify passengers have proper documentation before boarding? 

 

Not used with the equipment that we have in the terminal.  All the equipment that we use actually belongs to the cruise lines, and comes off the ship every embarkation morning, and returns to the ship before the ship sails away.

 

Eighty something precent (80+%) of passengers sailing from US homeports are American, so there are relatively few visas (from the other nationalities) that we need to deal with. 

 

For the Alaska cruise market, it's Canadian Visas that we are looking for, and double checking that these passengers also have their American Visa in their passport.  We get a print out every morning letting us know how many passengers, what nationalities, etc.  Passengers who need to show the required visas are flagged within the system, and directed to counter agents.  It is all dealt with day of the cruise.  The downside is that if someone needs a Canadian Visa to board a cruise ship with a port-of-call in Canada, and they don't have one, sadly they find out at check-in when they are denied boarding.

[Heidi13]

11 hours ago, fellowtraveller said:

Those of us who are neither US nor European citizens face never ending visa issues,Cruise companies are no help and just say refer to Consulates, firstly  getting hold of anyone is near impossible and their answer is always the same  ‘“get a visa “

whilst prior to a cruise the Cruise Companies claim to know nothing yet at check in the ship knows very well what is required..I would seriously caution anyone taking repositioning or multiple country cruises,should consider the cost and hassle of these  endless visa issues for those that need them,

I wonder how long it will be before companies realize the huge market worldwide that is deterred from taking  cruises because of visa issues and start to help and simplify the problems, maybe start excluding counties and ports that are unable to be helpful.

 

Having both a Canadian & UK passports, I have experienced a multitude of Visa issues when booking World Cruises, or cruises in Asia, South America etc. Therefore, Visas are not just an issue for non Americans/Europeans.

 

You also need to consult your cruise contract, as every cruise line I have sailed with includes a clause that the onus to provide all required documentation is the sole responsibility of each pax. This sheds the liability from the cruise line, as having a vessel refused entry into a port due to Visa issues is extremely expensive. This is the primary reason liability of transferred to the pax. Cruise lines could make money providing a Visa service, but they could quickly lose more, in the event of an error.

 

In researching Visas, I use the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office website and the Canadian equivalent. They maintain a database of every country in the World, which is updated on a regular basis. These websites advise what, if any, Visa is required and any limitations. I then pick the passport which has the most favourable requirements. In addition, they provide extensive additional information relevant to tourists.

 

You may want to check your Govt's website to determine if they provide a similar service. The other option is contracting with a Visa procurement company, but they can be very expensive, and you still retain the liability of ensuring your documentation is correct prior to embarkation.

[clo]

3 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

There are only 200 plus countries in the world. Sure, somebody at a cruise line should know all the possible permutations of visa laws. No problem. ( I am being sarcastic.)

And they can change regularly.

 

Furthermore I would NEVER take that kind of advice from an unknown, lay person. Fraught with potential problems. JMO

[ldubs]

Seems a visa clearinghouse website is very doable and would benefit everyone.  Just need to find someone to sponsor it.   As it is now, one can search visa requirements for citizens of a given country and get a list.  Problem is the lists don't always provide details on the process required.  

 

I knew I needed a visa for China and Brazil. That was the easy part.  Both had cumbersome processes full of red tape traps.  

[CruiserBruce]

The other issue is that some countries only require visas in the case of land visits. One day visits on a cruise ship doesn't require a visa. Turkey is an example.