do i need to get a visa for a RCL cruise roundtrip out of shanghai if I am a US citizen?

[Peteloo23]

I am doing a RCL cruise departing from Shanghai with multiple stop-overs in Japan. I am a US citizen and I live in the US. Do I need to get a China tourist visa when I fly into Shanghai couple days before the cruise? or does the cruise provide something so that  I don't need to go through the visa process? Also, when I get out from the ports in Japan is a Japan tourist  visa required?

[Celialeah98]

I would say yes! You are responsible for getting any visas necessary for each country you visit.

 

In June 2007 we overnighted in St Petersburg Russia. To get off the ship we needed to provide a visa. In the then active shipping port ( not for tourists)You had to go through a building for Russian immigration to present your visa and passport before you were released  to the parking lot to get the shuttle to port exit to get taxi or train into the city. ( You were not allowed to walk through the port at that time)

 

We ( a group who met through this forum) hired a private tour guide for the 2 days, that tour company took our information and got the visas for us. The tour guide was allowed to meet us at immigration if I remember correctly. 

[ARandomTraveler]

Definitely make sure you get your own visa if it's needed for China. The ship will not provide if for you. 
 

For Japan you do not need a visa, but you will have to fill out a form when you arrive in Japan that asks some questions, including whether you have a criminal history, and will be denied entry if you do. They take your photo and your fingerprints and run it through their system before they let you into the country. I think it's probably just for their records, in case you commit a crime while there, and to make sure you've never been there before and committed any crimes.

 

I went on an Asian cruise last year, but it started in Singapore instead of China, because China's port was still closed. We stopped in Vietnam, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan. We (United States citizens) were required to have a visa for Vietnam, and we were required to show it in order to board the ship. We did not need one for Taiwan, Hong Kong or Japan. 
 

However, if you wanted to go to the island of Macau from Hong Kong (which is on mainland China), we had to have a special visa. 
 

Getting onto the ship that trip was a much longer and more complicated process than the typical Caribbean cruise, as they had to check all of the documents, make copies etc., so I had the opportunity to overhear multiple passengers exchanges during their check in processes.
 

There were a lot of nationalities on that trip, and holders of different passports had different requirements. It was surprising how many people showed up without knowing what they needed, or assuming the ship would take care of it all for them. One family was denied boarding completely for not having the required visas, while another family was told they could board, but would not be allowed to leave the ship in certain countries. 

 

Be very sure to find out what you need before you leave, and know how long in advance you can (or are required to) apply in order to get the paperwork you need. That's not a trip you want to screw up.

Edited September 10 by ARandomTraveler

[Tlbecker1]

We are going on the Spectrum from Shanghai in March for a B2B.  We have our VISA for China already.  It took about 3 weeks for it to be processed and for us to receive our passports back. Everything that needs to be done for your cruise, you are responsible for.

Afterwards, we will make our way to Singapore for a B2B on the Anthem.  We have a long list of items to do beforehand to make sure we are able to get off at each port and enjoy our trip.

[bonsai3s]

Agree with both @ARandomTraveler and @Tlbecker1

 

Yes...you'll need a  Chinese visa for your cruise out of Shanghai.

 

No...you won't need a visa for Japan.

 

* Many years ago, my experience with getting a Chinese visa was quite interesting. 

I did not want to mail our passports (fear of losing it, and not knowing how long it would take) so I decided to drive 4 hours to the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco...located only a few block were I attended grade school.

 

I get to the Chinese Consulate very early, before it opened...and the queue was already around the block.

At that time, it was extremely disorganized inside and many simply cutting lines to get to an open window. (perhaps it's better now)

They only accepted the 2 passport sized photos I submitted after speaking to a supervisor. To make a long story short, I ultimately got our expensive visas later that afternoon.

[Zach1213]

15 hours ago, ARandomTraveler said:

However, if you wanted to go to the island of Macau from Hong Kong (which is on mainland China), we had to have a special visa. 

Macau is definitely not mainland China and I'm curious what "special visa" you needed. It's a Special Administrative Region, like Hong Kong. US citizens do not need visas to enter Macau, usually, unless you are working/studying/living. This document from the Macau government confirms that the US and 80 other countries are exempt from visas. 

Citizens of Mainland China need more permissions to enter Macau than Americans do. 

Edited September 10 by Zach1213

[Tlbecker1]

4 hours ago, bonsai3s said:

Agree with both @ARandomTraveler and @Tlbecker1

 

Yes...you'll need a  Chinese visa for your cruise out of Shanghai.

 

No...you won't need a visa for Japan.

 

* Many years ago, my experience with getting a Chinese visa was quite interesting. 

I did not want to mail our passports (fear of losing it, and not knowing how long it would take) so I decided to drive 4 hours to the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco...located only a few block were I attended grade school.

 

I get to the Chinese Consulate very early, before it opened...and the queue was already around the block.

At that time, it was extremely disorganized inside and many simply cutting lines to get to an open window. (perhaps it's better now)

They only accepted the 2 passport sized photos I submitted after speaking to a supervisor. To make a long story short, I ultimately got our expensive visas later that afternoon.

This definitely would have been my preference.  Sending our passports FedEx was stressful, but in the end we received them back and have everything that we need to be able to go to Shanghai.  If we could have driven, we would have.

[val888]

If you are flying directly from another country, you can use the 144 TWOV. This is a transit without visa. You will receive this when you arrive at the airport. This is not valid if you fly into Beijing and have a  connecting flight to Shanghai. Flight must be direct. When you arrive back to Shanghai from your cruise, you will also need to apply for another 144 TWOV. Essentially you are transiting through Shanghai to your destination. So you can stay in Shanghai visa free up to 144 hours. I have not personally used this for a cruise but I have used it in Guangzhou, flying in and out without a China visa. A friend has used it on a RCL cruise from Shanghai. You can look up the rules and details. Make sure you have all your travel documents on you. Immigration needs to see your connecting  plane/cruise tickets. 

https://www.china-briefing.com/news/china-resumes-144-hour-visa-free-transit-policy-for-foreigners-who-can-apply/#:~:text=Under the 144-hour visa,well as satisfy other requirements

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_policy_of_mainland_China#72-hour_stay_/_144-hour_stay

 

[ARandomTraveler]

7 hours ago, Zach1213 said:

Macau is definitely not mainland China and I'm curious what "special visa" you needed. It's a Special Administrative Region, like Hong Kong. US citizens do not need visas to enter Macau, usually, unless you are working/studying/living. This document from the Macau government confirms that the US and 80 other countries are exempt from visas. 

Citizens of Mainland China need more permissions to enter Macau than Americans do. 

I didn't say that Macau was on mainland China, I said Macau is an Island. I was saying that Hong Kong is located on mainland China (and Macau is an island off of that area). 
 

I didn't go to Macau so I don't know what the documents were but the ship made notifications multiple times the day before, and the day of, docking at Hong Kong, letting us know we needed to submit whatever special documents and visas were needed if we planned to go there. I know that we (as United States citizens) were told we couldn't go unless we had applied for whatever special thing it was (visa or otherwise) that was required.

 

My point was really to point out that you don't need any visa to go to Hong Kong, but that if you're going to any stop that is close to Macau, where an excursion could be taken, you do need to apply for something special in order to go there (I assume visa, but if not a visa, it's still an application that needs to be filled out in advance).

Edited September 11 by ARandomTraveler

[cmvikinger]

10 hours ago, ARandomTraveler said:

I didn't say that Macau was on mainland China, I said Macau is an Island. I was saying that Hong Kong is located on mainland China (and Macau is an island off of that area). 
 

I didn't go to Macau so I don't know what the documents were but the ship made notifications multiple times the day before, and the day of, docking at Hong Kong, letting us know we needed to submit whatever special documents and visas were needed if we planned to go there. I know that we (as United States citizens) were told we couldn't go unless we had applied for whatever special thing it was (visa or otherwise) that was required.

 

My point was really to point out that you don't need any visa to go to Hong Kong, but that if you're going to any stop that is close to Macau, where an excursion could be taken, you do need to apply for something special in order to go there (I assume visa, but if not a visa, it's still an application that needs to be filled out in advance).

 

When I once cruised through Hong Kong (with a different line), they held our passports/ID. We didn't need them to enter HK... only the room card.

Perhaps that is what you did? And for people who wanted to go to Macau... clearly they'd need to get their passport back and have it on their person.

[bonsai3s]

Just a bit of interesting story about our visit to Macau. 

 

We ate and did a bit of gambling at the Venetian...Macau's version is nearly identical to the Venetian in Las Vegas...just bigger.

 

When we returned to Hong Kong, I reached in my pocket to pay for a drink. The lady refused to accept my money...I was confused.

 

Found out later that I was handing the lady  our leftover currency from Macau...they won't/don't accept it in Hong Kong. 

 

* good info for trivia.

[ARandomTraveler]

1 hour ago, cmvikinger said:

 

When I once cruised through Hong Kong (with a different line), they held our passports/ID. We didn't need them to enter HK... only the room card.

Perhaps that is what you did? And for people who wanted to go to Macau... clearly they'd need to get their passport back and have it on their person.

They didn't take our passports for Hong Kong, but they did keep them when we went to Taiwan. At least when they gave them back we got the stamp in our passports. We also got a stamp in Vietnam. No stamps for Singapore or Hong Kong. Japan gave us a "landing sticker" in place of a stamp. 

[Zach1213]

15 hours ago, ARandomTraveler said:

I didn't say that Macau was on mainland China, I said Macau is an Island. I was saying that Hong Kong is located on mainland China (and Macau is an island off of that area). 
 

I didn't go to Macau so I don't know what the documents were but the ship made notifications multiple times the day before, and the day of, docking at Hong Kong, letting us know we needed to submit whatever special documents and visas were needed if we planned to go there. I know that we (as United States citizens) were told we couldn't go unless we had applied for whatever special thing it was (visa or otherwise) that was required.

 

My point was really to point out that you don't need any visa to go to Hong Kong, but that if you're going to any stop that is close to Macau, where an excursion could be taken, you do need to apply for something special in order to go there (I assume visa, but if not a visa, it's still an application that needs to be filled out in advance).

Gotcha, sorry. The word order screwed me up. Also, I always refer to Mainland China in a political sense, not a geographic sense.

 

Anywho, I've been to Macau several times, as recently as a couple of months ago, and I have never had to do anything other than just show up at the border with either my US or Namibian passport...never had to do anything in advance, same as Hong Kong. Haven't done a cruise there, so, maybe the rules are different? 

[ARandomTraveler]

12 hours ago, Zach1213 said:

Gotcha, sorry. The word order screwed me up. Also, I always refer to Mainland China in a political sense, not a geographic sense.

 

Anywho, I've been to Macau several times, as recently as a couple of months ago, and I have never had to do anything other than just show up at the border with either my US or Namibian passport...never had to do anything in advance, same as Hong Kong. Haven't done a cruise there, so, maybe the rules are different? 

No worries, it was a poorly written paragraph. I'm not sure about the Macau thing, I guess ask @bonsai3s because we were in the same cruise and they went to Macau (I didn't). I just remember a bunch of announcements being made about notifying the ship if you planned to go to Macau and turning in your documents etc. 

[bonsai3s]

6 hours ago, ARandomTraveler said:

No worries, it was a poorly written paragraph. I'm not sure about the Macau thing, I guess ask @bonsai3s because we were in the same cruise and they went to Macau (I didn't). I just remember a bunch of announcements being made about notifying the ship if you planned to go to Macau and turning in your documents etc. 

Hi @ARandomTraveler hope you're doing well.

 

Our trip to Macau was on another cruise...pre-covid...and flew straight into Hong Kong 3 days before boarding the Ovation. 

 

We stayed in Kowloon and from there, took a ferry to Macau. Our experience may have been different. We had the same experience as @Zach1213. We did not have to do anything in advance to enter Macau.

 

That said, you guys are actually BOTH correct. On our Spectrum sailing...our stop in Hong Kong was significant. It was Royal Caribbean's very first visit after covid. The process was different and many announcement were made onboard.

 

The Kai Tak cruise terminal was total chaos. ( Example: Down at the terminal, there was a long queue for currency exchange...with only 1 window trying to serve thousands of passengers.  You needed HK$ to pay for the bus.) Hong Kong was not prepared to accept the Spectrum of the Seas resulting in many frustrated passengers.

 

* We stayed on the Spectrum for her return back to Singapore and 2nd visit to Hong Kong...and WOW! Hong Kong was prepared this time. They rolled out the red carpet for the passengers. Hundreds of local greeters to help you...ALL buses were free...even the return. 

 

[Peteloo23]

On 9/10/2024 at 2:03 PM, val888 said:

If you are flying directly from another country, you can use the 144 TWOV. This is a transit without visa. You will receive this when you arrive at the airport. This is not valid if you fly into Beijing and have a  connecting flight to Shanghai. Flight must be direct. When you arrive back to Shanghai from your cruise, you will also need to apply for another 144 TWOV. Essentially you are transiting through Shanghai to your destination. So you can stay in Shanghai visa free up to 144 hours. I have not personally used this for a cruise but I have used it in Guangzhou, flying in and out without a China visa. A friend has used it on a RCL cruise from Shanghai. You can look up the rules and details. Make sure you have all your travel documents on you. Immigration needs to see your connecting  plane/cruise tickets. 

https://www.china-briefing.com/news/china-resumes-144-hour-visa-free-transit-policy-for-foreigners-who-can-apply/#:~:text=Under the 144-hour visa,well as satisfy other requirements

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_policy_of_mainland_China#72-hour_stay_/_144-hour_stay

 

thanks for sharing, ill have to investigate this. would save the hassle of applying for a visa. plan is to tour shanghai for 2-3 days and then do the cruise, looks like i'll be on the same ship as @Tlbecker1 🙂

[Peteloo23]

On 9/10/2024 at 5:36 AM, Tlbecker1 said:

We are going on the Spectrum from Shanghai in March for a B2B.  We have our VISA for China already.  It took about 3 weeks for it to be processed and for us to receive our passports back. Everything that needs to be done for your cruise, you are responsible for.

Afterwards, we will make our way to Singapore for a B2B on the Anthem.  We have a long list of items to do beforehand to make sure we are able to get off at each port and enjoy our trip.

 any reason why you didn't get the 144 TWOV instead of going thru the visa process?

[Tlbecker1]

On 9/12/2024 at 7:41 PM, Peteloo23 said:

 any reason why you didn't get the 144 TWOV instead of going thru the visa process?

We will be in Shanghai 2 days prior and 3 days afterwards.  We want to be able to travel all over, so we felt it was a good idea to get it and not have restrictions while we are there.