Egypt visitors' "visa" for private tours?

[Bollinge]

Re. Egypt "visa" for private tours: The last time I went to Egypt by air they issued a "visa", which was nothing more than an entry stamp, in the arrivals area at Luxor airport. I seem to remember I had to buy some postage stamps from one desk and exchange them for a passport stamp at another.

 

I presume they do all this behind the scenes in the Purser's office as soon as we dock at Alexandria. Am I correct?

[Keith1010]

I would recommend contacting your cruise line to make sure that they will take care of this for you. On our cruise earlier this year on board the Crystal Serenity and on an upcoming one we have for 2008 on the same ship, they take care of this one for us along with a few other countries. But, I would recommend calling your cruise line to see what they do.

 

Keith

[MercedMike]

Our experience recently with Princess was that they took care of visas for Egypt and entry cards for Israel right on board the ship and pax needed to do nothing.

 

HOWEVER we had a terrible time trying to get that answer out of Princess Passenger Non Service in advance. Nobody knew anything. Finally our TA called the District Sales Manager who tracked down the proper office at Princess No Service and got us a straight answer.

 

Check out

http://www.elite.net/~thehalls/holyland.html

for our report and pics of this great cruise!

[kdowneymd]

On Royal Caribbean last summer they took care of everything but we also could never get a straight answer. As a worrier, I went ahead and got a visa from the Egyptian embassy in NYC and it was totally unnecessary. The ship took my passport just like everyone else's who didn't have one. They were actually very well organizied about the entire process.

[Bollinge]

I can confirm that the Purser took our passports a couple of days into the cruise and appended a "quick trip" visa, delivering the papers back before we landed in Egypt.

 

All totally painless.

[bellagirl]

Celebrity was very well organized as well. We turned in our passports before we landed in Egypt and got them back with our passport stamp before we arrived.

They organized different pick-up times in the Stratosphere Lounge and it was very easy.

[SELLER8]

Did the ship do the same procedure in Turkey? I am doing a private tour to Ephesus and wasn't planning on getting a visa. Thanks in advance for your help!

[songster2]

The times that we have been in Russia, we did not need a separate Visa if we used the ships excursions. It is my understanding, however, if on your own, a Visa was needed.

 

In Egypt and Turkey, are purchased Visas needed if on private tours? :confused:

[cruisemom42]

The times that we have been in Russia, we did not need a separate Visa if we used the ships excursions. It is my understanding, however, if on your own, a Visa was needed.

 

In Egypt and Turkey, are purchased Visas needed if on private tours? :confused:

 

For U.S. citizens, you do not need a visa in Turkey if you are just visiting for a day on a cruise.

 

In Egypt, as mentioned above, most cruise lines provide the necessary visa before you arrive. This will cover you whether you are on a ship excursion or on your own.

 

However, regarding the Egypt visa, it's best to get an answer directly from your own cruise line.

[gerena]

On the Africa Grand Voyage on the Prinsendam, HAL is providing the stamp on board.

[grumpee]

In their instructions they say that all paperwork must be complete before boarding. Does this include the visa for Egypt?

[lambs2]

Anybody out ther have an actual experience answer about Costa for grumpee?

 

I would also like to hear back from someone recently back from NCL about the Egypt visas too...........

[mountainmare]

I just answered about Costa on the other thread--short answer, we were on the Concordia this year and they took care of the visa for Egypt at no additional cost.