Myanmar Visa shipboard

HAL's on line chat feature advises that passengers can obtain their Visa for Myanmar while aboard. Does anyone have experience with using this service?

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Works fine. They do a lot of the necessary visas that way, Vietnam, etc. They keep your passport, and give you a receipt for it.

That's good to know! The travel agent has offered to do it through their office as well. Nice to have choices. :-)

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You could always check prices - and also check with HAL to make sure their visa doesn't only cover you if you're on a HAL tour. I can't remember exactly how that worked!

HAL says that for passengers arriving by ship to Myanmar--

• All nationalities can obtain the visa for Myanmar onboard for approximately USD $65 per person
• Visa can be obtained onboard if arriving to Myanmar with the ship
• The onboard visa is valid for 28 days and guests can go ashore for an overnight excursion OR overland tour to another city in Myanmar of tourist destination (NOT REMOTE AREA)
• Visa on arrival will be issued to all passengers onboard of all nationalities (that do not have one) whether they go ashore or not

My Travel Agent says--

• We can complete a hard copy to send in to the consulate at a fee of $30 CDN per person, but you do have to send in your Passports and pay for the courier return.
• There is also the option of completing the online Visa for a higher expense. It is more convenient and you do not need a letter of employment.
  

I think HAL's process sounds much simpler, albeit more pricey.

That must be why we did it that way, too! I don't remember if we needed visas for Malaysia, Thailand or Singapore, and the only one we had to get ourselves was India, but I think they're not even stopping in Port Blair anymore? (This was almost 2 years ago now, and things change!)

Hope you have a great cruise. We found the whole trip amazing.

Thank you Ann for your comments. Did you happen to do a trip report? If so, I'll search for it.

Lila

I did, and I'm sorry, I don't know how to post a link to it (new OS is driving me crazy!) - it was called Volendam Memories. It was from March, 2014. I looked it up by clicking on my name in the heading of my post. But then I had to search backwards!

HAL says that for passengers arriving by ship to Myanmar--

 

There is also the option of completing the online Visa for a higher expense. It is more convenient and you do not need a letter of employment.

It came to my understanding that online visa are only meant for arrival /departure via AIR / PLANE, not via a cruise.

Also: with getting the visa on board, you do not need to miss your passport for a while. The process to obtain a visa seems to take some time if you order the visa prior to departure from your home.

IMO, it is so much easier to let HAL obtain most visas even if a slightly higher fee (some are cheaper thru HAL) as there is no issue with a small error, 'no muss, no fuss', etc. My only exception is Australia as the on line ETA is easy to get and much cheaper thru easy eta dot com.

Here's the link to the aforementioned report by VictOriann:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2006719&highlight=volendam+memories

Thank you!

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Hello fellow cruisers !

Can you reassure me by confirming that I can buy a visa for Burma while onboard the Volendam? Before arriving in the country ? Just easy like that ?

Holacanada

To get it straight from the source, call HAL or use their Chat feature on their website.

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I rang HAL with this question the other day and they assured me that visas would be organised on board for our visit to Myanmar this Christmas.

We did it on the Volendam last February. Lots of paperwork. We did the b2b and have never been given so many forms. For Burma, visa, customs and health forms need to be filled out.

We're you easily able to provide the information they required? Beyond my passport info, I am a bit concerned about remembering details they may request.

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We're you easily able to provide the information they required? Beyond my passport info, I am a bit concerned about remembering details they may request.

 

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Apropos of nothing, my husband was born in Rangoon, and once when we were flying in, he put place of birth as Rangoon, Burma (long time ago) and caused great consternation among the officials, they insisted no, it was port of entry - Rangoon, not place of birth - Rangoon! It took him quite a while to calm everyone down and convince them he had indeed been born there!:D

It is very easy. Just a lot of paperwork. And the ship made lots of mistakes on what they pre filled out. Check their work.

Thanks jig. I'm resting easy now. Did you happen to write a trip report for your cruise? I enjoyed seeing VictOriann's.

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No. I did not. It went very well. We did private in Burma. From a well known Jewish company. 10% of the ship used them. Have a great time