Chinese Visa question for closed loop NYC - Canadian cruise

We are going on closed loop cruise in July from NYC to St. John/New Brunswick and back. We will be in Canada for one day only. This is a small family reunion cruise and my brother's fiance's parents will be visiting from China. They do not want to go through the hassle of applying for the Visa to get off the ship for just one day.

Our question is if they would be able to board the ship in NYC?

My brother can't seem to get a answer from Carnival.

Thanks.

We are going on closed loop cruise in July from NYC to St. John/New Brunswick and back. We will be in Canada for one day only. This is a small family reunion cruise and my brother's fiance's parents will be visiting from China. They do not want to go through the hassle of applying for the Visa to get off the ship for just one day.

 

Our question is if they would be able to board the ship in NYC?

 

My brother can't seem to get a answer from Carnival.

 

Thanks.

It's clearly stated in the Carnival FAQs here (under 'All Guests Traveling to Canada', scroll down the page about 1/4 of the way) that appropriate documentation to enter Canada will be checked at embarkation, and boarding denied with no refund if docs not in order. Citizens of PRC always need a visa for Canada unless they arrive by air at specific terminals of YVR and YYZ only from a short list of Chinese cities, and they have a same-day direct flight into the US. Since you're arriving in Canada by ship this is not applicable.

They won't see Canadian immigration officials if they don't get off in a Canadian port, but that's not the point - it's whether or not they satisfy Carnivals criteria to board that's relevant and they 100% are not compliant without a visa. Now, whether Carnivals agents *actually* check the documents properly - I wager few of them have had to deal with PRC-nationals boarding a cruise with a stop in Canada - is another matter... but the only way to guarantee they will be allowed on board is to have the right documents - so either choose a different cruise, have them get a Canadian Visa, or be prepared for them to be denied boarding.

NB: another thing to concern yourselves about is what type of visa they have for visiting the USA - if it's a single entry visa, getting on the ship means it expires. For any cruise with any foreign stops, whether or not they leave the vessel at those stops, they'll have to re-enter the USA so a multiple-entry visa is needed.

It's clearly stated in the Carnival FAQs here (under 'All Guests Traveling to Canada', scroll down the page about 1/4 of the way) that appropriate documentation to enter Canada will be checked at embarkation, and boarding denied with no refund if docs not in order. Citizens of PRC always need a visa for Canada unless they arrive by air at specific terminals of YVR and YYZ only from a short list of Chinese cities, and they have a same-day direct flight into the US. Since you're arriving in Canada by ship this is not applicable.

 

They won't see Canadian immigration officials if they don't get off in a Canadian port, but that's not the point - it's whether or not they satisfy Carnivals criteria to board that's relevant and they 100% are not compliant without a visa. Now, whether Carnivals agents *actually* check the documents properly - I wager few of them have had to deal with PRC-nationals boarding a cruise with a stop in Canada - is another matter... but the only way to guarantee they will be allowed on board is to have the right documents - so either choose a different cruise, have them get a Canadian Visa, or be prepared for them to be denied boarding.

 

NB: another thing to concern yourselves about is what type of visa they have for visiting the USA - if it's a single entry visa, getting on the ship means it expires. For any cruise with any foreign stops, whether or not they leave the vessel at those stops, they'll have to re-enter the USA so a multiple-entry visa is needed.

Thanks. That's what we were looking for.