Indian Visa

On QM2 Southampton to Hong Kong January 2019.

I have contacted Cunard regarding the need for an Indian visa if we do not go ashore in Goa.

We went through the whole visa business 18 months ago when we went with Princess to Cochin. One Indian port for 8 hours, a very expensive and lengthy application process as there were 3 of us travelling. . Some passengers did not have visas and were still allowed to board.

There is so much conflicting advice and Cunard seem uncertain I still await a definitive answer. On Trip Advisor a passenger has been reimbursed by Cunard for the cost of the visa after being misinformed by Cunard.

You could get a clarification from the Indian consultate in the UK. Here's what I found in a UK Telegraph article from this past January: "...all passengers on ocean-going ships that are visiting India must have a full Tourist visa even if they do not intend to go ashore. This can be obtained using the Indian High Commission’s postal application service administered by VFS Global. Download the form at in.vfsglobal.co.uk and, again, be ready for problems trying to upload your photograph and passport scan in the size and resolution required...The visas you need for your cruise – and how to apply yourself and save money ''

£120.44 is steep but Cunard has no control over visa requirements as they are set by the host country. Good that you are asking now.

I was on the QM2 full world cruise earlier this year, and we had one Indian port. We did not need an Indian visa if we wanted to stay on the ship, which is what we planned to do. And no problem with that as about half the passengers must have done the same and stayed onboard. However, prior to the cruise, there was a lot of incorrect information especially from Cunards Visa specialists CIBT who advised me we would need a visa even if we wanted to stay on the ship. This was totally untrue. The Telegraph article quoted by Blueriband below is factually incorrect as in addition to not needing a visa if staying onboard, the rule was changed to allow e-visas, I think in December so cruisers didn't need the full visa if they only stopped at one Indian port and wanted to go ashore.

Anyway, after worrying about whether we needed a visa or not, I emailed Cunard a few weeks before the start of the cruise and received a reply confirming we didn't need the visa as we were staying onboard. I don't know why they can't confirm the same thing to you, unless they think it's too far in advance to give a clear answer?

durante is correct.......

we were on QM2 from Hong Kong, ( 3/31/18) till Southampton ( 5/10/18) and as we choose NOT to go ashore at the ONE Indian port.... we did not need a visa.

Two years previously, on QE we did need the visa -- for the 2 Indian ports---and it was might expensive.

Both cases....previous to both cruises, there were tons and tons of misinformation and confusion on the subject and CUNARD should be ashamed of themselves for making it sooooooo complicated and convoluted.

Experience confirms that it is best to address an Indian Embassy, be it personally or by using the Embassy's website.

Thank you for your responses. Having done some research and being aware of the Telegraph article I think the most likely scenario is we stay onboard in Goa and do not get a visa. There is still some time before that cruise for Cunard to make up their minds, but we have 2 other cruises booked prior to this one and I was hoping to have an answer at the latest before we go away in November/December in the event we needed full visa and had to send our passports off.

They allow cruise ports now to use the evisa process.Might be worth investigating,a lot cheaper.i think Mumbai is the only exclusion.

They allow cruise ports now to use the evisa process.Might be worth investigating,a lot cheaper.i think Mumbai is the only exclusion.

Mumbai is not an exclusion. I was on a cruise that called at three Indian ports (Cochin, Mangalore and Mumbai) at the same time as the QM2 was there in April and the e-visa was good for all of them. There was a thread with lots of exchanges re the visa requirements on the Asia ports of call thread earlier this year, and whilst most cruise lines were asking guests to get full tourist visas that was to avoid the delays that had previously been experienced by the Indian authorities doing biometric checks on pax upon arrival. However, various cruise lines met with Indian officials here in Dubai in early January this year and subsequently agreed to suspend the biometric requirements for cruise pax effective from that date, for I believe a period of three years, so now an evisa is good for all those eligible and arriving at any of the sea ports listed on the website...

Anne...

Mumbai is not an exclusion. I was on a cruise that called at three Indian ports (Cochin, Mangalore and Mumbai) at the same time as the QM2 was there in April and the e-visa was good for all of them. There was a thread with lots of exchanges re the visa requirements on the Asia ports of call thread earlier this year, and whilst most cruise lines were asking guests to get full tourist visas that was to avoid the delays that had previously been experienced by the Indian authorities doing biometric checks on pax upon arrival. However, various cruise lines met with Indian officials here in Dubai in early January this year and subsequently agreed to suspend the biometric requirements for cruise pax effective from that date, for I believe a period of three years, so now an evisa is good for all those eligible and arriving at any of the sea ports listed on the website...

 

Anne...

Thanks for clarifying the Mumbai question,that's even better.

You're welcome, and the e-visa is also good to mix entry/exits between any of the listed air and sea ports. I entered via Cochin sea port and got an Indian entry stamp in my passport there, then flew home from Mumbai where the airport immigration stamped my passport with the exit stamp...…

Anne...

for our recent World Cruise on Viking Oceans we had to all have visas for India (and several others). Our Indian visa was approved in November of 2017 and is valid for 10 years. We used GenVisa service and they were seamless with the complicated process. Strange that Cunard is not certain about requirements as it was made very clear to us that India requires all passengers to have a visa regardless of leaving the ship or not. I highly recommend GenVisa for a seamless process. Some who did not use a service told tales of repeatedly having to send and re send forms and pictures. Hope this helps.

We were on QM2 visiting Cochin in April. This was the main topic of conversation for weeks.

We paid a fortune for full visas. Turns out the evisa would have been sufficient. And yes we met a couple who got reimbursed for the full cost by Cunard. But they had kept copies of all correspondence including the one from Cunard saying they needed a visa even if not going ashore, which turned out to be untrue.

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