Costa cruise and visa for Egypt

Do you really need to apply for a visa ahead of time for Egypt? There are just so many different responses from people. Has anyone done a costa cruise and used a private tour into Cairo? Did you really need a visa. According to the website below you do not need one if you are on a cruise ship and in Egypt less than 3 days.

http://www.worldtravelguide.net/country/80/passport_visa/Africa/Egypt.html

No you do not need one, the ship takes care of it. I was very worried and got my own and it was completley unnecessary. This is one time the cruise lines are very effecient

Just there and didn't need one because we were in transit. Different if your cruise embarks or disembarks there.

Another confirmation that a visa isn't needed. Were there on a cruise last November and did not need to get our own visa.

Do you really need to apply for a visa ahead of time for Egypt? There are just so many different responses from people. Has anyone done a costa cruise and used a private tour into Cairo? Did you really need a visa. According to the website below you do not need one if you are on a cruise ship and in Egypt less than 3 days.

 

http://www.worldtravelguide.net/country/80/passport_visa/Africa/Egypt.html

The information you have is absolutely true as long as you are an American or Canadian citizen. Just thought I would confirm what everyone else here has said.

Have a wonderful time in Egypt. It is a beautiful and fascinating country!

Just returned holy land cruise with royal princess

The royal office stated we had to have a visa if we were doing private and not the ships tours

Some of our group doing private tours with De Castro sent their passports away and paid for the visas

We went with temo tours (info@temotours.com) and teymour the owner said he would supply visa stamps @15usd if needed so we felt we were covered

Anyway we did an overnighter in Israel the previous days and felt if we were late back with our passports we wanted to be covered

The long and the short of it was on reboarding at Ashod the ship took our passports and we got them back later that evening with an egyptian visa stamp in so had no problems disembarking in Port Said

Is it also true that you do not need a visa if you decide NOT to take the ship tour? We are looking at doing a tour with DeCastro.

Beth555 is asking about Costa. Those of you who list your cruises don't seem to have been on Costa. Costa say that passengers must have all paperwork before being allowed on board. Has anyone with a US passport had Costa provide the visa? And by the way, how do you do a macro to attache all your cruises? Thanks and thanks.

grumpee, I think it is the same for all cruise lines. I will be on Costa next year so agree with you it would be a good idea to have confirmation from a previous Costa passenger.

I know mountainmare sailed with Costa, so we'll have to try to catch up with her on the boards. Another alternative would be to try posting this question on the Costa boards. Hopefully we will get an answer soon. :)

grumpee, I think it is the same for all cruise lines. I will be on Costa next year so agree with you it would be a good idea to have confirmation from a previous Costa passenger.

 

I know mountainmare sailed with Costa, so we'll have to try to catch up with her on the boards. Another alternative would be to try posting this question on the Costa boards. Hopefully we will get an answer soon. :)

We were on a Costa Egyptian cruise in November 2005 and has no problems with visas (British and German passports). The authorities issued the visa / stamp (see attached) which had "Quick Trip" and a cruise ship on it, when they boarded the ship and it did not cost us anything.

I personally would rely on the information provided by other travellers, I would get confirmation (nearer the sailing date) from your local Costa /TA, State Department or FCO, aslo check out the Egyptian Ministary of Foreign Affairs.

Reason for check nearer the sailing date is that relationships and regulations between states can change overnight, e.g. Costa recently annouce that all cruises to Libya, for this year, had been cancelled due to new passport / visa regulations.

Ron

I'm here!!!

We sailed the Concordia on the Feb 29 sailing. When we got on the ship they collected all passports and took a picture of your passport for you to carry in the ports. In Cyprus the Egyptian officials came on and stamped the passports with the short visitor visa, then we picked up the passports.

BE SURE THAT WHEN YOU PICK UP YOUR PASSPORT THAT IT IS STAMPED!!!!

One person in our group went to get off the ship and his passport wasn't stamped--not a huge deal, he had to go upstairs and get the stamp but it did take time and cause concern.

When you go to get off the ship the Egyptian officials are there and you have your passport open to the stamped page, and off you go for a grand adventure.

In Turkey you get a vistor card to carry with you, when you go to get back on the ship the Turkish officials collect the cards.

Oh I forgot to mention--we had a private tour with DeCastro--and other people we know also had a private tour with Blue Nile--so you did not need to be on a Costa tour.

Thank you so much mountainmare. I was sure we could count on you. :)

I couldn't remember reading anything specific but felt that if there had been any sort of issue over this you would have been certain to mention it in your reviews.

Thanks also to you Ron for your usual excellent advice. We will certainly check here & with the tour guide before we leave in case anything has changed. I wouldn't set too much store by what the cruise ship tells us...we had the same issues last year when we visited St. Petersburg. (The ship telling us we could only go ashore on one of their excursions..not entirely true of course. ;))

I am a US citizen while my wife is a German citizen. She was able to get clear answers from the German travel agent with which we booked. German travel agents can, of course, hardly be expected to know what the rules applying to American citizens are.

So there!, Blue Donau. That's the problem. As a US citizen, I am in a country which goes out of its way to offend other countries. Thus, I'm not surprised if the visa requirements for a US citizen are different than for a German one.

I am a US citizen while my wife is a German citizen. She was able to get clear answers from the German travel agent with which we booked. German travel agents can, of course, hardly be expected to know what the rules applying to American citizens are.

 

So there!, Blue Donau. That's the problem. As a US citizen, I am in a country which goes out of its way to offend other countries. Thus, I'm not surprised if the visa requirements for a US citizen are different than for a German one.

Methinks you may have earned your screen name! :D

Why aren't you living somewhere else then, huh?

I am a US citizen while my wife is a German citizen. She was able to get clear answers from the German travel agent with which we booked. German travel agents can, of course, hardly be expected to know what the rules applying to American citizens are.

 

So there!, Blue Donau. That's the problem. As a US citizen, I am in a country which goes out of its way to offend other countries. Thus, I'm not surprised if the visa requirements for a US citizen are different than for a German one.

You are not the first American to visit Egypt and you will not be the last.

With the coming of the Internet there is no longer any problems, all answers are there, all that has to be done is to look:

There are THREE simples ways for you to find out your Information:

Costa

Egyptian Embassy / Consualar General

CC River (Nile) Board)

I could give you all the contact info, but I only help those that help themselves!:D

Ron