Visas for Vietnam on board HAL Volendam

They say they offer visas on board for a fee. Do I need to show up with forms filled out and pictures prepared? Or would the fee per person covers all that, and all I have to do is to bring a valid passport with me? Thank you for any advice you can provide!:o

We visited two ports in Vietnam last year. No pictures or paperwork. Cost of visa added to onboard account.

We visited two ports in Vietnam last year. No pictures or paperwork. Cost of visa added to onboard account.

Thank you, thank you! What a relief to hear it from a past cruiser, once and for all! Most of the times, I get the feeling the phone reps at HAL do not know what they are talking about when it comes to visas.... Thanks Again!

Thank you, thank you! What a relief to hear it from a past cruiser, once and for all! Most of the times, I get the feeling the phone reps at HAL do not know what they are talking about when it comes to visas.... Thanks Again!

Unfortuately, this is true some of the time!

As noted, you just pay on board and it is all taken care of.

Nice cruise: enjoy!!

Have also had the ship get the Vietnamese visas and add the charge to our account with no hassles. Have sailed to many countries with visas obtained on board and have occasionally had to fill out a form that was sent to our cabin but have never needed a photo. Per the HAL website and thru the link to their recommended visa service:

Visas on Arrival

Most nationalities can obtain the following visas onboard when arriving with the ship. Holland America will take care of the procurement of these visas. Generally there is a minimal fee for the visa charged to your shipboard account. However, should the situation be altered by the country being visited, you will be advised at the earliest possible opportunity. Please verify whether the visa on arrival is applicable to your specific nationality: Australia, Cambodia, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Oman, Myanmar, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam

Visas On Board: If your segment visits Australia**, Vietnam, Cambodia, Gambia, Ghana, Indonesia, Egypt, Oman, Jordan, Myanmar, or Senegal, Holland America Line can obtain your on arrival visas on your behalf. Additional charges will be posted to your shipboard account. Please note that some nationalities may not be able to obtain visas on arrival for Australia.

**Some 2015 departures to Australia require you to obtain the visa prior to sailing.

If you are embarking in one of these ports, the cruise line will not be able to obtain your visa. Visas may be obtained on arrival at certain country airports. NOTE: Some country airports are not able to issue visas on arrival. Please contact VisaCentral for more information and assistance to obtain your visa prior to departure.

Hi... we have just come off the Volendam Far East cruise.

When we joined the ship in Hong Kong we filled in a form at the check in desk to show we wanted the ship to provide the visas on arrival for Vietnam and Cambodia. We visited four ports in Vietnam and if you were only going ashore for the day in each port you only needed the one visa and it cost approx. $63. If you were staying off the ship overnight (for example visiting Hanoi overnight and rejoining the ship at the next port) you ticked another box and the visa was $100. The ship did all the paperwork and photo's etc although you did have a few forms to fill in for them.

You also needed a visa for Cambodia (whether you planned to go ashore or not!!) and again the ship provided this at a cost of approx. $65 per person.

You could of course have got your own visas prior to the cruise but doing it on the ship was pretty much trouble free and possibly cheaper in the long run.

Hope this helps....

Fantastic cruise by the way....great ports and the ship was in great condition after the refit.

That answers our questions Thankyou

I am boarding at Singapore in December 2017 for our great adventure but was concerned over the visa s for Cambodia and Vietnam couldn't find how to get them any where ,so pleased to get the answers from you thanks

This is this is our first cruise so any good pointers or tips great fully received

Holland does a good job getting them, no pictures need

That answers our questions Thankyou

You might want to double check this is still true. You are looking at a thread that is over 2 1/2 years old.

As the origins of this thread are so old, I skipped most of the entries. However, in response to the OP question, and updated experiences, I would suggest the following to CHARLADY. In my many cruises on HAL to Asia (including SE Asia), IF YOU ARE from the US, HAL has done a great job of telling us what they will do regarding VISAs on each specific cruise and what passengers must do (again - US and usually Canadian citizens only, others are prompted to do more country specific research for their passport country and those they will be visiting.) From time to time requirements change as do HAL services so I suggest you depend on what HAL tells you what needs to be done for each specific country YOU are visiting at the time you are visiting, not what we did in the past. For example, for some countries one year we were required to have 1 or two "new" passport photos with us for a specific country visa, the next year a photo was not required, and so on. It all seems to work just fine in my several dozen countries I have cruised to.

We did the Far East Discovery cruise on the Volendam this past February.

We had extra pictures with us for visas but they weren’t needed. HAL uses your embarkation/ boarding pass picture.

The only thing you have to worry about is paying for your visas on your onboard account. :-)