Booking With US Sites & US TA's

[Kiwi Kruzer]

David,We definitely need a visa for that country. I am not sure about New Zealanders but both U.S. and Canada citizens do not need one. We had to send our passports to London to get our visas. That was a worrying time until they were returned on Tuesday - they were out of our hands for 2 weeks! We used a well known courier service here in Oz. It did cost quite a lot to have them couriered to London even though the visa itself was only $15 each.Jennie

 

Know how you feel Jennie,

We had to send passports off to get a Visa for India.

Was very worried about sending them,

fortunately only to Wellington,

so we used the tracking courier system.

They quoted 2 weeks,

but were back in 4 days.

[Aussie Gal]

Hi Marion,

 

On that cruise we are callling into Moorea, Bora Bora, Easter Island, Pisco - Peru, Lima - Peru, Manta - Ecuador, Panama Canal, Christobel - Panama, San Blas Islands - Panama, Limon- Costa Rica, Ft. Lauderdale. It is a 26 day cruise.

 

Jennie

[MMDown Under]

Hi Marion,

 

On that cruise we are callling into Moorea, Bora Bora, Easter Island, Pisco - Peru, Lima - Peru, Manta - Ecuador, Panama Canal, Christobel - Panama, San Blas Islands - Panama, Limon- Costa Rica, Ft. Lauderdale. It is a 26 day cruise.

 

Jennie

 

Sounds absolutely wonderful, Jennie.

 

Have you been through the Panama Canal before, or any of the other ports of call?

[Aussie Gal]

Marion,

 

We have been to Tahiti twice before and through the Panama once before. We have only been to Lima as transit passengers on our way to Cusco and on return to Eucador so haven't seen anything of that city except when we flew over it.

 

It is an interesting itinerary and not expensive. What about joining us?

 

Jennie

[ging466]

Hi

 

I'm doing the Panama Canal cruise in November and I asked my US travel agent if I needed any visas. Of course they didn't know because they only know US requirements so they told me to call the cruiseline. I emailed the cruiseline with the list of countries and they emailed back and said, "sorry u have booked with a US agent, ask them!!" Ridiculous eh?:)

 

So have any of u done a Panama Canal cruise stopping at Panama, Guatemala, Colombia, Costa Rica and Mexico ending in the USA. I know I need a visa for the USA...what about the other countries? Any idea?

 

Oh and I'm not terribly impressed by my cruiseline's service!

 

Cheers

ging466

[Aus Traveller]

Hi

 

I'm doing the Panama Canal cruise in November and I asked my US travel agent if I needed any visas. Of course they didn't know because they only know US requirements so they told me to call the cruiseline. I emailed the cruiseline with the list of countries and they emailed back and said, "sorry u have booked with a US agent, ask them!!" Ridiculous eh?:)

 

So have any of u done a Panama Canal cruise stopping at Panama, Guatemala, Colombia, Costa Rica and Mexico ending in the USA. I know I need a visa for the USA...what about the other countries? Any idea?

 

Oh and I'm not terribly impressed by my cruiseline's service!

 

Cheers

ging466

You need only go to the website of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs to see a list of countries that Australian passport holders need visas for. For USA look for the Visa Waiver Scheme where you fill out forms on the internet (free).

 

Sounds a great cruise!!

[dougo in oz]

We need a visa for Senegal and when a fellow Australian rang Princess in Australia to try and get some information, she was told that they don't know anything about this sort of question as they are only there to market Princess for cruises in and around Australia.Jennie

 

Well it doesn't surprise me that you couldn't get a comment about visa requirements - I think many TA's etc are concerned about giving out the wrong info and worried about repercussions.

 

Re you visa to Senegal - good luck with that. We were on a Princess cruise from Rome to Ft Lauderdale in Nov 2008 and one of our ports was Senegal. I could get no sense from the Mission / Embassy in Malaysia so I contacted the Embassy in London and arranged to get our visa while we were there.

 

You probably won't find anything about visa requirements on the Princess web site as US citizens did not need a visa for Senegal when we went, and let's face it, the Princess site is geared for North American cits anyway.

[dougo in oz]

I wonder if Carnival/Princess really know the kind of local service we receive from their local representatives, who seem to be mainly interested in protecting their patch.

quote]

 

Captains Circle and Future Cruise Sales people on Princess that I've spoken to certainly know about the poor service we receive here in Australia but they say that they can't do anything about it.

[ging466]

You need only go to the website of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs to see a list of countries that Australian passport holders need visas for. For USA look for the Visa Waiver Scheme where you fill out forms on the internet (free).Sounds a great cruise!!

 

Thankx very much!:)

 

Cheers

ging466

[MMDown Under]

You need only go to the website of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs to see a list of countries that Australian passport holders need visas for. For USA look for the Visa Waiver Scheme where you fill out forms on the internet (free).

 

Sounds a great cruise!!

 

http://www.dfat.gov.au/Visas/

 

"Visas for Australians travelling overseas

We do not issue visas for overseas travel and cannot provide definitive information on visas. Only the countries you plan to visit can provide up-to-date information about their visa requirements. For all countries, contact the nearest embassy or consulate of the country you intend to visit well in advance of travel."

[MMDown Under]

Marion,

 

We have been to Tahiti twice before and through the Panama once before. We have only been to Lima as transit passengers on our way to Cusco and on return to Eucador so haven't seen anything of that city except when we flew over it.

 

It is an interesting itinerary and not expensive. What about joining us?

 

Jennie

 

Thanks Jennie, wouldn't that be nice knowing how good an organiser you are!

 

I actually have my eye on three cruises. However, I'm not prepared to pay big non refundable deposits in advance. So I will wait and see whether they are still available closer to the date of departure.

 

If all else fails, I'll fly to NY, train to Toronto to visit my younger daughter, then take the train from Toronto to Vancouver (which is on my "must do" list), then fly home, with a stopover somewhere en route.

[MMDown Under]

I wonder if Carnival/Princess really know the kind of local service we receive from their local representatives, who seem to be mainly interested in protecting their patch.

quote]

 

Captains Circle and Future Cruise Sales people on Princess that I've spoken to certainly know about the poor service we receive here in Australia but they say that they can't do anything about it.

 

Maybe it is time for CC to invite the head of the World Office of Carnival on to CC to answer questions from their CC clients.

 

I have enjoyed the responses given by heads of the smaller cruise lines on CC. One, in particular, so much so that I know I will travel on that cruise line sometime in the future. If the economy happens to worsen, they have built up so much goodwill capital to help tide them over.

[Aussie Gal]

We have done a Panama Cruise which stopped at Mexico, Costa Rica, Aruba, Grenada and Barbados as well as the Dominican Republic. We did not need any visas for these countries. I don't believe you need a visa for Guatemala or Columbia.

 

The best place to check if you need a visa is: http://protocol.dfat.gov.au/Mission/list.rails This gives you the telephone numbers of the embassies in Australia where you can ring to find out the correct advice.

 

Jennie

[cruisin-m]

Sorry to go against the flow here and by the sounds of it this really doesn't happen very often but our online Aussie TA actually had a cheaper price then what was offered by all the US online TA's and the US version of the cruiselines site, we really did the research prior to booking :)

 

I also had a look at cruises departing from the US from various ports for the exact same length and they were far more expensive yet they were the "special" cruises. Everyone says we get rorted for price here but if you take a look at current pricing as US as your country, majority of cruises are in the $1000's dearer, particularly with RCCL I found.

 

I think if you know the right Aussie TA's your set, just don't book at your local shopping centre TA or you will pay for it.

 

In saying this, I do agree that it is idiotic that they try and make you book only with Australian TA's, it just doesn't bother me when booking a cruise from Australia as they are usually cheapest anyway.

If I wanted to book a cruise from the US and couldn't book through their agents I would be spewing though because my online TA doesn't cover US cruises.

[broberts]

You need only go to the website of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs to see a list of countries that Australian passport holders need visas for. For USA look for the Visa Waiver Scheme where you fill out forms on the internet (free).

 

I also check the local embassy web site for each country. They are easily found using google or other i-search engine.

[MMDown Under]

 

In saying this, I do agree that it is idiotic that they try and make you book only with Australian TA's, it just doesn't bother me when booking a cruise from Australia as they are usually cheapest anyway.

If I wanted to book a cruise from the US and couldn't book through their agents I would be spewing though because my online TA doesn't cover US cruises.

 

That is the problem, as the cruises are overseas cruises, often nowhere near Australia, yet the current cruise line policy is that these overseas cruises must be booked with Australia TA's, at inflated prices, with huge non refundable deposits.

[newfarmers]

When we went to Senegal with HAL,

I dont recall having to get a visa.

Is it different for Australians?

 

 

We also went to Senegal with HAL. I travel on a EU (UK) and Oz passport and Al on a Kiwi and Oz passport.

 

Everything we researched indicated AL couldn't get away without getting a visa. My UK passport allowed me to enter without one but neither the Oz or Kiwi passport would.

 

Initial contact with the consul in Malaysia looked promising but then contact dropped off. The embassy in the UK was very helpful so we couriered Al's passport there and back for a five pound fifty visa:rolleyes:.

 

The whole story is detailed in our Three Continents blog.

 

It then turned out that HAL would arrange it onboard for the grand sum of US$24 (I think). Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

 

RCL was very upfront on their website about visas for our Asia cruise last year - that they would arrange visas for Vietna and Cambodia but nowhere else

 

Visas are such a minefield and I rely so heavily on sites such as this for assistance as most cruiselines and DFAT are useless as a sack of ...

[Aussie Gal]

We have our visas for Senegal but a fellow C.C. member on our cruise is still trying to work out the best way to do it and she was the one who rang Princess in Australia and got the message that they were not interested in helping her.

 

We did ours through London. We used the Courier service that T.A.'s here all use and it only took two weeks. Of course the cost was high for the Courier service but it meant peace of mind for us and when you factor in that cost to the cost of the Cruise, Air fares, the Safari in Sabi Sands and time in Paris etc., it is a mere drop in the ocean.

 

Jennie

[ging466]

We have done a Panama Cruise which stopped at Mexico, Costa Rica, Aruba, Grenada and Barbados as well as the Dominican Republic. We did not need any visas for these countries. I don't believe you need a visa for Guatemala or Columbia. Jennie

 

Thank u to everyone who has replied to my query.

 

Aussie Gal, it seems I need a tourist card for Panama and Mexico. Do u recall if your ship got it for u?

 

I've emailed the consulates to get the info in writing.

 

Cheers

ging466

[Aussie Gal]

ging466,

 

We were on HAL's Veendam and I don't remember getting a tourist card for Mexico. We went to three places - Cabos San Lucas, Acapulco and Huatulco in Mexico. I think the ship probably provided everyone with the necessary documents as the majority on board were U.S. and Canadian citizens.

 

Which cruise line are you sailing with?

 

Jennie

[ging466]

ging466, We were on HAL's Veendam and I don't remember getting a tourist card for Mexico. We went to three places - Cabos San Lucas, Acapulco and Huatulco in Mexico. I think the ship probably provided everyone with the necessary documents as the majority on board were U.S. and Canadian citizens. Which cruise line are you sailing with? Jennie

 

Hi Aussie Gal

 

I'm sailing on Silversea but I'm getting the total runaround because I've booked with a US agent and of course when I ring somewhere in Sydney they don't want to help out!

 

Cheers

ging466

[dougo in oz]

We have our visas for Senegal but a fellow C.C. member on our cruise is still trying to work out the best way to do it and she was the one who rang Princess in Australia and got the message that they were not interested in helping her.

 

We did ours through London. We used the Courier service that T.A.'s here all use and it only took two weeks. Of course the cost was high for the Courier service but it meant peace of mind for us and when you factor in that cost to the cost of the Cruise, Air fares, the Safari in Sabi Sands and time in Paris etc., it is a mere drop in the ocean.

 

Jennie

 

Hi Jennie

 

I'm glad you got your visa to Senegal sorted out - I nearly pulled my hair out with the contact in Malaysia !!

 

Re Senegal - I can highly recommend the shore excursion to Goree Island - expensive but worth it. Fellow cruisers who did shore excursions with the ship (Princess), eg the highlights of Senegal, markets etc weren't very impressed with their tour guides and I think they found some things a bit confronting. Those who went on shore excursions out of the town for example to the Pink Lake (??) enjoyed their time too.

 

On the dock, lots of traders "set up shop" so you don't have to leave the port area, and in fact it's not really recommended to do it by yourself.

[Aussie Gal]

Hi Aussie Gal

 

I'm sailing on Silversea but I'm getting the total runaround because I've booked with a US agent and of course when I ring somewhere in Sydney they don't want to help out!

 

Cheers

ging466

 

We booked that particular cruise with a well known U.S. internet agency (not the one that is now refusing to book Aussies) and I don't think we worried at all about the visas for those other countries. I know as we were going up the Amazon we had to have our Brazilian visa in our passports plus our Yellow Fever certificates otherwise we were not allowed to board the ship in Vancouver.

 

Jennie

[Aussie Gal]

Hi Jennie

 

Re Senegal - I can highly recommend the shore excursion to Goree Island - expensive but worth it. Fellow cruisers who did shore excursions with the ship (Princess), eg the highlights of Senegal, markets etc weren't very impressed with their tour guides and I think they found some things a bit confronting. Those who went on shore excursions out of the town for example to the Pink Lake (??) enjoyed their time too.

 

On the dock, lots of traders "set up shop" so you don't have to leave the port area, and in fact it's not really recommended to do it by yourself.

 

We have a private tour organized. Twenty two of us from our Roll Call are going first of all to the Isle de Goree in the morning and then in the afternoon they are taking us to the markets, Mosque, Parliament House etc. We have an air conditioned bus whereas I read that last September, the buses provided for the Princess shore excursions in Dakar did not have any sort of cooling for the passengers.

 

Jennie

[MMDown Under]

Hi Aussie Gal

 

I'm sailing on Silversea but I'm getting the total runaround because I've booked with a US agent and of course when I ring somewhere in Sydney they don't want to help out!

 

Cheers

ging466

 

Surely it is good customer relations for the cruise line to get information on visa/entry requirements for each port of call on every cruise for each nationality cruising? One enquiry, rather than separate enquiries by each cruiser. That is the way it used to be. With the onus being on the cruiser to get the relevant visas/approvals.