Visa in Egypt

[mlkitt3]

Hi we will be in Egypt in May aboard Holland ship Noordam.

Could some one who has been on a cruise in 2012 and called in Egypt please help with information.

We are doing a ship tour from Port Said to Cairo.

Then the next day a Private tour from Alexandria.

My question is will we need a visa or can we get it at the port like we have been told?

Does the ship organise visa for the ship tour?

Any information would be wonderful.

Cheers

[SadieN]

I was prepared to give you this link--

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1108.html

But it's for Americans traveling to Egypt.

 

Look on the Ports of Call boards or the Australia Cruisers board for info.

[John Bull]

I've cruised to Egypt twice, the last time earlier this year.

Although we're Brits, I'm 99% certain that the arrangements for other EU, US, Canadian, Aus , NZ & many other nationals are the same.

 

A dispensation for visiting cruise ship passengers only (ie you sail in & depart on the same ship) is that you are issued with a free visa - actually a passport stamp.

 

Usually this is done by the ship collecting passports & an Egyptian immigration official boarding at the last port before the first Egyptian port-of-call & doing the paperwork on-board (nice work if you can get it ;)).

You then collect from the official before your ship reaches Egypt, hopefully on a sea-day. Staggered collection - probably being called alphabetically by surname - means you shouldn't have to stand in line for very long.

 

This service isn't only for folk on ships' tours. There's no visa fee, and I don't believe the ship will charge an admin fee.

 

When you go ashore in Egypt, at the gangplank you will have to show your passport, with its stamp. You will have to carry your passport while ashore.

Be warned, the Egyptians do like their paperwork. It can be a bit bureaucratic and the prospects of a delay in going ashore or returning on-board are a bit hit-n-miss.

 

I could find no mention of the cruise ship dispensation on the Egyptian govt website (that doesn't surprise me, I've found the same omission on other countries' websites:rolleyes:) but this from the website of reputable tour operator, Memphis Tours:

a) The free visa.

The free entry visa is the stamp you can get at upon arrival for free. It is a stamp you get in your passport. The free visa is given in some cases.

For people who come via cruise ships to any of our Marine ports like Alexandria, port said or Safaga. It is a stamp to show that they are in a quick trip. This stamp is valid for the days they will spend in Egypt as they will leave Egypt via the same cruise ship. If they come by a cruise ship and will leave by flight, they will have to get the multiple visas from our embassy in their country before they arrive.

 

(any Brit who's flown to Sharm & not had to buy a visa - that's a different dispensation for Brits who remain on the Sinai peninsula or cruise from there.)

 

Since I'm only 99% certain for Aussies, I agree with Sadie that you should get that certainty up to 100% on the Aussie cruisers board. Here's the link:

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=-1&f=712

 

Have a good one

 

JB :)

[mlkitt3]

Thank you for the information. :)

[rmurray847]

A dispensation for visiting cruise ship passengers only (ie you sail in & depart on the same ship) is that you are issued with a free visa - actually a passport stamp.

 

Usually this is done by the ship collecting passports & an Egyptian immigration official boarding at the last port before the first Egyptian port-of-call & doing the paperwork on-board (nice work if you can get it ;)).

You then collect from the official before your ship reaches Egypt, hopefully on a sea-day. Staggered collection - probably being called alphabetically by surname - means you shouldn't have to stand in line for very long.

 

This service isn't only for folk on ships' tours. There's no visa fee, and I don't believe the ship will charge an admin fee.

 

When you go ashore in Egypt, at the gangplank you will have to show your passport, with its stamp. You will have to carry your passport while ashore.

Be warned, the Egyptians do like their paperwork. It can be a bit bureaucratic and the prospects of a delay in going ashore or returning on-board are a bit hit-n-miss.

This is what we experience as well. We sailed on the Norwegian Jade, November 2011, into Alexandria. We're American, but I noticed standing in the line to pick up our passports, that there were plenty of other nationalities going through the exact same process.

 

We were NOT on a ship tour our first day there, so had to walk to the gate to meet our driver. The officials there absolutely DO check your passport carefully. And they spoke ZERO English and didn't smile. It's just a tiny bit unnerving...but we had no actual issues.