Vietnam visa for cruise ship passengers now $5.00

[Ole Faithful]

Vietnam Visa fee for cruise passengers back to US$5 per pax

International cruise passengers will pay a US$5 visa fee each, instead of a staggering US$45, when they go ashore for a local tour, according to new measures approved last week by the Prime Minister.

 

https://vietnamvisaembassy.org/vietnam-visa-fee-cruise-passengers-back-us5-per-pax/

 

 

[Gwendy]

Have only ever paid $5, charged to onboard account for the last few years.   This is for a landing card,.  Generally passports are collected on board and processed, you just show card as you leave ship and reboard.

[azbirdmom]

There were reports of the $5 charge back in January when we were on the Sapphire Princess.  $50+ was still charged to our onboard account.  Search this forum and you'll find a couple of threads discussing this.

[Ole Faithful]

Can you refuse the Princess landing card process and get a landing card on your own from the Embassy/consulate?

 

 

[ldubs]

I recall paying $30 (via the on board account) for the landing card or whatever they called it.  Not a hugely significant expense on a cruise, but I'm glad they reduced it to $5. 

 

[ldubs]

37 minutes ago, Ole Faithful said:

Can you refuse the Princess landing card process and get a landing card on your own from the Embassy/consulate?

 

 

 

I suspect the answer is no, but that is just a wild guess.  I am curious why you would want to do this?  Seems it would be an added hassle.   

[azbirdmom]

3 hours ago, Ole Faithful said:

Can you refuse the Princess landing card process and get a landing card on your own from the Embassy/consulate?

 

 

 

Yes, I know of some folks on our cruise who did that.  As long as you have it before you depart for your cruise you should be good - and you'll need to go to Passenger Services to tell them not to secure one on your behalf.

 

Edited to add:  This is the language from the Patter the day before our stop in Vietnam in January:

 

"You may obtain the visa on your own before your cruise.  If so please advise the Guest Services Desk.  If you choose to have the visa issued on board a fee of USD 56.00 per person will be charged to your stateroom account".

 

As I recall, the $56 charge was shown on the Travel Summary that can be generated in the Cruise Personalizer, so we were aware of the price and also the disjoint between what Princess was charging vs. what we found on the web.

Edited June 6, 2019 by azbirdmom

[azbirdmom]

By the way, here's a couple of the threads that I had remembered from last year.  The $5 was old information and the real visa cost is $20+.  It's better than the Princess charge if you want to go through the trouble of getting a landing card on your own.  

 

Edited June 6, 2019 by azbirdmom

[OzKiwiJJ]

This often comes up on the Australia/NZ Forum and on Princess-related FB forums. Other cruise lines (Celebrity is one, I think) have been only charging $5 for a couple of years while Princess has been charging $56. Apparent part or most of that charge is a "processing fee".

[iancal]

Good news .   Our experience is the Vietnam has changed their visa regulations and the charge several times.   We did a land tour a few years ago and held off obtaining a 30 day visa until we got to Cambodia.   The cost of the visa dropped a fair bit between the time we decided to tour and the time we obtained and paid for the visa.

[Bpos]

On ‎6‎/‎6‎/‎2019 at 2:04 PM, OzKiwiJJ said:

This often comes up on the Australia/NZ Forum and on Princess-related FB forums. Other cruise lines (Celebrity is one, I think) have been only charging $5 for a couple of years while Princess has been charging $56. Apparent part or most of that charge is a "processing fee".

 

The $5 visa fee imposed by the Vietnam Government has been so for some time now (at least a couple of years).  However while some cruise lines charge a $1 processing fee on top of that (ie $6) Princess line has continue to charge $56 and thereby imposing a very hefty "processing" fee on each and everyone of its passengers who transit through Vietham.

 

[Miaminice]

Sorry, but this is old news...

We have paid only 6 $ with Celebrity years ago already. The high prices on Princess and other lines were charges of the cruise line and not visa charges. And as much as I heard, they are still asking for the high amount. A good source of income 😉

 

[Expat Cruise]

On 6/6/2019 at 7:45 AM, Ole Faithful said:

Can you refuse the Princess landing card process and get a landing card on your own from the Embassy/consulate?

 

 

You can apply for your own Visa, US and moist first World Countries can do online. The fee is USD$25 and it takes about three days. If you do this you will be charged only the $3.00 port fee by Princess. Our last Cruise to Vietnam March Princess was charging AUD$56 dollars for the Visa (USD$39), the cruise before that was USD$33 dollars, it is cheaper to get the e-visa. Princess does not offer the $5.00 Visa as this is a profit center for them.

[hubofhockey]

On 6/9/2019 at 7:36 AM, Miaminice said:

Sorry, but this is old news...

We have paid only 6 $ with Celebrity years ago already. The high prices on Princess and other lines were charges of the cruise line and not visa charges. And as much as I heard, they are still asking for the high amount. A good source of income 😉

 

 

This looks like Princess is passing along its own fees to process visas for its passenger.  I've heard that Azamara, a sister line to Celebrity, charges close to the actual fee, so I'm good having them do the paperwork.

[Bpos]

On 6/4/2019 at 8:27 PM, Gwendy said:

Have only ever paid $5, charged to onboard account for the last few years.   This is for a landing card,.  Generally passports are collected on board and processed, you just show card as you leave ship and reboard.

 

I am a little confused here, on the Australian and NZ forum you said you paid the $5 visa fee on the Diamond Princess in 2013.  That is 6 years ago to my reckening.  Much has changed since then, particularly with  the cost of Princess arranged visas for Vietnam.

[terry&mike]

For those that have let the cruise line arrange the Vietnam visas for them, did you need to bring a set of passport/visa photos to the ship to use, or are photos not necessary? Specifically for Diamond Princess, but other anecdotes are appreciated. 

[Hoyaheel]

We were on Azamara Dec 2016, they did it (and charged $6? something like that) We didn't have to provide anything else, no photos (they had our digital photos and our passport info already, so....)

 

We're doing a Mekong River cruise in August- will be getting eVisa for Vietnam and trying to figure out our return. We're transiting through Hanoi (literal transit, between 2 international flights) which should be allowed without a visa (as the evisa is single entry only....) but I'm a little worried about airport staff being knowledgeable about this when we board in Siem Reap.....

[Miaminice]

5 hours ago, terry&mike said:

For those that have let the cruise line arrange the Vietnam visas for them, did you need to bring a set of passport/visa photos to the ship to use, or are photos not necessary? Specifically for Diamond Princess, but other anecdotes are appreciated. 

 

No, nothing to do at all (on Celebrity). We found a message / info letter in the room that Celebrity will arrange a group visa. You don’t need photos or anything else. It’s all done behind the scenes...

 

[terry&mike]

7 minutes ago, Miaminice said:

 

No, nothing to do at all (on Celebrity). We found a message / info letter in the room that Celebrity will arrange a group visa. You don’t need photos or anything else. It’s all done behind the scenes...

 

Thank you! Good to know.

[Miaminice]

9 hours ago, terry&mike said:

Thank you! Good to know.

 

This is the information given on Celebrity Millennium 

 

[Gwendy]

18 hours ago, Bpos said:

 

I am a little confused here, on the Australian and NZ forum you said you paid the $5 visa fee on the Diamond Princess in 2013.  That is 6 years ago to my reckening.  Much has changed since then, particularly with  the cost of Princess arranged visas for Vietnam.

Only charged $5 on RCI 2017 and also on earlier cruises.

[Miaminice]

34 minutes ago, Gwendy said:

Only charged $5 on RCI 2017 and also on earlier cruises.

 

Princess is known for overcharging... The actual cost of a visa is around 6 USD and Princess charge > 50 USD.

 

[terry&mike]

5 hours ago, Miaminice said:

 

This is the information given on Celebrity Millennium 

 

Thank you! I love cruise critic members.

[Hoyaheel]

3 hours ago, terry&mike said:

Thank you! I love cruise critic members.

 

I try to save all my paperwork from cruises (and make my husband take photos of weird things, like the space under beds 😉) because I know what kinds of questions come up on CC and I might not remember off the top of my head - but I can go check my files! Thankfully this community is full of people like that!