Saudi Arabia - visa?

[little britain]

Booked on World Europa from Dubai with port stop at Dammam.  
Please can anyone share what is required to go ashore in Saudi please? A friend was recently on Bellissima (?) and said it was “too much hassle” and didn’t bother… but didn’t elaborate as to what was needed - and are there additional costs too?

 

Edited May 4, 2022 by little britain

[reallyme]

Have you checked on the SA Embassy Or Consulate site in your country to see what they require for cruise visitors from your country? Or with their government's website in SA?  

Edited May 4, 2022 by reallyme

[bcs]

Hi, one user here on cruisecritic wrote:

 

"And as many markets not allow the cruise companies to add any unavoidable extra charges that are not included in the advertised price, it is technically not possible for MSC to force you to pay for this visa if you don´t want to have it. 
As I have booked under the law of the European Union whatever happens MSC anyway cannot charge me something extra i don´t want, so wait and see is the way to go. "

[little britain]

https://www.visitsaudi.com/en/about-e-visa?gclid=Cj0KCQjwpcOTBhCZARIsAEAYLuWAd3t2WMPULCV0vouahKPOL4OTQG2nx8w7MTfRdgQ6xhr_szbexVwaAhHMEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds&fbclid=IwAR34jCZBHCrO-YcPWXlEBQgHSygfPwv_QJr_NcfGu0antgeu5G_gt-5shcg
 

Working out at £102 for a visa that is valid for one month… I only need a few hours! 
That’s why I was wondering whether cruise ships had any other way of allowing guests to enter?

 

If it’s going to cost £102pp then so be it. Saudi has been in my bucket list for a while. One of the last big undiscovered countries  in the world. 

[oilsand]

I was on the MSC Virituosa which stopped in Jeddah , SA on April 5 ,2022. It took 2 hours to get visa on the ship before arrival and the cost was about $ 50.00 US by CC .

The wait in the terminal was 2 hours to enter the country, even when having a MSC purchased  excursion. The excursion was just OK.

When arriving back at the terminal it took another hour just to reboard the ship.

IMO the day was a complete waste of time

[little britain]

On 5/4/2022 at 5:04 PM, oilsand said:

I was on the MSC Virituosa which stopped in Jeddah , SA on April 5 ,2022. It took 2 hours to get visa on the ship before arrival and the cost was about $ 50.00 US by CC .

The wait in the terminal was 2 hours to enter the country, even when having a MSC purchased  excursion. The excursion was just OK.

When arriving back at the terminal it took another hour just to reboard the ship.

IMO the day was a complete waste of time

Was this visa a single entry visa ?

We are probably going to Riyadh after the cruise so the £102 visa may be the way to go? 

[oilsand]

Yes it was a single entry visa

[CptFatguts]

Did you disembark at Jeddah? 

My wife and I are disembarking from the Splendida in November and I am currently sorting out flights to DXB. 

 

Could you please indicate the time taken for departure and customs clearance? 

 

I am contemplating a 10:30 flight ex JED. 

 

Did MSC arrange any visas on board or was it up to pax to prearrange? 

 

Thanks in advance. 

Bruce and Tania

[LeCommandant]

I can confirm that the E-Visa request for Saudi Arabia is easy to do. It took me 30 minutes for each passenger (I did it very carefully) 😉

[Lisichka]

On 6/3/2022 at 7:51 AM, LeCommandant said:

I can confirm that the E-Visa request for Saudi Arabia is easy to do. It took me 30 minutes for each passenger (I did it very carefully) 😉

Where did you do this?

[oilsand]

was on the virtuose in april. it was a day stop only in jeddah. It took over 2 hours at the terminal building to get in the country and 1.5 hours to get out at the end of the day

 

[little britain]

On 6/16/2022 at 7:54 PM, Lisichka said:

Where did you do this?

See #4 ^^^

[wcook]

The Saudi’s are dipping their toe in the mass market tourism business for the first time, and only half heartedly at that. Information out of SA can be contradictory and seems to be ever changing. Unfortunately, even though MSC is an official partner, they are doing nothing to make things easy or clear for their passengers. 
 

I hope you pioneers who are among the first to go have a great time. Me? Too many other great places to go to put up with this. Maybe when things settle down in a few years. 

[benitz8]

Hello. 

 

My family is also booked on World Europa out of Dubai. 

 

Unfortunately some of us are holding Philippines passports which looks to be not qualified to get e-visa online. 

 

Anyone who has sailed to a Saudi port, or know for sure, if we will be allowed to board without having a visa, as long as we will NOT go ashore? 

 

Same question for Qatar, in case anyone knows. 

 

Thanks in advance. 

[little britain]

Question about eVisa please; it asks for date of arrival and date of departure…. Presumably this is the date you first arrive in the Kingdom and the final date you are currently planning on leaving … but as visa is valid for a year; does this then invalidate any further visits? 
Or do you only put in the first arrival and departure date 

 

I visit Saudi on the cruise then afterwards we fly to Riyadh ( because we now can!) to visit friends so I’m in and out twice! 
 

[Noncon]

Also on the Dec Doha cruise, so I'm glad I saw this thread.  

 

As an FYI, there is a e-visa specifically for cruise passengers.

 

https://www.saudiarabiaonlinevisas.com/e-maritime-visa-cruise-tourists/

[little britain]

MSC WORLD EUROPA DUBAI : SAUDI VISAS NOW NOT REQUIRED IF STAYING ABOARD - FOR EXCURSIONS TRANSIT VISA NEEDED
 

from  UK TA

[little britain]

On 8/17/2022 at 2:57 AM, Noncon said:

Also on the Dec Doha cruise, so I'm glad I saw this thread.  

 

As an FYI, there is a e-visa specifically for cruise passengers.

 

https://www.saudiarabiaonlinevisas.com/e-maritime-visa-cruise-tourists/

I just tried filling this in to see how much it is… $217??! That can’t be right?! 

[8420PR]

If you apply for a normal transit visa online the cost is 300SAR (about GBP70):  https://www.my.gov.sa/wps/portal/snp/servicesDirectory/servicedetails/8474   

 

If you use an agency (as your link) then it will cost more.  I would wait as long as possible before applying for the visa, as I have my doubts that Europa will actually stop in Dammam - last year this port was cancelled.

[little britain]

27 minutes ago, 8420PR said:

If you apply for a normal transit visa online the cost is 300SAR (about GBP70):  https://www.my.gov.sa/wps/portal/snp/servicesDirectory/servicedetails/8474   

 

If you use an agency (as your link) then it will cost more.  I would wait as long as possible before applying for the visa, as I have my doubts that Europa will actually stop in Dammam - last year this port was cancelled.

I need a full entry visa as I’m going to Saudi after the cruise too. The site you give ^ - their link is broken for the full visa? Is this the genuine KSA gov site? 
 

Didn’t realise the other site was one of those agencies! Thanks for pointing out 

[benitz8]

5 hours ago, little britain said:

MSC WORLD EUROPA DUBAI : SAUDI VISAS NOW NOT REQUIRED IF STAYING ABOARD - FOR EXCURSIONS TRANSIT VISA NEEDED
 

from  UK TA

 

Are we able to get something in writing? We are a family group of 11 people and there is no sense spending so much money for a few hours in port.

 

We would love to just stay on board if we can save on the effort and cost of getting visas.

 

[alistairg]

I am on World Europa in February and have been following this.

 

After a LOT of searching I found that you can get a transit visa by going through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website and clicking on the option for Visa Applications From Saudi Missions Abroad. Apparently the old government site linked above has not worked for a long time.

 

https://visa.mofa.gov.sa/Home/Index2?service_type=1

 

You have to set up an account, fill in a form with some somewhat odd questions, select an insurance provider and make payment.

 

Some of the odd questions included qualification/source of degree. I just put NA as I not everyone in the party has one and I wanted to see what happens.

 

They asked for a KSA (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) home address. Which is very strange as it is for visitors. I put NA again.

 

I put MSC World Europa in for the flight number.

 

They also asked for all countries visited in the last 5 years. As I do not have this information to hand, I have not filled it in yet and having saved the application I cannot edit this part for some reason.

 

They also asked for a PO Box and zip code. In the insurance part. I think they mean address in Saudi Arabia. I put in the port PO Box number which is 28062 and the zip code appears to be 31188.

 

The 48hour transit visa is SAR100 which is around $27. There is also a $10.50 application and processing fee and you have to select an insurance provider. There are some very cheap options, one appears to only be 99c.

 

 

Edited September 16, 2022 by alistairg

[little britain]

4 hours ago, benitz8 said:

 

Are we able to get something in writing? We are a family group of 11 people and there is no sense spending so much money for a few hours in port.

 

We would love to just stay on board if we can save on the effort and cost of getting visas.

 

The TA advises that this will be posted on the MSc website 

[benitz8]

21 hours ago, little britain said:

The TA advises that this will be posted on the MSc website 

 

The would be a big relief and load off to be sure we will be allowed boarding if staying on board.

 

Please post a link here once your TA informs you the information is up on MSC website. 

 

Thanks in advance.

[Nikita4]

Good question!

We are on the DEC 31 Cruise on the new World Europa and have no information about Visa for the saudistopp.