Visa who is responsible to get the visa cruise or you?

[hantscple50]

We are going on our very first cruise on 26th NOV ON Azamara Quest. We leave Dubai and sail to India and Sri Lanka and Singapore.

I am from the UK, i want to know do we have to get our own visa or will the company we booed with deal with that or the cruise liner.

What if we dont get a visa before we go on ship, can we get one on ship or when we arrive at the ports of India as example.

 

 

[crystalspin]

1 hour ago, hantscple50 said:

We are going on our very first cruise on 26th NOV ON Azamara Quest. We leave Dubai and sail to India and Sri Lanka and Singapore.

I am from the UK, i want to know do we have to get our own visa or will the company we booed with deal with that or the cruise liner.

What if we dont get a visa before we go on ship, can we get one on ship or when we arrive at the ports of India as example.

In US/sailing from US, specifically on HAL -- we are always advised we're responsible for own visas -- even if there are no visas required! It can be confusing. 

 

It may be that the company can at least advise you what is needed.

 

I have been to places where you did in fact get "visa" (more like permit to travel!) at the airport on a land-based trip.

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic and you might want to repost this inquiry to UK Cruisers board, as the answers may be particular to country:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/544-uk-cruisers/

[carlmm]

Generally, it is each passengers responsibility to obtain all information, what is required, and all visa.

 

Nevertheless often cruise lines offer a connection to a visa service and at least information for "standard passenger". Thus you certainly should carefully check everything available from in your case Azamara.

[hallasm]

According to the cruise ticket contract it’s your own responsibility.

“Azamara® requires guests to be personally responsible for bringing aboard all required documents, including passports, visas and proof of vaccinations. Azamara cannot be held responsible for fines, costs, penalties or interrupted or terminated trips due to a lack of proper documentation, nor can we offer refunds to guests who fail to comply with documentation requirements.”

[donaldsc]

The problem w the cruise company being responsible for getting visas is that there are so many different visa scenarios that it never work.  Or at least it would work most of the time except for the times when it didn't.

 

DON

[Essiesmom]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.  You need to take some time and explore the forum, discovering all the places full of info that will help you.

1.  The board here for Azamara.  Newbies may be forgiven for thinking all those cruise line names are links to the cruise line websites.  But in reality, they are places where members who sail those lines - or hope to, ask questions and share experiences.

2.  The Roll Call boards.  There is a roll call board for each ship.  Someone on the sailing starts a roll call where other members on that sailing introduce themselves, share experiences, arrange excursions, etc.  There is a roll call for your cruise, in the roll calls for Azamara Quest.  It is 10 pages long, and chances are your issues have been discussed there.

3.  The Ports of Call forums if you need info and ideas about your ports.

4.  The already mentioned board for UK cruisers.

Time to explore.  EM

[hantscple50]

thank you

[John Bull]

 

 

Unless things have changed, passengers definitely have to get their own visa in advance for India - Cruise lines are not permitted to apply.  

 

JB 🙂

[garlinn]

On 9/4/2022 at 10:21 AM, hantscple50 said:

What if we dont get a visa before we go on ship, can we get one on ship or when we arrive at the ports of India as example.

I have just finished applying for an Indian Electronic Visa and it  would be difficult to do on the  ship. You have to attached scanned passport style  photos and copies of your passport. These  have  to meet certain specifications that took some manipulation on the computer. There are  also several questions that  I had to do some research before answering. One example is what countries have you visited in the last ten years.

[mom says]

On 9/4/2022 at 11:21 AM, hantscple50 said:

What if we dont get a visa before we go on ship, can we get one on ship or when we arrive at the ports of India as example.

If you dont have the required paperwork in advance, in most cases you would be denied boarding. No cruise for you.

[john watson]

On 9/6/2022 at 8:47 PM, John Bull said:

 

 

Unless things have changed, passengers definitely have to get their own visa in advance for India - Cruise lines are not permitted to apply.  

 

JB 🙂

 

 

I think it would be impossible for a cruise line to apply for visas because they do not have the complete set of personal data.  Firstly most people have passports from certain major countries that have a large cruise passenger base. People might have a passport from an obscure country like Turkmenistan which might be on a different approval to visit list. Turning up in an Arab country with Israeli stamps on your passport could mean refused entry.  Therefore many cruise lines refer you to visa specialist companies.  These people can navigate the complex permutations which exist.

 

Regards John

[John Bull]

1 hour ago, john watson said:

 

 

I think it would be impossible for a cruise line to apply for visas because they do not have the complete set of personal data.  Firstly most people have passports from certain major countries that have a large cruise passenger base. People might have a passport from an obscure country like Turkmenistan which might be on a different approval to visit list. Turning up in an Arab country with Israeli stamps on your passport could mean refused entry.  Therefore many cruise lines refer you to visa specialist companies.  These people can navigate the complex permutations which exist.

 

Regards John

 

Agreed, John - certainly in places like Russia and India.

 

But there are places where it's commonplace for the cruise line to apply for visas, like Egypt, Vietnam, Jordan, Turkey. But that's perhaps because they may be restricted visas for cruisers only, rather than regular tourist visas. They're usually for all - or certainly almost all - nationalities

Problem is that cruise line head offices aren't always up-to-speed or reluctant to guarantee  on which countries they'll get visas for you.

 

JB  🙂

 

 

[sleepingcat]

We called at Mumbai on a world cruise in 2014.  Some passengers on the ship did not have India visas and had to disembark in Sri Lanka and fly on to rejoin the ship in Dubai (visa is required even if you dont disembark).  

Getting the visas for India then was fairly hard going in our case involved 2 visits to the India High Commission visa office in Birmingham.  Hope you've already started the process by now. 

Azamara and/or your TA should be able to give you all the visa info you need, but it will be up to you to make sure you have the correct ones. And btw, if not already done, check the expiry date on passports, some countries have concerns about that.