Question about port stops in country that requires Visa

[Eli_6]

Has anyone cruised on a cruise where one of the port stops requires a visa to enter?  How did Carnival handle that? I am in a group on a different forum and there is no consensus. The country is Indonesia FWIW. Some say Carnival gets the visas/ETA for us because Indonesia handles cruise ship passengers differently than regular travelers. Others say you have to get the visa yourself. I asked John Heald (twice) and he didn't respond.

 

I already got my ETAs for Australia since we are leaving from there and Singapore doesn't require a visa for US citizens. I actually out of an abundance of caution went ahead and applied for an Indonesia visa. The website was a nightmare and it took 2.5 hours due to horrible processing speeds and the website not reading my passport.  Finally, it went through only my "visa" has my DOB as DD/MM/0080 instead of DD/MM/1980.  It had originally read my passport as stating I was born in the year 0080, but I corrected it before submitting to 1980.  Nonetheless, when I received the visa it still said I was born in 0080 EVEN THOUGH I had noticed the mistake and changed it! It was like system corrected my correction to what it thought my passport said.  So, now my only option is to reapply (which will probably take another 2+ hours) and pay another $35. And I have concerns it may still come out again saying I was born in the year 0080. (I have to say that I look darn good for being 1,944 years old!)  I googled and apparently lots of other people online have this same problem (i.e. it misreading their scanned in passport and giving them screwy names, incorrect DOBs, wrong passport numbers, etc.) and them being unable to correct it.  One guy after redoing his visa app three times and paying three times and having all of them screwed up, finally gave up and just applied in person when he got there. So, long story short, if Carnival will do this for us, I would like to let them. 

 

[VentureMan_2000]

You are responsible for all required documentation.  Carnival does not provide any help.

Carnival states:

Carnival requires guests to provide proper travel documentation in order to travel. The documentation is required at embarkation and throughout the cruise and is the responsibility of the guest. Our policy states that any guest traveling without proper documentation will be denied boarding the ship and will be under full penalty, and therefore, will not be offered a refund or a replacement cruise. Guests must contact the appropriate embassy or consulate of the countries they will be visiting for specific travel documentation requirements. Carnival assumes no responsibility for advising guests of Immigration requirements.

 

[BlerkOne]

Viking is not Carnival, but...

 

https://www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/cruise-destinations/asia-australia/bangkok-bali-beyond/visa-information.html

 

I think Carnival could apply for visas for everyone and pass the cost on, but only Carnival can answer if they will. I didn't see anything in the ticket contract that permits them to do so, though.

[Eli_6]

2 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

Viking is not Carnival, but...

 

https://www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/cruise-destinations/asia-australia/bangkok-bali-beyond/visa-information.html

 

I think Carnival could apply for visas for everyone and pass the cost on, but only Carnival can answer if they will. I didn't see anything in the ticket contract that permits them to do so, though.

Gah. The link on the Viking page is the website I already used and that works so poorly.  I guess I will try it again and pay another $35.

 

Edited May 9 by Eli_6

[Eli_6]

2 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

Viking is not Carnival, but...

 

https://www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/cruise-destinations/asia-australia/bangkok-bali-beyond/visa-information.html

 

I think Carnival could apply for visas for everyone and pass the cost on, but only Carnival can answer if they will. I didn't see anything in the ticket contract that permits them to do so, though.

As an aside, Oceania will handle the visas for you.  My guess is some of the guests on this cruise are used to cruise lines that do that. I am surprised that Viking doesn't. I am not surprised that Carnival doesn't.

[PlanoTim]

8 hours ago, Eli_6 said:

As an aside, Oceania will handle the visas for you.  My guess is some of the guests on this cruise are used to cruise lines that do that. I am surprised that Viking doesn't. I am not surprised that Carnival doesn't.

I think Viking has provided a visa service for their world cruises in the past.  Not sure if they still do.

[Eli_6]

UPDATE: Carnival sent out an email about the Visa and ETA with instructions and links. Only I didn't get the email and neither did a bunch of other people. Fortunately, someone in one of the other groups told us about it. I was able to email carnival and get them to send me a copy of the email.  It has all the relevant links and information.  So, I feel much better now that I don't have to guess what is going on.