Question

Asked by CCM from canada | Oct. 04, 2019 06:45

About:Shanghai 15-day Visa-free Policy for Cruise Tour Groups

Shanghai stop during cruise

In response to Lie Norway...that is exactly our cruise itinerary. We hold a Canadian passport and was under the impression that we too will not be required to obtain a visa in advance, since we qualify for the 24 transit free visa.
My questions is, will we have problems boarding our cruise ship in Yokohama (starting point of our cruise) without showing any visas?

There has been much discussion on our boards and it is causing a lot of anxiety for all us passengers because everyone has a different answer.

Thanks for your repsonse

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Answers (3)

Answered by Steve Doan | Oct. 05, 2019 04:43

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I am on the same ship The Celebrity Millenium departing Yokohama on November 23 for 14-day trip ending in Hong Kong. YOU DO NOT NEED CHINA VISA. As US Citizen, I am Visa-Exempt for both 24-hour and 144-hour to Transit in Shanghai. Of course The Millenium last stop before Shanghai is Kagoshima, Japan and the next stop is Jeju Island, South Korea. Celebrity sent out an email on Tuesday October 1 basically demanding all passengers to have a Single-Entry China Visa to board the ship. I spent many hours on the phone to talk with four different customer service agents from Celebrity. They gave me conflicting information about the need for CV: two woud say that “Yes, I can board the ship without CV” and two would say “No, you will be denied boarding unless you have CV”.

After numerous emails to higher officers of Celebrity Cruise, I was confirmed that I do not need CV (very expensive total cost $280). Here is the quote from Celebrity Offical.

“The recommendation for China is that guests secure a visa. While not required for this specific itinerary and stop in Shanghai, China has been known to change the approach for the visa-free program.

If guests elect to proceed with the visa free option – there is no issue given this itinerary. However, it is subject to review by the authorities upon arrival and at their discretion it could be approved/denied.”

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Answered by ZUPAN | Oct. 04, 2019 15:23

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I will confirm to you too... Your itinerary is definitely eligible for 24 hour visa free transit in Shanghai. There is no reason why to doubt it! I have noticed that the question like yours have spread throughout the internet and they are also discussed on FlyerTalk forum. There is no need for that because you really don't need any kind of visa. Of course, I can see that your cruise company does not want to bear any responsibility and instead to offer you an answer to your logical question, they are simply pretending not to know anything, leaving you to wander throughout the internet in the search for a right answer. This is such a disgusting attitude. They could hire at least one lawyer for all the money they collect from the passengers to at least offer a reliable answer to such a simple questions. Anyway, they are not doing that. It is too costly. It is much better that the passengers obtain, in reality, totally unnecessary visas.

To repeat... You really don't need any kind of visa because you will be covered by 24 hour visa free transit. The same thing is valid for Lie from Norway.

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Answered by ZUPAN | Oct. 05, 2019 08:35

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Steve, thanks for your efforts. Indeed, the Chinese rules for visa free transit are so easy to understand, but the cruise company has done quite an effort to to mystify a very clear situation. As I have already mentioned, their attitude toward the passengers that have paid their tickets in hope that they will be properly informed about crucial details, were left in the situation where they don't know what to do. I just hope that they will understand that the visa is not necessary at all.

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