Cruising from Shanghai to Japan and back

Tammy, I will write here a couple of conditions that your itinerary has to fulfill to be eligible for 144 hour visa free transit in Shanghai:

- Your flight from Canada to Shanghai is not allowed to have any additional landing in mainland China and in the country where your cruise will have its first port of call, immediately after Shanghai.
- Your cruise is not allowed to have its first port of call, immediately after Shanghai, in mainland China.
- Your cruise is not allowed to have its last port of call, immediately before Shanghai, in mainland China.
- Your flight from Shanghai to Canada is not allowed to have any additional landing in mainland China and in the country where your cruise will have its last port of call, immediately before Shanghai.

In other words, if your itinerary looks like this:

Canada - Shanghai - Japan - Shanghai - Canada

You are definitely eligible for 144 hour visa in Shanghai twice and you don't need any kind of visa.

You should just print out your flight and cruise tickets and have those printouts with you.

Now, take a look into your itinerary and if you have some additional questions, just feel free to ask them here.

We have a layover in Taipei...is that going to mess things up? We are there approximately four (4) hours both ways. I really appreciate that you are taking the time to assist me with this. It is all so confusing, and as I am handling the travel arrangements for three of us, the pressure is on!

And is Zupan your last name? If so, do you know a Mark Zupan?

A layover in Taipei is fine, of course if your itinerary remains consistent with 144 hour visa free transit requirements. In other words, if your exact itinerary is:

Toronto - Taipei - Shanghai - Japan - Shanghai - Taipei - Toronto

Then you are perfectly eligible for 144 hour visa free transit in Shanghai twice.

You are right about my last name and obviously Mark Zupan's ancestors are from the same area as I am. By the way, your last name is also from the part of Europe very close from original Zupan area :)

My husband is, we think, a quarter Croatian. But he knows nothing about his father's side of the family as his grandfather abandoned his wife and child when the child (my husband's father) was an infant. I would love to find out about his family to surprise him...I guess that I need to swab his cheek!

Hooray! I thought as much, but you were correct in that the Embassy would try and tell me different! I am very grateful to you for answering my question! Now I just need to settle on a hotel. Any suggestions there? Are we best to stay near the cruise port and take the train/subway to The Bund? Then stay at a hotel near Pudong and do the same? I can find hotels w/shuttles to and from the airport...but then we have to get to the cruise port. And then reverse. Ugh...this is all so demanding and I have to do it right!

And, oh my gosh...I called six Embassy's ~ 2 in California (constant busy signal), DC (took forever then I could not understand her at all, NYC (she's the one that told me that I absolutely had to have a Visa...and we are five hours from NYC), Chicago (number disconnected) and Houston (number just rang and rang).
I called Royal Caribbean and they had not a clue.
You are my hero!

Indeed, your husband is definitely, at least, a quarter Croatian. There is no doubt about it. Anyway, it is such and unfortunate that his grandfather abandoned the family. I would guess that he was nostalgic and probably has returned to his place of origin. In reality, who knows? Maybe you will manage somehow to clear that situation :)

As far as finding a reliable information about the eligibility for visa free transit in China and similar subjects, it is very hard and sometimes a painful job. The Chinese diplomatic missions are not exactly the best informed because the subject of visa free transit is under the jurisdiction of totally different ministry. Diplomatic missions mostly deal with visas and the Chinese immigration is the address for visa free transit issues. What to say about the customer service of cruise companies? Nothing, but that they have a huge interest if you apply for a visa through them because they will make a juicy commission out of it. In reality, the places like this one, where the contributors that have some experience gather to answer the questions in their free time, are really the best.

You have asked me about the hotel. Well, this is probably the hardest question, without any doubt :) In reality, if you ask me and having in mind that you will have two overnights during both of your stops in Shanghai, maybe I would recommend you something more centrally located. I know that a cruise is your highlight, but you should also enjoy Shanghai as well. So, you should maybe take a look at SSAW Boutique Hotel Shanghai Bund hotel. In my opinion, really a great choice. You will like the surroundings, the proximity of a metro station and many other details. Now, it's up to you to make a decision because the hero has spoken quite a lot :)

Zupan ~ I thought that I'd update you. We are going w/the 144-hour visa-exemption. I made some phone calls to China and I'm quite reassured that we are going to be just fine w/this. There are those that are sure that I'm asking for trouble. Anyway, that's how we are rolling, and I thank you for your words of wisdom and encouragement.
Mark Zupan would like to make contact w/you. zupanalfred.edu He was quite surprised that I "ran into" someone w/the same last name as his. Anyway, I hope that you do reach out. It would be kind of cool if you two found out that you had/have family in common.
If the email addresses are redacted, please let me know and I'll figure something out (assuming that you would like to pursue this).

Tammy
tmkcandlesgmail.com