daughter coming to visit USA....wants to take a cruise vacation

[heyjimi]

Hey everyone,

been awhile since i been on here,anyway My wife's daughter is coming here to visit us for 4 months in October.She wants to take a cruise vacation while she is here.My wife's daughter is from China,but is currently in Australia going to school,so she will be coming here to USA from Australia,and has Chinese passpost.my question.....will she be able to take a cruise while here on visit in USA,{thinking maybe doing the mexico-cozumel cruise ).will this be possible,?

thanks for any help....hope all is well with you all.

 

JImi

[dnoblett]

Will need a visa to visit Mexico and other countries.

 

Of course will need to apply for a visit visa to the USA can do this in Australia.

 

 

Greencard holders can visit Mexico and other neighboring Caribbean countries without visa.

[heyjimi]

Shes already got her visa to come visit USA,......so she will need a visa to cruise mexico,how about Bahamas?

thanks for the help

 

jim

[dnoblett]

Yes she is not a US citizen or green card holder so will need a visit visa for any country that requires a visit visa for a Chinese citizen.

[heyjimi]

Yeah makes sense,thanks for the info........second option is Disney World...Pirates of the Carribean !!

 

JImi

[dnoblett]

Excellent idea, or how about seeing the sights in the USA? She is visiting this country, there is a lot to see here.

[True Blue]

Yes she is not a US citizen or green card holder so will need a visit visa for any country that requires a visit visa for a Chinese citizen.

Check with the cruise line and you may be surprised.

 

While this seems logical advice, check with the cruise line as this may or may not apply to your cruise. We found out that apparently as long as you are on a very short (less than 1 day) visit some destinations will bend the rules a bit. Mexico is no problem for sure. See this note re Mexico http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1157662

 

We brought Brother in Law and Sister in law (both Chinese citizens) to US to cruise from Ft Lauderdale last year. Choice was Eastern Caribbean (St Thomas US Virgin Islands, St Martins (Dutch/French) and visa was required due to St Martins/St Marteens stop. But found out we could go to Western Caribbean Haiti (Cruise ship private Island), Jamaica and Cozumel( and did not require a VISA as long as we gave the Cruise ship their passports to hold and that we booked excursions through the ship. This was last February/March and we sailed through Royal Caribbean. Contacted Carnival and Holland America and they both referred us to checking with embassy's.

 

If you go to Ft Lauderdale save money by getting the offsite parking (less than half the cost of the cruise terminal parking garage). we used Park N; Go or something like that. Check www.cruisecritic.com for recommendations. If you go to Cozumel take the "Twister Boat" excursion which is a Miami Vice style speedboat ride to the Isla De Passion (the island where they film the Corona Beer commercials) great all you can eat buffet. unlimited rum drinks, beautiful beach, hammocks and cost is $85 per person. My inlaws loved it!!!

Isla de Passion http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dERnHhxylvo Twister Boat http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWEGflWCg2A

Have fun!

Edited October 20, 2013 by True Blue (see edit history)

[True Blue]

I searched and found this "unofficial link" from a Passport and Visa service that shows whether a tourist visa is required (red) or is not needed (green) in various locations. http://www.passportsandvisas.com/reviews/travel-visa-requirements.asp?countryOrigin=China

 

We used this last time and it was spot on for bringing our Chinese relatives on a cruise. Check the chart but in general if it is a Western based and relatively wealthy destination, a visa is required. If it is more of a poor country or banana republic, they want every tourist dollar they can get so any short term (less than 1 day) cruise ship visits and excursions can be done with no additional visa. There are a few exceptions to the above rule so check the chart and the consulate web site if you are unsure. Worst that can happen is they only let you off the boat into the little local shopping area near the dock, but we had no issues at all and we were pleasantly surprised that we could take our Chinese guests with us with no problems whatsoever in the countries are cruise went to (all noted in green at the web site).

 

We have more Chinese guests coming over Chinese New Year's and we have another cruise planned as it is a great treat and goes over well since China mainly has river cruises. Plus it caters to the 5 of the great wants of Chinese people - (1) TRAVEL to other countries to photograph and learn about different cultures, (2) SHOPPING for expensive jewelry and brand name fashion goods, (3) GAMBLING at the casinos and even with bingo (4) LEARNING by taking classes to learn how to dance, cook, make towel animals anything they can learn and (5) last but not least and perhaps this should be #1 for sure - EATING & DRINKING lots of good food together and lots of beer, cocktails especially the rum and tequila drinks in Margueritaville!!!

 

Our Chinese guests rated a Caribbean cruise as #1 favorite activity over NYC, Washington DC, Niagra Falls, Canada, Disney World - seeing animals in the wild - you name it!