Vis vs Passports

JoeyandDavid · May 22, 2006

Recently on a thread there was some advice given that if you wanted to do a private tour of St Petersburg Russia you would have to apply for a visa.

MY questions are these:

1) Whats the difference between a Visa and a Passport?

2) Why do some countries require visas and some passports?

3 How do you know in advance which one you would need?

Guys any insight would..Thanks

jbond · May 22, 2006

A passport is an official government document that certifies one's identity and citizenship. The passport serves two purposes: to regain entry to the country of citizenship (i.e. the United States) and is a requirement by many countries to gain entry to the country you are visiting.

A visa is an official government document that temporarily authorizes you to be in the country you are visiting. Many countries require a visa to gain entry. The visa usually is in the form of a stamp IN the passport and is obtained from the country you are visiting.

When do you need a Visa?

Unfortunately, the answer to this question is subject to change almost on a daily basis. In our experience, the cruise line has always given us notice when we have booked the cruise. So far only Russia and Brazil have needed separate visas.

JoeyandDavid · May 22, 2006

ok Great information ... I am beginning to understand..I think... :smiley:

So, if I would wanted to sail book a cruise out of Rio for example .. I would need to get a visa before I could book the cruise? or is that something that the cruise walks me thru.....

jbond · May 22, 2006

No, you need to have the visa before you fly to Rio.

We booked a cruise on Royal Princess, Manaus, Brazil, to FLL. When we booked the cruise, Princess informed us that we would need a visa.

or is that something that the cruise walks me thru.....

No, you are on your own. We investigated the way to aquire a visa and it was from the Brazilian Consulate. The one in LA was closed down at the time and the closest was in San Francisco. You had to send them your passport and, I believe, $45 per visa. That requirement, together with yellow fever shots and malaria pills (both not mandatory, but highly recommended), the $150 plus per person airport taxes that we would have to pay extra to fly from Rio to Manaus and the crime rate in Brazilian airports caused us to change our minds about the cruise.

For the Baltic cruise RCI informed us when we booked that we would require visas if we did our own tours in Russia, but they would take care of them for all ship's tours. Seems like a common practice among the cruise lines.