I will be on a cruise this June with one of the stops being Kusadasi. The Turkish Embassy's website states that a visa is required upon entry. The cruise line was not very forthcoming with information and said it is up to the traveler to secure proper traveling documents before the trip. The travel agent said you can get a visa upon arrival in Turkey. Should I spend the $45 and get a visa in the US or get one upon arrival in Kusadasi? For past travelers to Kusadasi, what has your experience been?
Posted by
nanaimo
156 posts
As a Canadian doing a cruise this fall to Kusadasi , I checked the Turkish Embassy website and it indicated that cruise line passengers are allowed to stay overnight in Turkish ports without a visa after permission from the port authorites. You should therefore check with the Turkish Embassy in Washington D.C.
Posted by
Eastern Iowa, USA
8024 posts
I would wait. Turkish Visas are really no more than a fee collected on entry. I am not sure of the port at Kusadasi, but at the airport, you go to a window before getting in line for passport control, pay your $25 or whatever it is now, get a slip of paper or a stamp, and move on. You do need the currency in Euros or USD, probably other currencies as well, but not Turkish Lira.
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23616 posts
When you are on a cruise, the cruise ship handles ALL of those details. Your travel agent should know that or they are not a very good agent. No need to check with the Turkish embassy. You have more important things to worry about. I assume you are an Am citizen traveling on a US passport.
When we were in Kusadasi last year we just walk on and off of the ship and only had to show the ship's id card. We didn't have passports because the cruise ship had collected all passports earlier.
Posted by
OP
Brooklyn, NY, USA
17 posts
Thank you all for sharing your information.
Posted by
Newburyport, MA
683 posts
It has been said that cruise lines handle visa details. This is patently not the case. The reason that there are no visa problems in ports located in countries requiring visas, is that those countries waive visas for tours of THAT PARTICULAR port. This is not so everywhere (i.e., India , Australia).
The statement that visas are easily obtainable in Turkey upon arrival is , to our knowledge, spot on.
Have a great trip.
Posted by
Newburyport, MA
683 posts
It has been said that cruise lines handle visa details. This is patently not the case. The reason that there are no visa problems in ports located in countries requiring visas, is that those countries waive visas for tours of THAT PARTICULAR port. This is not so everywhere (i.e., India , Australia).
The statement that visas are easily obtainable in Turkey upon arrival is , to our knowledge, spot on.
Have a great trip.
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23616 posts
Paul, please read it carefully before commenting. I did not say that a cruise ship handles all of the "visa" detail. I said that the cruise ship handles all of the details. For example -- in Russia you need an advance visa to get off the ship. The cruise line will advice you of that need as part of the pre-cruise info. And they will do the same for any other port that has special requirements. Another example -- cruise line will often collect all of the passports on boarding so that the immigration officers at various ports can review the passports prior to your getting off so that you do not have to go through a long immigration line.
Posted by
Vancouver, BC
162 posts
We were on a school trip to Greece including a cruise to the islands and Kusadasi to see Ephesus last March 2009. I don't remember needing a visa for the afternoon in Turkey. We surrendered our passports to the cruise ship at the start of the journey. There's a stamp into Pireas but no Turkey stamp that I can see.
When I went to Turkey on my own three years ago, I needed a visa, which I got at the port upon entry.
Check with the cruise, but I kinda, sorta, maybe think you don't need a visa for a cruise where you're only time in Turkey is the afternoon. Just don't jump ship while you're there.