I'm taking a cruise, what do i need?

Contact the cruise line - they should know what documentation is required by their passengers.

Gregg

Check the countries against this list:
http://www.dr1.com/forums/visas/61093-countries-dominicans-can-travel-visa-free-july-23-2006-a.html

Isn't Guadeloupe is officially part of France?

Chirimoya said:

Isn't Guadeloupe is officially part of France?

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Yes it is, fully, not some halfway situation, like Puerto Rico, or the Dutch Antilles. Or Gibraltar :cheeky:.
I'm not sure whether that applies to tourist visa though. It would be a bit strange if Guadeloupe would be part of the Schengen zone...

And look, it isn't:
"B. Visado para un viaje en unos Departamentos Franceses de Am?rica.
Los Departamentos Franceses de Am?rica :

Martinica

Guadalupe

Guyana
El proceso para obtener un visado de corta estancia para los Departamentos Franceses de Am?rica es id?ntico al del espacio "Schengen". Sin embargo, es necesario precisar cu?l es el departamento de destino."
So if you can travel to France you can travel to Guadeloupe, and if you need the visa precedure is the same..
See: Visado/tr?mites de entrada en Francia - Embajada de Francia en la Rep?blica Dominicana

The best thing is to check with the travel agent or cruise company. They must have some experience of situations like this after all, and I can't imagine it's worth the hassle and expense of getting visas for countries you're only going to spend a few hours in.

From experience (and from the only real cruise I've ever taken and only because I won a ticket on a big old cruise ship) the staff collects passports and deals with it. You hand your passport in when you depart and get given it back when you're back in home port. The rules are a little flexible on ships and boats. They took mine and I got into everywhere. Perhaps this is why they avoid US ports.

What to take? Easy clothes for the ship itself, and shoes you can walk in. Depending on the ship, something smarter for dinners or casinos. See what they have available - swimwear for a pool for instance. Some people dress to kill!

jaymo517 said:

Hello Everyone,

I want to take a cruise, it leaves on January 13, 2008 out of Santo Dominigo and returns on the 20th.

Any help please................

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What cruise line are you booking on? If it is one of the biggies (Carnival, Princess, Holland-America, etc) you can go on a website called CruiseCritic
Cruise Critic - Cruises, Cruise Line Ship Reviews, Cruise Deals, Message Boards and find out just about anything you want to know. You can see reports from people who have done the cruise already and you can ask your passport/visa questions directly to those people with experience.

I am taking the same cruise in March with my Dominican huband and dominican kids. The cruise line is no help at all but I have been assured that the only thing you need is a Dominican passport. No problem with the french and british islands - it is only the uS ones you need visa for. They will take your passport off when you arrive and you get it back when you leave. You can visit all the islands. have fun and let me know what it is like!!

Matilda

Mooseman said:

What cruise line are you booking on? If it is one of the biggies (Carnival, Princess, Holland-America, etc) you can go on a website called CruiseCritic
Cruise Critic - Cruises, Cruise Line Ship Reviews, Cruise Deals, Message Boards and find out just about anything you want to know. You can see reports from people who have done the cruise already and you can ask your passport/visa questions directly to those people with experience.

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Great site. Thanks. and it says "countries that would normally require visas from land travelers will issue cruise ships a "blanket" visa that covers all passengers; "

So all will be fine!!!

Matilda

Funny this was posted today.......

We spent the morning in SD obtaining visas to visit Brazil in January from a cruise ship.
Lucky for me I checked the cruiselines website before we got onboard 'cause the travel agent didn't tell us a visa was needed.(but they did tell us we needed yellow fever vacinations - which we don't need! :tired
Unlucky for me that I checked it the night before we were leaving Canada for the DR so didn't have time to obtain it back home.
The process was very easy in SD (thank God 'cause I didn't know if they'd be able to issue a visa for Canadians from there).

So if you know which cruise line you'll be on....go to their website, register, key in your confirmation code and read what is required for the cruise you are taking!

We just got back from a cruise in October. You'll need casual clothes suitable for the climate for onboard and onshore, bathing attire, dressy outfits for the formnal night onboard and any other items you deem necessary (grooming, makeup etc).
They did ask that we carry our passports with us when leaving the ship but they were never asked for (we visited 7 countries) and you ARE issued a 'cruise card' that is used to identify you when leaving and entering the ship so that must be carried as well!

You'll have a blast and you might want to drop a few pounds before you go because you WILL gain weight!!!

and

MommC forgot to tell you to take lots of cash or a credit card for your drinks, because they are not included and not cheap. You use your shipboard card and settle up at end of cruise.

but she certainly covered just about everything else.

MommC said:

We just got back from a cruise in October. You'll need casual clothes suitable for the climate for onboard and onshore, bathing attire, dressy outfits for the formal night onboard and any other items you deem necessary (grooming, makeup etc).
They did ask that we carry our passports with us when leaving the ship but they were never asked for (we visited 7 countries) and you ARE issued a 'cruise card' that is used to identify you when leaving and entering the ship so that must be carried as well!

You'll have a blast and you might want to drop a few pounds before you go because you WILL gain weight!!!

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Right on with the cruise advice. Jaymo517, check your ship requirements for formal clothing - not all cruise lines require it, e.g., Norwegian Cruise Lines does not have formal nights. On a line that does have them, it would likely only be one night out of a 7 night cruise (Carnival might have 2 nights) and you can opt out of the dining room that night and save the weight of carrying the dressy stuff. A woman can get away with a nice light dress, but a guy is stuck with carrying on a suit, shirt(s), good shoes, tie - who needs that on vacation (but I have done it, I admit). It's up to you - the dining experience on the larger ships is really a lot of fun.

If you are doing shore excursions in the ports, take some extra food from the breakfast buffet along with you for a quick lunch or snack while ashore.

Hlywud said:

MommC forgot to tell you to take lots of cash or a credit card for your drinks, because they are not included and not cheap. You use your shipboard card and settle up at end of cruise.

but she certainly covered just about everything else.

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The bar costs on NCL and Carnival were not outrageous; about the same as you would pay for a drink in a good bar or hotel. Take some small bills as tips for bartenders and they will get to know you very quickly. Our approach has always been to BYOB. We have brought on anything from beer (in bottles) to gallon jugs of, and/or, boxed wine (yuck, but cheap) to an enormous water bottle filled with good Grey Goose vodka. We have never had anything confiscated and it sure beats paying by the drink. Our settle-up bill at the end of a cruise is usually less than $200 for the both of us. It's up to you; if you buy unwisely, you will pay hard cash at the end of the trip - can be a real downer.

The onboard photos can really add up also......

We only bought a couple and mostly took our own (couldn't resist the one with all the port stops listed!).

Didn't think about the booze bit as we did the BYOB also! Found a good bottle of whatever the area was known for that we were in a brought it on board -no problems even though the toour book and website said it would be confiscated and held for delivery at the end of the cruise. We also brought on some soft drinks as soda pop (think coke/pepsi) were even more expensive than the booze (maybe 'cause neither one of us drink much other than wine).

We did buy a bottle of wine bi-nightly to have with our dinner (which we do at home also) and went about half of the nights we were onboard to the disco for a nightcap!

Yep....it does add up! Guess I'll be counting my pennies on the 21 day'er we'll be embarking on soon!

MommC said:

We only bought a couple and mostly took our own (couldn't resist the one with all the port stops listed!).
We also brought on some soft drinks as soda pop (think coke/pepsi) were even more expensive than the booze (maybe 'cause neither one of us drink much other than wine).
We did buy a bottle of wine bi-nightly to have with our dinner (which we do at home also) and went about half of the nights we were onboard to the disco for a nightcap!
Yep....it does add up! Guess I'll be counting my pennies on the 21 day'er we'll be embarking on soon!

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When the ship papparazzi takes your pic, have a friend stand behind him/her and snap the same picture to take advantage of whatever prop they are using, then add your own caption for free.

If you are big soda pop drinkers, you can buy a pass that gives you unlimited soda for the whole cruise - just use it for both of you if in a couple.

Buy the wine onshore during the day. Bring it with you to the dining room and ask the staff to uncork it for you. Depending on the cruise line, they will do this for a fee, which sometimes gets "forgotten" if you have tipped the wait staff well on the first night. Tip - always tip at the beginning of the cruise. It makes the service so much better.

Mooseman said:

Tip - always tip at the beginning of the cruise. It makes the service so much better.

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Please folks, don't chintz on the tipping. Canadians have a rep for being small tippers.

Remember the old joke:

What's the difference between a Canadian and a canoe?

A canoe tips.

Mooseman said:

We have brought on anything from beer (in bottles) to gallon jugs of, and/or, boxed wine (yuck, but cheap) to an enormous water bottle filled with good Grey Goose vodka.

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Why not just bring a keg of beer on your next cruise?

Tamborista said:

Why not just bring a keg of beer on your next cruise?

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Wish I'd thought of that. Maybe disguised as a drum? Film at eleven.....

Musta'been FrenchCanadiens only!!

Mooseman said:

Please folks, don't chintz on the tipping. Canadians have a rep for being small tippers.

Remember the old joke:

What's the difference between a Canadian and a canoe?

A canoe tips.

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All the Canadians I know tip very well.......

On our last cruise US$10 per day, per person was added to our onboard acc't for tips. We felt that the "upfront" service we got from our cabin steward and waiters warranted more than they would get from the 'pooled' funds that also are shared with kitchen,laundry, maintenance staff so we rescinded a part of those 'pooled' funds and then tipped ourselves the 'visible' staff at a rate that we felt was more in keeping with their service. Less than $2. per day per person for the guy who kept our room immaculate or the waiters who kept our wineglasses full,our entres and side hot/cold, our water glass full etc. just didn't seem enough as they were the ones who truly made our stay onboard outstanding!

As for the soft drink cards......buying one and using it for two would be blatantly dishonest........I'd rather take a six pack of coke with us (or buy it ashore -yeah I know 'against the rules'irate 'cause we only drink it occasionally or use it to mix drinks so we kept a couple in the fridge in our stateroom and imbided there! I object to US$5. for a can of coke!!! Charge a reasonable price and I'd pay for it onboard! I think we used two on our 15 day cruise.

Then again we normally drink juice with breakfast (included), water/tea/coffee/icedtea during the day, and a glass or two of wine at dinner.