JAPAN RELAXES VISA REQUIREMENTS FOR VIETNAM CRUISE TOURISTS

To benefit from the lax visa requirements, they must be passengers of the cruise ships permitted to participate in the program of the Japanese Ministry of Justice, stay in Japan for no more than 30 days for leisure travel. If ships dock at only one port in Japan, passengers are not allowed to stay for more than seven days and will have to leave Japan at the same port.

Those wanting to visit Japan by ship should contact the Japanese embassy to check which ships are eligible for the program.

The number of Vietnamese visitors to Japan is on the rise, according to the Japan Tourism Agency. Some 80,100 Vietnamese visited the country in the January-August period last year, soaring 50% year-on-year and almost equivalent to the total figure in 2013.

However, the number of Vietnamese nationals traveling to Japan by ship is still small.

Recently, Malaysian cruise line StarCruises has introduced a program for passengers to travel with its SuperStar Aquarius to Japan without having to get a visa before departure.

Cruise ship brings over 3,500 tourists to Vietnam

Cruise ship Voyager of the Seas with over 3,500 passengers and crew members on board arrived at Tan Cang-Cai Mep Terminal in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province (BR-VT) yesterday.

Guests of the cruise ship had one day to explore tourist sites in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, HCMC and the Mekong Delta city of My Tho before leaving for another port in Vietnam.

The ship will call at Nha Trang Port in central Vietnam this Friday.

According to Saigontourist Travel Service Company, Voyager of the Seas is mainly operated by the cruise line Royal Caribbean International for voyages in Asia and Oceania. The ship can accommodate 3,138 passengers and 1,181 crew members.

Besides Voyager of the Seas, Royal Caribbean International has sent its cruise ships Marina of the Seas, Celebrity Century and Celebrity Millennium to Vietnam. Cruise ships of Royal Caribbean International will visit seaports in Vietnam 13 times in first four months of this year.

Saigontourist served over 50,000 tourists and crew members from more than 30 cruise ships in the first quarter of this year.

Source: The Saigon Times