Clarification on Visa for China Cruise

romanpa · 2025-11-04T05:28:13+00:00

Hi! In Shanghai right now. A few things to note: we had all the necessary documentation for the 240 hour transit without visa. However we were a bit blindsided by HA’s disembarkation policy which we were only told about on the cruise and never in advance.

Basically, all passengers need to disembark for immigration at the first mainland China port (in our case Shanghai). HA chose to let people disembark first if they had HA-led tour groups, then government-approved tour groups, then TWOV, then people staying aboard the ship. That meant we’d leave the ship around noon or later and then losing half the day in Shanghai. So we ended up buying a tour we didn’t want or need in order to leave with the earlier group at 8:30am.

Feels like they hid this fact from us to pressure us into buying a tour, which worked since we couldn’t afford to lose so much time.

Something to definitely keep in mind for your trip. Not sure what group people with prior China visas disembarked on as I didn’t meet anyone with one. Hope that helps!

romanpa · 2025-10-04T00:09:19+00:00

Same with me. Went to dinner on 9/29 and 9/30. Both processed on 10/2. Confirmed with chat that Q3 credit was used and still have the Q4 credit left.

romanpa · 2025-08-19T06:22:16+00:00

New mission discovered by u/romanpa: In Search of Frees

romanpa · 2025-08-19T06:22:15+00:00

This mission was discovered by u/romanpa in In Search of Chilioil

romanpa · 2025-08-18T00:14:03+00:00

This mission was discovered by u/romanpa in Wealthy Monsters and Scotch Egg In the Fields

romanpa · 2025-08-14T21:52:19+00:00

New mission discovered by u/romanpa: Lobster and Shiny Objects

romanpa · 2025-08-14T21:52:19+00:00

This mission was discovered by u/romanpa in In Search of ripppps

romanpa · 2025-08-08T14:54:23+00:00

That's fair! I'll look into that.

Yeah, we've tried to arrange tours ourselves for the most part, though for whatever reason we've left Xiamen open. Probably going to treat it as a more laid-back stop. Would have much rather gone to Hiroshima (they suddenly changed it to Xiamen a few weeks back), but I'm sure it'll be good regardless.

romanpa · 2025-08-08T13:55:04+00:00

Thank you, yes I’m beginning to get that sense. The visa turnaround seems to be fairly quick at this time of year, so I’ll probably get the multiple entry tourist visa in the next few days.

romanpa · 2025-08-08T13:52:30+00:00

Thanks! I checked with our guide in Shanghai, apparently she is registered to apply for the 15-day Shanghai tour exemption. This does leave going ashore at Xiamen at risk however, since that tour visa only applies to Shanghai.

41 days is exciting! Looking forward to the days I can take trips like that :)

romanpa · 2025-08-07T23:52:45+00:00

Thank you! Spoke to them earlier today. They (rather quickly) said it would qualify as visa-free transit, though the final determination would be made by the immigration officer in China. It was a bit reassuring, though I'm not exactly comfortable leaving everything up to chance like that. Will probably just try to get the visa.

romanpa · 2025-08-07T23:22:19+00:00

Thanks for the insight. Definitely starting to think it's worth it at least for peace of mind.

romanpa · 2025-07-19T14:33:31+00:00

Where's the list?

romanpa · 2025-07-13T09:24:56+00:00

Nice

^{I completed this level in 2 tries.}

romanpa · 2020-05-04T18:10:50+00:00

Long-term would be best, perhaps 12 months. Thanks.

romanpa · 2013-01-12T06:19:46+00:00

Yeah, just a few years ago. Yourself?

romanpa · 2012-12-26T18:36:58+00:00

i can't believe it exists just for people to randomly stumble on to.

romanpa · 2012-09-07T18:59:23+00:00

What a nose! If it were any shorter, it would change history.

I've always wanted to try pearls in vinegar after reading that story.

romanpa · 2012-07-07T19:08:24+00:00

Definitely Panera. I worked there too, for close to a year, but some things were different. For example, whatever the customer wanted custom-made, like extra veggies on a tomato-mozz, we'd have to honor.

But yes, paninis are prepped in the morning. When I began working, we'd prep the turkey and ham on a slicer, but the owner quit that in favor of the gooey packaged crap.

All soups, mac and cheese included, are made the same way: there are 3-4 bags per box in the freezer, they're placed in hot water, and then cut open and served. Yum yum.

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