Be forewarned that Princess will put you off the ship wherever they choose and take no responsibility... in our case in Busan, South Korea on a cruise from Singapore to Beijing.
By way of background information, we obtained the visas in Vancouver, BC, Canada, and initially applied for a multiple entry visa as we thought it would be required for the trip since we planned to stop overnight in Beijing on the way to Singapore in order to break up the time spent on any one flight leg. However, the Chinese Consulate in Vancouver informed us that they would not issue a multiple entry visa and that a dual entry one would be sufficient. They were fully informed as to our plans and were shown the itinerary of the cruise. The agent informed us that the stop in Shanghai would not constitute entry into China as we would be on an excursion booked through the cruise line.
When we were informed by Princess Cruise staff that the stop in Shanghai had counted as the second entry it was news to us and we would have chosen not to leave the ship in Shanghai if we had known that it would cause the stress and expense that resulted. However, the passports were in the possession of Princess staff and we were not aware that they were being stamped with an entry to China on this occasion. When Werner, Assisstant Purser, informed us that we would be getting off the ship in South Korea he said that this happens regularly to someone on almost every cruise, so I think it is negligent of the staff not to check the status of the visas.
The only assistance we were given to deal with the prospect of trying to obtain another visa in Busan, South Korea, was a visa application form obtained from the internet, and the address and a map of the location of the Chinese Consulate in that city. Werner said he had checked with the South Korean authorities who were on the ship at that point and that we should go to the consulate to apply for a new visa. This turned out to be incorrect as visas are obtained only through travel agents in South Korea.
The result of all of this is that we had to stay 3 nights in South Korea and pay for flights to Beijing to connect with our return flights to Canada. Princess Cruise Lines washes their hands of all responsibility in this matter - zero compensation and putting the blame on us. I'm surprised at this response but guess that the cruise business is booming these days so they don't need our patronage.
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