Will the ex spy saga cause Brits visa problems? Also top 5 countries that cruises dont travel to….yet!

With all the kerfuffle going on at the moment involving Russia and alleged poisoning of ex spies here in the UK its interesting to look at the knock on effect of that and other things on peoples holidays.  

For Russia a common question is, will this effect my holiday and will I still be able to travel there? As an Arsenal fan I point out that my football team is going to be playing there next week and fans are travelling, also there is the small point of all the fans travelling to the world cup in the summer. Russia wouldn’t just cut off tourist visas for all nationals (from countries who have taken action) travelling and have empty stadiums and lose all that money. So there it is, I think  the likelihood of there being a change to the status quo the reason of the world cup alone is minimal and fingers crossed that is the case. Foreign office advice Russia

There are countries in the world that are difficult to get to without a visa, then there are just some that you cant or perhaps wouldn’t want to go to full stop and cruise lines dont visit for those reasons!

Top 5 countries that cruises dont visit…. yet (or if they do very rarely) and their home office advice which is an indicator as to why!

North Korea 

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/north-korea

I would love to go to North Korea personally, Ive been to a communist country once before when I was very young (Bulgaria in the 1980s before it was a popular package destination like now) and remember it well. Apparently my dad was held at gunpoint for inadvertantly photographing tanks but I dont remember that part…! Anyway visits to North Korea are heavily regulated and only operated by approved tour companies. As for taking photos I believe you are pretty much instructed on what you can and cant photo and any “contraband” photos gets confiscated. You could stay in the so called “hotel of doom”  and view the wonders of communist architecture like that and statues (as seen on the right). Sarcasm aside it would be fascinating and Id like to go there one day or maybe just to South Korea to see the DMZ might be as close as Ill get. Will cruise lines go there? the question is more, would the communist regime there let them.

Somalia 

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/somalia

Once upon a time when I worked in student travel I had an enquiry from a group of young guys who were going to travel up the coast of Kenya and Somalia surfing the apparently great beaches up there (all on the condition I could arrange insurance for them). The insurance company we used declined to cover for this not surprisingly and pretty much all areas of Somalia are advised not to travel. That said some of the beaches do look amazing and if similar to Kenya could be very nice if it wasnt a country ravaged by war and islamic extremists. Do cruise ships go? No they dont and I suspect would be wise to keep to a wide berth from the coastline due to the threat from pirates here as well.  Theyve already had a few go’s at cruise ships and that certainly wasnt whilst in port so I suspect cruise stops arent forthcoming!! Somali pirate cruise ship attack

Nauru 

Ok so there’s not really any foreign office advice against travelling but its not one that is visited often and is home to a massive Australian refugee centre which may be why this tiny island doesnt get much cruise traffic. That said it is in the pacific, so cant imagine the beaches and snorkelling to be anything less than wonderful. That said I wouldnt personally choose Nauru out of the many pacific islands to visit on my holiday if it was like a bad day in Calais – Nauru refugee centre

Yemen  

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/yemen

Currently in the middle of a sectarian civil war (some say proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran) that would probably be a good enough reason not to visit. A relative once served in Aden and suggested it was a pretty barren place as well although based on pictures (right) of places like Sanaa it might have some redeeming features perhaps?

Bangladesh 

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/bangladesh

I think cruise ships have visited here recently and its not so much out of the question as a destination although the foreign office advice against is fairly comprehensive in its scope. It might be an easier destination to get to than India visa wise and could be amazing culture and beach wise!!!