UPDATE ON A DOZEN QUICK REMINDERS FOR STRESS FREE TRAVEL

This is an update on a blog originally published on April 9, 2008. There have been significant changes.

1. PLEASE, Please, please purchase Travel Protection Insurance. If you have children or elderly parents, whether they are traveling with you or not, please think twice abut passing up the opportunity to have peace of mind as you pay for all your travel arrangements. We have witnessed too many people who lose all or most of their vacation investment because they skimped on travel protection coverage. These policies typically cover Trip cancellation and Interruption, Trip Delay, Missed Connections, Baggage and Personal effects, Baggage Delay, and very important, especially for travel outside of the United States, Medical expenses for accident or illness and Emergency Medical transportation. It is not only if there are problems arising for those traveling, but also if you need to return home for family emergencies or, if you need to cancel the trip because a member of your immediate family has an accident or becomes seriously ill prior to your travel. Also, don’t forget to ask about insurance that covers pre-existing conditions particularly important for those of us who are a bit more mature. Some insurance policies are also sold as “cancel for any reason”. Ask about those as well.


2. Please be sure you have a valid passport. You really need one now if you want to travel by air or sea outside of the United States. It is also the absolute best way to verify your identity and nationality and we used ours even for travel within the US. Forms are available on line at www.state.gov or from most local post office locations. Passport pictures are easily available from most nationally known drug store chains. Also, be sure that you know the Expiration Date on your passport since many overseas trips or visas require that your passport be valid for up to 6 months after you return.


3. If you are taking a cruise, be sure to log into the cruise line’s website as soon as you have made your final payment and fill in the Immigration and other necessary information. It will save you a lot of time when you are boarding the ship and whatever you do, never pack your passport! We once saw a couple of passengers delayed boarding while the cruise line located their baggage so they could retrieve their passports.


4. Here are a few more items you should never pack – Prescription medications, cameras, jewelry and your trip and/or cruise documents.


5. For Your own Peace of Mind - Make a copy of your passport and credit cards and keep them in a safe place, different from where the original documents are kept. And, when in a hotel or on board a ship, please remember to use the safe for your valuables and important documents.


6. Arrive at the airport early. This will help in a number of ways – you won’t be panicking in long lines as your flight time approaches and you still need to get through another long line in security. And, if you want to change your seat to the emergency exit row or the bulkhead, you at least stand a fighting chance of getting one of the few that are available.


7. Keep a supply of Zip Lock bags in all sizes. They are useful to carry make-up, liquids, gels and creams so that they do no leak all over your clothing. Larger sizes are also great for sorting groups of clothing like underwear, socks, children’s outfits, etc, etc… Other things you need to bring along: Sunglasses and a good sunscreen especially when visiting the Caribbean, Mexico or the Bahamas at any time of year. A good pair of walking shoes, particularly for Europe where there are a lot of cobblestone streets. Always a good idea to bring along a simple first aid/medicine bag with some aspirin/pain relievers, antacids, allergy medications, topical antibacterial (Neosporin type item), band aids, motion sickness preventatives and the like. And… Don’t forget to bring your camera, extra batteries, film, memory card or whatever is needed. These items may not be easy to find while abroad and may be very expensive.


8. Wear comfortable slip-off shoes when flying and wear or carry a pair of short cut socks. When you have to remove your footwear to go through security, they will slip off and back on easily and your feet won’t get cold or dirty as you walk through the screening area.


9. If you are on a cruise, remember that you will have to put your luggage in the hallway outside of your cabin the night before you disembark. Do not pack everything – you will have to dress the next day for your journey home. People will look at you funny if you're disembarking in you jammies or nightgown. Always keep a small carry-on bag in your cabin to carry your last minute toiletries, medications and the clothing or pajamas that you wore the night before.


10. For Airline flights, invest in a good pair of noise-canceling headphones. They can be used to watch the movie, listen to music or just give you a chance for a good nap or to read your book and you won’t need to pay for those awful earphones that they give you. Also, your neighbor won’t keep talking to you if they think you are listening to something.
    
11. Put some identifying marking(s) on you luggage so that it can be easily identified. Remember that all black luggage looks the same at first glance. Place identifying information inside each piece in case an external tag gets separated.
    
12. Most important – remember to smile and keep your sense of humor – you’ll need it! A kind word goes a long way!
    

IMPORTANT NOTICE TO PASSENGERS

Effective June 1, 2009, all US citizens and residents including children, must have a valid US passport to board their ship and re-enter the country. To ensure speedy embarkation, please be sure to bring a valid US passport for each passenger as well as any cruise line issued documentation, including any documents printed online, with you to the pier.

Because of the US Government requirement for all cruise lines to electronically transmit crew and passenger manifests to US Customs and Border Protection, you must check-in at least two hours prior to sailing time. Cruise line policy is very specific, guests will not be allowed to board after check-in has been closed. Late arriving guests may join the ship at an approved port of call in the scheduled cruise itinerary. Travel to that subsequent port of call will be at the guests' expense.

ONLINE SERVICES WHILE OVERSEAS

Back in November 2007, I wrote about CELL PHONES ON THE HIGH SEAS, this article talked of the universality of using cellular telephones around the world and, specifically, while on board a ship and warned of the roaming charges to be expected when doing so.

In addition to using cell phones to reach out and touch someone, the global communications trend is rapidly moving toward social networking websites such as Facebook, PLAXO, MySpace and the like. Some people we know appear to spend all day on one of these. In no way do we condemn any of these sites. Actually, we both belong to two of them and enjoy them for re-connecting with and keeping up with friends, family etc. Most of us who use these sites are connected to the internet via high-speed broadband services. As such, we do not consider or even think about the volume of data that is interchanged between our computer and the internet.

When we travel, we need internet service as well as telephone service and think nothing of using them. We recently purchased a wireless modem that would enable us to use our netbooks on GPRS based internet services inside and outside of the United States. It does work well in both but when we got home from a recent trip to France, we found out that the overseas cost was astronomical. GPRS based internet Service in the U. S. costs less than $60 for the first five gigabytes of data interchanged. We expected similar costs while travelling. Not so in France where the cost was $15 per megabyte. This may not sound like a lot but one megabyte of transfered data isn’t a lot. 169.4081 megabytes cost us, (you doing the math on this?) $2,541.68. We never thought the roaming charges would be so exorbitant. Never again! You certainly do not want to engage in social networking at these costs.

Here are a few much less costly workarounds:

Shipboard internet services – Most cruise ships have an Internet Café. If you want to use your laptop or netbook, some cruise ships have Wi-Fi hotspots throughout the ship and some of the newer ships provide hardwire and or Wi-Fi service right in your stateroom. The costs for using these are on a sliding scale. The more time you use, the lower the per minute cost. Check before you sign up

Shore side internet cafes and Starbucks – You will find internet cafes located at or near many ports around the world as well as in metropolitan centers. Many of these also can accommodate your laptop or netbook.

Airports – Many airports now provide free or nominally priced Wi-Fi service within their confines. Many of the frequent traveler clubs located within airports offer free Wi-Fi service within the clubs.

Municipality provided services – A new and growing trend in many cities is the provision of Wi-Fi internet services by cities and towns. We have yet to use any of these services and cannot further comment on them.

Universal caution – Be careful what you transmit on unsecured networks or those where you do not know of the security provided. Your data can be intercepted and result in theft of funds or data. This is especially true of open Wi-Fi networks including your own at home.

We hope this has been of help to you!

WHAT'S ON YOUR BUCKET LIST?

OK, what are you waiting for? Now is the time to book a cruise!

Everyone needs some time away to rejuvenate with that special someone or with the entire family. Maybe it’s only for 3 or 4 days or maybe you have the time for a longer experience.

All of the cruise lines are offering fantastic pricing for cruises in 2009 and even into 2010.

Yes, we know that the economy is still not back where it should be but if you are planning to take a vacation this year, now is the best time to book it and lock in these prices and even some Onboard credits.

What’s on your “Bucket List”? Have you always wanted to see Alaska? Or maybe you’ve dreamed of going to Australia and swimming at the Barrier Reef. What about Antarctica? We've done the reef and we’re planning to check Antarctica off of our ‘bucket list’ in 2010.

We are seeing some of the best deals and sales that we've seen and they are very hard to resist. They're moving fast. Get with it!!