E-mail from HAL - passports

[sail7seas]

[b][font=Comic Sans MS]One vote for spending a nice day ashore in Margarita and one vote for staying aboard for the day.[/font][/b]

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[b][font=Comic Sans MS]It's a tie.....[/font][/b]
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[b][font=Comic Sans MS]Anyone else have an opinion?[/font][/b]
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[b][font=Comic Sans MS]Thanks. :)[/font][/b]
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[gizmo]

A couple of years ago SIL took an excursion to a lagoon at La Restinga Park. She said it was very good.

I think the beaches are about 45 minutes away.

[elmorejj]

The last time we were there I got off the ship to look around the stalls shipside, and met up with some pax I had met onboard. They talked us into taking a tour with them and some other couples....about 10 pax in all. It was $22 pp and lasted 5 hours. We had a marvellous day, visiting old cathedrals, small villages, a shopping area in the mountains, and a beautiful beach area on the North coast. Thoroughly enjoyed it and met some great people. Would I do it again? probably not, I`ve now "been there, done that"..........jean :cool:

[Esme]

Isla de Margarita - been there done that - I vote to stay on the ship, and have the pool all to myself for the day. :D

There is a small beach nearby where a lot of pax rented a beach chair and umbrella and also went swimming. But, I saw some of them hobbling back to the ship to see the doctor, as there were a lot of jelly fish in the water and they obviously got stung. :eek:

[sail7seas]

[b][font=Comic Sans MS]:( That doesn't sound like so much fun.[/font][/b]

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[b][font=Comic Sans MS]Thanks for the info/suggestions.[/font][/b]
[b][font=Comic Sans MS]I have a 'hunch' that if this Visa business and Venezuela's reluctance to issue them to Americans continues, we just might find Margarita erased from our itinerary.[/font][/b]
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[b][font=Comic Sans MS]That'll be fine by me.[/font][/b]
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[Krazy Kruizers]

[b][font=Comic Sans MS][color=blue]Isla De Margarita[/color][/font][/b]
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[b][font=Comic Sans MS][color=#0000ff]Been there quite a few times. Took a tour the first time - saw everything there was to see - which isn't much on that island.[/color][/font][/b]
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[b][font=Comic Sans MS][color=#0000ff]A few times we have walked over to the beach. The first time we were there they charged $5 per person for a beach chair - umbrella was free. And there was only one beach. About 2 years ago they opened another section of the beach and raised the price of the chairs and charged separately for the umbrella. I don't know what the situation is now. We have never had any problems jelly fish in the water there.[/color][/font][/b]
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[b][font=Comic Sans MS][color=#0000ff]Several times we just got off the ship, toured the vendor booths and then enjoyed the ship - nearly everyone else had gone somewhere.[/color][/font][/b]

[cactuslady]

[quote name='Deb C.']Yep, I also received the e-mail today. No problem with a passport, but I did hear on one of these forums that a [b]Visa [/b]will be necessary for [b]Venezuela[/b]. HAL has Venezuela on my Oct. 29, 2005 itinerary.:rolleyes:[/QUOTE]
Great. Now we'll have a bunch of posters asking if they can use their Mastercard instead.
:rolleyes:

[jhannah]

I wouldn't doubt it for a minute! Ha!

[dakrewser]

[quote name='sail7seas'][font=Comic Sans MS]How do you recommend spending a nice day in Margarita, Dave? A Diamonds International is about the last thing I would wish to see. I don't think I've ever stepped foot in one. I get so sick of the heavy sell from the on-board shopping expert (as heard in cabin on the TV), that it's a turnoff for me. There is nothing I need or want from Diamonds International.[/font]
[/QUOTE]

When we were there they were just beginning to create tourist attractions. THe major income ofr the island comes from it's status as a duty-free zone within Venezuela - mainland Venezuelans go there to shop for big ticket items (TVs, computers, appliances, etc.) but usually only go for the day. There was one gorgeous 5 star hotel (which had been built for a Caribbean summit meeting) but they've now added 2 more. I spent the day visiting Tacuantar Village, a recreated village displaying indifenous Venezualan arts and crafts. A fantastic display - better than anything like it in the rest of the Caribbean, I could have bought tons of stuff but they didn't take credit cards! (They hadn't yet been wired for electricity or phones!). We also visited Los Jovos plantation, which was an educational experience in the flora and fauna both of the country as well as the island.

There are some pictures I took [url="http://vquill.com/carib3.htm"]here[/url].

[JaniceB]

I received the email from HAL. I have been telling my DH that we need to get our DD's a passport ASAP. I don't want to be involved in the rush to get one.

[sail7seas]

[b][font=Comic Sans MS]Thanks, Dave. You've made the island sound a lot more interesting.[/font][/b]


[b][font=Comic Sans MS](I got the dreaded red 'x' when I tried to view your pictures but thank you for trying/providing the link.)[/font][/b]

[cdkempton]

I got the red x at first but it took a minute and the pictures slowly came through one at a time. Nice photos Dave. Thanks for sharing.

[imsulin]

Just a note from me....this past year, I booked two High School Senior Trips to Cancun for late May. (No....not to Aruba. Plenty wrong with THAT booking, IMHO!! And Aruba wasn't the problem). Anyway, it totalled about 130 people. I made sure there was one assigned adult chaperone per 5 kids, required everyone to purchase trip insurance, etc. The BIG problem was the "Proof of Citizenship" issue. Man, I saw photocopies of birth certificates, hospital birth certificates, baptismal records...you name it! I've been approached to do the same this year (for May of 2006) , and I've just flat out said, "I WON'T BOOK ANYONE WITHOUT A VALID PASSPORT". I'm not going through that hassle again! I don't care what date/year Passports are required...for groups like this, they'll need a valid Passport (inspected by me) or I won't take their second deposit in January, and will cancel them! Sorry to sound so "hard-core", but that's just me. If these groups choose to book themselves or with someone else, fine with me! Just my thoughts. Oh, BTW...I have 5 Passports undr my belt. 5th one expires in 2012. Oh, the sadness of looking at myself age every ten years!

[Cruiseoften]

Originally Posted by Deb C.
Yep, I also received the e-mail today. No problem with a passport, but I did hear on one of these forums that a Visa will be necessary for Venezuela. HAL has Venezuela on my Oct. 29, 2005 itinerary.



[quote name='cactuslady']Great. Now we'll have a bunch of posters asking if they can use their Mastercard instead.
:rolleyes:[/QUOTE]

cactuslady - and you can bet on it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! somebody will bite!!!!

Best laugh I've had in long time - :rolleyes:

[elmorejj]

Well my DH finally rec`d his renewed passport today, 6 and 1/2 weeks after it was sent in. I sent it in 6 months early because of the 6 month thingy, and it was dated to expire Feb. 2016, so he didn`t lose the six months.....jean

Does this make sense to anyone? I re read it and I`m not sure if it is understandable!! :confused:

[peaches from georgia]

Sure it does, jean. They gave your DH the extra 6 months on his next passport that he lost by renewing his current one 6 months early. I am assuming the new one is in affect now and is really good for 10 years and 6 months- August 2005 thru Feb 2016 ? :)

[Deb C.]

Wow! That is good news. I think the last time I renewed, I lost those few months. I had heard Canada did it your way. Glad to hear the US has stopped taking those months from us!!

I don't need mine renewed until 2007!! Boy, those 10 years go fast!!:eek:

Thanks for the good info!! Deb C.

[Two@Sea]

OK, so [b]can[/b] I use Mastercard?

[Grumpy1]

I saw in today's paper that the passport requirement for Carribean destinations will probably NOT go in effect in December. The Carribean tourism groups are complaining that they will lose business to Mexican destinations since the passport requirement will not go into effect there for another year. It seems that the state department is going to back down... Stay tuned...

[sail7seas]

[quote name='Grumpy1']I saw in today's paper that the passport requirement for Carribean destinations will probably NOT go in effect in December. The Carribean tourism groups are complaining that they will lose business to Mexican destinations since the passport requirement will not go into effect there for another year. It seems that the state department is going to back down... Stay tuned...[/QUOTE]


[b]In which 'today's paper' did you read this?[/b]

[Grumpy1]

[quote name='sail7seas'][b]In which 'today's paper' did you read this?[/b][/QUOTE]

Cleveland Plain Dealer... it was an AP story.

[serendipity1499]

[quote name='peaches from georgia']Sure it does, jean. They gave your DH the extra 6 months on his next passport that he lost by renewing his current one 6 months early. I am assuming the new one is in affect now and is really good for 10 years and 6 months- August 2005 thru Feb 2016 ? :)[/QUOTE]

[color=blue]We've been snookered out of 6 months!:( ..Our old passports were due to expire in Dec 2005..We need passports that are valid for another 6 months for our Nov. cruise to Santiago..We had ours renewed in May (7 months early)..They issued our new passports May 11, 2005 & they will expire May 10, 2015..I'm going to protest! (just joking)[/color]

[Grumpy1]

[quote name='sail7seas'][b]In which 'today's paper' did you read this?[/b][/QUOTE]

Sinc ei doubt that you subscribe to the Plain Dealer, (I wouldn't either if there was another paper in town):rolleyes: and their website isn't that great, here's a link to the AP article: [url="http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/americas/08/17/caribbean.travel.ap/"]http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/americas/08/17/caribbean.travel.ap/[/url]

[Grumpy1]

[quote name='serendipity1499'][color=blue]We've been snookered out of 6 months!:( ..Our old passports were due to expire in Dec 2005..We need passports that are valid for another 6 months for our Nov. cruise to Santiago..We had ours renewed in May (7 months early)..They issued our new passports May 11, 2005 & they will expire May 10, 2015..I'm going to protest! (just joking)[/color][/QUOTE]

Another reason to never do today what you can put off until tomorrow....:D

[serendipity1499]

[b]Quote: When will the new travel initiative requirement be implemented?[/b]
The deadline for full implementation of the travel initiative requirements is January 1, 2008. A timeline for phasing in these requirements is being reviewed and will be published as soon as it is finalized. Unquote

[color=navy]Therefore, no one knows when all U.S. citizens will be required to obtain passports until the State Dept. comes out with the new proposals..Why the rush to do things & then always change their minds?[/color]

[color=navy]When this is finalized there will be another mad rush to get passports..[/color]

[color=navy]Forewarned is forearmed!;) [/color][color=navy]Happy Cruising everyone..[/color]

[color=#000080]P.S. Oh dear, my first passport was issued in 1959.. Can't believe it was that long ago..I'm getting OLD!:( Even have a couple of old "Intl. Certif. of Vacination" Maybe I can sell them on e-bay as an antique![/color]