I hope I have this right: If doing the pre cruise excursion then I need to arrive Lisbon on the 9th? I was going to skip this since we have been to Lisbon but discovered today that if I fly in on the 11/09 my flight is $800 pp cheaper than arriving on the 11/11 and booking hotel at my own expense. So I guess I will go ahead with the free excursion. Duh.
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Helen

Jan's brother Jeff & Helen and us plan on arriving Lisbon on the 9th to site see.
Have not made any hotel arrangements yet, or what we would like to see and do.

Jim going to suggest going to the PENA PALACE on the top of the hill in the town of SINTRA. This is a magical place been there twice and would go back again. Check this link. It is quite a distance from Lisbon probably about 45 minutes. At the top of the hill you change to a small bus that takes you up to the palace. You feel like you are in Disneyland!


https://www.sintra-portugal.com/Attractions/palacio-pena-palace-sintra.html

Regent air for the Voyager November 12, 2022 trip opened on Wednesday. Got a lot of air booked this week and good connections. We are doing a 4 day safari at Mala Mala with 39 people after the cruise and I was pleased that Regent got good flights and connections. I have done this cruise once before and really enjoyed it, a totally different experience. Hoping Captain Felice will be onboard. I sure have missed seeing so many of the wonderful Regent staff and crew. That would be the "icing on the cake" for us.

Jim, I second Ngaire’s suggestion re Sintra and also be sure and see a Fado show and have a pasteis de Belem.
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Helen

Also third on the suggestion for Sintra. But also have lunch in Lisbon at one of the places serving fresh fish—there are lots—down and to the left from where the ship docks. So fresh and good.

Second that as well. One of the best fish plates I have ever had was in Lisbon.
A restaurant just a block from our hotel. Small place nit fancy but the food was incredible and very reasonable.

Thank you Kate Bozarth at KLT For helping Jeff, Helen, Jan, and me with our Regent Air. flights. Not only are they very doable, but we meet up in FRA and arrive together in Lisbon November 9th which will be great for making transportation arrangements to the hotel.
We also get to fly back from JNB to CDG December 10th together before they go on to LAX and we go to SLC. Course we still have SLC to BIL but that is still neat.

Question:
Hope someone can help. Since we are diamond Hilton Honors members, we have decided to book our pre-cruise at one of the hotels in Lisbon.
Double Tree by Hilton Hotel Lisbon Fontana Park.
Has anyone stayed at this hotel?

Gosh. It was Feb. 24th since I checked this roll call, and nobody has signed up or commented since.
Since final payment is coming up in a few days I thought I would bring it back up and see if anyone new is going.

Well I can tell you that there are 68 people in the KLT Group on this trip so it will be a nice sized group.

Today was "paid in full day" for our cruise.

Post Cruise Safari
Would someone explain to me a little better than what I read.

LUGGAGE:
On all flights, guests are permitted to check-in-one piece of luggage at a maximum of 20kg (44lbs.) and and maximum dimension of 158cm ( 62inches.).

Passengers are permitted to travel with one piece of hand luggage not exceeding 7kg (15lbs.) and a dimension of 56cm (22inches) length, 36 cm ( 14inches) width and 22 cm ( 9 inches) height.
If the hand luggage does not conform to size specified, passenger may be denied entry into the departure area or sent back to check out counter.

Excess luggage (1 piece per person) will be shipped by courier from Cape Town to your hotel in Johannesburg.
This service is included in the cost of the program

Alternatively, you may wish to contact luggage forward to make your own luggage transfer arrangements ( at own cost) from ship to your home. 877-231-5131

OK. Let me see I am correct.

I have a 24 inch piece of luggage. When I measure it L x W x H it comes to 52 inches which is under the 62 inches, and I will keep it under 44 lbs. so should be fine for checked luggage. Correct?
I have a carry on soft bag that is 20inches length X 14 inches wide X 10 inches height. Another soft bag 18.1 length X 9.4 wide X 8.7 Height. Think they will work OK?

Both the bags you mention will work. You will be flying on SAA airlines. Which is just like an American Eagle flight in the USA. They do not measure the bags it an eyeball look only. But they may weigh them so that is where you need to comply on the weight.

See that beginning September 3rd, Those vaccinated will not be required to do a negative Covid test before embarkation.
Also see unvaccinated cruisers will now be allowed to go with a negative Covid test taken before boarding.

This was a big issue at Jason's town meeting on our last cruise. A Doctor who has been very involved with the Covid problem stood up to explained it was time to realize that we should be treating Covid like a common cold
for those people who are fully vaccinated, and stop this continuing required testing for them. The room erupted with people clapping.

Don't know if this had anything to do with NCLH decision, but something, but something happened.

Jim...I fully agree that the doctor's comments were very well received.. BUT the reaction was much less enthusiastic when Jason suggested dropping the vaccination requirement, which they have now done. I think we all agreed that there was great comfort in knowing that all passengers were vaccinated, and that if anyone caught "the bug" the symptoms would likely be very mild. I learned today that a young-ish guy I know, who refused the vaccine, is extremely ill with covid. It's still a threat for the vaccine deniers.

I wouldn’t bet on that! Triple vexed and when I got it I was down for eight weeks and though I was going to die

Just received our Preliminary Vacation Summary from KLT.
Guess that means it is getting closer for our cruise.
I'm still a little confused about the luggage when we leave Cape Town and fly to Lions Sand, but will figure it out.
Do we have anybody going that should be on the Roll call?

Got the email today that we need Yellow Fever vaccine for this trip. I contacted a travel medicine clinic and made an appointment. The confirmation of that has big red letters on it that if you are over 60 you need a letter from your primary doctor that you are healthy enough to get the Yellow Fever shot. That gives me some concern. Has anyone had a bad experience with that vaccine?
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Helen

I never had any big issues but everyone is different. just a slightly sore arm for a day or two.

HOWEVER a doctor would probably give you a medical waiver as you are over sixty. Basically it is up to the immigration officer if they will take a medical waiver and Regent has to cover themselves to warn this could happen. Personally I highly doubt that the immigration officer will stop those with a medical waiver from going ashore. Particularly from a American cruise ship. They seem to barely glance at documents on a ship. But your call!

Helen, Joan and I were 65 when we got our yellow fever vaccination‘s. Other than minor arm soreness at the injection site, there were no side effects. if you decide to get a waiver, it appears that your doctor must fill out the appropriate section of the yellow card as well as providing a waiver letter. Here’s the language from the CDC site:

“If you cannot get yellow fever vaccine for medical reasons and you are traveling to a country with a yellow fever vaccination entry requirement, your doctor will need to fill out the Medical Contraindications to Vaccination section of your yellow card. In addition, your doctor should give you a waiver letter. If you plan to use a waiver, you can contact the embassies of countries you plan to visit for more information.”

If you have had the yellow fever vaccine in the past and still have your card, it's good for life.
Jim

We were 65 when we got our yellow fever vaccines & we had no problems.
Sue

Thanks Mr. Bittle. That is what I thought. We have ours from the Amazon cruise on the Mariner we did with you and Pat.

Dear Jim Bittle: Our yellow fever vaccine was over 10 years ago. Do we need anything special noted in the vaccine record to show it is now good for life, or do the local authorities just recognize that?

I believe it's been decided by both CDC and WHO and is an internationally recognized standard. Just make sure your card shows the standard info like date, provider, batch no. etc. It probably has an expiration date 10 years from the date of the shot, but that date no longer applies.
Jim

Thanks, Jim!

Darn it anyway. Had our flights from Frankfurt to Lisbon the same with Jeff & Helen, and now ours got changed.
They arrive around 3:30 pm and we arrive around 7:45 pm. Had our tour guide all lined up to pick us up and now need to adjust.

We went and got our Yellow fever shots this morning and I am pleased to report that neither of us is dead or wishes we were!
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Helen

Received our Documents today!!

Got our docs also! I think we are all set. Got yellow fever shots plus the latest Covid booster plus Enovid nasal spray. Just have to make sure we don’t get bit by any rabid dogs since we declined the rabies shot suggested by the travel med clinic we went to. Can’t wait!
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Helen

OK. Jeff, Helen, Jan are bugging me to find out what the dress attire will be at Lion Sands for dinner.

I know it says we go out at 4 pm for the evening game hunt then come back, and have time to "refresh" before dinner.

Somebody please help.

Whatever is comfortable is the dress for all meals at Lion Sands. Really. You do not “dress” for dinner. I usually “ refresh” by washing my hands and ordering a cocktail😀
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Helen

On the safaris we host it is very rare for anyone to change for dinner. We wear our safari clothes, no changing to something "nicer". We all refresh just like Helen said, use the facilities and wash our hands and to the bar we go!

Lion Sands?

They are doing a REGENT safari.

Got it. thanks.

IMPORTANT! Regent has just sent an email with strict yellow fever vaccination and Covid restrictions for our cruise. Please read it immediately. It is imperative to either have a yellow fever vaccination certificate or a waiver to board the ship in Lisbon iand to enter South Africa at the end of the cruise. Several ports require a QR code to show Covid vaccination.

Please note that the voyage health section of the website mistakenly labels our cruise as embarking in Athens on November 12.

What a mess. Sure would have been nice to find this out months earlier.
We have no way of getting a QR for our 1st & 2nd shots from the hospital when it was an assembly line.Told that Montana is not part of Vamm or what ever it was called.
We were able to get QR for our 2 booster shots we received at Wal-Mart. Well let me say we got it, made copies, and cannot read the QR.

I was able to get our QR codes via the California Department of Public Health. It was fast and easy. I ignored the somewhat confusing and complicated instructions on the CDC site.
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Helen

Helen, The QR code you get from California cannot be read correctly with a normal, QR reader. What you need is a application for iOS or Android at the app store called the “Smart Health Card Verifier.” Hopefully the Senegal and Togo authorities will not restrict us to the CDC data. See you in Lisbon on the ninth.