Travel Documents

[Rebel54]

So is there an advantage to having your documents mailed to you over electronic documents? I see with Avalon I have a choice of mailed, expressed mailed or electronic.

 

What is your preference and why?

[pontac]

If you get them posted, you get one copy on paper

 

If you get them electronically you can print as many copies as you want, you can also copy them onto a tablet, ebook reader and notepad computer and carry them with you.

 

Also with electronically you get them straightaway and can check that all is OK. On my latest booking the booking form didn't include something which I'd agreed on the phone so I was able to call them straight and because it was the day after I made the booking it was easy to fix as the same staff member and their manager were in the office and the issue was fresh in their minds so I didn't need to go over the issue again so I got a new confirmation generated.

[beanpittsburgh]

Take the electronic email if you can. On our recent trip with Viking, because of a mix-up, our documents didn't arrive until 4 days before we left. It took 5 calls to Viking to get it straightened out. I got a little stressed . An e-mail with all the pertinent info would have been better.

[lattelady]

Our documents from Viking came with nice leather luggage tags. They also had itinerary books that you will probably want to take with you. I'm all for paperless, but I appreciated the books and tag covers. No idea if those would still be mailed.

[pontac]

The tags , pouch and booklet etc all came later in the post

[Hoyaheel]

Our documents from Avalon were mailed, but other than the luggage tags (which we didn't use), everything was also available online - including the books. Personally, I see no reason for the paper and find it a waste of energy & cost for them to be mailed to us (though we were not given the option to decline, that I'm aware of - and I booked the travel myself directly with Avalon).

[Hydrokitty]

Our documents from Avalon were mailed, but other than the luggage tags (which we didn't use), everything was also available online - including the books. Personally, I see no reason for the paper and find it a waste of energy & cost for them to be mailed to us (though we were not given the option to decline, that I'm aware of - and I booked the travel myself directly with Avalon).

 

I just got my documents from Vantage today!! They do everything electronically but about a month before departure they send the packet with all your tags, a final itinerary and list of hotels and air information. I like having everything available on line so I can add things and check for accuracy and changes but I also like getting them in the mail....it's like Christmas!!!! :D

[Hoyaheel]

I guess I do enough online shopping before a trip that I don't need the documents to add to the excitement :o:p

[Hydrokitty]

I guess I do enough online shopping before a trip that I don't need the documents to add to the excitement :o:p

 

I shop online too, but it's still exciting when the tickets and final docs arrive...makes it more real somehow, but that's just me.

[Rebel54]

Thanks all. I've read about people being in a panic before a trip because their documents weren't there yet. I've opted for electronic but I was wondering about the luggage tags. I know they like to send you tags that ID your ship/suite, etc so I wasn't sure how that would work.

 

I've already printed off all the guides and put them in a binder. I'm researching and making notes of things I want to make sure we see. I'm a little obsessed. I have a tab for each country and a tab for the documents, receipts, reservations, etc. My husband laughs at me all the time.

[djett]

The documents for our upcoming Uniworld cruise were mailed directly to our travel agent. No choice as to paper or electronic.

[Hydrokitty]

Thanks all. I've read about people being in a panic before a trip because their documents weren't there yet. I've opted for electronic but I was wondering about the luggage tags. I know they like to send you tags that ID your ship/suite, etc so I wasn't sure how that would work.

 

I've already printed off all the guides and put them in a binder. I'm researching and making notes of things I want to make sure we see. I'm a little obsessed. I have a tab for each country and a tab for the documents, receipts, reservations, etc. My husband laughs at me all the time.

 

Let him laugh .....mine laughs at me too, except when he has a question and I know the answer. :D

[Rebel54]

Let him laugh .....mine laughs at me too, except when he has a question and I know the answer. :D

 

LOL He laughs but he loves that all he has to do is show up and get on the plane. I have everything else under control. I've had ticket agents compliment the organization of my travel agent...I just smile and say thank you !

[Host Jazzbeau]

Ogden Nash, the mid-20th Century American humorist and poet, said:

I know that marriage is a legal and religious alliance entered into by a man who can't sleep with the window shut and a woman who can't sleep with the window open...

That is why marriage is so much more interesting than divorce,

Because it's the only known example of the happy meeting of the immovable object and the irresistible force.

So I hope husbands and wives will continue to debate and combat over everything debatable and combatable,

Because I believe a little incompatibility is the spice of life, particulary if he has income and she is pattable.

 

Maybe slightly sexist by 21st century standards, but still a good summary of what makes a happy marriage. And it works both ways: I am the travel planner and DW is happy to be surprised as things unfold.

Edited May 8, 2015 by Host Jazzbeau
typo made for gender error!

[Rebel54]

I like that. We are opposite in every way, but the same in all the ways that matter :)

 

I'm a lucky lady and he's an even luckier man.

 

Ogden Nash, the mid-20th Century American humorist and poet, said:

I know that marriage is a legal and religious alliance entered into by a man who can't sleep with the window shut and a woman who can't sleep with the window open...

That is why marriage is so much more interesting than divorce,

Because it's the only known example of the happy meeting of the immovable object and the irresistible force.

So I hope husbands and wives will continue to debate and combat over everything debatable and combatable,

Because I believe a little incompatibility is the spice of life, particulary if he has income and she is pattable.

Maybe slightly sexist by 21st century standards, but still a good summary of what makes a happy marriage. And it works both ways: I am the travel planner and DW is happy to be surprised as things unfold.

Edited May 8, 2015 by Host Jazzbeau

[Hydrokitty]

I like that. We are opposite in every way, but the same in all the ways that matter :)

 

I'm a lucky lady and he's an even luckier man.

 

Thanks JB!! :D There's an old Italian description of the successful marriage: the man makes all the important decisions, such as should we go to war and should taxes be raised while the wife makes all the unimportant decisions such as where shall we live and where will the children go to school. I think most successful marriages have one who is Type A and one who isn't....and it doesn't have to be the same one all the time. DH says without me he would never go anywhere but work and home and that without HIM, I wouldn't have enough money to have a tent, let alone a home....but between us both we have a beautiful home AND we've been all over the world together.

Edited May 8, 2015 by Hydrokitty

[FuelScience]

I just got my documents from Vantage today!! They do everything electronically but about a month before departure they send the packet with all your tags, a final itinerary and list of hotels and air information. I like having everything available on line so I can add things and check for accuracy and changes but I also like getting them in the mail....it's like Christmas!!!! :D

 

Hydrokitty,

 

Even though this is a river cruise board, I hopw that you'll fill us in on your train journey when you return!!

 

FuelScience

[Hydrokitty]

Hydrokitty,

 

Even though this is a river cruise board, I hopw that you'll fill us in on your train journey when you return!!

 

FuelScience

 

Absolutely...I guess I should do a review for Trip Advisor too, huh. I never really thought about it as not being a river cruise....how about we take a boat ride in Vancouver.......will that count? :D

Edited May 9, 2015 by Hydrokitty