Yellow Fever ??

[patchouli123]

Hi,

We are going on the Pride of Panama 7 nights cruise, then 7 nights stay in Jamaica in March this year, have just booked it and am a bit concerned about entry requirements after visiting Colombia, Costa Rica etc. Ive read that you may need Yellow fever vaccination certificate in order to then stay in Jamaica? I cant get a simple answer from Thomson. Any help from people who have been on the cruise and stay would be great. I basically just want to know whether I will be required to produce prrof of vacinnation or not after cruise and before our stay ! Thanks

[Sekhmet]

Not that I know of, but you should get a professional answer. I'd suggest you contact your GP surgery, and speak to the Practice Nurse - ours takes details of where we're planning to go then recommends what vaccinations are necessary and/or suggested.

 

Meanwhile, check out http://www.fitfortravel.nhs.uk/home.aspx the NHS Travel Health website.

 

Hope this helps.

[John Bull]

No worries :cool:

 

Thomson head office staff are pretty clueless. :rolleyes:

Fortunately ships' crews are much more clued-up. :)

 

Cartagena is in a small area with a low risk of YF, and you will be there for under 12 hours.

We were on the same Thomson cruise a year ago, and although we have YF certs. Thomson didn't ask, nor did immigration anywhere, and nobody had any problems going ashore in Jamaica or Costa Rica or elsewhere.

 

YF vaccination isn't recommended for Cartegena unless you're going a fair way inland - which on your itinerary you won't.

 

But it still makes sense to fix an appointment with your surgery nurse (they're the only folk who know you & your medical history) for advice on top-ups for Hep A & B, tetanus, etc. Take your itinerary, make it clear that this is a cruise, and include details of any trips well away from the port and any overnites in port (I don't think you have any).

......................................................................

 

BTW, Colon is an awful port, grim & uninteresting & unsafe.

Book ship's excursion here right now, they sell-out ahead of the cruise !!! and DIY options are very very limited. Most popular is a Canal transit by boat - comprises bus to Gatun Lake, boat across the Lake, through the Culebra Cut, through the Miraflores locks & out into the Pacific by Panama City, then bus back to the ship. Effectively a full transit except for the Gatun locks at the Caribbean end, a good trip & good value. In your timescale it can't be done by independently booked ferry

JB :)

Edited January 16, 2016 by John Bull

[kitty9]

Hi,

We are going on the Pride of Panama 7 nights cruise, then 7 nights stay in Jamaica in March this year, have just booked it and am a bit concerned about entry requirements after visiting Colombia, Costa Rica etc. Ive read that you may need Yellow fever vaccination certificate in order to then stay in Jamaica? I cant get a simple answer from Thomson. Any help from people who have been on the cruise and stay would be great. I basically just want to know whether I will be required to produce prrof of vacinnation or not after cruise and before our stay ! Thanks

 

I have cruised and vacationed in all those places and have never needed a yellow fever vaccine. The only time I needed that vaccine was when on a cruise that stopped in Kenya and then eventually got to Brazil. It was Brazil that required the YF vaccine because we had visited a country known for YF. According to the Jamaican Tourist Bureau, you only need the YF vaccine if you're coming from a high risk YF area. Plus, you're doing a round trip cruise from Jamaica, and I've never needed a YF vaccine doing a cruise with that itinerary.

[patchouli123]

Thanks everyone, I will ask my GP, but you have put my mind at rest in teh meantime!