Cape Town to Cape Town in December

[Carol From California]

We were on the holiday cruise Cape Town to Cape Town a year ago and did the pre-cruise safari at Bayethe in Shamwari. LOVED IT! It was a great experience.  We saw lots of animals up close. We saw an elephant herd and I could have reached out and touched them when they walked by. We say giraffes, hippo's and rhino's. So many other animals. The lodge is lovely. We loved the tents. They are not really tents. They were great! Our guide was fantastic. I highly recommend it. 

 

 

[jhenry1]

We do air with Regent always but we pay a little extra to pick our flights. 

[jhenry1]

Carol what excursions did you do on the cruise that you thought were great?

[Ctart]

We do the same with the air.  I too research the best options.  We look forward to meeting again.  Say hi to T for us!

[jhenry1]

Will do just booked the Pre Cruise  East Cape Eagles Crag Safari.

If you hear about any of the possible excursions not to miss let me know.  

 

Kandy

[Travelcat2]

2 hours ago, jhenry1 said:

Will do just booked the Pre Cruise  East Cape Eagles Crag Safari.

If you hear about any of the possible excursions not to miss let me know.  

 

Kandy

 

Eagles Crag is wonderful - you'll love it!

Edited February 25, 2020 by Travelcat2

[jhenry1]

I read a lot of positive reviews on Eagles Crag and that is how I made my decision. Glad to here I made a good choice thanking you Travelcat2 for the reinforcement.

Investigating what excursions are the best on this cruise so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[jhenry1]

Where are all the cruisers. I hope this virus thing is over by Aug when our final payment is due. Here's hoping everyone is safe and virus free. Wanted to point out that on Regent Roll Calls under the Voyager there is a forum for this cruise. 

[jhenry1]

Hope everyone is safe and virus free. Not a lot of fun right now. Getting a lot of house cleaning done.   Let's hope this is over soon. I have been reading over the excursions that were previously offered and trying to decide what to do. 

Hopefully by Aug final payment date the virus is gone.

[jhenry1]

Just noticed that the shore excursions for this cruise are finalized and listed on the website.  In several of the ports there are only a few excursions and many of them have a charge.  I realized the game reserves would have a charge but very surprised at some of the others.  In fact there are not a lot of free excursions.  Wonder if this has always been the case on this cruise.

Carol maybe you can answer that question regarding many excursions have a charge.

Edited March 26, 2020 by jhenry1

[jhenry1]

Really concerned about this cruise.  I guess I will wait it out until Aug when the final payment is due to so what is happening world wide.  The issue of the virus returning in the fall is a killer.  This board is very quite.  Hope everyone is safe and virus free.

[NORTOM]

We are on the Lisbon to Cape Town cruise prior to this cruise.  Our final payment is due in June.  Unless there is a remarkable improvement in the coronavirus situation, we will probably cancel both cruises.  Otherwise, we would have a lot of money tied up with a lot of uncertainty.

[jhenry1]

We are really looking forward to going to AFRICA but at age 75 not wanting to put ourselves at risk.  We will make a decision in Aug.. There are a lot of cabins available so shows how people are holding off until something changes. The major problem is if they think it could return in the fall and we know there will most likely not be a vacination before then. Our doctor told us to hold off on getting the yellow fever vaccination as sometimes there are reactions . His suggestion was wait until we were relatively sure we were going. Have you guys had this vacination?

[Belfast Taxman]

JHenry1 re yellow fever vaccine, I have had it twice as a fairly regular visitor to South Africa and Kenya, over a 15 year period (you should get a top up every 10 years). It is a bit different from other vaccinations as it is a “live” injection, normally into the top part of the arm. However really nothing to worry about; cases of a bad reaction are literally a million to one. My experience, both times, was a slightly hot sensation around the area of the injection for about 10 minutes. My doctor suggested this was fairly normal. Of course you should discuss having the vaccine with your doctor in case you have any relevant medical condition and I should say that I am NOT a doctor.

[flossie009]

37 minutes ago, Belfast Taxman said:

you should get a top up every 10 years

Top-ups no longer required; the YF shot is good for life:

https://www.who.int/ith/updates/20160727/en/

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/yellow-fever/vaccination/

https://www.cdc.gov/yellowfever/vaccine/index.html

 

[Pies4u]

You will be lucky if you find a GP in the UK who will provide yellow fever vaccine if you are aged over 60 tbh. NHS recommendation is, unequivocally, NOT to have it.

 

We had exemption certificates for the Oceania cruise we should have been joining tomorrow in .S America. I am 64 and extremely fit, train and play active sports regularly,  no health issues and was willing to have the jab - my own GP & a friend who is a professor of medicine both said "your choice but my advice is don't have it, far too risky".

[Belfast Taxman]

Last time I had the vaccine was when I was about 40 years old 

[jhenry1]

Pies4U

Did Oceania agree to the waiver? Did you get permission ahead. What I thought I read was when entering Cape Town needed proof of vacine?

our Dr seemed concerned about us getting the shot and that is why he said wait until sure we are going. Did not go into details of the possible side effects. At age 75 sure don't need to bring on any problems if not necessary.

[Pies4u]

Oceania, like any other cruise line, aren't bothered whether you have it or not. It makes no difference to them, you do not have to declare the certificate on embarkation. If you obtain an exemption certificate from your GP that is sufficient for entry into any country, providing they abide by WHO guidelines. I guess some obscure countries may restrict you (they shouldn't) but we only required the yellow fever vaccine for entry to Cape Verde Islands as we would have been coming from Brazil, which is an "at risk" category country. 

 

The exemption certificate serves the same purpose, we would have been allowed entry because of the age exemption, no problem. (I checked with the official info from our Gov't and that of the CVI.) S Africa also follow WHO advice, so providing that you have the signed exemption, you will be fine. Actually, it is the same certificate you get if you've had the jab but just indicates that you are exempt and have not had the jab due to your age - the doctor signs and stamps the exemption page accordingly. Thus, they can't, (or should not), deny you entry as I believe they too have agreed to adhere to the WHO rules.

 

 

Edited April 4, 2020 by Pies4u

[jhenry1]

Thank you so much I will ask about this. 

[Travelcat2]

Unfortunately, it is not 100% true that a signed exemption from your doctor (or anyone else) will work everywhere (it will in Africa - or at least that has been my experience).  Fairly recently, people were not allowed in the Cayman Islands (hope that I have island correct) if they did not have the vaccination.  Letters, exemptions, etc. were not accepted.

 

jhenry1 - since you are not getting a ton of feedback, I'll share one excursion that we really enjoyed in Walvis Bay, Namibia (have done the excursion twice - it was included before but has a price tag of $49 now).  We had seals get onboard as well as amazing birds.  We had fresh oysters (and other food) with wine (I think we had wine but not 100% positive).  It was a lot of fun.

 

We've also doe the SWAKOPMUND TOWNSHIP TOUR.  We loved it but it takes you into areas that some passengers were not comfortable with.  It was embarrassing that some passengers would not get off of the bus (it was perfectly safe there).  They served food which, again, some passengers would not try.  We tried everything (even a cooked worm) and it was delicious (not the worm).  We do not go to 3rd world countries expecting things to be like at home and we welcome the opportunity to see and try new things.

 

Lastly, if you happen to be hanging out in Durban - before or after an excursion, you may want to try "Bunny Chow".  Wait...... it has nothing to do with rabbits.  It is a quarter of a loaf of white bread with the center removed and put on the side.  Then it is filled with curry (choice of vegetable, chicken, etc.). You can dip the center pieces of bread in the gravy.  It costs about $3.00 and was a very tasty treat (spicy but goes well with a beer).

 

We almost booked this cruise again (we truly love that part of the world) but decided to go back to the Middle East because the cruise is on Explorer.

 

Crossing our fingers that we are both able to sail in November.

 

 

[1982CruzStart]

We have been to parts of South America and Africa that required the yellow fever shot. My DH can't have it  so we have always got the official waiver and we haven't had a problem entering any place yet. Of course that doesn't mean that is true of all places now. 

Good luck. Have a great cruise (hopefully).

[Pies4u]

3 hours ago, Travelcat2 said:

Unfortunately, it is not 100% true that a signed exemption from your doctor (or anyone else) will work everywhere (it will in Africa - or at least that has been my experience).  Fairly recently, people were not allowed in the Cayman Islands (hope that I have island correct) if they did not have the vaccination.  Letters, exemptions, etc. were not accepted.

 

jhenry1 - since you are not getting a ton of feedback, I'll share one excursion that we really enjoyed in Walvis Bay, Namibia (have done the excursion twice - it was included before but has a price tag of $49 now).  We had seals get onboard as well as amazing birds.  We had fresh oysters (and other food) with wine (I think we had wine but not 100% positive).  It was a lot of fun.

 

We've also doe the SWAKOPMUND TOWNSHIP TOUR.  We loved it but it takes you into areas that some passengers were not comfortable with.  It was embarrassing that some passengers would not get off of the bus (it was perfectly safe there).  They served food which, again, some passengers would not try.  We tried everything (even a cooked worm) and it was delicious (not the worm).  We do not go to 3rd world countries expecting things to be like at home and we welcome the opportunity to see and try new things.

 

Lastly, if you happen to be hanging out in Durban - before or after an excursion, you may want to try "Bunny Chow".  Wait...... it has nothing to do with rabbits.  It is a quarter of a loaf of white bread with the center removed and put on the side.  Then it is filled with curry (choice of vegetable, chicken, etc.). You can dip the center pieces of bread in the gravy.  It costs about $3.00 and was a very tasty treat (spicy but goes well with a beer).

 

We almost booked this cruise again (we truly love that part of the world) but decided to go back to the Middle East because the cruise is on Explorer.

 

Crossing our fingers that we are both able to sail in November.

 

Quote

Think you must have the wrong islands! You most certainly do not require a yellow fever certain to visit the Cayman Islands. They are a British overseas territory and, as such, adhere to WHO advice and guidelines. I doubt anyone has been denied entry - they don't have to have the certificate unless they have recently visited infected areas, in which case the waiver/exemption applies.

 

 

Quote

 

 

Edited April 4, 2020 by Pies4u

[Travelcat2]

While I could have the wrong island, this had nothing to do with coronavirus.  It had to do with visiting areas of Brazil (like the Amazon) and then going to the island.  They would not permit passengers that only had a doctor's note - proof of the vaccination was required.

 

Also, a MSC ship was prevented from docking at Cayman Islands (definitely the Cayman Islands) because they had one case of the flu onboard.  I followed this since Splendor was scheduled to be there the following day (and they were able to dock.  

 

I know that the posts regarding the required Yellow Fever Vaccination is out there - just got tired of looking for it.  What I did find is interesting.  That island sure had a lot of communicable diseases!

 

Do I Need Vaccines for the Cayman Islands?

Yes, some vaccines are recommended or required for the Cayman Islands. The CDC and WHO recommend the following vaccinations
the for Cayman Islands: hepatitis A, hepatitis B, typhoid, rabies, meningitis, polio, measles, mumps and rubella (MMR), Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis), chickenpox, shingles, pneumonia and influenza.

 

[blacksmith]

I believe it was St Lucia.