Doing the Paperwork

"I haven't been everywhere, but it's on my list." ~ Susan Sonntag

Our world cruise is less than a year away and not only do we need to be ready to go, I need to make sure the world is ready for us to come! 

Our papers need to be in order. 

Our passports were new in 2019 and we have the required book format instead of a passport card. We also opted to get the non-standard 52 page one to make sure we have plenty of space. Some countries require an entire page be devoted solely to their stamp. (It was a source of surprise and mild sadness to me that not all countries actually stamped our passport in 2018.)

Princess collected and retained our passports for some parts of the 2018 world cruise. In many cases, the ship presented our documents to the local authorities to streamline the process. In other places, we had to present our passports ourselves, and let the authorities scan our fingerprints upon entering and exiting their land.

In addition to our passports, some countries on our 2021 itinerary require visas for entry. If we don't have proper documentation, Princess could deny us boarding next January without refund or recourse! I do not blame the other countries of the world for requiring us to submit information to verify our identities before allowing us to visit. Even though our intentions are nothing but good, they are all sovereign nations and have every right to control who crosses their borders.

Here are the countries for which we'll need visas or something extra:

• Australia--Piece of cake. We can register online for an ETA (Electronic Travel Authority) closer to our departure from the States. The fee is nominal (AUD$20) and we have to print out our confirmation to present before boarding in Ft. Lauderdale. 
• Indonesia--We actually don't need a visa to visit Bali. Americans receive a free entry stamp, but we must have TWO blank pages in our passports for them to stamp for entry and exit. 
• New Zealand--This is new. We didn't need an NZeTA in 2018, but we'll need one before we board this time. Once we arrive at our first port in NZ, we'll be deemed to hold a visitor's visa. It'll cost NZD$12 for the eTA and another NZD$35 at the time of application for an International Visitor Conservation & Tourism Levy.  
• Sri Lanka--Even though it's located close to India, I doubt we'll have to leap through nearly as many hoops as we did to get our Indian visa in 2017. Before we leave home, we can apply for a FREE Transit Visa to cover our one day stay.
• Jordan--A visa is required, but this friendly middle eastern country will issue all cruise passengers one without fee upon our arrival!

But passports and visas aren't the only papers we'll bring with us. We'll make photocopies of our credit cards, passports and drivers' licenses in case of loss. We'll bring our travel insurance policy and our Medicare and Supplement cards. (One of the reasons we opted for a Medicare supplement instead of Medicare Advantage is that a supplement will pay in 2nd position to our travel insurance for a medical emergency abroad.)  

 After losing some passengers on our last trip, we decided we'll bring our durable power of attorney for each other and finally make ourselves fill out an advance directive or Living Will. Though the DH and I have talked with each other about our end-of-life concerns, there's no need to burden a loved one with decisions in a crisis if we can provide a written expression of our wishes.

I don't share this to be morbid. It's just a fact of life that on a very long cruise, some passengers will... disembark sooner than others. But my grandpa used to say he'd "rather burn out than rust out!" Everyone who boards is still following a dream, still moving forward, still intent on having another excellent adventure. 

We just need to make sure our paperwork is as ready as we are! Honestly, I'm just as excited as I was in May 2017 when we stumbled on the deal for our first world cruise. Being able to run away with the DH for another incredible adventure is an unspeakable blessing and I'm grateful beyond belief.