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Island Dreams Tours &
Travel Email: info@divetrip.com |
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Island Dreams Tours &
Travel Email: info@divetrip.com |
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With decades of experience in international travel, we have compiled a number of tips to make your Island Dream go more safely and smoothly. So read on and learn from our mistakes, or drop us an e-mail and share some of your own travel tips with our readers. Together we can do out best to keep the joys of travel from being tinged with too much sadness.
Jimmy Buffet said it best when he sang about the peculiar relationship between latitude and attitude. Experienced travellers soon learn that the farther afield they wander, the more the "manana" philosophy seems to apply. One need not go any further than the TACA Airlines counter at the nearest airport to see what I mean. This sense of sans souci (no worries, mon) can prove quite aggravating to the typical fast track American. But the fact is, you can't beat it, so try to relax and go with the flow rather than getting high blood pressure on your own vacation. The following suggestions ought to help you make your next trip an Island Dream, rather than a nightmare.
Proper planning, adequate lead-time, and the aid of a knowledgeable agent can spell the difference between paradise and calamity. Then relax, take your time, and go with the flow. Prepare yourself and your holiday correctly and all you'll need is a bit patience, a pina colada, and a smile to make your personal Island Dreams come true.
Should your passport become lost or stolen while traveling, and you find it necessary to file for a replacement passport, be prepared in advance by carrying a "Save a Trip Kit" containing the following documentation and support items:
Kenneth Knezick
President, Island Dreams Travel
For more information visit: U.S. Department of State - Passport Services
In earlier tip I touched upon the importance of protecting your passport and suggested that travellers carry a "Save a Trip Kit" with copies of the documents required to obtain a replacement passport. Equally important to guarding your passport and proof of citizenship is the need to keep your money, airline ticket, and other valuables safe when on the road. Please consider the following:
Maintain a special wallet just for travelling, leaving your regular wallet safely at home. Your travel wallet should be large enough to accommodate foreign currencies, coins, Scuba C-card, proof of medical insurance, international drivers license, passport, visa, and tourist card. Always keep your travel wallet close at hand, but don't store all your funds in one place. An innocuous envelope stored deep in the recesses of your gear should have back-up funds (in cash or travellers checks) and an extra credit card in the event of emergency. If possible, maintain a couple of credit cards solely for use when traveling, the better to monitor foreign purchases and more quickly identify and curtail credit card fraud, which is quite common outside the U.S. Obtain a credit card which is authorized in the Cirrus network and you'll be able to obtain cash from money machines world-wide.
I also highly recommend the use of a money clip. Don't pull out your main wallet to make small purchases. Whenever possible, keep your "big money" out of sight and work from the money clip equipped with a good supply of small bills. Travellers checks are certainly advised, but do a bit of research to learn which company's checks are most readily cashed in the countries you'll be visiting. In some instances it's advantageous to purchase your travellers checks in the foreign currency, thereby locking in the rate of exchange. It's also often helpful to obtain a small supply of the applicable foreign currencies before leaving home. Finally, when assembling your resources, be sure to pack a stack of good old U.S. one dollar bills. You'll find they spend universally well and come in handy for small purchases and tipping porters, maids, etc.
The Beatles, all multi-millionaires, said that "money can't buy you love," but it will get you a gourmet dinner in Paris, an exotic hotel room in Kuala Lumpur, or a fabulous day of diving in Cozumel, so don't leave home without it, and make a point of not losing any along the way.
Ken Knezick
For your convenience, try this complimentary currency converter, supplied by gocurrency.com
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Many people think that the Cayman Islands are expensive, but as a wholesaler for Cayman Airways and the Cayman Islands, Island Dreams Travel is proving otherwise. We asked Island Dreams' employee Susan Young, who lived in CAyman for 15 years, to share with us her favorite dining values on Grand Cayman.
Monday Almond Tree All you can eat lobster tails Bid Daddy's Steak special Lone Star All you can eat fajitas
Tuesday Cracked Conch All you can eat conch West Bay Polo Club Sushi specials
Wednesday Almond Tree All you can eat fish Big Daddy's All you can eat ribs Cracked Conch All you can eat conch
Thursday Almond Tree All you can eat lobster tails Lone Star All you can eat fajitas West Bay Polo Club Soft tacos CI $1 each
Friday Almond Tree All you can eat fish West Bay Polo Club Prime Rib special
Saturday Almond Tree All you can eat lobster tailsAnd...
When connecting from a domestic U.S. flight, to an international flight on another carrier, check your luggage only as far as the international gateway, then collect if from your domestic airline, roll it over to the International Terminal on a baggage cart, and check it in yourself with the international carrier. There's a much better chance that your luggage will arrive at the same time and place as you do...and if luggage is misplaced, you'll know exactly who to blame. Hedge your bets and take the extra step to assure that you and your luggage travel together...and be sure to allow sufficient connecting time between flights to do it.
Here's a special tip for those returning back to the Unites States with Los Angeles International Airport as port of re-entry. After clearing immigration and getting your luggage through customs, prior to exiting the LAX International Terminal you have an option of rechecking your bags for domestic U.S. connections. It appears like a great convenience, but think twice before making use of this service. I've been told by those who've been burned, to shun this opportunity and rather go to the extra effort of hauling your gear back to the domestic terminal and checking it for home.
The reason? This luggage goes down a conveyor belt served not by your airline, but by an outside contractor. Divers have recently experienced the loss of equipment, cameras, and housings at this very juncture. They were in the bag when claimed at International and inspected by customs, but missing when they reached home. The extra hassle of hauling your gear over to the domestic terminal may well make the difference between home safe...or sorry.
After years of delays, and racing through airports to narrowly avoid missing a flight, I have learned to allow a minimum of three (3) hours, preferably four or more for connections from domestic to international flights, especially when transiting via Los Angeles or Miami. You should be at your international airline's check-in counter at least two hours prior to flight time. As I'm sure you have, I've often experienced a 45 minute wait between flight arrival, and baggage actually coming off the carousel. After that, plan on spending at least 15 minutes wheeling your luggage over to the International Terminal, and who knows how long waiting for your homeland security inspection. So play it safe, just schedule an earlier flight and hedge against disaster. Those couple of extra hours hanging around the International Terminal, can also be the difference between making the connection to your exotic island paradise, and having your holiday turn to disaster before its even begun.
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