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WRANGEL Roll Call #247119 10/02/16 06:56 PM
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Marc Offline OP
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Don't know what it stands for but the 25 July 2018 Silver Explorer cruise 19 nights from Nome to Nome with three days at Wrangel Island will be name WRANGEL.

Starting the roll call:

Ngaire and Ken - 313
Susan and Russ - 321
Arlene and Marc - 323
June and Ralph - 412
Joan and Dave - 414
Leslie and Brad - 415



Re: WRANGEL Roll Call [Re: Marc] #247121 10/02/16 10:39 PM
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Joan & Dave - 414


Dave
Re: WRANGEL Roll Call [Re: Marc] #247124 10/03/16 03:15 AM
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Ralph W. Online
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June and Ralph 412

Re: WRANGEL Roll Call [Re: Marc] #247129 10/03/16 01:15 PM
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Kim and Alice 306

Re: WRANGEL Roll Call [Re: Marc] #247133 10/03/16 04:35 PM
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Ngaire Online
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FYI we have 24 people on this trip now. Ngaire and Ken in 313.

Re: WRANGEL Roll Call [Re: Marc] #247147 10/04/16 05:39 PM
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Leslie and Brad - 415


Leslie

Re: WRANGEL Roll Call [Re: Marc] #247162 10/07/16 11:02 AM
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Susan & Russ 321


Susan Hall
Re: WRANGEL Roll Call [Re: Marc] #247182 10/14/16 11:04 AM
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Lauri and Andrea 409

Re: WRANGEL Roll Call [Re: Marc] #248927 09/18/17 06:42 PM
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Ralph W. Online
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For those on WRANGEL and booking return air. When we did the Northwest Passage and tried to dock in Nome there was fog that closed the port. We all were late for the plane. The plane was held but many missed connections in Anchorage. As a result when I booked the return air I took the offer of $30.00 per ticket for insurance. Seemed like a good hedge against not being able to dock on time and having problems with the flights. There are not many options leaving Nome as you will find out when looking at the options.

Re: WRANGEL Roll Call [Re: Ralph W.] #248929 09/19/17 12:16 AM
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Marc Offline OP
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Ralph, we will be purchasing trip insurance so would be double coverage for us. As we have at least six hour layover in Anchorage; being late won't be a problem. Plus, I will be retired and won't care whether I get home on time. :D

Getting excited about this trip!!

Marc



Re: WRANGEL Roll Call [Re: Marc] #248930 09/19/17 02:01 AM
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seadog Offline
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Originally Posted by Marc
... Plus, I will be retired and won't care whether I get home on time. :D


Marc -- What an awesome feeling of freedom!

Alice and I are not going on this trip. Instead, our big trip for 2018 will be HIPPO. So, please remove us from the Roll Call. sad

Re: WRANGEL Roll Call [Re: Marc] #248951 09/21/17 02:21 PM
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Leslie B Offline
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Anyone thinking about the Denali extension?


Leslie

Re: WRANGEL Roll Call [Re: Marc] #248953 09/21/17 04:59 PM
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Ngaire Online
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We have done Denali before and had perfect weather and a great time. If the weather is good the helicopter to Mount McKinley was amazing. Accommodations when we were there was not great but it worked.

Re: WRANGEL Roll Call [Re: Marc] #248956 09/21/17 08:23 PM
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Leslie B Offline
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Booking the pre cruise Denali by Air pkg. Hope we get good weather days!

For anyone considering pre vs post, for some reason the pre cruise packages are $300 - $400 cheaper per person than the post cruise ones.


Leslie

Re: WRANGEL Roll Call [Re: Marc] #249097 10/15/17 09:28 PM
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Ralph W. Online
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For those on this cruise hopefully we get to see a similar sighting.

http://metro.co.uk/2017/09/29/incre...rn-up-to-feast-on-whale-carcass-6965067/

This of course is VERY unusual and we probably will not see a repeat but it does bode well for the possibility of seeing lots of polar bears.

June and I are very excited about this cruise and really looking forward to it. Air all booked. We are going into Nome a day early and staying the night in Nome. Should be a most interesting experience.

Re: WRANGEL Roll Call [Re: Marc] #249101 10/16/17 12:19 AM
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Ngaire Online
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Ralph showed me this when we were visiting him on the way back from the Beatles cruise. An amazing event. We know the bears are there that is for sure.

Re: WRANGEL Roll Call [Re: Marc] #249104 10/16/17 01:24 AM
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WOW What a sight! There is still hope for me to see more than one polar bear per cruise!


Arlene
Adventure before Dementia!
Re: WRANGEL Roll Call [Re: Marc] #249247 11/17/17 05:28 PM
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Ralph W. Online
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FOR THOSE ON WRANGEL

The instructions for the Russia Visa are now posted on the Pinnacle Travel Document Systems, the agency recommended by Silversea. They are under Silver Explorer voyage #7816. This does not seem to directly correspond to my booking number exactly but is the correct cruise.

Re: WRANGEL Roll Call [Re: Marc] #249258 11/18/17 04:34 PM
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Ngaire Online
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Thanks for sharing that Ralph. As usual you are on top of things.

Re: WRANGEL Roll Call [Re: Marc] #249328 12/06/17 08:20 PM
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Ralph W. Online
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The Russia Visa application.

I just completed the online forms for the Russia visa application. First , I would not wait to do this. It takes quite a bit of doing to get it done. The most frustrating part is the 10 years of travel. The instructions indicate that only the country and year are needed. NOT TRUE. The form will reject without a day and month. I will not admit how on did get this done. Also maybe not all countries are needed just the ones where some time was spent. It did take me a while and it is tricky to get to the form. I needed to agree to an exception to the Apple certificate thing as the site was not considered secure. Again plan on some time to get this done.

Just a heads up.

Re: WRANGEL Roll Call [Re: Marc] #249329 12/07/17 01:58 PM
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When we did our visa applications a couple of years ago for Silver Explorer Nome to Otaru we only listed less than 15 countries and there was no problem. I don't think they do much comparison between stamps in the passport and the visa form. It is far easier to use the online version linked by Silversea rather than trying to use another visa service because much of the form is already filled in by Silversea.

Re: WRANGEL Roll Call [Re: Marc] #249346 12/11/17 08:29 PM
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I just emailed our passport copies to Silversea. We need the Letter of Support before doing the application, right? How long did that take to come back, Ralph?


Leslie

Re: WRANGEL Roll Call [Re: Marc] #249349 12/12/17 09:11 AM
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Ngaire Online
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Leslie. Lots of different information.

The last I heard was that the "Letter of Support" would not be available until March. They will need your official passport and the completed form to process the "Letter of Support" and ultimately get your visa.

Ralph got a second passport. We both will be travelling and need a passport in our hands. If you can prove the need you can get a second passport one will be issued. So he completed the form, passport sent in so he is all ready to be processed when the "letter of support" is available. He is always on top of things.

Once I get my second passport we will do the same thing. I will send out an email closer in to advise people to do it but most people will not want to send in their passports too early.

Would not hurt to get the application done ahead of time just one more step completed. I am not sure of the online link but Pinnacle or Ralph can share that with you. I am stranded in Brussels so cannot really do things like that from here.

Re: WRANGEL Roll Call [Re: Ngaire] #249352 12/12/17 12:44 PM
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Leslie B Offline
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I'll call them - we need our passports mid March to mid April, which is why I wanted to start this now.


Leslie

Re: WRANGEL Roll Call [Re: Leslie B] #249353 12/12/17 01:06 PM
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Ngaire Online
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You may need to get a second passport as well. Ralph got his easily just need the proof that you have to get one. Might as well get that too. Then you can shoot it all in early and they will process it while we are gone. Not sure if he sent in his second passport or the original because of prior travel. I actually sent an email to ask him that question. I would rather send in the second passport.

Re: WRANGEL Roll Call [Re: Marc] #249355 12/12/17 02:38 PM
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FYI for those working on this:

I just spoke with Pinnacle after I downloaded and read all of the Russia visa info pertinent to our trip.

Its too early to do the application - you have to do it online, print it out, then send everything right away to Pinnacle. But they won't be able to process the visas until around March since they have to wait for all the specific stuff that Silversea has to provide, ie letter of support, permit for visiting restricted access areas, etc. The application expires within 30 days. The deadline to send our application and passports is March 27 so they can get it all done by the May 16 deadline that Silversea has for receiving the visas for our voyage.

We will be gone 3/17 - 4/11 - smack dab in the middle of all that - they said that I could apply in Feb; but if they don't have what they need from Silversea they won't be able to process everything and get our passports back before we leave for the Asia cruise.

So, I am going to get second passports so I don't have to worry about it - they think that this is the best option. Then they can be working on all that stuff while we're gone in the normal time frame. They're sending me the application to apply for them.


Leslie

Re: WRANGEL Roll Call [Re: Marc] #249356 12/12/17 02:52 PM
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Ngaire Online
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Yes that is what we are doing too. I am just going to the passport office to do the second passport. Will be doing that the second I get home. Very close to our office. You have to send in your original passport when you apply for the second passport as well. So I need my passport back for Inca.

The second passports are good for four years. They have a different passport number.
Critical any paperwork accompanying the trip all uses the passport number you are planning on using. A mismatch could be a problem.

Re: WRANGEL Roll Call [Re: Ngaire] #249657 03/01/18 10:15 PM
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Marc Offline OP
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Completed online applications and mailed package to PTDS today. Hopefully everything will go smoothly; otherwise, I will end up with PTDS (Post Traumatic Distress Syndrome).

Now off to order parkas!



Re: WRANGEL Roll Call [Re: Marc] #249658 03/01/18 10:58 PM
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Davefr Online
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Originally Posted by Marc
Completed online applications and mailed package to PTDS today. Hopefully everything will go smoothly; otherwise, I will end up with PTDS (Post Traumatic Distress Syndrome).

Now off to order parkas!


No worries Marc. PTDS got our passports back to us in about three weeks.


Dave
Re: WRANGEL Roll Call [Re: Davefr] #249673 03/05/18 03:49 PM
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Marc Offline OP
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Made our parka order yesterday. Silversea has switched back to unisex sizing for parkas; somewhat dismayed, we were just going with same size as last year as they fit so well.

Marc



Re: WRANGEL Roll Call [Re: Marc] #249681 03/05/18 09:55 PM
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Just got notice that our passports are shipping back today. Guess we didn’t need to get those 2nd passports... maybe they will come in handy another time. Took about 3 weeks.


Leslie

Re: WRANGEL Roll Call [Re: Marc] #249713 03/08/18 08:15 PM
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Ralph W. Online
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You LUCKY , LUCKY people. I sent the stuff in for the passports for June and I long ago. Been told many times by Pinnacle that all was good and should get them back around March 5. All was in good order. Could not wait any longer and sent email just now to Pinnacle contact. Just informed that Russia bounced the passports back as there was a wrong passport digit in the Silversea letter to Russia embassy requesting the passports. Not an error on my part but Silversea. So now a new letter must be issued and something back from Russia people and then the passports can be resubmitted. So another four weeks to wait and dither about these #### Russia Visas.

Re: WRANGEL Roll Call [Re: Ralph W.] #249717 03/08/18 10:20 PM
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Marc Offline OP
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Ralph, were you able to get copy of letter from Silversea to verify the error?



Re: WRANGEL Roll Call [Re: Marc] #249718 03/09/18 12:33 AM
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Ralph W. Online
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The letter is sent from SilverSea to either Pinnacle or the Russians, not sure, in any event you do not see or get a copy of the letter. This is just another example of the inept SilverSea back office of which I have heard other stories about the make one wonder. I will not stop worrying until I have the passports with the Russia visa in hand or my son Craig has them in CA pending our return from BATIK. The situation does seem to have the attention of Pinnacle at this point but thought they had there attention on it before. The whole process is out of my hands and is out of yours once you submit so not much we can do but hope for the best.

Given this is all error on the part of SilverSea, one could ponder what would happen if the visa got delayed beyond the point of being able to cancel the cruise and then one could not go. Certainly a full refund with apologize should be forth coming from SilverSea but one would still miss the cruise. If that happened to me I would be beyond livid.

If need should arise I have email address of a senior Pinnacle person as does Ngaire.

Re: WRANGEL Roll Call [Re: Ralph W.] #249719 03/09/18 03:33 AM
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Marc Offline OP
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Ralph, thanks for the information. I have usually used Travisa and they keep me updated on progress on their website; the Pinnacle website provides absolutely zero status information. I will wait and see trying to not worry until it goes past three weeks.

Enjoy Voyager; it will be a fantastic cruise.

Marc



Re: WRANGEL Roll Call [Re: Marc] #249720 03/09/18 02:35 PM
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Leslie B Offline
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That's terrible Ralph. I know you did the applications way ahead of time.

I was not expecting to get our passports back before BATIK so we got 2nd passports from Pinnacle (expensive...). We want to travel this month with our existing ones as they are tied to our Global Entry numbers. I'd already sent Silversea a copy of our original ones, so they had to redo the letter with the new passport numbers. The Silversea contact person got right back to me and confirmed that it was in process. I expected a problem to crop up while we were on the Voyager, so I was thrilled when they arrived back the other day.


Leslie

Re: WRANGEL Roll Call [Re: Marc] #249762 03/15/18 09:48 PM
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SusanH Offline
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Just got a notice that our documents have been mailed and we should receive them tomorrow. FYI, I mailed the January 9, 2018, so it took over 2 months.


Susan Hall
Re: WRANGEL Roll Call [Re: Marc] #249763 03/15/18 10:54 PM
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Ralph W. Online
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You are so lucky. June and I are still waiting. Been over three months now and two weeks since we were told Silversea made an error in the letter and it would need to be reprocessed.

Re: WRANGEL Roll Call [Re: Marc] #249770 03/17/18 01:09 PM
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What a process/reprocess. Hope they get it fixed soon.


Susan Hall
Re: WRANGEL Roll Call [Re: SusanH] #249771 03/17/18 02:24 PM
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Marc Offline OP
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We submitted ours on 1 March and haven't heard a thing; I hope the letter had our correct passport numbers and that the photos are sufficient. Has anyone gone back into the Russian visa site after submission to see if any status information was available?



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