Grand Africa Oct 2020 map

[S&B]

I have answered my own questions and I know what we are doing after spending another hour.  As I understand it we can pick any category and receive that guarantee or above.  I actually learn more from my internet big box TA than I do from the HAL website.  Thanks.

[Adventures Unlimited]

On 6/3/2019 at 2:54 PM, woodinville cruisers said:

I still haven't gotten an assigned cabin yet.  I'm getting worried that I won't get any of my 4 choices.

I’m sad because when we reserved on the Prinsendam they didn’t even ask us to make cabin choices so now I’m havyto work through that with our TA so we don’t get stuck with a guarantee😄

[ship101]

Thanks Ptsaint, we (DH and I) are now confirmed on this cruise and would be interested in the safari.    I did not find the roll call for this cruise.    Still have time.  

 

Michele

[AncientWanderer]

From the brief research I did, I come away with the impression that antimalarial meds will be needed and a yellow fever shot.  Not asking for medical advice, but does this seem about right to those more familiar with travel on this route?

[woodinville cruisers]

3 hours ago, ptsaint said:

Hi - we are booked I could not find this thread yesterday and started a second one - will ask admin to merge them or just provide a link to this one

I have already connected with a couple of tour companies re seeing the big 5 - missing a couple of sea days - let me know if your interested in this type of adventure it will be limited to 8 or 10 people total

excited to do this cruise!

I've also been looking into a safari and have finally settled on a safari lodge with the tour company (Sun Safari) and will probably get a quote later today.  It is for Notten's Bush Camp in Sabi Sands, a private area next to Kruger National Park.  The prices there are fairly reasonable, there are usually only  6 - 7 people in the vehicles for game drives and they recently added a/c to the units.  They get excellent reviews on trip advisor.  It's not super luxurious but very nice and much more reasonable (by about half) the cost at Lion Sands Narina Lodge.  There are only 8 or 9 separate units there.  Sun Safari was recommended to me by Gail ("We're sailing away").  They used them in 2018 on the WC and are using them again for 2020 WC.  We will leave from Maputo and return to Cape Town.  That gives us a total of either 3 days safari and 1 day Cape Town or 4 days safari before meting the ship on November 24.  That still leaves one very long day (November 25 till 11 pm.) in Cape Town.  I'll post with the two options when I get the information.  Notten's is very popular and from reading trip advisor usually is sold out early.

Mary

[ptsaint]

59 minutes ago, woodinville cruisers said:

I've also been looking into a safari and have finally settled on a safari lodge with the tour company (Sun Safari) and will probably get a quote later today.  It is for Notten's Bush Camp in Sabi Sands, a private area next to Kruger National Park.  The prices there are fairly reasonable, there are usually only  6 - 7 people in the vehicles for game drives and they recently added a/c to the units.  They get excellent reviews on trip advisor.  It's not super luxurious but very nice and much more reasonable (by about half) the cost at Lion Sands Narina Lodge.  There are only 8 or 9 separate units there.  Sun Safari was recommended to me by Gail ("We're sailing away").  They used them in 2018 on the WC and are using them again for 2020 WC.  We will leave from Maputo and return to Cape Town.  That gives us a total of either 3 days safari and 1 day Cape Town or 4 days safari before meting the ship on November 24.  That still leaves one very long day (November 25 till 11 pm.) in Cape Town.  I'll post with the two options when I get the information.  Notten's is very popular and from reading trip advisor usually is sold out early.

Mary

HI Mary - please keep me posted 
with the first company I contacted they suggested we leave from Richards Bay - someone needs to request that all these threads get merged together as there are three of them
I sent a request to Walt (he is an admin here) to do just that

P

Edited June 5, 2019 by ptsaint

[ann95665]

Greetings everyone.  We are Ann & Dave from Pine Grove, California and we have signed up for this cruise, Boston to Fort Lauderdale!  So excited to finally go to Africa.

 

We are definitely interested in going on a safari from the ship.  Looking forward to meeting you all on board.  Take care.

 

Ann

ann95665@gmail.com

[ann95665]

54 minutes ago, woodinville cruisers said:

I've also been looking into a safari and have finally settled on a safari lodge with the tour company (Sun Safari) and will probably get a quote later today.  It is for Notten's Bush Camp in Sabi Sands, a private area next to Kruger National Park.  The prices there are fairly reasonable, there are usually only  6 - 7 people in the vehicles for game drives and they recently added a/c to the units.  They get excellent reviews on trip advisor.  It's not super luxurious but very nice and much more reasonable (by about half) the cost at Lion Sands Narina Lodge.  There are only 8 or 9 separate units there.  Sun Safari was recommended to me by Gail ("We're sailing away").  They used them in 2018 on the WC and are using them again for 2020 WC.  We will leave from Maputo and return to Cape Town.  That gives us a total of either 3 days safari and 1 day Cape Town or 4 days safari before meting the ship on November 24.  That still leaves one very long day (November 25 till 11 pm.) in Cape Town.  I'll post with the two options when I get the information.  Notten's is very popular and from reading trip advisor usually is sold out early.

Mary

Hi Mary,

 

Your tour sounds great.  Please keep us in mind.  I remember you and Brent from the 2017 Atlantic Adventure cruise - I think we did a few tours together on that cruise.  Take care.

 

Ann

[ptsaint]

3 hours ago, S&B said:

I have answered my own questions and I know what we are doing after spending another hour.  As I understand it we can pick any category and receive that guarantee or above.  I actually learn more from my internet big box TA than I do from the HAL website.  Thanks.

If I can help let me know we have oodles of days on Holland and I am also an agent - so can clarify things for you if needed

Patrice

[Tampa Girl]

5 hours ago, S&B said:

So, after spending an hour on line I think there are no more cat "f" cabins left, correct?  Actually, there are only 12 to begin with so if we want the extra paid hotel fee we will need to go to the next higher category?   The guarantee ocean view is at the front of the ship which my DH said to me one time,  don't ever do this again!!   I believe it is HH or H.  Sorry to ask such questions.  If I don't hurry up and get this done we may be sitting at home wishing we were there!!

 

So what segment have you decided on?

[vinonme2]

Received my official booking and pricing today for my lanai cabin. I am traveling solo and looking forward to visiting Africa.

 

 Ann, I am very interested in the safari private tour you are checking out. 

 

Patrice, were you on the Koningsdam Fall of 2017 and part of a private cooking class in Civitavecchia?

 

Gloria

 

[woodinville cruisers]

2 hours ago, ptsaint said:

HI Mary - please keep me posted 
with the first company I contacted they suggested we leave from Richards Bay - someone needs to request that all these threads get merged together as there are three of them
I sent a request to Walt (he is an admin here) to do just that

P

I googled and Richards Bay is 372 miles to Notten's camp (just for an example) so you'd probably have to fly but you wouldn't have to cross the border.

Maputo to Notten's is 170 miles so still quite a drive and involves a border crossing.

[ptsaint]

6 minutes ago, woodinville cruisers said:

I googled and Richards Bay is 372 miles to Notten's camp (just for an example) so you'd probably have to fly but you wouldn't have to cross the border.

Maputo to Notten's is 170 miles so still quite a drive and involves a border crossing.

Mary

I would leave that up the guide - looking for a three night adventure, missing sea days is not a big deal have done it more than once. we shall see what they come back with have three top notch companies chatting with me and no pricing as yet

I am working on the premise of disembarking Richards Bay 11/21 and re embarking Cape Town 11/24 but who knows what will happen🙂 One company I just spoke with on the phone talked about a great tour in Cape Town as well - we shall see!

P

Edited June 5, 2019 by ptsaint

[ptsaint]

34 minutes ago, vinonme2 said:

Received my official booking and pricing today for my lanai cabin. I am traveling solo and looking forward to visiting Africa.

 

 Ann, I am very interested in the safari private tour you are checking out. 

 

Patrice, were you on the Koningsdam Fall of 2017 and part of a private cooking class in Civitavecchia?

 

Gloria

 

Yes we were Gloria - 🙂

[ptsaint]

56 minutes ago, Tampa Girl said:

 

So what segment have you decided on?

no segments are available at the moment only 79 or 74 days

[vinonme2]

7 hours ago, ptsaint said:

Hi - we are booked I could not find this thread yesterday and started a second one - will ask admin to merge them or just provide a link to this one

I have already connected with a couple of tour companies re seeing the big 5 - missing a couple of sea days - let me know if your interested in this type of adventure it will be limited to 8 or 10 people total

excited to do this cruise!

From all the posts, it's hard to tell - are you and Ann working together regarding a safari tour or are you both planning to offer separate tours?  

I'm traveling solo and very interested.

 

Gloria

[ptsaint]

1 minute ago, vinonme2 said:

From all the posts, it's hard to tell - are you and Ann working together regarding a safari tour or are you both planning to offer separate tours?  

I'm traveling solo and very interested.

 

Gloria

I think Ann is working on her own? I believe she plans to start in Maputo. I have contacted a few companies about tours directly starting in Richards Bay. Will be great to see you again Gloria!!
P

Edited June 5, 2019 by ptsaint

[woodinville cruisers]

I got a detailed quote from Liselle Raath at Sun Safari for the 3 nights at Notten's Bush Camp, 1 night at Cape Codogan hotel in Cape Town, road transfer Maputo harbor to Notten's, road transfer Notten's to Skukuza Airport, flight from Skukuza airport to Cape Town with South African Airways, road transfer Cape Town Airport to Cape Codogan, road transfer Cape Codogan hotel to Cape Town harbor. 

Notten's Bush Camp is all inclusive and includes the lodging, 2 game drives a day, meals, drinks etc.

The cost for this for two people is R85,400 total.

The cost for staying 4 nights at the bush lodge and not staying at a hotel in Cape Town is R92,200.

We have to make up our minds as to how many days we will spend at the Safari Lodge.

I'm hoping that the cost could come down slightly if other people join us since the vehicle could be shared for the road transfers.

We'll be booking by the end of this week.  There is a 30 % deposit.  I'll take out insurance when I pay that since it looks to be non refundable.

Mary

 

[ptsaint]

3 minutes ago, woodinville cruisers said:

I got a detailed quote from Liselle Raath at Sun Safari for the 3 nights at Notten's Bush Camp, 1 night at Cape Codogan hotel in Cape Town, road transfer Maputo harbor to Notten's, road transfer Notten's to Skukuza Airport, flight from Skukuza airport to Cape Town with South African Airways, road transfer Cape Town Airport to Cape Codogan, road transfer Cape Codogan hotel to Cape Town harbor. 

Notten's Bush Camp is all inclusive and includes the lodging, 2 game drives a day, meals, drinks etc.

The cost for this for two people is R85,400 total.

The cost for staying 4 nights at the bush lodge and not staying at a hotel in Cape Town is R92,200.

We have to make up our minds as to how many days we will spend at the Safari Lodge.

I'm hoping that the cost could come down slightly if other people join us since the vehicle could be shared for the road transfers.

We'll be booking by the end of this week.  There is a 30 % deposit.  I'll take out insurance when I pay that since it looks to be non refundable.

Mary

 

Mary that is per couple 85,400 = 5,737 USD 92,200 = 6,195 USD correct?

 

[woodinville cruisers]

2 hours ago, ann95665 said:

Hi Mary,

 

Your tour sounds great.  Please keep us in mind.  I remember you and Brent from the 2017 Atlantic Adventure cruise - I think we did a few tours together on that cruise.  Take care.

 

Ann

That was one of our favorite cruises.

[woodinville cruisers]

18 minutes ago, ptsaint said:

Mary that is per couple 85,400 = 5,737 USD 92,200 = 6,195 USD correct?

 

Yes that is per couple.

Brent came in and we made our decision.  We will spend 4 nights at Notten's Bush Lodge.

That will get us to the ship on it's first day at Cape Town at about 3 pm. ( This is judging from the time that our friends Peter and Harry arrived on a similar flight in 2018.)  We'll have that afternoon and the next day in Cape Town. (The ship leaves at 11 pm on Nov. 25).

We'd love to have other people join us.

Mary

 

[ptsaint]

2 minutes ago, woodinville cruisers said:

Yes that is per couple.

Brent came in and we made our decision.  We will spend 4 nights at Notten's Bush Lodge.

That will get us to the ship on it's first day at Cape Town at about 3 pm. ( This is judging from the time that our friends Peter and Harry arrived on a similar flight in 2018.)  We'll have that afternoon and the next day in Cape Town. (The ship leaves at 11 pm on Nov. 25).

We'd love to have other people join us.

Mary

 

sounds great but for us its all a little too fast 🙂 would like to see what the companies I touched base with suggest and the pricing

 

Edited June 5, 2019 by ptsaint

[SFO Peter]

11 minutes ago, woodinville cruisers said:

 

   2 hours ago,  ann95665 said: 

Hi Mary,

 

Your tour sounds great.  Please keep us in mind.  I remember you and Brent from the 2017 Atlantic Adventure cruise - I think we did a few tours together on that cruise.  Take care.

 

Ann

That was one of our favorite cruises

=====

 

Too bad I am not joining you four.   We have been this way before and your safari is looking good.

Save some money for tipping the Guide, Spotter and Housekeeping.  Hi Ann and Dave.  Will see Mary and Brent next month.

 

Peter

 

 

 

[woodinville cruisers]

Liselle sent the proposal already for the 4 nights at Notten's Bush Lodge and she'll send my payment form in the morning.  Our total will be R92,200.  She said there will be no discounts even if we add more people so that price is firm.

I've been working on a safari for a while now and have spent quite a bit of time researching and talking to friends that have done it and I'm happy with the final product.  

Notten's Bush Camp - 4 nights includes accommodation, all meals, drinks (soft drinks and alcoholic), all safari activities (2 x open 4x4 game drives , 1 x bush walk per day), teas, coffees

Scheduled flight Skukuza - Cape Town

Road transfer Maputo harbor - Nottens

Road transfer Notten's to Skukuza aorport

Road transfer Cape Town Airport - Cape Town Harbor

 

If you're interested you can email Liselle at liselle@sunsafaris.com  Space is subject to availability at time of booking.

 

I'm taking out insurance through my TA to cover the deposit in case anything unforeseen happens.  We'll then add to the covered amount when the cruise payment becomes non refundable.

Mary

 

 

[pattiescruise]

18 hours ago, S&B said:

When I bring up the cruise I have nothing listed for Dec. 5 & 6.  Is that the same on yours or am I doing something wrong.  It was going to be Dec. 5, Ghana and Dec. 6, Ivory Coast.  It seems we are some place for two days.  Is there enough to do at the Ivory Coast for two days?   They also took out Tunisia which does not surprise me,  however, I was excited to be going there.

 

Kazu, did you say that you had booked a segment and if so which one?  If we cruise Ft. Lauderdale to Cape Town then we miss Namibia.  

The itinerary does show La Goulette, Tunisia on Oct. 22nd and also Takoradi, Ghana on Dec. 5, and Abidjan, Ivory Coast on Dec. 6th.