Visas and Passports

A reader mailed ITN a copy of the letter below, sent to the Brazilian Embassy in Washington, D.C. The cruise referred to was aboard Holland America’s m.s. “Amsterdam,” beginning Jan. 29, ’04, in Valparaiso, Chile, and concluding Feb. 19 in Rio de Janeiro.

I want you to know of recent actions by the Brazilian Consulate General in Los Angeles and how those actions communicated to my wife and me a strong contemptuous message that Brazil does not want Americans to visit Brazil.

Two days spent in St. Petersburg, Russia, coinciding with our 37th wedding anniversary on June 29, were the high point of a cruise my wife, Kathy, and I took aboard Royal Caribbean International’s Jewel of the Seas, departing Harwich, England, on June 23, 2011.

We’d read a letter about the tour company DenRus, Ltd. (Ligovsky Pr. 73 Office 608, St. Petersburg 191040, Russia; phone, from the USA, 1 561 459 5534 or, in Russia, +7 812 572 4511, fax 572 4507), in ITN (May ’10, pg. 26).

For years I had thought about visiting Brazil. Finally, at the age of 73, I headed there for a stay, Aug. 6-Sept. 5, 2011.

The government of North Korea (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) imposes heavy fines and long prison sentences with hard labor on persons who enter the country without a valid passport and a North Korean visa.

Activities North Korean security personnel may view as espionage include unescorted travel; unauthorized attempts to talk to North Korean citizens; unauthorized currency transactions; shopping at stores not designated for foreigners, and taking unauthorized pictures.

As of Jan. 1, 2012, travelers to Sri Lanka will have to apply and pay for an Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) in advance of arrival. (Citizens of Singapore and the Maldives are exempt.)

Our family of 20 was planning a June ’11 visit to Ireland, where we would rent six vehicles. Our son mentioned that Visa would not provide insurance coverage on his rental, though it normally does when he uses that credit card to rent a car. Our daughter’s American Express card wouldn’t include insurance coverage, either.

Sure, we know that US passports are good for 10 full years. Well, almost! In some cases, it’s 9½ years.

I stay part of the year in Bangkok, Thailand, where I have an apartment. In fall 2010, for the first time, I used a luggage-forwarding service called Luggage Free to send over some of my possessions. It was just household bric-a-brac (clothing, books, DVDs, etc.).

Holland America Line’s 2011 repositioning cruise of MS Volendam from Singapore to Vancouver, BC, took 35 days, departing Singapore on April 14 and arriving in Vancouver on May 18.

Dear Globetrotter:

Welcome to the 428th issue of your monthly overseas travel magazine, the one largely written — in all candidness — by its subscribers.