The first thing you'll notice about this note is that no photos accompany it. That's because we were not allowed off the ship in Cochin, Goa or Mumbai!!
For the first time ever, we decided to use a Visa Service to obtain all of the necessary documents for our trip. In hindsight, this was a big mistake. When we checked our passports in December, we noted that the Indian visa they had secured said "single entry". Ken immediately called IVP (the company that did it for us) and said this was incorrect because we would be visiting multiple ports. She responded by saying while it was multiple ports, it was all happening on a "single" cruise. Of course, we believed her ... she's the one we paid a huge fee to so she should know ... right? Wrong!!
When we boarded the ship in Ft. Lauderdale, we were informed that this visa would be a problem for us. We contacted IVP again on many occasions and they said there was nothing they could do. At least that is what they said on the rare occasion that they responded to the barrage of e-mails I sent. Frankly, I don't believe they even tried! But I intend to make their lives hell as soon as I return home.
Our friends Wendell and Jerome who live in Goa even called the Minister of Immigration in that region who is a friend of theirs but to no avail. Needless to say, we missed all our planned events in the three cities and we haven't been off the ship since Penang, Malaysia. I've lost track of how many days that is! The only positive thing I can say is that as prisons go, this one is pretty good.
I will write again soon to report on the Easter Dinner we hosted for the crew as soon as I download the pictures. We're sailing in the Arabian Sea on full Pirate Watch!! The weather is good and we're looking forward to the last few weeks of our journey.
D & K
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