After enjoying a week in the caravan and visiting the family we returned to West Byfleet on Sunday 16th to start preparing four our journey to Israel and joining Seabourn Cruise in Haifa to tour the Greek Islands and ending up in Istanbul where we are due to spend four nights sightseeing .
The requirements to travel on the Monday as published by the Israel Government and also Seabourn was asking for a PCR Test three day’s before actual departure days and these tests unless you go for the four hour report test which costs about £ 120 each and so we organised the usual one which can take 2 sometimes three days to get the report. So working on this basis we had organised our tests at the drive-thru at terminal 4 on Wednesday 18th at just after 1700 because our flight was leaving at 1655 and you need to have the test 72 hours before flight day. So we took the test then waited for the reports which came back quite quickly the next day on Thursday afternoon and so know we could complete the following documentation.
1- Israel Government application for landing permission which you need to complete by adding all your actual vaccination details, date-type etc plus also upload a copy of actual vaccine certificate
2- The Israel Government require you to have a PCR test upon arrival at Tel Aviv airport which is cheaper if you pre-book so we booked that
3- Complete the BA pre-flight VERIFLY app with copies of Vaccine Certificates and finally add confirmation you have rec’d Israel approval to land
4- Complete the Seabourn pre-departure Vaccination information
All this takes a while and then of course 24 hours prior to departure you can check in on the British Airways website to obtain boarding passes,
So by Thursday night a lot of work had been completed and we breathed a sigh of relief. Then overnight Seabourn advised that thee would be a significant delay to embarking due to Haifa Port congestion and that all passengers should go to a Hotel in Haifa where you would check in and then whilst waiting you could have so light refreshment to await your turn to board. this was going to be a pain in the neck we thought but then if that is the scenario there is not much to do abut this.
Oh well never mind we thought and started packing suitcases in readiness for our travel. On Friday evening we signed on to BA for our boarding passes only there was something wrong with the website and after six attempts using different browsers I gave up and said would do early the next morning. On waking on Saturday morning a new email from Seabourn stated that PCR tests must be within 72 hours of Boarding and so what with the 6-7 delay in boarding our current PCR test would have expired so what to do?
So a call to Seabourn ( which is handled in the UK by P & O) to aske what to do, I waited 20 minutes to get thro and the the P & O Staff said she did no know the answer and would I hold which I then did for about another 25 minutes and then was cut off. Bloody ridiculous. So what to do, I checked again on PCR test availability and the only one that would suit our requirements was one at Terminal 5 at £ 120 each, stupid rip off price but what to do. To do this we had to change the Taxi from 1345 to 1100 and rush around the house and finalise packing and close down the house which we completed in time and departed for the airport.
