WASHINGTON D.C.
WASHINGTON D.C.
| JOINING THE TOUR Enclosed in your Tour Documents you will find a Tour Membership Ticket. This ticket shows the time and place where you are to join the tour. Please be on time. Please note Hanover Holidays has no pre arranged parking arrangements at departure points. Should you experience a delay in reaching your joining point, please call 1-800-265-5530. This number is available 24 hours a day. If calling after hours, please press Option #1 to speak to the person on call. You could be picked up at your pick up point by the motorcoach, courtesy van or taxi. Please be on the look-out for such. While all of the pick-up times are based on our 32 years of experience, weather, traffic and road conditions could potentially cause a delay. Please be patient and call the office if your transportation is more than 10 minutes late. PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP Due to the circumstances in the United States, Hanover Holidays has been advised that all passengers crossing the U.S. border should carry at least 1 piece of photo identification along with proper citizenship. Please do not pack your proof of citizenship in your suitcase. It should be kept on your person so that it is easily accessible when required to be shown to immigration officials at the border. Please note a valid Permanent Resident (PR) is required to return to Canada for all landed immigrants. **We have been advised that travel documents for tours crossing the border will be checked more thoroughly. Please be prepared for possible delays at Border Crossings. TRAVEL DOCUMENTATION Your personal identification documentation is very valuable. May we suggest you may wish to copy your identification and leave with family at home or carry separately with you while on tour. Should this information become lost or stolen, it may assist in obtaining replacements. ROLE OF YOUR TOUR DIRECTOR Every Hanover Holiday Tour Director has been specially trained to conduct your tour in a friendly and professional manner. The tour director is responsible to ensure that you receive all that was advertised to be included in your tour package at the level expected by the company. At various times, there are local guides hired to provide their expert overview of a city. Your tour director at that time will take a "back seat" and also ensure the local guide performs in a professional and pleasant manner. The tour director is on call 24 hours a day, and should an emergency arise, he/she will assist you in acquiring any services that are needed. It is the duty of the tour director to make the tour run as smoothly as possible, and to enhance your enjoyment of it. If a situation arises that you need help or if you have any problems, please inform the tour director immediately so it can be resolved as soon as possible. Most times, the tour director can correct the problem on the spot, but only if he/she knows about it. It is to your benefit as well as ours, that you inform him/her of any minor detail which could corrected to help make your tour more enjoyable. SPECIAL REQUESTS When Hanover Holidays receives a special request from your travel agent, such as a request for non-smoking rooms or lower floor rooms, we will gladly pass these requests on to all of the hotels involved. Please refer to the Tour Membership Ticket enclosed to make sure that we have correctly received your requests from your travel agent. However, due to limited availability of these types of rooms, not all requests of this nature can be met by the hotels. If a medical condition exists which makes it imperative that you have a special type of room please make sure that your travel agent has made us aware of this condition and we will ask the hotels to give your request special consideration. BAGGAGE Hanover Holiday Tours will handle one large suitcase per person at hotels, with hand luggage carried personally aboard the motorcoach. Your supplied luggage tags should be secured to your large piece of luggage prior to joining the tour. Be sure your bags are locked This tag identifies your luggage on the motorcoach and at hotels. Carry jewelry, money, important documents, spare medication, glasses or contact lenses in your hand luggage. If you are taking cameras or other expensive equipment out of Canada, be sure to have the serial numbers registered with Canada Customs. Every effort is taken to ensure that your luggage is handled with extreme care by the motorcoach driver and transfers drivers. However, we recommend that you purchase baggage insurance as we cannot accept responsibility for any damage which may occur. If you notice damage at any time throughout the tour, please report it to the tour director immediately. MONEY Due to the wide acceptance of credit cards, debit cards and travellers cheques, it is unwise and unnecessary to travel with large amounts of cash on your person while travelling. Please remember to keep PIN numbers and cards secure. SEAT ROTATION As indicated in the Terms and Conditions on the Hanover Holidays Tour Brochure, your Tour Director will lead you through the Seat Rotation process once aboard the Motor Coach. Recently, a number of people have asked us to not be included in the Seat Rotation. Our policy is that, if any passengers wish do not participate in Seat Rotation, they should indicate this to the Tour Director when first boarding the Motor Coach and then sit behind the last of the passengers, who are participating in Seat Rotation. INSURANCE When travelling outside the province of your residence, please make sure you have taken out an Accident/Sickness Insurance Policy to cover you over and above your provincial health plan. If you have purchased medical protection, either from Hanover Holiday Tours or your Travel Agent, be sure to call the 24 hour travel assistance line within the time specified on your policy should you need medical assistance. Failure to contact the assistance provider may result in the compensation being declined or substantially reduced. If you wish, please ask your tour director for assistance. RULES/ALLERGERIS For the comfort of all our passengers we do not allow smoking on our motorcoach. Passengers should also be advised that due to transportation laws, there is absolutely no consumption of alcoholic beverages on board the motorcoach. As many people suffer from a growing list of allergies, some who suffer very severely, we are asking all of our clients to refrain from using items that may affect a person with allergies. This includes perfume, cologne, peanuts, etc. We want everyone to have a safe and enjoyable holiday. MEALS For moderate eating, please allow approx. $35.00 U.S. Funds per person per day. Since individual tastes differ greatly, we try to choose places with varied menus. Prices will vary with the area and your eating habits. It is an accepted custom in restaurants/dining rooms to leave a gratuity for your waiter/waitress in the amount of 10-15% of your bill. Some meals are included in your tour cost. Please refer to your itinerary. WEATHER AND CLOTHING Temperatures in June in Washington range from day time highs of 28 Celsius to a low of 12. Take along an all-weather coat or a heavy sweater for the cooler evenings. Don't forget to bring your bathing suit to enjoy the pools at some hotels. Comfortable walking shoes are a must and it is wise to travel with a small fold-up umbrella. NAME TAGS Your name tag has been included with your tour documents. While on tour, we would ask you to wear it to identify us as a group. PASSENGER STATISTICAL SHEET Enclosed in your tour documents is a passenger statistical sheet which we would like you to complete and give to the tour director on the day of departure. ACCOMMODATION LISTS You will find an extra copy of your accommodation list included with your tour documents so that you can leave a copy at home with family or friends should you need to be contacted in case of an emergency. TIPPING DRIVER and TOUR DIRECTOR The most common question that is asked of us is in regards to an appropriate amount to "tip" to the Tour Driver and Tour Director. As common in the service industry, many clients choose to show their appreciation for a job well done or beyond expectation. General guidelines are about $3.00 per person per day, for each of them. However, you should determine an amount that you feel comfortable with providing. Past tour passengers have found that our Tour Directors work harder than those from other companies, as they assist you by arranging extra meals, shows, attractions and tours that would normally have been defined as "free time" by other companies. The only thing we would ask is that you keep this a personal activity by yourself and not collect tips as a group. In one unfortunate incident, an individual collected tips from the other passengers, but did not pass the collected money on to the Tour Director or Driver, and kept the money for their own personal use. MEDICATIONS AND U.S. CUSTOMS Some members of the public have encountered problems at United States Border points in attempting to transport prescription and non-prescription medications into the United States. Customs officials have taken action under a current policy of "ZERO TOLERANCE" in an attempt to curb drug trafficking across the border. The following should be kept in mind: 1. Non-prescription drugs should be in the manufacturer's original package. Quantities should be sufficient only for reasonable personal use. 2. Prescription medications should be carried in the original dispensing package, and not be mingled with one another or transferred to an unlabelled container 3. Persons with chronic conditions who require ongoing medications would be advised to carry with them a note from the practitioner which certifies the drug(s) being used. 4. Persons carrying needed medications may wish to volunteer this information when crossing the border. Thank you for travelling with HANOVER HOLIDAYS!! HAPPY TRAVELLING!!! |