Good morning!

I am pleased to present your April Travel Report, there is a lot to cover so let's get started.

Covid restrictions are easing around the world...mostly for fully vaccinated, and that means that the most recent shot will need to be within 270 days of travel - and usually that means a booster (or two). That is not all destinations, but there are a lot of them.

Not long from now, on April 18th, the feds will decide whether to end or extend the federal mask mandate for public transportation - such as air and airports. We have received intel that this will be dropped!  We have also heard that possibly the inbound negative test requirement for the USA will be dropped soon after for vaccinated travelers as well.

On top of that, the CDC last week moved cruising to the best possible status of "safe to cruise."

Our spring and summer 2022 group trips are already completely sold out. That means our May Douro River cruise, July private safari, August cruise to Greenland/Iceland*, and our August Alaska Cruise Tour are all fully booked. We do maintain a waitlist so please let me know if you'd like to be added; sometimes we are able to clear them in case of a cancellation.

We do still have limited space on our highly rated annual All-Inclusive Coastal Maine Getaway departing this September. 

If you live in the Grand Strand area, next week, on April 13th, we are having a LIVE IN PERSON presentation about this lovely - and truly inclusive - journey in a very small group setting - maximum 18 guests, including Kelly and I!  There will be a huge show special for attendees, so sign up to attend the event here: https://forms.gle/nu4pD7eHBzde5mdt6. Please note that you must RSVP.

We have limited - and exclusive - UNREAL pricing on a February Celebrity Panama canal Cruise!  Our prices are so much lower than their website, we are not allowed to publish it. Please call 843-279-0310 and speak to Kristen (on Monday or Tuesday only) for details.

With more requests for hosted groups domestically we have 2 more USA trips for 2023: Columbia & Snake River Cruise on an American Queen paddle-wheeler in September, and a private National Parks tour with a very small group in October!  Then we have a Thanksgiving river cruise to Southeast Europe, including a visit to Dracula's castle! Learn more about these here on our Bon Voyage Catalog***: www.TripsWithMe.com 

With Avery now a grownup†, Kelly and I are downsizing and moving to Prince Creek (John's Bay) less than a mile from where we live now. 

Our lovely home for the last 11 years sits on over 1.5 acres and is buffered by wetlands, which we own all the way to Collins Creek. You could get a permit for a dock, but the community dock is on the adjacent lot. 

This extremely well-built 5500 sq foot brick home comes with a built in theater, linnai enclosed pool, a firepit made for cooking over, and many other special features. Call Kelly 843-385-0246 (my realtor and my boss) if you want to take a look or learn more and here are the details. I don't expect it to be on the market long - here is a 3D Tour!

What can you expect when you hire MGA Travel to professionally plan your vacation and handle the lifecycle of your journey until your return home? 

Wishing my late younger brother Jeremy - who would have turned 45 yesterday - a Happy Birthday. You are missed greatly!

Finally, I'd like to close out with a prayer for those in Ukraine for resiliency, hope, comfort, and victory over tyranny. 

Travel well,

Michael

* if you want to go to Iceland in 2023, we do have room on this cruise

** the Maine Lobster photo is courtesy of Paul Guderian (who was on the 2021 Maine Getaway)

*** Bon Voyage trips are pre-planned with most costs built in to the price shown (including no additional professional fees)

† Ostensibly; he has graduated from college and lives on his own with his girlfriend Emma. We are very proud of him!