The Pride of McNeese Cowboy Marching Band LONDON NEW YEAR S DAY PARADE JANUARY 1, 2018 Dear Pride of McNeese members and families: We are very excited to perform in the 2018 London New Year s Day Parade! This will be an exciting trip and a great opportunity to travel to London with the comfort and ease of a group setting. This is an initial information packet that includes all of the information we know so far in our planning stages. This spring, additional information will be provided as it becomes available. Please let me know if you have any questions after you read the information below, and I will do my best to answer them or find the answer. This is going to be a special season and we are happy to have you as a part of the Cowboy Marching Band trip next December! Dr. Jacobs jjacobs@mcneese.edu 337-475-5004 Note: We have created a special group within the Remind app. Information will be disseminated periodically through this group (including payment reminders). Please take a moment to sign up to receive postings through this remind group. You can sign up to receive group postings through SMS (text message): 1. Text @mcneeselo to 81010 2. You will receive a welcome text from Remind 3. That s it! Anytime the band office sends out a message through Remind, you will receive it by text message. About the London trip: The Pride of McNeese is excited to accept an invitation from the City of Westminster to perform in the 2018 New Year s Day Parade! Participation in the 32 nd London New Year s Day Parade and Festival is by invitation only. A music program must be nominated to the selection committee by a previous participant or one of the Regional Directors of Music for consideration to receive an invitation. Then each fall, the Lord Mayoralty decides upon a select number of groups that it wishes to visit in the United States in connection with the parade.
This event has an enormously high profile in the city and has an incredible, world-wide audience. The Event begins at Noon January 1st in front of the Ritz Hotel in Piccadilly when a message from H. M. the Queen is read by her Deputy Lieutenant for Greater London. The Parade ends under Clock Tower in Parliament Square in front of even more TV cameras. This historic parade route includes Piccadilly Circus, Regent Street, Trafalgar Square and Whitehall with a final arena adjacent to the Palace of Westminster, Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. Over 500,000 spectators will line the parade route and over 280 million people will view the TV broadcast worldwide. THE PRICE INCLUDES: All transportation (Buses will transport the band to our departure airport: Houston-Bush Intercontinental or New Orleans, TBA). Students living close to our departure airport may meet us at the airport. 6 nights accommodation in a centrally located, first class hotel in London o Students may be accommodated in quad and triple bedded rooms, but generally in twin or double-bedded rooms. Adults are guaranteed to be accommodated in twin or doublebedded rooms, and may pay a surcharge for a single-occupancy room. Breakfast each day in London (6 meals) Three dinners Lunch on parade day Vouchers for three additional meals in various restaurants and fast food in the city Bus tour of London s west end Full day excursion to The Tower of London and Greenwich, including a cruise on the River Thames Full day tour to the Town of Windsor with either a visit to the historic University city of Oxford or the Tudor Palace of Hampton Court. Two additional tours of our choice Day Travel Cards to allow unlimited use of London s extensive underground railway system each day A 10"x8" print of the group photograph that is taken on January 1st 2018 with the backdrop of the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. This photograph is presented to each member of the performing group in a special souvenir LNYDP 2018 folder. A specially struck London New Year s Day Parade Festival Medal for all members of the performing group. A personal (to keep) MP3 player for each participant loaded with a selection of our specially commissioned audio guided, historical, and cultural walking tours of London. Itineraries will be written with three of these tours scheduled: Parade Route Guide. (Always scheduled) This takes you along the magnificent New Year's Day procession route. Discover where you'll be marching, what you'll be passing, who will be watching and from where the crowds will be cheering. And then two of the following four tours will be scheduled according to the group s choice. Princes, Palaces and Power. Walk shoulder-to-shoulder with over 1000 years of Royalty. Sites include: Palace of Westminster, Prince William's London house and the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace.
Art-rageous London! Starting in glittering Covent Garden, we take in the world's most haunted theatres and talk to the stars as we explore the very heart of London's world famous theatre-land and much, much more. UK-USA 250 This walk celebrates over 250 remarkable years of an unbreakable Transatlantic friendship. Sites include: Jimi Hendrix House, the famous Christmas Windows of Selfridges Store and the beautiful 9/11 Memorial Guide and Seek! Our specially-commissioned interactive audio Treasure Trail. All you need is a pen, and the map sheet (provided) to unravel the secret trail and find the hidden clues. Please note: We feel strongly that it is best for the student if they are responsible for their trip. We politely encourage family members with questions to relay those questions to students, and students to find answers by contacting our staff. By asking students to assume responsibility, we feel that we are helping them to become independent adults. We want everyone students and their families to feel comfortable, but we thank you for allowing the students to be their own point of contact! PART I: TRIP DATES AND PAYMENT SCHEDULES TRIP DATES: THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2017 TO THURSDAY, JANUARY 4, 2018 ATTENDEES: This trip is open to all 2017 TPOM Members and 2016 TPOM members who graduated in December 2016 or May 2017. If hotel space allows, we may be able to welcome family members to participate. This will be determined in September. TRIP COST: FULL STUDENT PACKAGE (including airfare and transportation to and from airport): $2350.00 This includes all current government and airline taxes/fees. The Trip Payment listed above will be paid DIRECTLY to our event organizers using a credit card on your own individual online payment account. Credit card is the only form of payment accepted. Trip Payment schedules are listed below. To set up your payment account, complete a London Registration Form online. The payment/registration website will be provided soon through the Remind App and posted on the homepage of our band website (mcneesebands.com). After completing the form you will be notified with instructions on how to pay and use your account. It may take several days before you are notified. STUDENT PAYMENT SCHEDULE: Payment Amount Due Date 1 $200.00 February 1, 2017 2 $300.00 March 1, 2017 3 $300.00 April 1, 2017 4 $300.00 May 1, 2017 5 $400.00 September 1, 2017 6 $500.00 October 1, 2017 Final Payment $350.00 November 1, 2017
IT IS NOT ACCEPTABLE TO PAY AFTER EACH DUE DATE. We are working with a very large group of people and ask you to respect the deadlines posted above. It cannot be the responsibility of our tour company or our staff to work with you on late payments. We simply do not have the time or personnel to do this. If you would like to go on the trip, then we must insist that you make your payments on time. Once a payment account is created, students may pay ahead of the payment schedule, if desired. FOR INCOMING 2017 FRESHMEN: You may set up your payment account at any time, up until September 1 st. When you set up your payment account, you will then be able to begin catching up with the payment schedule. All freshmen must be current with the payment schedule by September 1 st. TO SET UP A PAYMENT ACCOUNT: Please email Dr. Jacobs your request to have a payment account established. He will email you with instructions. Once a payment account is created, students may pay ahead of the payment schedule, if desired. STUDENT TEACHERS: Students who will be student teaching in the Spring of 2018 should contact Dr. Lemke and your cooperating teacher to determine if your student teaching schedule can start after we return from the trip. THE SHADOW TRAVEL GROUP PACKAGE: $3,550.00* This package DOES NOT include transportation while in the United States (to and from our departure airport). Members participating in the shadow trip will need to provide their own transportation to and from Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston. The package DOES include everything else listed above. Shadow Travelers to London: Individuals in this group shadow the band activities, but are completely responsible for themselves. An itinerary will be provided, but at no time will anyone take attendance or make sure everyone catches the bus, plane, etc. during the trip You will not be chaperones or be required to attend all the student activities while in London. Basically, your time is yours to do with as you please. *The price difference is due to the university s commitment to cover a portion of the trip cost for each band member and includes a $200 donation to assist with the overall band expenses. The full donation goes directly toward the full band s expenses for this trip. SHADOW TRAVEL GROUP PAYMENT SCHEDULE: Payment Amount Due Date 1 $200.00 February 1, 2017 2 $300.00 March 1, 2017 3 $300.00 April 1, 2017 4 $300.00 May 1, 2017 5 $600.00 September 1, 2017 6 $1,500.00 October 1, 2017 Final Payment $350.00 MUST BE PAID VIA CHECK PAYABLE TO: McNeese Foundation-Band MAIL OR DROP OFF TO THE BAND OFFICEà November 1, 2017 McNeese Band Office Box 93175 Lake Charles, LA 70609
CANCELLATION: Please understand the refund policy of our trip contract, which states: The first deposit of $200 is non refundable under any circumstances. Deposits paid subsequently become non-refundable on from 17.30 (5.30pm) British Summer Time (Eastern Standard Time + 5 hours) on 1st May 2017. No refund of any deposits will be made thereafter, save if there is a WARNING from the United States Government State Department to the effect that you should not travel to London on the dates you have booked, or if the United Kingdom Home office issues a specific warning to visitors from the United States not to visit London over the dates you are contracted to travel. PART II: REGISTRATIONS AND PASSPORT TPOM REGISTRATION FORM: In order to register for the trip and trip payment plan, all participants must complete the London Registration Form, which will be provided soon through the Remind app mentioned above and through a link on our website homepage (mcneesebands.com). PASSPORTS: Passengers must be in possession of a valid and current passport. We recommend that you place the order for your passport at least two months prior to the trip. Make sure that you get the passport book. The passport card is not valid for international air travel. The passport book is approximately $110.00. For information on obtaining your passport, please visit: http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/passports/faqs.html All US passports must have remain valid in excess of six months after the date of return to the USA. Non US passport holders should verify their status with regard to their re-entry into the USA. POWER ADAPTERS: Roommates should consider packing ONE converter (which converts the UK 220V to the US 120V) and an adapter (which converts the UK plug to a US-friendly plug), AND a small power strip. This way everyone charges phones/laptops/tablets at the same time. Otherwise, rooms might have only one outlet and remembering to switch in the middle of the night YOUR TOUR PRICE EXCLUDES: Cost of passports, visas, items of personal nature such as laundry, telegraph and telephone expenses, room service, alcoholic drinks, meals not specified in itinerary (lunches and dinners), optional sightseeing and excursions not mentioned above. WE HOPE YOU ARE EXCITED! THIS IS GOING TO BE A GREAT TRIP!