The problem with some vacation makers is that they tend to rely on travel agents to get every paperwork and other necessities done. These are the kind of people who are too lazy to get everything straight before embarking on that blissful Costa Rican vacation.
I recently found this article about one woman's report that she got barred from entering Costa Rican soil from Peru because she failed to get yellow fever vaccine certification. She was there to continue her vacation. Apparently, there was this agreement between the governments of Peru and Costa Rica that nobody will be allowed to enter Costa Rican grounds from Peru if they did not have the certificate.
Her travel agency did not know about this. She tried looking for information but failed to see them. Apparently, she was not looking hard enough because the information is prominently displayed in the websites of the Costa Rican embassy and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
So apart from missing her flight, she also lost the $760 she had paid in reservation fees for some Costa Rican hotel. That's quite a sum lost to something that isn't worth it. Plus she's stuck in Peru until she got herself some yellow fever vaccine.
Now that was a terrible story, but there's something that needed to be learned here. It's that you are the only one who should be solely liable for all of those official requirements and other certifications. Never entrust that with others. Also, it's important that you only rely on official sources for information, and not just a mere travel agency, airline, or cruiseline. Only official sources can have an authoritative say on the matter. You will not lose anything due to negligence that way.
Of course the travel agent should have known, but as a traveler, you should still have the overall responsibility.
You can be lazy once the vacation is already starting. Then you can relax all you want and lie down without worrying too much about the world around you. Not before the vacation, please.
