Best Of
Re: Magic of Morocco NOV. 2021
Austin Gal here...
Really cute leather bag Mil. I wish to be so lucky? Maybe a magic lantern with a genie also? In response to the above questions. We are leaving on the November 14 Magic of Morocco Tour. But since reading all of your encouragement, we’ve decided to go into Rabat 4 days early and I scrapped the Canary island idea. One day to recuperate, and 3 to get in all that Tauck does not cover. Very excited. This is our 14 Tauck Tour.
Why was Spain our worse trip? We took the Paradors of Spain tour that they no longer offer. First off our TG was a mumbler, that spoke VERY FAST in high squeaky voice. I think English was his second language, which was fine, we were in Spain after all. But my ears never got accustomed to his mumbling. We only understood 20% of what he said, so all of us had to get together after and decide what he really meant. While my idea of staying in the romantic paradors was mostly built up in my mind, (Castles, Aristocrats homes and Monasteries) in actuality did not live up to the trip. The bus rides were very long stopping each night at a different parador, I think we stayed at 5, but it felt like 20. We got in so late, and immediately left the next day not there long enough to snoop around on our own. Most of the paradors were Monasteries and while it was interesting I can assure you NONE of them were Tauck level that we are use to. How elegant can you make a 100 year old monastery that smelled like old rotted wood and dust? I’m not a prima donna mind you, I’m a Texas girl that can hang with the best of them. To top it off, one of the sites San Sebastian was rerouted for some reason that I now can’t recall, and we missed that city, one of the ones I was really hoping to see. The only redeeming part of the trip was Portugal. We stayed in Tauck level hotels, cruised on Douro, museums, learned all about Port and did some fantastic shopping there. I’ll always think of Portugal fondly.
I never worry about landing a trip with boring people. We always find common ground somewhere. Laughter is the common ground. We look at it as, We ARE the party, and you can join in with our respectful merriment or not. The only time we had an issue with another passenger was in Africa with the “10 foot tall large gentleman” who was so concerned about getting the best shot he’d run to the front of the attraction (jeep, boat, animal, lecture )and just camp out hogging the whole shot. All of my pictures in African have him somewhere in the shot. When we asked to not be put in his jeep rotation, the TG said, yeah, you’re the 5 person to request. The TG was very sweet and accommodating. At dinner we would search out where he was sitting and go the opposite direction. He did not ruin our trip, that one was fantastic.
Re: Here’s an interesting story
There was a movie with a similar theme called The Terminal, startting Tom hanks.
Re: Here’s an interesting story
Sounds a bit like the Tom Hanks movie The Terminal (that was based in JFK, not Chicago). Passport issues prevented him from leaving the airport so he took up residence.

Re: Checking air frequently paid off for us!!
Update: The (Delta) 330 day booking window opened after midnight last night, so I called and got our flights for the 2021 XMAS Mkts cruise (a re-booking from the cancelled 2020 cruise). Confirming what I had seen in the past few days, the business class fare was less than the great fare we paid for flights that I booked last year, also at the start of the 330 day window- $245 per ticket less! It won't buy much, maybe tickets to Maine, but still . . . . I was expecting the airlines would be trying to recoup losses and that fares would go up.
I used credits from the cancelled 2020 flights. I had to call to book because I couldn't access both credits online since my wife's credits were on her Skymiles account. The Delta agent made quick work of our booking.
And yes, we are extending by a day and plan to take an HB train to Hamburg to see Miniature Wunderland before flying home from there.
Now all we need is for the world to get control of COVID.

Re: Vaccine news!
Sealord...we just got an email from the resort...they will be offering rapid antigen testing to guests free of charge, on site. That means we will still be able to go for our 49th anniversary!!! We can ESCAPE!!!!

Re: Vaccine news!
The travel restrictions to/from any location are provided on the AA website. You enter your to/from and date and then it pops up the restrictions for both directions.

Re: Bicycling?
Is that BKMD I see in the middle bicycling in Jerash or Petra? Or perhaps Morocco? It kind of looks like how they dress in Colorado.

Re: "Egypt: New Archaeological Finds with Dr. Mostafa Waziri".
BKMD
8:47PM
I didn't get the email. Can you paste it info here (or PM it to me, if you prefer)? TIA
Try this link:

Re: Tauck's Updated Travel Policy (January 14, 2021)
I have a different take on this that may not be palatable to some fellow travelers. Travel insurance is never refundable. Period. Moreover, I don't understand why this comes as a surprise to some when Tauck makes their policies very clear up front. The policies are in their brochures and on their website and have always been there. It is disingenuous to imply that Tauck is being less than honest with their customers. British is very correct when she states how generous Tauck has been throughout this horrific pandemic.
Best wishes to all for a return to Tauck travel in 2021.
Re: Checking air frequently paid off for us!!
We are on the 6 Dec northbound Rhine XMAS Mkts cruise so I have also been tracking Delta prices- our 330 day window opens in a few days (Sat or Sun*.) Yes, prices have been variable. I typically only compare prices for days of the week as our eventual flights, but in general, prices have been tracking up and down, mostly around $3500-3600 for business class, but occasionally up as high as $4200+! Two days ago the price for our flights dropped to $2500+ the lowest I have seen and incredibly over $300 lower than the price of our tickets for our 2020 XMAS Mkts flights that I thought were very good when I purchased them last year around this time. If the prices hold, we'll have the cost of the new tickets covered and some credit left over, so I hope they stay low for few more days!
*We may stay an extra day- take a train from Dusseldorf to Hamburg to visit Miniatur Wunderland and fly home from there the next day. It is an incredible place but is probably only of interest to "children" of all ages who love trains.
