Tauck survey of our plans WRT booked travel
Just received and took a "Survey About Your Upcoming Tauck Trip" (our 4/2021 Jordan and Egypt). Short and to the point: will we travel if there isn't a vaccine (no), when would we cancel (at final payment), would we rebook (yes), where to (Europe), and when do we expect to take our next Tauck tour (left unanswered because it was specific date ranges whereas our answer would be of the form "when there is a widely available vaccine").
I commend Tauck for being proactive about this. Our other planned travel providers have not specifically asked us for our input.
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I just completed the survey; however, the survey I completed only asked one specific question with three choices: Will you travel if: (a). there is no vaccine but proper protocols are in place and flights are available; (b) I haven't decided yet and (c) No, not comfortable traveling at this time. This is for my December 2020 JE trip.
I got the same survey but mine had just one multiple choice question. Kinda strange, I expected more than one question!
Think of the impact if everyone says they won't travel if there is not a vaccine. That could mean blanket cancellations, all tours, everywhere, until a vaccine is available. That is still a moving target, however, just like world-wide infection rates. "A vaccine" needs to be defined- first available, available in the US, tour country/region, or worldwide, or when the number of actual inoculations reaches some, as yet to be defined US, tour/region, or worldwide percentage.
I just completed my survey. I had the same questions as Portolan, and my first three answers were the same. Perhaps the different number of questions depends on when your next trip is scheduled to depart. Since my trips for 2020 have all been cancelled (including the 10/31 trip to New Zealand), the next scheduled trip is for next March -- to Jerusalem and Jordan, to see the sights that I didn't get to see this past March because of Covid. As I've shared before, I have my doubts whether that will happen. I know that I won't be going if there isn't a vaccine. I don't want to be sick in Jordan.
My survey had multiple questions like Portolan and MCD. Perhaps the survey length, to some degree, is driven by your answers. If you answer the first question a certain way then that's the end of the survey, answer a different way and then they ask a couple more questions. For the first question I said that I hadn't decided yet. For the second and third questions my answers were the same as Portolan (I said Europe, because of my Iceland trip next June). For the last question I said I'd travel between May-August 2021, again because of the Iceland trip (I was being hopeful, that things might be such that travel is reasonably safe and reasonably normal by then - some restrictions and safety protocols, but not to the point it is high risk or overly cumbersome.)
Smiling Sam Length of survey makes sense based on how one responded to the initial question. If someone answered yes to the first question, there is no need to ask further questions. I answered YES that I would travel if there was no vaccine in place BUT safety protocols were in place and flights were available. I have a very low confidence level that an effective vaccine will be available to the masses within the next 12 months.
Seems that Smiling Sam figured it out!
Good job I read the forum, our survey went to Spam, never have messages from Tauck go there. We got thru all the answers padrly for the hell of it, we chose maybe for our first answer.
I hate this type of survey with nowhere to make comments.
Questions I would like to ask Tauck......will their insurance cover anything Covid 19 Related? If I come into contact with someone just before the tour, can I cancel and get all my money back. If I contract it while I am away, will I get trip interruption coverage? If someone on the tour becomes positive with it, where will I quarantine and who will pay for it and get me home etc etc etc
If someone on the tour is not wearing a mask properly, that is covering nose and mouth and not touching their mask, will they be sent home, will the TD have the strength to say anything? Can another tour member, say me, point or to the TD that I am not happy with the safety of how people on the tour are approaching mask wearing and social distancing.
We were not sure how to respond to other questions because it was unclear how one should answer if you already had other tours booked like we do.
This survey gives me a bad feeling about what Tauck might be going to do.
How does this effect all the money I have tied up in Dreamsaver?
We got an invitational today to join a Live Tauck online eventThis coming Friday. It features TD Don Dunkle who we had as a TD years ago, he’s very knowledgeable and a hoot. We signed up for it.
We got nothing except the same invite to the Canyonlands event Fri that British mentioned. Nothing scheduled now until Aug 2021 so maybe they didn't bother.
Cathy, are you still happy to travel to Antarctica?
If everyone behaved and wore masks etc, it would be safe to travel but many Americans will not do this, which is why if any of us want to travel we may not be able to because other countries won’t have us. Maybe my British passport might come in handy again.
We have just been zooming with friends in England. Restrictions have been much harder their. The only mistake was not going into Lockdown early enough. Our friends have never been to a food store or seen barely anybody. More people adhere to the rules there. I think they were surprised that we go to food stores.
To be fair, I think the overwhelming majority of Americans are complying with the masking and distancing guidelines. This just may be an example of the few who are unwilling to delay gratification ruining things for the many. This should not be a political or ideological issue, it should be a common sense issue. To quote the recent eloquent words of the Governor of Colorado: "WEAR A DAMN MASK".
British wrote: "If everyone behaved and wore masks etc, it would be safe to travel ...."
To be realistic, that applies equally to every person you come in contact with directly and indirectly, from the time you walk out your front door until you return home. A mighty tall expectation.
Cathy, please keep a good journal and show us all your photos, I know they will be brilliant.
Calaf, healthcare workers keep mask on all day. I’ve done that too, having worked in an operating theater and doing certain hospital procedures. You get used to it. You get used to not touching your mask. When we leave the house, We put our masks on ad don’t touch them again until we return home, we wash our hands, take off our masks and put them in our special receptacle for laundry. We wash our hands again and then carry on with normal home activities. We do it to save ourselves and our country. It’s simple. It didn’t take my husband long to learn Mask etiquette.
Where we live, we see many people not wearing masks, Or not wearing them properly. we see people taking off their possibly contaminated masks off as soon as they leave a store, not even being careful to remove it without touching it in the middle or cleaning their hands. We have asked supermarket staff at checkouts to cover their noses, they don’t and here in PA it’s the law. These People only care about themselves, no one else.
I think it’s unrealistic to expect that anyone and everyone you encounter, should you choose to travel, will adhere to the protocols you suggest.
CalF, that is what Tauck is up against.people like maybe you who will not adhere to their rules. That’s why I am concerned about Traveling with Tauck and an ineffective TD.
This is where the new Travel Well Pledge comes in. Tauck is being pretty up front about expectations. I do agree that it's the TDs job to be the police. I have no desire to do that. Lousy job. One of my favorite small stores just closed again to walk in customers ( just appointments, pick up or mail order now) because a small number of customers refused to follow the rules. I'm tired of hearing about freedom and liberty. Duty and responsibility are important too.
Proper Yosemite pool attire.
I chose option one ... one question.
We were wearing masks before they were recommended.
When did people get this survey?
I recall getting a similar travel survey several weeks ago. I can't remember if it was from Tauck or someone else. And I answered I wouldn't travel internationally (or by air) until there's an effective vaccine widely distributed.
I believe it came out on Monday, 7/13.
Interesting article about mask effectiveness, with a discussion of the various types of masks.
cathyandsteve - There will be a vaccine. Several have already been shown to be effective in creating Covid antibodies. Best case scenario is it will produce long lasting antibodies like the Measles vaccine. I think that is unlikely. Worst case scenario, in my opinion, is it will need to be repeated on a regular basis. Maybe yearly like the flu vaccine or maybe every 10 years like Tetanus (which isn't a virus).
Herpes and HIV are more complex viruses than Covid. And there is a vaccine for Herpes Zoster (chicken pox and shingles), but not Herpes Simplex (multiple strains ranging from cold sores to the STD).
Like you, I am healthy and consider this a bump in the road. If it takes a year or even two, so be it, but I'm not willing to submit myself to the current prison-like restrictions imposed by Ponant, nor the risky and predatory, non-caring response of most airlines.
A companion to a vaccine, and possibly available sooner, would be very effective treatment. Until there is a vaccine, we will do everything possible to avoid exposure, but if we knew there was highly effective treatment available, our risk tolerance would go up (i.e., we'd start traveling again).
cathyandsteve: Springfield, MO just passed on Monday night making masks mandatory in our city as well. The fine is $100 per incident for not wearing one. I do hope the state of Missouri will do the same. I always wear mine when in public. I bought 50 of them from Amazon a while back for only $30 and they are washable and really comfortable to wear.
BKMD. My survey went straight to Spam, never had a Tauck correspondence do this before, I rarely check my Spam, so was lucky to find it after seeing it mentioned here.
As BKMD says, there is a vaccine for Herpes Zoster, I wonder how many of you have had the newer one that involves two injections several months apart. We got it as soon as it became available. We had had the old one but the new one is also recommended and supersedes it.
Its much much easier to prevent catching Herpes Simplex or HIV, just make sure you don’t have unprotected ‘relationships’ and there are Effective treatments. There is a huge increase in both of these in the older population, in fact, I would think it’s worse now in retirement communities due to the Pandemic, someone should do research on it.
I am not saying we won’t travel, things just have to change, I think Tauck should make each tour have a lot less people.....I don’t like the thought of that due to cost, and you can have some strange or antisocial people on small groups that you can’t get away from, or you just get fed up of being with the same people day after day on a two week tour.
I am mostly concerned with finding myself with people who don’t want to wear masks on a tour at the moment. We had issues with people smoking in Arthur’s restaurant, was that on a ship or the river cruise, I can’t remember, but it meant we did not want to eat there. When they weren’t inside, they were outside of there with the door open and smoke drifted in, none of the ship staff did anything about that, it was annoying. So I, concerned about Tour Directors having the strength to confront a Tauck passenger who is not compliant.
It is extremely complicated to make any plans to travel internationally now, least of all because no one wants Americans. Countries can go on lockdown or flights can suddenly be cancelled. I was just talking to my Doctor this morning, her sister got stuck in Costa Rica for three months. We were stuck in Borneo when lockdown came, we had no idea how we might leave the country, we had no idea if and where we could be quarantined, there, here in the US.
I felt bad at putting our kids through extra stress, even though they know we love to travel and we have all previously agreed that if anything happened to us, they will accept it.
We think our best chance of travel again at the moment is our tour of Japan in September 2021 and we know the Japanese happily wear masks. I can’t wait to go back to Japan.
No need to apologize. I didn't find your question offensive and I didn't flag you.
Some coward has been anonymously flagging a lot of posts lately.
Someone is putting things to spam and abuse constantly at the moment.
Wonder if it's been going on longer and we just didn't notice. If posts are bothering this person(s) just don't read. Find a forum you like better.
Noticed something weird today with my Google email account. I picked up my tablet to check mail and there was one from Tauck with this week's Compass. Before I could open it the email disappeared from the list. Looked in junk and trash folders, nothing there. Opened the acct on my PC and again, it was briefly listed then gone. Did some research on disappearing emails and learned how to search for it. Turns out gmail had decided on its own that it was spam. Wonder if I've lost any other emails that way? Corrected it so hopefully it won't happen again.
A few days ago, I sent an email to Tim and Emily at Tauck IT about the situation. Unfortunately I haven't received a response. Since we can't tell and don't know who is flagging, I asked if there is any way IT could tell and if the flagged posts are not warranted, could they send the abuser a warning or block them from the site. I also suggested maybe it is time to start stats over again.
FYI- we are not Twitter users, but I saw on the news that there was a massive Twitter hack affecting big names- Bill Gates, Barack Obama, Elon Musk, Joe Biden, Apple and other major corporations, etc.
You may have noticed my discussion "COVID-19 USA River Cruise Operating Protocol" was reinstated today after bring flagged for abuse.
Yes, I did. Tauck needs to clarify guidance on what the flags are for or if its just one person educate them.
What the heck is "promote" in our personal list of reactions?