Treasures of the Aegean 2022 Prices Posted
The 2022 Treasures of the Aegean prices have been posted. $200 p/p increase. Guest Protection fee stays the same.
Except for air, that is the last piece of the puzzle- all our trips for 2022 will be paid in full (airfare separate).
Since we double-booked this cruise- paid the deposit and Guest/Cruise Protection fee for 2022- and had paid the balance on 2021, before Tauck cancelled 2021, we will have a surplus that we likely use to pay the balance on XMAS Mkts 2022. Even then we will have about a $2000 surplus so will need to see what we can do with that.
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Comments
Wow Alan, I had no idea you had so much money with Tauck, for me that would be more frightening than I feel the money I have stuck with them as it is. I feel fortunate that some of the tours I have had canceled are not to places I am desperate to go to. I’m sad about Israel and Jordan and will be when Japan is cancelled. If I never get to the other places, so be it. My kids can go for me with the money I didn’t give to Tauck. When I worked hard night shifts for all those years when my kids were young, I want to enjoy every penny I earned and if not, I want my family to enjoy it instead.
Im wondering what percentage of already booked 2022/23 tours will open up once tours start to happen and people cancel their double bookings. We are still holding out booking more tours until we have evidence that tours are all going again.Are we unusual? Are others remaining cautious?
I, too, remain very cautious. Hope I'm wrong, but fear "normal travel" is still far down the road. I have one trip deposit with Tauck from a trip that was canceled in 2021 and rolled forward to 2022. Who knows if that will go. Totally unwilling to commit any more money to Tauck (or any other travel company) in these highly uncertain times.
I agree with you British. I am not booking any tours until I see how things pan out, even if it takes a couple of years. I won't travel overseas until we are back to normal and all the mask mandates have been lifted and all the travel craziness has subsided. Our travels have been and will continue to be in the US. There are plenty of great states to visit within a comfortable driving distance of where we live, so it is all good. I am happy that you and your husband are enjoying your getaway to Cape May.
I use a spreadsheet to manage our "travel income and expenses" over a multi-year period and do not mix those funds with day to day income and living expenses. So, once a trip is paid for, I consider that money gone. Besides, with 2 cancellations so far per tour, it has been "gone" for awhile since I've rolled it over each time. With the re-booking credit (discount), we essentially "earn" more than we would have earn if we put the money in an interest-bearing account. We are "saving" (re-investing or banking) any new "travel income" for future trips. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
I have five trips booked with Tauck for the remainder of this year - two in the US, two in Europe (including the Aegean cruise in August) and one in Bali. I expect the last to be canceled and I will roll that money over to a Bali tour for next year (if offered). I have five trips booked with Tauck for next year - two of them fully paid - and I have no concern whatsoever about the funds on deposit with Tauck. I think people will be booking left and right in the coming months and many tours for late this year and next are already fully booked. I am desperate to get on the road again and believe many others are as well. I have had my vaccinations and am sick of government officials telling me how to live (I am in CA and we have been locked down for almost a year and a half). Life entails risk and I am ready to assume that and get on with it. Like British (and probably all of us), I worked hard to earn the investments that now support my travel; unlike her I have no children so am probably even more aggressive about spending what I have on travel.
Hello Smarks. Things are still so bad in most other countries and I think that is what is going to stop Tauck operating most of their tours.For instance, I think all three countries for our Scandinavia tour are still closed to foreign travel. All tours cancelled to July 15th and ours leaves a couple of days after that.Others have strict restrictions on numbers of people getting together. Tauck will have to split into smaller groups and hire more guides than usual, it will be more like paying for small group tours. I also hope they are able to secure tickets for some of the popular attractions. I’d hate to go somewhere and find thst certwin indoor attractions are taken off the itinerary.
I am in regular contact with my British friends and they are now allowed to meet outside up to six people. My friend was finally able to get her haircut. Even the British with all their vaccinations, they cannot travel until at least May 17th. I’m still concerned that it doesn’t matter how well our county is doing, others are not doing well and that will continue to be a problem for us travelers.
I’ve just read there is going to be a gas shortage this summer because people will be so eager to get on the road. I’m now envisaging people are going to be buying gas cans and hoarding gas in unsafe conditions. It’s going to be like toilet rolls and clorox wipes all over again but with gas.
I’m hoping more Americans get vaccinated. I had been thinking that cash giveaways might convince some people to get vaccinated and I now see it’s being tried in West Virginia, $100 vouchers.
Smarks, when you go on any of your tours, would you take the time to tell us what it was like and how Tauck handles things. We have already been to most of the places in the US that Tauck goes to and some of those with Tauck, or we might have been looking to do some of them. Most are only suitable as summer vacations. We continue to wait for our Japan tour to be canceled in September, not with Tauck, if we cancel with them we will lose our deposit as well as their expensive insurance, so we have to wait it out. Still haven’t booked the flight anyway.
Please private message me and let me know your Singapore Bali date if you go in 2022 in case it is the same as ours. We spent 24 hours in Singapore years ago, staying with friends on our way back from Japan, but the children were too young for us to go to Raffles and have a Singapore sling. My father in law spent time stationed their after the war, so it’s one of Mr. B’s places to see more of.
Having just spent four nights away from home for the first time in over a year, we both felt quite strange getting back home, we felt we had been away for a long time. I went to the food store and almost drew a blank in what I needed to buy. We always print a check list of last things to do before we go, it stays on the kitchen countertop and we glance at it before we leave, like turn the thermostat down and turn the water off. We forgot to empty the kitchen trash can, even though it was on the list so it was a good job we were not away for a long time.
We had three wonderful dinners and pizza on the first night, we hardly ever eat pizza. When we got home, we had both gained two pounds in four days. Off to Charleston in less than three weeks.....if we can find gas for the car 😀
This cruise includes a stop in Turkey. Turkey now on lockdown due to a surge in infection rates, now the highest in Europe.
BobHamburger: Thanks for the update on Turkey. If this stop is the only thing that would preclude the (mostly) Greek islands cruise from going, I would encourage Tauck (with Windstar) to think about a nice reception on the island of Santorini. The views there are spectacular when the sun sets. This could replace the Ephesus library reception and dinner currently scheduled and we could skip Turkey altogether.
British: I will let you know when I hear about Bali for this August (the decision should be in the next few weeks); if I reschedule to 2022 I will let you know the dates. Good hearing from you.