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How has Covid restrictions affected your trip
We are scheduled for 9/24 Tour. Leaving USA on 9/22. Concerned about all the recent EU and Italian restrictions for Sicily. Any one on tour starting 9/6, will you let us know how it is going?
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We are due to go on this trip starting 9/20. Our 2020 trip was cancelled. There have been several flight changes by Alitalia (Delta partner) that are inconvenient. We went along with that as we are anxious to be on the road again. Alitalia is going out of business 10/15 and it is dropping flights all over the place and I expect as this heats up there will be more changes.
The numbers are way up in Sicily and there are new mask and other requirements that pose a deal breaker for us. I had no problem with the new mask requirements but husband is resisting as he feels the outdoor mask requirement will ruin the trip. I also think interaction within the group will be limited as they are 4 allowed at a table while dining. We enjoy meeting new people on the trips.
We are working with Tauck on another trip to replace Sicily that is going around the same time. The rep is very good and we are waiting final confirmation. There is room on many trips but last minute additions require some work on their part as rooms have been released back to the vendors. We will likely rebook Sicily for 2022 as this has been on our bucketlist for years. We have 2 other trips with Tauck in 2022.
We just returned from a trip that included three stops in Sicily. Virtually no one wore masks outdoors. Malta had a mask requirement, but virtually no one wore masks outdoors. Masks were worn indoors.
Sealord - That has changed since the end of August. While most of Italy is in the white zone, Sicily was changed to a yellow zone. The Italian government announced that it would impose tighter restrictions on the southern island of Sicily, including an outdoor mask mandate. The new rules, also limit to four the number of people who can sit at restaurant tables, were effective on 8/30/21. The announcement followed a sharp increase in coronavirus infections and hospitalizations in the region, where vaccination rates are low.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/28/world/italy-restrictions-sicily-virus-surge.html
We left Siracusa on 8/30. They are going to need a lot of police to enforce an outdoor mask requirement. Malta also has an outdoor mask requirement … virtually no one wears masks outdoors. They mask up when they enter a business or restaurant. Our tour guide insisted that we wear masks. When the tour was over, so were the masks. The Munich airport required N95 or equivalent masks. We had to buy them at the duty free. Frankfurt had the same requirement but it was not enforced. On the airplanes the flight attendants were ‘enforcers’ of the mask requirement, but if you entered the galley where the curtains were drawn you would find the flight attendants maskless.
Thanks. We’re still hanging on, but lots of doubts & questions swirling in our heads.