Reality of Quarantining?
We just returned from our first venture abroad since Covid began
I must emphasize this was not a Tauck tour, but I thought people might be interested about what we learned, at least for that country, I’ve no idea how it works elsewhere and all we have read on the forums is about ship quarantining, not land tours.
We went to Costa Rica for two weeks. We enjoy the elements of the tour, we’ve been several times with Tauck
Fifteen of us, a full tour. One member broke a bone, still in hospital there after surgery as far as I know
Several of the other tour members consistently would not wear masks on the bus, at least for the first week, despite repeated reminders by the TD. There was no social distancing at meals, we ate at one or two long tables. Any buffets were totally screened from us, we pointed to what we wanted and the masked and gloved servers dispensed the food and handed it to us at the end of the line.
Costa Rica has very strict mask rules, including on all transport. All Costa Ricans we saw and interacted with, wore masks , always inside and often outside. Most establishments and all hotels and restaurants had a full wash stand, soap, water, Paper towels outside which you had to use. Others had automatic hand sanitizer dispensers which included taking your temperature and announcing the result in a loud electronic voice. All very impressive.
The danger here is….Costa Rica does not require any Covid testing to enter the country…..yes. Do you see where I am going here?
From day one, there was some coughing on the bus. No one seemed sick
On the day before the tour ended, we were taken to a clinic for our required ‘get back to the US’ testing, charged $39 each and a Covid test was taken, all done in about fifteen minutes. We got to our hotel, results came through quickly…
Yes, wait for it…. 3 people were positive. The woman of a married couple, one of two sister traveling together and a single guy. We never saw them again. They each had to isolate in a hotel room, and be tested no sooner than 7 days later. The spouse and sister could not remain, they had to return to the US with the rest of us negatives.
All were in shock, we weren’t, the virus had clearly been circulating in the bus and at meal times where most removed their mask as soon as they sat down with no urgency to it it back on. I can’t believe for one minute that anyone caught it from a local.
I really felt sick at the thought that I could have been separated from my husband or vice versa and sent home without them, it had just never occurred to me. We had arrived with extra clothing and three weeks worth of extra necessary medications and three books each, just in case we had to quarantine, we just never even thought about being separated!
I’m so anxiously to hear of any Covid quarantine experiences on land tours.
Any comments?
Comments
Oh I would die if I had to leave my husband in Egypt or vice versa !!!
The risk of a positive test, preventing your immediate return to the States, is a risk everyone has to accept when deciding to travel internationally.
It sounds like your tour group could have been a bit more disciplined in the safety measures, but I don't think even that can provide 100% safety.
Look at the Ponant, Antarctica record. Two ships have been quarantined for a period of time with numerous crew and guests having positive tests. And that's on Ponant ships that try very hard, with their safety protocols to prevent that from happening.
If a person can't accept the risk of a positive test, and the resultant requirements - quarantine, retest, etc. then international travel isn't right for that person. They should wait it out until Covid is a thing of the past before traveling outside the States.
British, I am curious (not political) what were the requirements, if any, for taking the tour? Did they require COVID vaccination? Did guests have to agree to abide by any masking rules?
Glad you and Mr. B made it home safely and continued good health to you both.
The tour company required all guests to be vaccinated many months before Tauck caved in and said the same. It was the strict law of the land we were in. The TD told us he took care of his 96 year old father when he wasn’t working. People just don’t care.
It was made quite clear that masks should be worn and we were all booster vaccinated. I can only say that many people think that they are immune to anything in life actually happening to them, they think it is going to happen to someone else.
When you think about a lot of tours, it’s not really very practical to try to throw someone off a tour if you are in a remote area. The other reason, I think too, is that if the TD talks to the person, they risk losing their tip too. This is what I very much feel when we were on a tour with another company and everyone was told at the beginning of the tour that a certain person would be sent home. They were not, I’m sure it was because it was a small group tour and our TD was local, depending maybe more than the average person on making enough money to feed his family…..he’s not going to reduce the number of people likely to tip him.
People will try to break mask rules because they think, and mainly rightly, that fellow tour members will be too embarrassed to say anything. The clueless person on our tour, on the very first day and she was breathing right into my face, I said please put a mask on, she laughed and said we were all vaccinated. A few days later, my husband spoke to the TD, others had also done the same as she was not the only one. We are all supposed to be considerate adults who share the common love of travel. I hoped all of us would also be reasonably intelligent and on our best behaviors, but it never is with some people.
Sam, unless you have had a bit of experience being confined in a hotel room, not even a window you can open. Little choice of food, no choice of TV in English, maybe no Netflix, maybe no regular internet. I only did three days two years ago and it was very hard, you almost go mad. This trip, I was prepared as I thought I could be. But I never thought about having to go thru it on my own.
You go on a tour during a pandemic, you take your chances.
With my April japan tour now cancelled, my first tour on the books is Egypt in Nov. I may add something else sooner, if things seem to be better. Being on the younger end of this crowd, I'm in no rush. I can entertain myself locally, living in an outdoor playground. I skied today (coldest start of the season at -4F!, but dressed appropriately and it was a beautiful day with not a cloud in the sky) - I should go to Antarctica if I want to warmer weather
British, you really need to stop breaking the bones of fellow travelers, just to get the seat on the bus that you want !
British…. Did the three COVID plosive travelers stay in a government appointed hotel? Was there a choice?
The positive testers had to stay in the hotel we were in, a pretty basic Holiday Inn.
BKMD, Some of us might have wanted to break a few bones because the same people were sat at the front of the bus for the entire trip! I much prefer the assigned seating model! 😂
British - I think I would have been more prone to break bones of the anti-maskers and the TD. If I were on that tour, I certainly would not have been quiet about it. And at the end of the tour (if I made it that far), I would have given a $1 tip with a note to the effect, "this is for risking our health and well-being by not enforcing the mask mandate."
Yes, we should all consider the health and safety of our fellow travelers all the time. Seeing the world and being able to travel is a gift in more ways than one. It never ceases to amaze me that some can't abide by really simple rules. When traveling in close proximity to others, this is what needs to be done These people believe they can walk on water without any consequences. I don't get it. I wonder how Tauck will enforce rules that are plainly written on the website for their guests to follow as well as reprimanding the tour directors who didn't follow what was expected of them.
Every tour is a contract. I have a reasonable expectation that a tour company will provide the lodging, meals, tour directors, buses, drivers and experiences that I am paying for. The tour company (and by extension, my fellow travelers) has a reasonable expectation that I will abide by the terms and conditions in the contract related to payment and behavior on tour. If I engage in behavior on tour that is not compliant with the terms of the contract (repetitively late, showing up drunk, overly argumentative/obnoxious, not wearing a required mask, etc) I SHOULD be removed from the tour. My behaviors affect the well being and enjoyment of my fellow travelers and I am not exempt from complying with the terms of a contract I willingly entered into.
British, I suspect that tour company probably received some negative reviews from your fellow travelers.
I totally totally agree with you. But, on so many tours, there is the element of being in the middle of nowhere, a desert, a jungle etc. in all practicality, how are you, a loan Tour director, going to remove someone from a tour without affecting others, do you dump them on a Safari trail and hope they get eaten by lions, do you tell everybody we are all going back to a major city to dump them at the airport? This is really difficult. On this particular tour, we headed straight out to the Rainforests on the first full day of the tour, mask rules were explained, it took a while to see that people did not have their masks on, too late already.
We have been sat next to people twice on planes who cleverly take their masks down as soon as the flight attendants pass by, or turn their faces to the plane window, bus window etc, they are very sly.
Very early in the Pandemic, I expressed concern about the mask compliance on tours here on the forum, how difficult it might be for tour directors to enforce unless they were really strong characters. Other forum member expressed they would not want to say anything about it. Others have said that not everyone has consistency worn masks on tours they have been on.
We have entered a new phase of Covid, we have got to get used to wearing masks again, especially if we are going to get tested as we travel from country to country on one tour and at the end of a tour. Of course, the infection is likely going to be mild or asymptomatic, but a positive test is a positive test and you cold be stuck and unable to get home.
I so wonder whether my husband and I contracted the virus on the tour but it had taken it’s course before we were tested after a fourteen day tour.
British, I am not arguing with you at all and I appreciate your willingness to share your experience on a touchy topic.
Every tour I've ever been on has overnight accommodation. If I choose to not meet my obligations in a remote environment, that is on me. Shouldn't I bear the consequences of my behavior? If those consequences are inconvenient or dangerous and expensive for me, that is merely a result my choices.
I've been on one tour (not Tauck) where a fellow traveler was removed from the tour - her crime was argumentative/obnoxious fueled by alcohol. Three days in, she was left at the hotel and the tour continued.
All that said, I do believe in grace, the Tour Director should give a warning, outline consequences, and if a guest refuses to adjust their behavior after that, adios and best wishes.
When we were on the land tour of Switzerland last September our TD was very strict regarding wearing masks on the bus and social distancing. I would be extremely upset if anyone in the group wasn't wearing their mask. When we travel these days we can expect to be tested and unfortunately, take a big risk of contacting COVID. However, I would absolutely hate to be separated from my husband. People who refuse to follow the rules and guidelines should not travel and the TD should take action immediately and not let their bad behavior continue.
Karenna, No, no, I’m not arguing either, and I’m totally with you. I’m just trying to look at it from all ways which stems .from my high school love of the debating society. Mr. B totally looks at it your way!
British, you are the best!
I haven't read the Tauck pledge since it was first published, but it should be formatted so that the very first thing it says in BOLD RED, is that failure to abide by this rules WILL result in removal from the tour, at traveler's expense. Then, actually do it, and report it on the Homepage and Forums. I'm sure, even today, there are suitable candidates.
This doesn't come without controversy- warnings? I didn't know I was violating the rules?" "Why me? He/she/they were doing the same thing?" etc. etc. and in this day and age and litigious environment, last, but not least, "My lawyer will be in contact with . . ."
Noreen, you're lucky ourTD on the same tour wasn't and we had 1 couple of women who somehow managed to ignore masking on the bus. Possibly if some of us had complained to the TD she might have done something but who wants to be that person. Making the person who relies on tips for their pay to do the dirty work of schooling these people isn't really a good idea.
I was on the Tauck Jan 11th 2022 Wonderland: Yellowstone in Winter journey. Vaccination (and booster required), masked required indoors and when on transportation, box dinners at Mammoth Hot springs (dinning room closed at lunch and dinner) and dinner by reservations at other hotels with limited social distancing seating available. On this tour of 20 guests everyone maintained the standard and the tour director and drivers reminded everyone of the requirement daily. Failure to comply was removal from the National Park and the tour.
Every guest had their covid-19 vaccination card with them and showed it to the tour director at the beginning go the tour. Nobody complained or made negative comments of the restrictions and signing the pledge, etc.
At the end of the journey everyone was pleased with the tour and expressed their appreciation of the service providers and our tour direction Zack Pennington. An excellent tour director who focused on the details and made everyone feel comfortable and informed prior to their departure from home and throughout the tour.
Yes, relying on tips is a huge factor which under normal circumstances some might say encourages excellent work, but in Covid times…..no
British:So glad you are back safe.On our tour to Galapagos we also had masking by everyone We also had negative PCR test before we entered Ecuador.Negative test before boarding the ship even though that was antigen rapid test.On our return all tested negative even though my husband had the worst cold.We we’re very anxious waiting for the test results.We were prepared to quarantine if necessary;in Equador we could have stayed at the hotel of our choice.Thank god it was not necessary.We would not have been prepared for leaving one or the other in a foreign country.Hope herd immunity comes one way or another and we can stop all this testing requirements.
I don't think there will ever be herd immunity. It will be like the Flu- you may still get it but it won't be severe. What the CDC, the Gov't, foreign gov'ts, etc. will decide to do about it then, remains to be seen. At some point, the needs of the many will outweigh the needs of a few. Those with compromised immunity will need to take extra care, while those who refuse to get the shot will be left to fend for themselves. Have any of the insurance companies weighed in- i.e. refuse to pay for medical treatment to people who simply refuse to get vaccinated?
AlanS:I don’t think insurance companies in US can ever decide not to cover the unvaccinated.
Definitely not in this litigious environment, however it is amazing what claims they have refused to pay over the years.
Ooh, I think they will refuse to pay the unvaccinated
British, I’m curious about one thing. In your original post you said the 3 that tested positive had to isolate and their spouse, sister etc. had to leave for home with all of you. Didn’t they have a choice as to whether they could pay for their own room and remain there until their partner tested negative?
No, not as I understand it. They wanted them out before they tested positive too and delayed being free from quarantined for even longer. I’ve corresponded with two of the three and they are doing aol so far. the staff have been very kind, Somme errands for them and kept the evening cocktails suppled.
Alan S should insurance companies refuse to pay for people who have lung cancer because they smoke or treat diabetics because they are overweight. A slippery slope
Rileyboy - once you are a customer then I think insurance companies are obligated to pay. I just went through the interview process associated with switching insurance. There are numerous reasons they can deny you coverage. As, an example improper weight/height numbers are reason for them denying to take you on as a customer. Another example might be that insurers would likely deny you coverage, at least at any reasonable price, if when applying you told them you smoked two packs of cigarettes a day. If however based on the interview/health check process they agreed to cover you, then you developed a condition I think they would be obligated to pay.
Smiling Sam
You are right, but once you get the policy, read it. Many policies exclude things in the fine print. This goes for auto, home, life, etc. too.
Remember, the insurance companies has a lot of lawyers and staff to protect themselves.
Insurance companies are in business to collect premiums; not pay claims.
On a positive note, many states have a treble damages law in response to insurance company shenanigans.