I've sent several inquiries to Tauck asking whether there have been any outbreaks/incidences of COVID on their tours since the Sept. 2021 policy of vaxx-only tours. Does anyone happen to know the answer?
I had an email from another tour company this week publishing the number of travelers in total they have had and the number who tested positive while on tour. They also explained how they dealt with it. Now that such a large percentage of the population are testing positive, it might be prudent for Tauck to publish some information on this, so we know what we might be in for.
On my recent non Tauck tour, we were supposed to wear masks by the law of the country and the policy of the company on the buses. Some people did not comply. Despite being reminded by the YD and other individuals on the tour. If they caught Covid on the bus, it was entirely on them.
In restaurants it was more difficult. We were designated one-or two tables. Most people took their masks off as soon as they sat down. We mostly tried to keep them on until the food came. For the one or two breakfasts we had the option to sit on our own, so we did, but still people came up and asked to join us, we said no, we want to be on our own. In fact, breakfast is the one time I like to just sit, eat, relax and be sure I have time to get back to the room to brush my teeth and get back down to the bus in good time. In this incidence, I put the blame mostly on the tour company, they should have ensured social distancing. The country we visited had no requirements to test to enter, on reflection, this made it even more critical.
In foreign countries when it is essential to have a negative Covid test to get back into the US, our cation is extra critical. Here at home on a tour, we now know that mostly, vaccinated people will either show no symptoms, be a little off color or rarely become ill enough to be hospitalized. We ourselves decide on the risks we take. Of course, once a new variant starts to dominate, we will have to be extra extra vigilant. The low vaccination rate pretty much ensures this will happen.
We are taking a domestic Tauck tour in just over one week’s time. I do hope the tour includes compulsory mask wearing on the bus, or in other confined situations. I hope meal arrangements are social distanced ones. If they are not, we will be talking to the tour director and we wil be trying to separate ourselves from others. If they think we are being anti social or unfriendly or weird that’s Ok. We just experienced seeing the reality of people letting their guard down with strangers they have never met, don’t know whether they came on the tour carrying active Covid. We have been careful fro two years now. Don’t want o blow it!
I’ve been hearing from others on our tour, both those who had to quarantine and others who have contacted them. Things seemed to be ok at her beginnings of the quarantine, but now I’ve heard meals were not on time and even missed out being delivered at all. Tow people were due to get home today, one Tom because the tour company booked her flights and they didn’t secure a flight for her today. None of them showed signs of Covid bu the way….their vaccines worked how they should have done, they were not sick
Geib, why exactly do you want the answer to this? Last fall the percentage of positive cases was small. We took 2 tours in Sep and no one on either tour tested positive prior to returning to the US. I don't remember anyone in the forum reporting positive tests. With the highly infectious nature of Omicron no doubt that percentage has gone up and we are seeing forum reports of positive cases.
Having said all that, knowing the number of cases tells you nothing about future tours. Omicron infections are peaking fast and so far no new variables have appeared. Travel for most of the rest of 2022 could return to pre-pandemic "normal" though with likely still the need for vaccines, boosters, testing, masks, etc. Or a whole new variant could disrupt everything.
I can't wait for the "Magic Bullet." Supposedly a vaccine that protects (100%?) against all corona viruses (possibly to include the common cold which itself is a corona virus), is on the horizon as is an anti-viral pill that suppresses most or all ill effects once you are infected. The wonders of modern medicine!
Getting shots for Covid, yellow fever, etc. etc. are no big deal for me and a part of safe travel - always have been, always will be ( in my opinion ). It’s the 72 or even worse 24 hour PCR tests and associated quarantines that are the real risk/detriment to travel.
I just want to get to the point where timed PCR tests and quarantines are a thing of the past. Schedule at your leisure, prior to travel, with long (years or lifetime) effectivity shots are no big deal.
Very few vaccines are100% effective. And a vaccine that someone won’t have certainly isn’t 100 effective.
Anti viral pills only work within a certain short period of time. Most people will likely only suspect they have Covid after that optimum time has passed. ( we don’t all have Donald Trump type access to testing and immediate care…I, not being political here, I’m stating fact. ) Then there is the problem of getting hold of the pills maybe through a doctor when you also need to secure an appointment.
Never any guarantees. You can do all the right things (vax and boost, wear masks, distance from others etc) and sometimes things just don’t work out. We traveled from Chicago and had a 3-day layover in LA before Best of Hawaii. On our first day in LA, my husband tested positive. Canceled the tour, sequestered in two different hotel rooms for 5 days, relied on meal delivery service, and most disappointing of all—we had the layover to visit my son and grandchildren who we never got to see. The good news—my husband got a prescription for the new monoclonal antibodies (pill form), and had an extremely mild case, and we were able to reschedule the tour for January 2023. There’s always a risk, it just depends on whether or not you’re willing to accept the risk and deal with whatever happens.
Smiling Sam
10:52AM
Getting shots for Covid, yellow fever, etc. etc. are no big deal for me and a part of safe travel - always have been, always will be ( in my opinion ). It’s the 72 or even worse 24 hour PCR tests and associated quarantines that are the real risk/detriment to travel.
I just want to get to the point where timed PCR tests and quarantines are a thing of the past. Schedule at your leisure, prior to travel, with long (years or lifetime) effectivity shots are no big deal.
I've been looking for awhile now for a local source for the 72 hr PCR test for our upcoming J&E. I finally found a lab in the next town that could give the tests and appropriate results, but at $300 a pop!! I had a routine Dr appt today but sent a msg to my new doc a few days ago, asking if she knew of any other testing locations. The doc's nurse informed me that their office could administer a rapid PCR test and generate the results as quickly as I needed. However, wink, wink, . . . I (and my wife) would need to essentially game the system, and report having what we thought might be COVID symptoms. Also, there is always a chance that they could run out of tests before we needed them. I think I'll likely go the expensive route.
I've been looking for awhile now for a local source for the 72 hr PCR test for our upcoming J&E. I finally found a lab in the next town that could give the tests and appropriate results, but at $300 a pop!
AlanS check with a local urgent care clinic. I scheduled my initial PCR test appointment was with Passport Health about two months prior to travel. The cost was >$300. They did not accept insurance. I wanted to re-schedule my test time to later in the same day or the next morning and Passport Health told me they would squeeze me in later in the day but wouldn't allow me to to return the next day because they feared I would not get the results in time.
In the meantime, I checked with an urgent care clinic. I made an appointment for the next morning and the entire cost was covered by my insurance. I received my emailed test results in 4 hours and they provided printed copies with physician signature and embossed stamp.
I've done a lot of calling around. Neither FastMed Urgent Care nor Urgent Care Downeast, or any of the other usual suspects (CVS, Walgreens, etc.) and even many labs, big and small, do not give PCR tests in my area (unless prescribed and/or experiencing symptoms). Even if they provide the test, places like Lab Corp, a big nationwide outfit, don't or won't guarantee speedy results- "Not so Urgent Care."
Lab Corp says results in 1 - 2 days. That would not be a problem if we were leaving on a Wednesday, however we fly out on Tuesday, and they don't accept drop-offs on Sunday (you provide your own test.) It would be just a few hours over one day if we dropped off the sample on Monday morning. We just can't take that chance. Not including the test, Lab Corp charges about half what ArcPoint charges.
We'll likely go with ArcPoint Labs. It is a private, nationwide outfit that does a lot of drug, pregnancy, etc. and regular medical testing, including Covid-19 Viral PCR Test with results in 1-2 hours.
For the return to the US test, based on what forum folks have reported and what Tauck said in an email, we have decided to rely on Tauck to arrange for testing that will fit our schedule- we'll likely be touring with a private guide all afternoon on Day 12 (before the Farewell Dinner) and all day on Day 13 - instead of relying on self-administered Abbott BINAXNow, eMed internet-monitored tests.
Tauck's email said, "In regards to your return covid test, per management - all guests that are staying one or more nights, will be given all the information necessary for tests. You will be provided with a place to get tested, at guest expense."
As many in DC would say, "It is only budget dust."
Tauck's email said, "In regards to your return covid test, per management - all guests that are staying one or more nights, will be given all the information necessary for tests. You will be provided with a place to get tested, at guest expense."
For the December tour, the TD arranged for the doctor to return to the hotel during the next two days. The doctor administered the test in the guest hotel room. The cost was ~$130.
It's good to know capitalism is alive and well in other parts of the world, not just the US. Some people are really profiting off the world's misery while others, like tour directors, guides, etc. are living hand to mouth.
Every country has different costs of living and healthcare systems so it isn't surprising that test costs are going to vary widely. Plus we're dealing with different covid tests, guaranteed result times, and method of delivery. A doctor coming to your hotel room is going to cost more than you going to a test center.
We have done three trips in the last eight months … two weeks on “Star Breeze” in the Caribbean, ten days on “Le Bougainville” in the Mediterranean Isles, and an eighteen day trip to Antarctica that included ten nights on “Le Lyrial”.
Each of the trips required at least two tests to ‘pass GO’. We paid for the first tests to get out of the country. Most of the other tests were covered by the ships, except in two cases we had to pay for the tests to return to the U.S. Most of the International ‘hub’ airports I believe have test sites. SFO is actually not a ‘big’ airport, but we got PCR tests there with results in less than an hour for $275 each. Our previous tests at UCSF were free, but they would not guarantee results in less than 72 hours … we got them in eighteen hours, but the airport tests had to be scheduled and paid for in advance. There was no ‘crowd’ waiting so I think we could have gotten them on a walk-up basis if necessary. Anyway, in preparation and during our three trips we have been tested around eighteen times. Most recently aboard Le Lyrial, everyone was vaccinated and tested prior to boarding the ship. After seven nights on the ship, ten guests and ten crew tested positive. To the best of my knowledge none were ‘sick’ with more than very mild symptoms except for possibly one who’s husband tested positive before the trip. The Captain of the ship was pleased with this outcome, and everyone seemed to have a very good time. A couple where one had tested positive were smiling and waving goodbye from their balcony when the rest of us left the ship. During the cruise at one meeting in the theater our TD congratulated everyone for ‘getting there’, and said, you are the people who are living life. As I’ve said before, we are not young enough to postpone living.
On our two trips in 2021 no one tested positive, but omicron appears to be a bit different … and it seems pretty mild. Hopefully, it will be a gift to return to normal … or near normal. I think we were on a ‘we are going to go for it cruise’, and it worked out fine. They didn’t lock down the ship because of a few positives, we just pressed on with the program.
Sealord: The Tauck Travel Updates page was updated yesterday and the Feb 8 Antarctica trip has been cancelled. I copied the announcement below.
"Antarctica: Due to continued uncertainty caused by changing quarantine restrictions by Argentina and our desire to deliver the quality experience and peace of mind you expect when traveling with Tauck, we have been forced to cancel the February 8, 2022 departure of Antarctica. We plan to operate all departures later in the year."
That is too bad and so sad. It is a great trip. I don’t know what ‘travel restrictions’ have changed as we just returned two days ago without any difficulty. I’m sure having to pay the costs of quarantining people are significant even if it is a relatively small number. Argentina requires that the insurance cover the costs of quarantine for the ‘positive’ person and the partner. That could get expensive. Ponant was using L’Austral as a quarantine site. Those of us on the January 19 trip were very lucky. I was actually not sure the trip would really happen until we got to Ushuaia.
We are on a streak. I took a bad fall in October and broke my neck … cracked the C-4 vertebra … a stable crack that did not ever require a neck brace. George Patton cracked the C-3 and it killed him. Yes, we feel very lucky to have been able to make this fantastic expedition.
Comments
Look at a post from wem3212 or Damos from the Antarctica thread.
I had an email from another tour company this week publishing the number of travelers in total they have had and the number who tested positive while on tour. They also explained how they dealt with it. Now that such a large percentage of the population are testing positive, it might be prudent for Tauck to publish some information on this, so we know what we might be in for.
On my recent non Tauck tour, we were supposed to wear masks by the law of the country and the policy of the company on the buses. Some people did not comply. Despite being reminded by the YD and other individuals on the tour. If they caught Covid on the bus, it was entirely on them.
In restaurants it was more difficult. We were designated one-or two tables. Most people took their masks off as soon as they sat down. We mostly tried to keep them on until the food came. For the one or two breakfasts we had the option to sit on our own, so we did, but still people came up and asked to join us, we said no, we want to be on our own. In fact, breakfast is the one time I like to just sit, eat, relax and be sure I have time to get back to the room to brush my teeth and get back down to the bus in good time. In this incidence, I put the blame mostly on the tour company, they should have ensured social distancing. The country we visited had no requirements to test to enter, on reflection, this made it even more critical.
In foreign countries when it is essential to have a negative Covid test to get back into the US, our cation is extra critical. Here at home on a tour, we now know that mostly, vaccinated people will either show no symptoms, be a little off color or rarely become ill enough to be hospitalized. We ourselves decide on the risks we take. Of course, once a new variant starts to dominate, we will have to be extra extra vigilant. The low vaccination rate pretty much ensures this will happen.
We are taking a domestic Tauck tour in just over one week’s time. I do hope the tour includes compulsory mask wearing on the bus, or in other confined situations. I hope meal arrangements are social distanced ones. If they are not, we will be talking to the tour director and we wil be trying to separate ourselves from others. If they think we are being anti social or unfriendly or weird that’s Ok. We just experienced seeing the reality of people letting their guard down with strangers they have never met, don’t know whether they came on the tour carrying active Covid. We have been careful fro two years now. Don’t want o blow it!
I’ve been hearing from others on our tour, both those who had to quarantine and others who have contacted them. Things seemed to be ok at her beginnings of the quarantine, but now I’ve heard meals were not on time and even missed out being delivered at all. Tow people were due to get home today, one Tom because the tour company booked her flights and they didn’t secure a flight for her today. None of them showed signs of Covid bu the way….their vaccines worked how they should have done, they were not sick
Geib, why exactly do you want the answer to this? Last fall the percentage of positive cases was small. We took 2 tours in Sep and no one on either tour tested positive prior to returning to the US. I don't remember anyone in the forum reporting positive tests. With the highly infectious nature of Omicron no doubt that percentage has gone up and we are seeing forum reports of positive cases.
Having said all that, knowing the number of cases tells you nothing about future tours. Omicron infections are peaking fast and so far no new variables have appeared. Travel for most of the rest of 2022 could return to pre-pandemic "normal" though with likely still the need for vaccines, boosters, testing, masks, etc. Or a whole new variant could disrupt everything.
Again, why would knowing this be important?
I can't wait for the "Magic Bullet." Supposedly a vaccine that protects (100%?) against all corona viruses (possibly to include the common cold which itself is a corona virus), is on the horizon as is an anti-viral pill that suppresses most or all ill effects once you are infected. The wonders of modern medicine!
Getting shots for Covid, yellow fever, etc. etc. are no big deal for me and a part of safe travel - always have been, always will be ( in my opinion ). It’s the 72 or even worse 24 hour PCR tests and associated quarantines that are the real risk/detriment to travel.
I just want to get to the point where timed PCR tests and quarantines are a thing of the past. Schedule at your leisure, prior to travel, with long (years or lifetime) effectivity shots are no big deal.
Very few vaccines are100% effective. And a vaccine that someone won’t have certainly isn’t 100 effective.
Anti viral pills only work within a certain short period of time. Most people will likely only suspect they have Covid after that optimum time has passed. ( we don’t all have Donald Trump type access to testing and immediate care…I, not being political here, I’m stating fact. ) Then there is the problem of getting hold of the pills maybe through a doctor when you also need to secure an appointment.
Never any guarantees. You can do all the right things (vax and boost, wear masks, distance from others etc) and sometimes things just don’t work out. We traveled from Chicago and had a 3-day layover in LA before Best of Hawaii. On our first day in LA, my husband tested positive. Canceled the tour, sequestered in two different hotel rooms for 5 days, relied on meal delivery service, and most disappointing of all—we had the layover to visit my son and grandchildren who we never got to see. The good news—my husband got a prescription for the new monoclonal antibodies (pill form), and had an extremely mild case, and we were able to reschedule the tour for January 2023. There’s always a risk, it just depends on whether or not you’re willing to accept the risk and deal with whatever happens.
I've been looking for awhile now for a local source for the 72 hr PCR test for our upcoming J&E. I finally found a lab in the next town that could give the tests and appropriate results, but at $300 a pop!! I had a routine Dr appt today but sent a msg to my new doc a few days ago, asking if she knew of any other testing locations. The doc's nurse informed me that their office could administer a rapid PCR test and generate the results as quickly as I needed. However, wink, wink, . . . I (and my wife) would need to essentially game the system, and report having what we thought might be COVID symptoms. Also, there is always a chance that they could run out of tests before we needed them. I think I'll likely go the expensive route.
Alan - Since one of the manifestations of Covid is being asymptomatic, that could be your symptom
How about mental deficiency- crazy enough to consider international travel?!?!?!?
AlanS check with a local urgent care clinic. I scheduled my initial PCR test appointment was with Passport Health about two months prior to travel. The cost was >$300. They did not accept insurance. I wanted to re-schedule my test time to later in the same day or the next morning and Passport Health told me they would squeeze me in later in the day but wouldn't allow me to to return the next day because they feared I would not get the results in time.
In the meantime, I checked with an urgent care clinic. I made an appointment for the next morning and the entire cost was covered by my insurance. I received my emailed test results in 4 hours and they provided printed copies with physician signature and embossed stamp.
I've done a lot of calling around. Neither FastMed Urgent Care nor Urgent Care Downeast, or any of the other usual suspects (CVS, Walgreens, etc.) and even many labs, big and small, do not give PCR tests in my area (unless prescribed and/or experiencing symptoms). Even if they provide the test, places like Lab Corp, a big nationwide outfit, don't or won't guarantee speedy results- "Not so Urgent Care."
Lab Corp says results in 1 - 2 days. That would not be a problem if we were leaving on a Wednesday, however we fly out on Tuesday, and they don't accept drop-offs on Sunday (you provide your own test.) It would be just a few hours over one day if we dropped off the sample on Monday morning. We just can't take that chance. Not including the test, Lab Corp charges about half what ArcPoint charges.
We'll likely go with ArcPoint Labs. It is a private, nationwide outfit that does a lot of drug, pregnancy, etc. and regular medical testing, including Covid-19 Viral PCR Test with results in 1-2 hours.
For the return to the US test, based on what forum folks have reported and what Tauck said in an email, we have decided to rely on Tauck to arrange for testing that will fit our schedule- we'll likely be touring with a private guide all afternoon on Day 12 (before the Farewell Dinner) and all day on Day 13 - instead of relying on self-administered Abbott BINAXNow, eMed internet-monitored tests.
Tauck's email said, "In regards to your return covid test, per management - all guests that are staying one or more nights, will be given all the information necessary for tests. You will be provided with a place to get tested, at guest expense."
As many in DC would say, "It is only budget dust."
For the December tour, the TD arranged for the doctor to return to the hotel during the next two days. The doctor administered the test in the guest hotel room. The cost was ~$130.
It's good to know capitalism is alive and well in other parts of the world, not just the US. Some people are really profiting off the world's misery while others, like tour directors, guides, etc. are living hand to mouth.
Every country has different costs of living and healthcare systems so it isn't surprising that test costs are going to vary widely. Plus we're dealing with different covid tests, guaranteed result times, and method of delivery. A doctor coming to your hotel room is going to cost more than you going to a test center.
We have done three trips in the last eight months … two weeks on “Star Breeze” in the Caribbean, ten days on “Le Bougainville” in the Mediterranean Isles, and an eighteen day trip to Antarctica that included ten nights on “Le Lyrial”.
Each of the trips required at least two tests to ‘pass GO’. We paid for the first tests to get out of the country. Most of the other tests were covered by the ships, except in two cases we had to pay for the tests to return to the U.S. Most of the International ‘hub’ airports I believe have test sites. SFO is actually not a ‘big’ airport, but we got PCR tests there with results in less than an hour for $275 each. Our previous tests at UCSF were free, but they would not guarantee results in less than 72 hours … we got them in eighteen hours, but the airport tests had to be scheduled and paid for in advance. There was no ‘crowd’ waiting so I think we could have gotten them on a walk-up basis if necessary. Anyway, in preparation and during our three trips we have been tested around eighteen times. Most recently aboard Le Lyrial, everyone was vaccinated and tested prior to boarding the ship. After seven nights on the ship, ten guests and ten crew tested positive. To the best of my knowledge none were ‘sick’ with more than very mild symptoms except for possibly one who’s husband tested positive before the trip. The Captain of the ship was pleased with this outcome, and everyone seemed to have a very good time. A couple where one had tested positive were smiling and waving goodbye from their balcony when the rest of us left the ship. During the cruise at one meeting in the theater our TD congratulated everyone for ‘getting there’, and said, you are the people who are living life. As I’ve said before, we are not young enough to postpone living.
On our two trips in 2021 no one tested positive, but omicron appears to be a bit different … and it seems pretty mild. Hopefully, it will be a gift to return to normal … or near normal. I think we were on a ‘we are going to go for it cruise’, and it worked out fine. They didn’t lock down the ship because of a few positives, we just pressed on with the program.
Sealord: The Tauck Travel Updates page was updated yesterday and the Feb 8 Antarctica trip has been cancelled. I copied the announcement below.
"Antarctica: Due to continued uncertainty caused by changing quarantine restrictions by Argentina and our desire to deliver the quality experience and peace of mind you expect when traveling with Tauck, we have been forced to cancel the February 8, 2022 departure of Antarctica. We plan to operate all departures later in the year."
That is too bad and so sad. It is a great trip. I don’t know what ‘travel restrictions’ have changed as we just returned two days ago without any difficulty. I’m sure having to pay the costs of quarantining people are significant even if it is a relatively small number. Argentina requires that the insurance cover the costs of quarantine for the ‘positive’ person and the partner. That could get expensive. Ponant was using L’Austral as a quarantine site. Those of us on the January 19 trip were very lucky. I was actually not sure the trip would really happen until we got to Ushuaia.
Sealord....you must be living right. You were very lucky. I'm so glad your tour went on without a hitch!
We are on a streak. I took a bad fall in October and broke my neck … cracked the C-4 vertebra … a stable crack that did not ever require a neck brace. George Patton cracked the C-3 and it killed him. Yes, we feel very lucky to have been able to make this fantastic expedition.