Most Tour companies - Tauck, Rick Steves, etc have canceled all tours for 2022 going to Russia, Baltic Sea, etc. Not sure if/when tour companies will be going to that part of the world again. Rick Steves put out a very well written letter as to why he chose to cancel all tours to that area for the remainder of 2022. Sorry your trip is canceled, but at least there are MANY other great places to visit as travel opens back up to us.
rick54971
7:30AM in St. Petersburg & the Baltic Sea
We are booked for departure on June 24, 2022. Are we going? Cancelled?
Unfortunately, British and Terrilynn are correct. FYI, this kind of info can be found by clicking on the "Latest Travel Updates . . ." banner at the top of the Tauck homepage and drill down to "View Travel Updates" where the latest tour info is listed and sorted by region:
Before you call Tauck to discuss a refund, you might want to see if there are any other tours that interest you and if there is availability. Then when you call you can easily transfer your Baltic reservation/payments to a new tour. If you took the Tauck insurance and decide get a refund, you should get all fees back, including air fare, even if you didn't book flights through Tauck.
Alan S. You mentioned “ If you took the Tauck insurance and decide get a refund, you should get all fees back, including air fare, even if you didn't book flights through Tauck.”
I didn’t know that Tauck would issue airfare refunds when the air reservation wasn’t made through Tauck. After all this time, I didn’t know that. Is that documented anywhere? Thank you very much.
The reason the airfare is covered is that Tauck isn't the insurer. It's actually a different company. Likely the reason that if Tauck cancels the trip you don't get the insurance money back, just a credit.
Unless something has changed in the fine print or there is an exclusion for undeclared war or hostilities, the insurance pays for the airfare. When we had to cancel a trip at the last minute for a covered situation, we got every cent back, including airfare for self-booked flights. The same applies if Tauck cancels. Unless you roll it over to a new trip, Tauck refunds the trip fees literally within days, but the airfare refund is handled by the insurer, in our case it was Aon, and you must file a claim. I don't have a link so you will need to read the policy which is available somewhere on the website or e-green book(?).
According to our travel agent the Baltic cruise is still on but without the St. Petersburg stop. Tauck is looking to add other stops instead. Will have an answer by March 30
Suzq64, The information from your travel agent is consistent with Tauck's latest Travel Updates Page. This is the information posted on Tauck's site as of today re. Russia:
"Russia: Tauck still plans to operate our 2022 St. Petersburg and the Baltic Sea cruises. However, due to the current Russia-Ukraine crisis, we will be replacing our visit to St. Petersburg with different Baltic Sea ports of call. All departures of our Russian Glories, Baltic Treasures tour have been cancelled. Please do not contact Tauck for updates, we are in the process of contacting all booked guests and we will provide a revised itinerary for our Baltic Sea cruise on or before March 31, 2022."
suzq64. It's so unfortunate about what's happening because of Russia. While I would have enjoyed the Russian Glories Baltic Treasures tour without visiting Moscow, St. Petersburg was a highlight for me and would have been a deal breaker. I would have cancelled if I was told the tour was skipping St. Petersburg. Just my personal preference.
Has Tauck indicated what other baltic state(s) will substitute for St. Petersburg? I took the land tour and there would not have been many alternatives, especially considering proximity and mode of transportation. I understand you're taking the cruise, so there may be more flexibility and ports of call.
We have done the Baltic both with and without St. Petersburg. We actually did the second trip primarily to go to St. Petersburg with Tauck/Ponant. We did the previous trip on Wind Surf with our companions who could not go to Russia due to his security clearance. We enjoyed both trips a lot, but we did really enjoy St. Petersburg and the very friendly Russian ‘people’. Stockholm, Oslo, Helsinki, Tallinn, Copenhagen were all worth the trip. Many of us are not young enough to wait for St. Petersburg to return as an option. It would be like waiting to go to Berlin in 1940.
These are OT, off-topic, but I am now even more grateful that by chance I caught a wonderful traveling show of the Hermitage's Matisse masterpieces some years back while in Copenhagen. Also heard Ukrainians are working to save their art treasures by moving them, covering stained glass, etc. The potential destruction of their culture and history is yet another sad aspect of the terrible situation.
PureLuxury I agree that without St Petersburg it won’t be quite the same; however, this is third time trying for this trip and we aren’t getting any younger 😔. Our flights are booked so we are going to wait and see what Tauck decides. This is not a big deal really compared to what the people of Ukraine are experiencing. My heart goes out to them.
We loved St. Petersburg and had a wonderful time there. The people were very friendly and helpful and the food was amazingly good. I hope this war ends soon.
Cathy’s tour is not with Tauck so please do not get confused everyone.
I must admit, the land tour we have yet to do, St Petersburg is why we would do it. Of course it may never open up again in our traveling lifetime now.
Any politician who causes all of the McDonalds, KFCs, and Starbucks to close in the country is probably in serious trouble. That being said, I don’t expect to see U.S. tourism in Russia for a very long time.
We did a Baltic cruise with Silversea and St Petersburg was a highlight. We were docked for 2 days. Visited the Hermitage Museum, took a hydrofoil ride to the Peterhof Palace and went into town for an evening performance of Swan Lake ballet
I did Tauck’s Russian Glories in 2015 / we visited Moscow and St. Petersburg in addition to Tallinn, Vilnius, Helsinki and Riga. This was my first Tauck tour - I picked it because of Moscow which always fascinated me and it did not disappoint. St. Petersburg seemed more European to me with fantastic museums and sites. Moscow was just so non- European. I am so happy I ticked this off my bucket list because I don’t know what the future holds. I have had China on my radar for a number of years; I’ve had to cancel for a variety of reasons. I am probably unrealistic to think 2023 will be the year … hope springs eternal!!
It seems that there are going to continue to be places we cannot travel for both Covid reasons and war reasons for the foreseeable future.
This morning. I read that Vietnam has delayed any opening dates, whereas New Zealand is opening up in May. Also, we had an email from Tauck this morning telling us about all the upcoming river cruise dates that are available. Covid cases are spiking in Europe again and this morning our son called to say our daughter in law has tested positive and he is starting to maybe have symptoms, they were in Disney until exactly six days ago. Fortunately for us, we have not seen them, we were at a potential superspreader ourselves this past weekend.
Neighbors just returned from a Caribbean island where they got a rapid test for return to the US, they were negative, but at the airport, they insisted they take PCR tests which delayed their return for 24 hours.
All this has not helped the cause of me trying to persuade my hubby to book more tours, he just does not want to be stuck abroad. I must admit, life has gotten very busy at present and trying to schedule everything is difficult, an unplanned stay abroad would not help. So meanwhile, I looks forward to hearing about other peoples’ travels!
Tilt. A PCR test is ‘not’ required to return to U.S. There must be more to the story if they did not accept their ‘rapid’ test … time, type or test, something. We have returned to U.S. from Europe, the Caribbean, and South America, and we never got a PCR test for return, just a rapid test.
Comments
Tauck has already published it has cancelled all the tours.
Most Tour companies - Tauck, Rick Steves, etc have canceled all tours for 2022 going to Russia, Baltic Sea, etc. Not sure if/when tour companies will be going to that part of the world again. Rick Steves put out a very well written letter as to why he chose to cancel all tours to that area for the remainder of 2022. Sorry your trip is canceled, but at least there are MANY other great places to visit as travel opens back up to us.
Unfortunately, British and Terrilynn are correct. FYI, this kind of info can be found by clicking on the "Latest Travel Updates . . ." banner at the top of the Tauck homepage and drill down to "View Travel Updates" where the latest tour info is listed and sorted by region:
Before you call Tauck to discuss a refund, you might want to see if there are any other tours that interest you and if there is availability. Then when you call you can easily transfer your Baltic reservation/payments to a new tour. If you took the Tauck insurance and decide get a refund, you should get all fees back, including air fare, even if you didn't book flights through Tauck.
Alan S. You mentioned “ If you took the Tauck insurance and decide get a refund, you should get all fees back, including air fare, even if you didn't book flights through Tauck.”
I didn’t know that Tauck would issue airfare refunds when the air reservation wasn’t made through Tauck. After all this time, I didn’t know that. Is that documented anywhere? Thank you very much.
The reason the airfare is covered is that Tauck isn't the insurer. It's actually a different company. Likely the reason that if Tauck cancels the trip you don't get the insurance money back, just a credit.
Unless something has changed in the fine print or there is an exclusion for undeclared war or hostilities, the insurance pays for the airfare. When we had to cancel a trip at the last minute for a covered situation, we got every cent back, including airfare for self-booked flights. The same applies if Tauck cancels. Unless you roll it over to a new trip, Tauck refunds the trip fees literally within days, but the airfare refund is handled by the insurer, in our case it was Aon, and you must file a claim. I don't have a link so you will need to read the policy which is available somewhere on the website or e-green book(?).
THANK YOU very much. This isn’t always clearly explained.
According to our travel agent the Baltic cruise is still on but without the St. Petersburg stop. Tauck is looking to add other stops instead. Will have an answer by March 30
Suzq64, The information from your travel agent is consistent with Tauck's latest Travel Updates Page. This is the information posted on Tauck's site as of today re. Russia:
"Russia: Tauck still plans to operate our 2022 St. Petersburg and the Baltic Sea cruises. However, due to the current Russia-Ukraine crisis, we will be replacing our visit to St. Petersburg with different Baltic Sea ports of call. All departures of our Russian Glories, Baltic Treasures tour have been cancelled. Please do not contact Tauck for updates, we are in the process of contacting all booked guests and we will provide a revised itinerary for our Baltic Sea cruise on or before March 31, 2022."
suzq64. It's so unfortunate about what's happening because of Russia. While I would have enjoyed the Russian Glories Baltic Treasures tour without visiting Moscow, St. Petersburg was a highlight for me and would have been a deal breaker. I would have cancelled if I was told the tour was skipping St. Petersburg. Just my personal preference.
Has Tauck indicated what other baltic state(s) will substitute for St. Petersburg? I took the land tour and there would not have been many alternatives, especially considering proximity and mode of transportation. I understand you're taking the cruise, so there may be more flexibility and ports of call.
Good Luck!
We have done the Baltic both with and without St. Petersburg. We actually did the second trip primarily to go to St. Petersburg with Tauck/Ponant. We did the previous trip on Wind Surf with our companions who could not go to Russia due to his security clearance. We enjoyed both trips a lot, but we did really enjoy St. Petersburg and the very friendly Russian ‘people’. Stockholm, Oslo, Helsinki, Tallinn, Copenhagen were all worth the trip. Many of us are not young enough to wait for St. Petersburg to return as an option. It would be like waiting to go to Berlin in 1940.
These are OT, off-topic, but I am now even more grateful that by chance I caught a wonderful traveling show of the Hermitage's Matisse masterpieces some years back while in Copenhagen. Also heard Ukrainians are working to save their art treasures by moving them, covering stained glass, etc. The potential destruction of their culture and history is yet another sad aspect of the terrible situation.
PureLuxury I agree that without St Petersburg it won’t be quite the same; however, this is third time trying for this trip and we aren’t getting any younger 😔. Our flights are booked so we are going to wait and see what Tauck decides. This is not a big deal really compared to what the people of Ukraine are experiencing. My heart goes out to them.
We loved St. Petersburg and had a wonderful time there. The people were very friendly and helpful and the food was amazingly good. I hope this war ends soon.
Hi Cathy, so sorry to read about the change in your Baltic cruise. Did Tauck give you the option to cancel your tour because of this change?
Cathy’s tour is not with Tauck so please do not get confused everyone.
I must admit, the land tour we have yet to do, St Petersburg is why we would do it. Of course it may never open up again in our traveling lifetime now.
Thanks British. I assumed in error.
Any politician who causes all of the McDonalds, KFCs, and Starbucks to close in the country is probably in serious trouble. That being said, I don’t expect to see U.S. tourism in Russia for a very long time.
We did a Baltic cruise with Silversea and St Petersburg was a highlight. We were docked for 2 days. Visited the Hermitage Museum, took a hydrofoil ride to the Peterhof Palace and went into town for an evening performance of Swan Lake ballet
I did Tauck’s Russian Glories in 2015 / we visited Moscow and St. Petersburg in addition to Tallinn, Vilnius, Helsinki and Riga. This was my first Tauck tour - I picked it because of Moscow which always fascinated me and it did not disappoint. St. Petersburg seemed more European to me with fantastic museums and sites. Moscow was just so non- European. I am so happy I ticked this off my bucket list because I don’t know what the future holds. I have had China on my radar for a number of years; I’ve had to cancel for a variety of reasons. I am probably unrealistic to think 2023 will be the year … hope springs eternal!!
It seems that there are going to continue to be places we cannot travel for both Covid reasons and war reasons for the foreseeable future.
This morning. I read that Vietnam has delayed any opening dates, whereas New Zealand is opening up in May. Also, we had an email from Tauck this morning telling us about all the upcoming river cruise dates that are available. Covid cases are spiking in Europe again and this morning our son called to say our daughter in law has tested positive and he is starting to maybe have symptoms, they were in Disney until exactly six days ago. Fortunately for us, we have not seen them, we were at a potential superspreader ourselves this past weekend.
Neighbors just returned from a Caribbean island where they got a rapid test for return to the US, they were negative, but at the airport, they insisted they take PCR tests which delayed their return for 24 hours.
All this has not helped the cause of me trying to persuade my hubby to book more tours, he just does not want to be stuck abroad. I must admit, life has gotten very busy at present and trying to schedule everything is difficult, an unplanned stay abroad would not help. So meanwhile, I looks forward to hearing about other peoples’ travels!
Tilt. A PCR test is ‘not’ required to return to U.S. There must be more to the story if they did not accept their ‘rapid’ test … time, type or test, something. We have returned to U.S. from Europe, the Caribbean, and South America, and we never got a PCR test for return, just a rapid test.