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Just off the MS Grace in Basel…
Just off the MS Grace in Basel after a 2 week trip from Amsterdam. It was a great trip and we enjoyed it but am looking at the number of people who tested positive for Covid getting on a bus to take them to their quarantine hotel and there were 20 people on it. Plus 7 had to get off early in the cruise. That’s about 25% of the population on board and that strikes me as high. Granted some of these people who boarded the bus did not have Covid but were traveling companions of those affected.
One would think that if Tauck were serious about Covid that they would test at least one week into the cruise to weed out cases rather than wait until the end. Just rather poor on Tauck…
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I disagree with you alidor. If people were not wearing masks and social distancing, then numbers would be high, this pandemic is current but the majority of intelligent people just don’t understand that. And even worse, they don’t care in a foreign country about being quarantined. I guess so many peoples think they have had Covid now that they are immune but they are not. If I was feeling well and doing all those things on a tour, then I would not be a threat to anyone. I don’t want to be tested every five minutes, let me be the judge of that. It is so stressful.
When you say that traveling companions were with them, would they be put in different rooms?
Quite frankly, as the holiday season ramps up, I don’t know where they are going to accommodate all these people if hotels are already full. Twenty people, multiply that by every boat on the river, that’s a lot of unexpected hotel guests.
Regular testing in reality will only identify infected people earlier but not necessarily detect all cases. After seeing both alidor30's report and Ken from Vegas' quick update from Ireland, it appears things are getting worse. This is not good!! If things continue like this or get worse I can see a severe impact on tours- people will re-examine their plans. I can also see another increase in the trip insurance.
On the Tauck Treasures of Spain & Portugal tour in August, we had to test to get boarding passes to fly/enter Portugal. After two days in Lisbon the Wind Surf's on-board doctor administered a PCR and an antigen test to each of us. The antigen was to allow us on board and the PCR was to allow us into Gibraltar a couple days later. Then of course the antigen in Barcelona to enter the USA. Not pleasant but we were aware of the rules/restrictions/hoops to jump through.
Yes, I think people who recently booked travel are well aware of Covid dangers now and are less likely to cancel. I’m more worried about canceled flights right now.
I would like to see Tauck bring back the mask requirement (I've let them know that), at least on buses and in crowded indoor spaces. If nothing else, test it out and see whether it makes a difference. Btw Moderna is set to issue a tweaked booster "late summer" that's looking good against Omicron.
I think it is eyeopening to hear the high numbers and percentages that test positive during foreign travel. It helps to make an informed decision for future travel. I returned from a tour of France with another company two weeks ago. 35 people began the tour and 19 were at the farewell dinner. There were 11 positive COVID tourists. That was a very high percentage. Seven were positive on day 10 and the remaining 4 tourist tested positive 3 days later as we tested to return to the US. These posts are VERy helpful to assess the risk/reward when traveling.
I’m fed up of talking about the value of masks. I’m still not happy that Tauck stopped their necessity to wear them. Even when they made it a rule, customers did not wear them and on my only tour with Tauck since the Pandemic began….remember it is ongoing…the very experienced TD did not enforce the rule. Fortunately for everyone, it was a US tour, so no beginning or end testing required. Every time someone chooses not to wear a mask, it reduces the efficacy of others who are wearing masks. The Tour Directors wear masks don’t they?
I still don’t understanding why someone on a vacation in a foreign country with unknown Covid rules and treatment and the type of accommodation they may have to experienced before being allowed back in the US would risk themselves. You can wear masks throughout the tour, except when eating and even then, I think I might have the guts to ask to eat separately.
I mean, you just don’t know who you are traveling with. I was in a superspreader just a few weeks ago, and now I count out at least 20 out of around 60 contracted Covid, all fully vaccinated but we were not able to wear masks because we were singing. Would you like to be starting a tour with someone who had been doing this just a couple of days before, before I tested possible. No I’ve still not had Covid, a miracle or extra cautious every other time.
As I said in my comments about my last tour, out of a group of 62 only 5 people (including myself) wore masks consistently. My tour was not as worse as alidor's as only 4 people tested positive at the end but then 2 other people tested as soon as they got home. I wish Tauck would re-instate mask mandate.
FYI -- We did not need a test to enter Gibraltar two weeks ago.
As I said, in another thread, we had 5 out of 32 Tauck travelers (and ??? out of 71 non-Tauck travelers) test positive on Wind Star. i don't know how many non-Tauck passengers tested positive, but there were a few. Our two good friends who we ate with regularly and took excursions with, tested positive at the end. Everyone wore masks on the bus and indoors, except when dining. Few wore masks outdoors unless we were in a crowd at someplace like the Acropolis. We tested negative.
I figure I must have high antibodies and good immunity due to contracting COVID a few days after our last tour two months ago, and my wife, well, she must just be highly resistant. So . . . . If I can find availability and convince her to take another tour, right now would be the ideal and safest time for us to travel!
I’ve been lurking on this board for weeks as well as the Rick Steves travel forum. As we approach our first Tauck tour, Paradors of Spain, in September we are getting very close to cancelling. Multiple posts on both boards of tour members getting COVID and being left behind to quarantine or having to quarantine and rebook flights. On the RS tours they test everyone before they set out and require masks on the bus, although there is debate as to how well the guide enforces this. They also post their COVID experience every Friday-very open about this whereas Tauck is silent. On one RS tour they had 12 remaining tour members at the end of 25 who started. They cycled through 5 guides as COVID struck them as well. While most cases were mild some folks did get sick and we worry about needing health care (we are well into our 70’s) in a relatively small city in Northern Spain. Our previous experience in Spain was that far fewer folks speak English as you get away from the big cities. We are fortunate to have traveled throughout Europe many times. Leaning toward a road trip to coastal OR and Washington. At least if we get sick we can be home before the day is out.
Folsomdoc,
I see you have posted this concern once before. You should do what you feel comfortable with. Regarding Spain, virtually everyone speaks English and certainly in the hotels you will be visiting. Tauck also is very transparent about the handling of COVID-19 cases. If you have not purchased airfare through Tauck and/or have not purchased their insurance or your own supplemental policy, perhaps you should consider canceling if you are that concerned about your health, rightfully so. Again, do what feels right for you. Best wishes.
Kfnknfzk, thanks for responding. I’d appreciate being pointed to where Tauck specifically describes what happens if you test positive on tour-who helps with logistics, accessing health care, etc.? As for English in Spain: we’ve traveled extensively through Spain. Only 60% of Spaniards speak English. It’s only recently that English is taught-Franco would not allow it. Once you are away from Barcelona, the coast, it’s catch as catch can. I don’t worry about the hotel staff, I worry about my nurse or doctor!
See "Covid Travel FAQs," > "During Your Travels" > "What happens if I or another guest test positive for Covid while on a Tauck cruise or tour?"
https://www.tauck.com/travel-and-health/travel-requirements#faq
You might also want to read other "Travel Confidently" sections that cover Tauck's Global Response Team, etc., etc. You can always call for answers to specific questions
https://www.tauck.com/travel-and-health/tauck-protocols
Many employees in hotels and other establishments in the hospitality trade you may come in contact with on a Tauck tour will definitely be in the 60% of Spaniards who speak English. In Europe, 91% of students in primary and secondary school study English. Spain is no exception, where students begin their English education in the first grade. These programs started over 25 years ago. Franco died almost 50 years ago!
All I can say is, my dad died in Spain on vacation and he probably would not have if he had been in an English hospital.
This is what we were given at the beginning of our riverboat cruise.
After one of the guests we had been having meals with felt ill and then tested positive, we did a home test as a precaution which was positive. We reported it. The next day was when the cruise portion of our trip ended. After others left via bus, the cruise director called a taxi to take us to the hotel and we were asked to stay in our room until "official" testing was conducted. That was supposed to happen yesterday but didn't. Talked with the hotel concierge and we will get an antigen test today which will be considered an official test, I think British is right - meals are the time we were most vulnerable. We ate with people who consistently wore masks on the bus, but it is no guarantee. In retrospect, I wish we had sought out more socially distanced meal options.
Thank you for posting. Everyone should be responsible.
Wow, yes, thank you for posting. I feel it would be good for Tauck to publish this document on their website.
I guess they have to improve the option for people to eat much more separately at the communal meals. I remember we tried to eat separately on our tour in January and one day, a couple asked to join us and we said, no, they had hardly been wearing masks even when requested by the TD. I guess that could have made us appear weird, rude or unpopular, but we didn’t get Covid when I think it was four out of fourteen did at the end of the tour and maybe some in the middle of the two week tour, they were negative by the end of the tour.
On our first and only tour with Tauck this year, I was surprised the Welcome dinner offered no social distancing, and yet we were in a huge room. Same with the other meals we ate together where we went ot restaurants and Tauck had designated tables. Since we have started to actually go out to eat, which admittedly is not often, the restaurants around where we live have good social distancing and even when we went to NY, there was decent spacing.
My son just messaged me, he has come down with Covid with symptoms this morning. We last saw him over a week ago but we were all outside. So this pandemic continues!
Yup, that is word-for-word right from website at the link in my post above. I believe we got the same thing on Treasures of the Aegean. It was all a blur because we arrived late (literally walked in during the welcome dinner) and the hotel misplaced our Tauck packet. By the time we got it the next day we were heavy into touring so probably didn't read it all that closely, or if we did, it didn't register much, after all, "We were not going to test positive."
One important point, is the third bullet on the third page- "each case is different!"
cvc - you are right, I wish there were more options for social distancing during meals, in my recent cruise I ate meals with the same 3 people however none of them wore masks on the bus or anywhere else (they were not required) I felt very luck to test negative at the end of the cruise.
Thanks, cvc, for replying to Folsomdoc. We recently received the same information within the preliminary documents for an upcoming tour.
Not to belabor the English fluency of the Spaniards, one would have to be very isolated in a small town with an older population before having an issue with communicating. I have spent several extended vacations in Spain and never experienced a language barrier. The Basque and Catalonia regions are quite different, however, but not a topic for this thread.
In the event a traveler requires medical treatment, Tauck will be sure to arrange for the appropriate level of service by English speakers.
I guess things have changed since 1994 when there was no one in the Barcelona hospital who spoke England to explain my dad was dead, until she saw him in the morgue, sorry, it’s still painful for me.
We also just arrived home tonight from the MS Grace Amsterdam to Basel tour. We were tested the night before travel and about 22 of us tested positive. To say we were all stressed would be an understatement. I tested negative the next day, but my husband still tested positive. We were put in a nice hotel with limited instructions about what to do... No Tauck representatives or support other than calling Tauck. We assume that our hotel bill will be covered by insurance but probably not our air fare since it was originally booked by our agent. We paid an additional $1100 per ticket just to get home... and we were not alone in that situation. I believe around 30 people out of 105 tested positive on this trip. I think 8 people quietly disappeared from the riverboat at different times. My husband and I wore masks on the coaches and in tight areas, but masks don't prevent the spread obviously. Ventilation on the riverboat and coaches are something that might me looked into. Upon landing at the airport, it was announced that the CDC had lifted the covid testing requirements for travel. This will certainly eliminate many headaches and stress for travelers and tour companies, not to mention the money that is spent by the tour companies to provide housing the Covid Positive guests. Even though we were put in a nice hotel it did not eliminate the stress in navigating the system and fine print in the insurance. We were told you must have an additional PCR test to show you were covid positive not just the rapid test done on the riverboat. We all felt like we had just been cast aside and not up to Tauck Standards. We have taken 8 trips with Tauck previously.
I have great empathy for those who get covid and must leave, or remain after a trip ends. We become very accustomed to having Tauck take care of every detail. But, in the Tauck documents they make it pretty clear that the show must go on. The TD is not going to stay with any of us in quarantine to take care of the details.. When you ‘miss movement’ for whatever reason we are going to need to take care of ourselves. If we cannot do that, we should probably buy an extra ticket for the valet. We were once stranded in London on our way into a trip, and delayed for three days. We were beyond help from anyone on a telephone. Well, it is a little like calling “Mayday” from an airplane. No one on the ground can solve your problem in the air. We went to an airport hotel bar, and began pounding on the iPads. In an hour or so we had a fine hotel in london, an air reservation to Stockholm three days later, and a limo into the city. Tauck and the insurance paid for everything. And we enjoyed an extra three day holiday in London.
This is the letter we received after testing positive 9 hours before our flight time.
So while it is a great relief to not require testing to get back into the US, we still have to take care while on tour, especially if other countries require testing when you go from one country to another on a tour, which is very common. Also, on the small ship tours and river boats where they require testing to get on the boat or even when someone else tests positive on the trip and they ask that everyone else get tested, we are not out of the woods.
Our latest communications for our upcoming tour clearly states if we test positive we will have to leave the tour.
I guess it will be up to us to find out if we need an official date that our infection started and ended if we find we are in a country that has strict quarantining. Please everyone bear these points in mind.
Visiting a country independently looks like an easier way of escaping Covid navigation right now because as long as you can cope with your symptoms, you could creep onto a flight home and no one will figure out you are positive. Kinda like what happened when Alan thinks he caught Covid on his flight back home from the two ladies.
In response ...We truly did not expect a TD to hold our hand all the way through the process ... when all 20 plus covid positives were directed to the coach, one of the TD's came on the coach to do a body count and to relay, We at Tauck hope you all will remember the good times had on the trip and said goodbye. Many of us had questions ... microphone off she replied to one or two and said the Concierge at the hotel would answer all of our questions. The whole situation was not handled with lack of concern and Tauck Professionalism we had experienced from previous Tauck trips.
Bayard,
It is very unfortunate to have contracted COVID-19 on your tour. I hope you have recovered completely and with no lingering side effects.
Given Tauck's transparency insofar as what to expect, as evidenced in their communications both on their website and in their pre-departure documents, what specifically did you wish for them to do? What did they do wrong? How were they unprofessional?
Tauck needs to have hand sanitizer on all the buses. People are using the railing while getting in and out. Maybe that will help if Tauck won't require masks. I will wear one on my next trip in the spring. Several couples left my last trip and even more got covid when they returned home. We were all doomed sitting on that bus. I had my own sanitizer, but not sure if seats were cleaned every day.
Agree, but don’t you carry your own sanitizer?