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<60 days out from my trip
Allow me a couple of questions.
1) Is it typical to receive communication(s) from the Tour Director prior to arriving for the tour?
2) Should I pre-book spa services at lodges/hotels before arrival or are services generally available “last minute”
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Depends on the tour director. In my experience with Tauck, I have received prior communication about one third of the time. Best to make spa appointments ahead of time. Whenever I have waited until arrival, I've been disappointed to find nothing available.
It depends on the TD whether you receive info or not.
The only trouble with booking anything ahead is that timing is unpredictable especially on safaris. We booked a spa treatment once while in Tanzania and the morning safari suddenly was a lot longer than expected because we saw something exciting, I forget what it was, so we arrived back very late and we had to run for our massages
. Depends on the group whether services will book up. Sometimes everyone is into that sort of thing and other times you might be the only ones.
I think it's gotten more common in recent years to hear from the TD pretour but still rare.
Several of the TDs on tours that I was on set up a Whatsapp group text. That's good and bad, but maybe more good than bad.
I agree with goddess. The spas understand when game drives run long and are usually very accommodating. A massage after a game drive is heavenly.
Im not sure how the late spa arrival would work if it’s one appointment after another. I certainly would expect my treatments to start on time.
I have been very fortunate to travel in small groups so a crowded, completely booked spa was never an issue. I understand this may not be the case in large groups