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Treasures of the Aegean--Northbound
My husband and I are on the July 27th cruise; this will be our third Tauck tour. Anyone booked for this cruise? We are arriving in Athens one day early.
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I don't think you gave Tauck time to respond before you cancelled. After all, your departure date is about 10 weeks away and they are probably dealing with other customers who have departure dates before yours. Istanbul/Turkey has been unstable for a long long time but you felt secure enough to travel there. I just think it is ridiculous you think that Tauck would risk their reputation, their staff and customers just for profit. They are having to deal with these situations constantly these days and I am sure they have procedures to follow. Maybe others will respond with howTauck deal with their departures before they are condemned for sending people into the lions den when it is probably unjustified.
I'm sure there are a lot of factors that go into their decision-making. Their first priority, however, is always safety of their travelers.
After that there may be a number of different and sometimes competing factors they must consider. For instance- what are the security issues- typically after such an incident, security in the target country will be really stepped up. Will it be enough for Tauck? What about Kusadasi/Ephesus and Bodrum? What about the waters of the Dardanelles? Are there alternatives to flying into, spending three days, and embarking the ship at Istanbul? Can changes be made quickly so travelers will be safe, and still have a typical Tauck experience.
Once a decision is made to cancel, travelers must be notified, refunds arranged, hotel reservations and side trips canceled, etc. I'm sure Tauck is insured for all this, but it can be a big economic impact on the host countries and businesses.
Remember, something like this can happen anywhere in the world, not just Turkey, like say NYC, Boston, Texas, San Bernadino, Orlando . . . .
For the Egypt trip two days before the final payment the trip was still on, two days later not so. So, I guess I am suggesting patience at this point. By the way, Tauck was extremely generous in both instances, especially with the Egypt trip. The offered a stipend, got us booked on another trip, and picked up.our airfare change fees.
So, adopt a wait and see attitude, and it wouldn't hurt to have another trip on the back burner, just in case.
Another incident. Some years ago when we took our second Costa Rica tour with Tauck, (yes we like Costa Rica and going on another different tour next year) we met a nice couple, who emailed us several months later and asked if we were interested in taking the Tauck tour to Egypt with them, we said no, we both have no interest to see Egypt, I think it's because we had mummies and numerous visits to the museum rammed down our throats all the way through school, plus my Dad always reminded me that when he was in Egypt during the war, he was disallusioned by seeing that the pyramids were so near the city and not romantically out in the middle of no-where. That's where he got malaria too and was extremely ill. But anyway, the couple went and there was a major incident, shockingly these attacks are so common, I can't remember the details, but Tauck had to get everyone out and gave the group a very good alternative vacation and the couple were impressed.
Last year we were in Tanzania when there was a terrorist incident, I think that is why we were all asked to carry our valuables with us in the Safari vehicles, just in case we had to high tale it out of the country.
I have said before and say again, we have written our wills, the children know we love to travel, we will continue to be free to travel with some extra cautions, but we won't be beaten by a bunch of terrorists or they win.
In case anyone hasn't read the Tauck insurance policy, here is one section of it (from the "Before You Go") that may be of interest:
"Under Tauck’s all-inclusive Cruise Protection, you can cancel your cruise for any covered reason up to the day before departure and receive a money-back refund (except in Extreme Circumstances*) on the cruise cost, based on your original method of payment. The following conditions apply:
Section I Cancellation Waiver – Provided by Tauck: Should you have to cancel your cruise for any reason, Tauck’s Cancellation Waiver reduces the regular cancellation fees outlined herein, provided we are notified of cancellation before your cruise departs. Certain terms and restrictions apply (see below*).
*Extreme Circumstances: In the event of an act of God, war (whether declared or undeclared), terrorism, accident, natural disaster, outbreak of disease, or other event or circumstance beyond our control that contributes to or results in cancellation rates above our historical cancellation rates in the absence of such event or occurrence, Tauck reserves the right to issue a credit to you in lieu of a money-back refund, applicable to a future Tauck journey."
We did have to cancel another trip about ten days prior to departure due to a medical issue and our insurance covered everything completely...Tauck took our non-refundable deposit and put it onto our "dream account" to be applied to our next trip, which we used a year later.
Again, patience, while very difficult, is needed for those booked on this wonderful trip.
By the way, British, we, too, heard the story of the siege of the Taj Mahal Hotel while on our Portrait of India tour , and especially Rachael's experience. It prompted me to read "The Seige" which was fascinating. I guess our TD's tour had just ended, and he was flying to Newark unaware of what was happening in Mumbai. By the time he landed, saw news accounts, and phoned in, Tauck's big-wigs (don't want to mention a name as my memory is sketchy but think it was the CEO) were answering the phone and working on the situation. Very impressive.
Totally off the original post on this thread, but we have had Rachel as a tour guide on two trips and we are extremely fond of her. I am hoping there is an outside chance she is leading our Botswana tour in September. When we were with her last, she was on a 'Raw' diet and at the time I was reading a book I think called something like Catching Fire, about the importance of eating some cooked food/meat. So I expressed my concerns for her, and just managed to finish the book before the end of the tour, giving it to her on the plane, later she came up to me and said she was going to have a steak. We have had some great laughs with Rachel. She always also seems to get all the drama--- out of all our tours, the one we remember where some of our group were omplaining and obnoxious beyond reason were on her tour and she handled it so well.
Most of you will recall that on June 7th, a smaller attack occurred (right before I left on my trip). People thought I was nuts to go on, but I didn't even consider canceling.
When I arrived, I found out that Tauck had been in an emergency meeting the previous day to decide whether to go on with my trip or not. They did decide to proceed, but re-routed one of the visits on the itinerary due to its proximity to that attack's location. Additionally, our group of only 19 was provided with two very serious contracted security guards the entire time we were touring in Istanbul. The two gentlemen were not rent-a-cops -- they were quite clearly THE REAL DEAL.
So I guess what I'm trying to tell you is that it was already touch and go for Tauck in Istanbul prior to the bombing at the airport. I'm guessing that in the wake of what was clearly a much more serious incident -- one that targeted tourists, whereas the one prior to our trip targeted the police -- there is no way Tauck is going to do this trip anytime soon.
As for the Windstar, there were only 82 passengers on our cruise portion -- the ship was almost half empty. (Great for us -- not so good for them.) So again, given the escalation since my trip, I can't believe they will get even 60 passengers on a trip right now.
It's a terrible shame -- Istanbul is a wonderful city being hurt badly by people who don't even live/belong there. But it is what it is at this point.
"Note: Our cruise partner, Windstar, has made the decision not to operate in Turkey for 2017. All guests currently booked on 2017 Treasures of the Aegean will be contacted as more information becomes available. Please keep an eye on this website for revised cruise sailings itineraries and schedules as details become available."
Note it says "for 2017" which I assume includes the remainder of 2016 too. That is a big chunk of trips! Maybe they will add an island or two and and make it an Athens-to-Athens trip. Though a lot more out of the way, Bodrum and Ephesus are big tourist areas that they may not want to pull into either since the announcement says they will not "operate in Turkey."
Replaces Turnaround Port Calls in Istanbul with Athens on 16 Cruises". My wife and I are booked on the August 24 Northbound trip and have not yet heard from Tauck. It appears that Windstar has added to ports of call in Greece which don't appear too exciting. Contacted travel agent today and will wait for a response from agent and Tauck. I am sure they have their hands VERY FULL at the moment.
As far as the new destinations-
Kalymnos is a Greek island located near Bodrum. Until disease wreaked havoc on the sponge crop, it was known for sponge diving and an old Medieval town ruin.
Nafplio is a port town in the Pelopennese. Over the centuries it was ruled by Byzantines, French, Greeks, Ottomans, Venetians, etc. like Kalymnos. In 1685 the Venetians retook Nafplio and made it the capital of their "Kingdom of the Morea". They strengthened the city by building the castle of Palamidi, which was in fact the last major construction of the Venetian empire overseas. It was also briefly the capital of Greece.
We will have to wait and see how Tauck handles this.
I too am booked for this trip, have not heard anything from my travel agent or tauck. I'm expected to arrive in Athens 9/20/16.
Where are you traveling out from?
Brenda