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Just my personal observation :)

mil

Hello my fellow Tauck friends...
I just want to share a thought... I believe... we should all lift our spirit as the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter!
We should change the approach/ dynamic of this Forum back to what it was before Covid- .. an informative forum, full of tips , experiences and fun anecdotes.... a place to share , as well as to inform other travelers , a place full off optimistic people and lots of dreamers... a place to share the excitement of going on vacation, to see other cultures and to eat great food.
A HAPPY PLACE!!!
Please!

Comments

Claudia Sails

It will mil but is more likely to occur gradually rather than as a light switch as more and more participants can actually take their tours. Just like the rest of our lives as we emerge from our safety shells and start doing the things we avoided for a year. And just to be real - it wasn't always a happy place before. I can definitely remember some heated or at least snarky threads.

Bon Voyage All

AlanS

So who will be the first to post a post-COVID review???

Claudia Sails

Should be Smiling Sam since his comes soonest.

BKMD

I had my first maskless haircut yesterday...

Smiling Sam

Claudia, AlanS - I will post a review of my Iceland tour in mid July. Seems likes others will have completed tours prior to that.

AlanS - I'm not sure I'd call it a 'post-COVID' review. More like a resumption of Tauck travel review. I did a similar review, detailing all of the COVID and safety protocols, for my trip to Jamaica in April.

I'm sure each tour, based on the countries visited, method of travel (land, small ship, riverboat), and departure/finish dates will be slightly (or hugely) different and will evolve as time passes.

**That said, getting information from earlier travelers, will likely be useful to later travelers. **It will kind of be like when everyone with a later tour was trying to get information about how to obtain the Egyptian visa upon entry and then finally a person that went on one of the only tours that actually happened pre-Covid explained, on the forum, the process. I found it very useful information.

Claudia Sails

I do wish those who have taken the few US trips Tauck has run would post some reviews. In particular how it went with covid protocols. We got a taste of that on the webinar Tauck did last month but would like to hear from actual travelers.

Just noticed yesterday that KLM requires you to replace your mask every 3 hours. Wonder what other airlines on long haul flights have the same rule.

RickS

We're all looking forward to post-COVID normalcy, insightful trip reviews, etc. But I think for a while, the greatest value of the forum may be helping all of us navigate the strict and changing rules of pandemic travel. For example, I just learned from Claudia that KLM will require me to change masks every three hours. That is, if I can fly at all this year--still can't figure out how to satisfy the Ponant test-within-72-hour rule when I'll already be in transit 72 hours before i board their ship. Aaack!

mil

Hi Claudia Sails, hope your doing well.
regarding your comment... "I can definitely remember some heated or at least snarky threads", sure! there will always be some... but lately every post is so negative, that it really doesn't help ... I respect everyones opinions.. but we have to stop this pessimisntic trail we have fallen into...
even a friend , who is traveling on her first Tauck tour told me.. that she was worry about the people she was going to travel with.. that she read some post on the forum and really didn't like the attitude of some.. that some sounded very angry...:((

Just an observation...

Smiling Sam

Claudia - Just noticed yesterday that KLM requires you to replace your mask every 3 hours.

Wow! Can you imagine being asleep on an LA to Amsterdam overnight flight and having a flight attendant wake you up three hours into it to get you to change your mask. This seems like an extreme overkill and a brutal requirement to impose on flight attendants to monitor/enforce.

Claudia Sails

Surprised me too Rick. I found it at the Tauck website Travel &Health Info, Travel Requirements. They have links to about 10 different airlines. We're supposed to fly KLM in Sep and was more concerned about the ability to transfer flights there.

I've been debating buying a box of the same masks my hospital group uses. Spent 24 hours in theirs while in the hospital getting my knee replacement and they've become my favorite even over the ones I made myself. Very light weight and breathable.

mil

Hi Smiling Sam,
Congrats!
very cool that you get to go on your trip... I'm still waiting to see if I'll be going to Jordan & Egypt next Sept. Please do report back ... I would love to hear about the COVID situation and how smooth is the procces around the airports ,you give great info.
Thanks

Claudia Sails

Mil, your friend needn't worry. In any group there is the chance of moaner but thinking of my past Tauck trips I just remember the laughter and happiness to be there.

Sam, I'm with you that it seemed excessive but who knows if they actually enforce it. Maybe it will be like the metermaid coming by and taping a notice to your forehead. Then again if I got 3 hours of sleep on a flight I'd be like "whoo whoo".

mil

replace your mask every 3 hours. )) Insane!

mil

Claudia Costco sales great ones too. I'm taking a box of 50. just in case.

Claudia Sails

Mil, I got the Costco ones when they first started offering them - blue surgical with byd logo. Seemed fine until I wore the ones the hospital uses. Big difference. But Costco might be providing better ones now.

British

Every three hours is good when you are being super safe like in the Operating room. Once they become wet with your breathing, it really makes them far less effective. But would not want to be the flight attendant….I’m sure KLM never thought of that. Maybe they will ask you to write the time on the mask that you put it on!

RickS

Claudia, my wife is worried about suffocating on a long KLM flight in our Costco masks. What is your source for better, more breathable ones?
mil, I appreciate your sentiment! Every Tauck tour we've been on has been filled with positive people. There will always be the occasional snarky comment on line (some people seem to drop their filters when they're on line) but I think mostly this forum is filled with travel enthusiasts trying to figure out how to make joyful travel work when there are lots of new rules and precautions.

British

As far as me, yep, a negative one, I’d rather call it realistic based on the available science.
I’m super well behaved on tours but have had to endure moaners and complainers and people who do not listen on tour, people who talk loudly on the bus while the TD is talking.
Do you know the TD’s make notes about people and send them to Tauck headquarters and they go on our files!
We have traveled twice recently and it was wonderful, but in the US. We are traveling in the US in January too. Waiting until it becomes less of a hassle to travel internationally….our first trip will be Costa Rica in January, hope it has I,proved by then.

British

Rick, no one has suffocated in a mask, please don’t worry. Only infants who can’t remove a mask themselves, and people with severe COPD who should probably be on oxygen are at any risk. Anyone else, if they can’t breath sufficiently, which is unlikely, the body will sub consciously pull the mask off. I’ve worn double masks doing aerobic exercise when it’s hot and been fine. It makes you hot, but you can still breath. I suggest some slow breathing exercises. I find them useful when I first start snorkeling to slow my breathing down. Hyperventilating can make you feel faint.

Claudia Sails

The ones that Presbyterian Health uses here for patients and staff are HALYARD FLUIDSHIELD 1 Procedure Mask, w/SO Soft Lining, 25867 (Box of 50). $13.18 at Amazon. Amazon's picture is lavender but it actually says yellow which is what I've been given here.

kfnknfzk

Thanks, mil, for your heartfelt post. I am also sometimes dismayed at the change in this forum. I can ignore pessimism, but it is the lack of civility that concerns me the most. It is fine to disagree but people should do so in a respectful manner. This is also a site for all, not a personal, insular chat room for a few. Nonetheless, I have noticed more and more individuals, whether new or returning travelers, join the forum with enthusiasm and for the sole purpose of sharing experiences with a renewed hope for the world returning to normalcy. Let's cherish a return to Tauck travel. I wish you all the best!

mil

Thanks kfnknfzk
I just want to recuperate the old Forum spirit!

kfnknfzk

mil,
The "old" forum is gradually returning...inclusiveness, compassion, humility, civility, et al. May all your travel dreams come to fruition and I hope our paths cross some day.

Dottie D

I hear you, kfnknfzk, but on the other hand, these “few” are the ones who are always quick to respond to travelers’ questions while most of us, myself included, sit on the sidelines. IMHO, they have kept this forum interesting while we’re stuck at home.

kfnknfzk

Thanks, Dottie D, for your response. Your post exemplifies how to disagree by maintaining respect for the other individual. Best wishes and happy travels.

NancyCohen

Dottie D - I too appreciate a spectrum of opinions and viewpoints. It is unrealistic and not particularly helpful to merely sugar-coat everything. In my opinion, honesty and true feelings are appreciated. And at times, pessimism has been warranted. I have rarely seen comments that are disrespectful. The phantom flagger(s) seem to get riled by a panoply of comments. There is no rhyme or reason.

mil

Hi Nancy , did anyone has a clue of the The phantom flagger(s) is?

NancyCohen

Nothing confirmed ... just guesses

BSP51

I have my ideas as well.

Sealord

The masks on airplanes. Many fold the number of ‘incidents’ on airplanes during the pandemic. The masks. You are already at eight thousand feet in the cabin of a jet airplane. You put a mask on and you are now rebreathing your own CO2. How high does that put you? I’m guessing well above 10,000 feet where the FAA says you should be on supplemental oxygen. Hypoxic people do very strange things. They need to get rid of the mask requirement on airplanes as soon as possible.