@Smiling Sam We have premium economy seats. And they are actually great seats with legroom. I picked our flights in Nov 2021 and Pavlus bought them for us. We are flying out of Atlanta to Doha, a 6 or 7 hour layover and then to Kilimanjaro. I was incorrect about what we paid. It was around $1700 each way, total around $3500. I've read reviews of the Qatar Air business lounge in Doha. You can get a pass for $90 each. They have a sleeping area, showers, food. I believe we will do that.
@BSP51 Great! I'm looking at all the comments and photos online. We owned a newspaper for a zillion years and had decided we did not want to lug equipment with us. No one except us cares what we see. But now I have photo envy. We may re-evaluate whether to bring a big camera. When we used to bring the good equipment we spent all our time shooting like it was a job. I know my husband is in the other room groaning and grousing because I have brought up cameras.
CaraBethP I took a camera with me but also used my phone and actually took great pictures with it. I was under the impression that Qatar did not have Premium Economy, I guess it depends on the aircraft model.
CaraBethP - I gave up my DSLR a few years ago. There are some great super zoom fixed lens cameras now that give you great quality and great zoom range.
CaraBethP
5:01PM
We are doing the K&T safari in September. Flying Qatar Air . . . We are arriving one extra day early- tour starts 9/21, but we will arrive 9/19. I have all of that on our Tauck profile. What else do I need to do to make sure they know to pick us up at the airport?
For pickup Tauck just needs your carrier, flight number, and arrival time. Same for you return, but TD will verify that a few days prior to departure.
CaraBethP - Back in 2015 when I did K&T we did Premium economy as well. Business class was $6k+ per person. The Premium economy provided great leg room, but not the lie flat seats like in business. They are a good, cost effective compromise.
CaraBeth. We flew Qatar Business class to K and T in December 2019. The business class lounge in Doha is the best we have ever been in. As far as we know, they do not have the equivalent of premium economy.
We paid something like $5000 each for business class back then. We are using them to fly to Singapore In September
As others have mentioned, as long as you have given Tauck your flight numbers, they will be there to collect you at the airport. This must be done at least three weeks before your tour. I assume you travel agent would do this for you, but maybe you ought to check with them as we have never used a travel agent, so don’t know of it is their responsibility or not.
You will be received a Tauck duffel probably about a month before your tour. If it gets to about two weeks before and there is no sign of it, check whether your travel agent has received it for you. We have seen in the past that some who book with travel agents are the ones who don’t get their bags
We are now ‘in position’ at an SFO airport hotel. “Leaving on a Jet Plane” tomorrow. That’s my alarm clock music. We expect to be in Arusha Friday night via Amsterdam. Pam has just finished her trip, so maybe she will post some more reports and pics. I’m guessing Bill our TD will probably reposition from Nairobi to Arusha on Friday also. That makes me wonder what his passport looks like. When I was flying international I sometimes filled a 59 page passport long before it expired.
Everything worked exactly on time. We are now in the Gran Malea Arusha … nice hotel. Planning to sleep for a long time. We thought we had a long day, but one family picked up with us flew in from Hawaii … ouch.
Actually, the distance is very close to the same either way, but I think probably many more legs going West … and a lot of headwind outbound.
The “Bridges” tour is also here for a couple nights (Melia Arusha), but we move off in different directions tomorrow. Our group had a family of five cancel at the last moment, so we are now a group of fourteen including a number of children. Weather is cool and cloudy … no views of Mt. Meru. Actually, the Bridges tour just returned through the lobby … many small kids.
For those who may know her we just ran into Susan W. at that table in the foreground of the Gran Melia. She was our TD on our Z, B, and SA tour in 2016. She is currently doing one of the two Bridges tours in the hotel.
Wow, bit of an upgrade from the Deluti hotel. Our last K and T tour was a smallish group with a family of five, one of the parents did not speak English and all the kids were under ten, so if you had to sit next to them at mealtimes and everyone else had grabbed the other table, conversations was limited. To be honest, we found that disappointing
The remainder of the group was probably the most gelled we have ever come across and it made up for the kids
We had Susan on our Tanzania Zanzibar tour.. Does she TD the Bridges tours!
Lovely photos SeaLord. Oh to be in Africa! It looks busy on the road behind your vehicle photos. Some people have reported the cold, especially at night in the lodge there. Did you get the hot water bottles in your beds that scare you to death until you realize what they are! I guess you were well. Equipped for the cold but others might not have been. When we were last in Ngorongoro in December 2019, the wildlife abundance was incredible and the TD, knowing we had been before made an aside ot is saying she hoped the newbies didn’t think they were going to be so lucky every day. We saw everything from a kill, three male lions right by our vehicle and a hyena chase a Buffalo, grab its tail and the Buffalo take off with the hyena being lifted in the sir still attached all within minutes.
Have a great time and show me pics of the pool in Four Seasons 😀
Sealord - Do you know what the temperature was at Ngorongoro? In one of the pictures it looked very cloudy. Have you been getting any rain? I like the typical Ngorongoro traffic jam picture.
Alan: yes. Sam: No idea. We were wearing down jackets hats and my wife had gloves….we were shivering. The guides were really cold. We flew to airport near Four Seasons and it became summertime…80 degrees and sunshine. Had lunch and did an afternoon game drive. Saw seventeen lions and a hunt. There are masses of animals … more than we have ever seen.
Sealord - Sam: No idea. We were wearing down jackets hats and my wife had gloves….we were shivering. The guides were really cold.
Wow. I'm impressed that you are so prepared that you have clothing for such unexpected temperatures. I wouldn't even of had a parka with me when I did this tour. I'm glad that Summer has returned for you.
When we did the Spain and Portugal tour we ran into much colder than expected temperatures for the first couple of days (we were in May) and I had to buy a sweatshirt for added warmth.
Comments
CaraBethP - If you have uploaded your flight info to your Tauck profile then they will have you picked up at the airport. That’s it. Easy peasy.
@Smiling Sam We have premium economy seats. And they are actually great seats with legroom. I picked our flights in Nov 2021 and Pavlus bought them for us. We are flying out of Atlanta to Doha, a 6 or 7 hour layover and then to Kilimanjaro. I was incorrect about what we paid. It was around $1700 each way, total around $3500. I've read reviews of the Qatar Air business lounge in Doha. You can get a pass for $90 each. They have a sleeping area, showers, food. I believe we will do that.
@BSP51 Great! I'm looking at all the comments and photos online. We owned a newspaper for a zillion years and had decided we did not want to lug equipment with us. No one except us cares what we see. But now I have photo envy. We may re-evaluate whether to bring a big camera. When we used to bring the good equipment we spent all our time shooting like it was a job. I know my husband is in the other room groaning and grousing because I have brought up cameras.
CaraBethP I took a camera with me but also used my phone and actually took great pictures with it. I was under the impression that Qatar did not have Premium Economy, I guess it depends on the aircraft model.
CaraBethP - I gave up my DSLR a few years ago. There are some great super zoom fixed lens cameras now that give you great quality and great zoom range.
@gladysorlando984 They call it something other than premium economy but the seating selection was quite nice.
For pickup Tauck just needs your carrier, flight number, and arrival time. Same for you return, but TD will verify that a few days prior to departure.
CaraBethP - Back in 2015 when I did K&T we did Premium economy as well. Business class was $6k+ per person. The Premium economy provided great leg room, but not the lie flat seats like in business. They are a good, cost effective compromise.
Be sure to have the emergency number for the pick up service in case of delays. It's specific for each country.
CaraBeth. We flew Qatar Business class to K and T in December 2019. The business class lounge in Doha is the best we have ever been in. As far as we know, they do not have the equivalent of premium economy.
https://simpleflying.com/qatar-airways-premium-economy-2/
We paid something like $5000 each for business class back then. We are using them to fly to Singapore In September
As others have mentioned, as long as you have given Tauck your flight numbers, they will be there to collect you at the airport. This must be done at least three weeks before your tour. I assume you travel agent would do this for you, but maybe you ought to check with them as we have never used a travel agent, so don’t know of it is their responsibility or not.
You will be received a Tauck duffel probably about a month before your tour. If it gets to about two weeks before and there is no sign of it, check whether your travel agent has received it for you. We have seen in the past that some who book with travel agents are the ones who don’t get their bags
We are now ‘in position’ at an SFO airport hotel. “Leaving on a Jet Plane” tomorrow. That’s my alarm clock music. We expect to be in Arusha Friday night via Amsterdam. Pam has just finished her trip, so maybe she will post some more reports and pics. I’m guessing Bill our TD will probably reposition from Nairobi to Arusha on Friday also. That makes me wonder what his passport looks like. When I was flying international I sometimes filled a 59 page passport long before it expired.
Happy travels Sealord !!!!
Thanks. Now sitting at our Kilimanjaro gate at Schiphol.
Everything worked exactly on time. We are now in the Gran Malea Arusha … nice hotel. Planning to sleep for a long time. We thought we had a long day, but one family picked up with us flew in from Hawaii … ouch.
Have a good rest so you can enjoy the rest of the trip.
Would it have been shorter to fly west from Hawaii??
Actually, the distance is very close to the same either way, but I think probably many more legs going West … and a lot of headwind outbound.
The “Bridges” tour is also here for a couple nights (Melia Arusha), but we move off in different directions tomorrow. Our group had a family of five cancel at the last moment, so we are now a group of fourteen including a number of children. Weather is cool and cloudy … no views of Mt. Meru. Actually, the Bridges tour just returned through the lobby … many small kids.
For those who may know her we just ran into Susan W. at that table in the foreground of the Gran Melia. She was our TD on our Z, B, and SA tour in 2016. She is currently doing one of the two Bridges tours in the hotel.
Wow, bit of an upgrade from the Deluti hotel. Our last K and T tour was a smallish group with a family of five, one of the parents did not speak English and all the kids were under ten, so if you had to sit next to them at mealtimes and everyone else had grabbed the other table, conversations was limited. To be honest, we found that disappointing
The remainder of the group was probably the most gelled we have ever come across and it made up for the kids
We had Susan on our Tanzania Zanzibar tour.. Does she TD the Bridges tours!
We are at Ngorongoro. Doubt if photos will upload from the room. Maybe the main lodge later.
The welcoming committee.
Drive/Guide Osbert
Ngorongoro was very COLD. Guides said it had never been that cold. Fly to the Four Seasons today.
Lovely photos SeaLord. Oh to be in Africa! It looks busy on the road behind your vehicle photos. Some people have reported the cold, especially at night in the lodge there. Did you get the hot water bottles in your beds that scare you to death until you realize what they are! I guess you were well. Equipped for the cold but others might not have been. When we were last in Ngorongoro in December 2019, the wildlife abundance was incredible and the TD, knowing we had been before made an aside ot is saying she hoped the newbies didn’t think they were going to be so lucky every day. We saw everything from a kill, three male lions right by our vehicle and a hyena chase a Buffalo, grab its tail and the Buffalo take off with the hyena being lifted in the sir still attached all within minutes.
Have a great time and show me pics of the pool in Four Seasons 😀
Sealord - Do you know what the temperature was at Ngorongoro? In one of the pictures it looked very cloudy. Have you been getting any rain? I like the typical Ngorongoro traffic jam picture.
Did the acrobats entertain before dinner at Ngorongoro?
Alan: yes. Sam: No idea. We were wearing down jackets hats and my wife had gloves….we were shivering. The guides were really cold. We flew to airport near Four Seasons and it became summertime…80 degrees and sunshine. Had lunch and did an afternoon game drive. Saw seventeen lions and a hunt. There are masses of animals … more than we have ever seen.
Wow. I'm impressed that you are so prepared that you have clothing for such unexpected temperatures. I wouldn't even of had a parka with me when I did this tour. I'm glad that Summer has returned for you.
When we did the Spain and Portugal tour we ran into much colder than expected temperatures for the first couple of days (we were in May) and I had to buy a sweatshirt for added warmth.
Thanks for the updates. Getting really excited—7 weeks to go. Look forward to seeing/hearing more about your tour, Sealord.
Wonderful photos, Sealord. Thanks for posting!
We have always taken puffer jackets to AFRICA, you will need them for the balloon if nothing else!
We can't wait! Our trip is in 6 weeks. The information and updates are very helpful. Thanks for all of the posts..